Chai Recipe: Melissa's Yogi Tea

By: Steph Ball-Mitchell, ERYT500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP

 Chai Recipe: Melissa's Yogi Tea

Chai Recipe Melissas Yogi Tea



It was starting to get cold here in Pennsylvania when my dear friend and colleague, Melissa Zegley, invited me over for her homemade chai. Nothing was more comforting than sitting curled up in Melissa’s beautiful new home and sipping on her homemade chai. I’ve tried many versions of chai tea. This was by far my favorite chai recipe.

This is one of those recipes that is passed from friend to friend. Melissa got the recipe from her friend Maya before putting her own twist on it. She then shared it with me. I’ve now been making it for my family and they crave it, especially during winter months.

Coming to us from Ayurveda, chai warms the soul and soothes the belly. Chai can be traced back to its roots in India where it was also known as Masala Chai. Masala Chai just means spiced tea or mixed spiced tea. In India, chai is a way of life. Here in the West, we tend to view chai as a special flavor of tea. In India, this is the way that tea is always prepared although milk is usually included.

Once Melissa shared her recipe with me, I began preparing it weekly in my home. I love fresh hot chai and sometimes even add a little steamed almond milk. Once it cools, I refrigerate it and drink iced chai, sometimes infused with tangerines or lemons. I’ve found that I rarely make tea with tea bags after learning how to make homemade chai. And, as a lifelong practitioner of yoga, there’s something special about drinking chai as I know it originates in India where this sacred practice comes from.

Yogi Tea (Chai) Recipe


Ingredients:


Six quarts of water

25-30 Green Cardamom Pods

25-30 Whole Cloves

10-15 Allspice

3-4 Star Anise

8-10 Cinnamon Sticks

3-4 Inches Sliced or Grated Ginger

1-2 Inches Sliced Tumeric

10-15 Peppercorns

2 Teaspoons Black Tea (optional)

Honey to taste


Instructions:


· Bring all ingredients except tea and honey to a boil

· Turn down to a simmer and steep at least two hours (Melissa often lets it steep longer)

· Add tea and steep fifteen minutes (longer will make it bitter)

· Strain and add honey to taste



I hope you enjoy this chai recipe as much as I did.  For more information on Ayurveda, the sister science of Yoga, you can take our Ayurveda Specialist Certification Course. 

About the Author

Founder of Online Yoga School and Yoga & Ayurveda Center

Steph Ball-Mitchell, E-RYT-500, RPYT, RCYT, YACEP, CAADC

Steph has over 25 years of experience in yoga and movement.  Her understanding of yoga and the human body has been influenced by lifelong dancing and holistic health.  She found her life’s purpose in helping people become happier and healthier through her own healing journey.  Steph assists her students in knowing the joy and wonderment of integrating the mind and body through accessible yoga.  She encourages an authentic and life-nurturing practice, one that brings greater consciousness to each moment and every movement of the body with a heavy emphasis on breath.  

With a masters degree in counseling, Steph brings awareness, acceptance and a down to earth approach to her classes.  She studied with Maty Ezraty and later completed her second 200-hour training with Nancy Candea at Yoga Impact in New Jersey and her 300-hour training with Chris Loebsack at Boundless Yoga Studio in Stroudsburg, Pennsylvania.   The perpetual student, Steph has studied with Leslie Howard, Travis Eliot, Bryan Kest, Donna Farhi and countless others.  She has extensive training in pelvic floor yoga, restorative yoga, yin yoga, power yoga and accessible yoga.  Most recently, Steph was certified as a Grand Master of Meditation through Swami Vidyanand.

Steph founded Yoga and Ayurveda Center with her husband.  She later launched Online Yoga School to support her local trainings and has recently launched a virtual yoga studio to accommodate the international community of trainees.

When she isn’t on her mat, Steph can be found volunteering, enjoying her husband and children, dancing and cooking.  She currently enjoys serving on the board of World Yoga Federation and Meditation Alliance International and previously enjoyed serving on the Education Committee of Yoga Alliance and places a strong emphasis on inclusivity in her teacher trainings.