Sparrow's Chai Tea Breakfast

As usual, I woke this morning and tuned into Pinterest first thing.  Not ten seconds into my browsing, I spotted the tastiest looking Chai Tea, complete with a link to the recipe on Eat, Live Run.  Nice!  I wanted to make it, but I only sorta had the ingredients in the Nest.  So I made a mish-mash recipe (for those of us who seldom carry cardamon pods and fresh ginger in our cupboards).  Here it is:

-8 or so oz of milk, (with a splash of half and half for fatty goodness)
-honey (or sugar) to taste
-a dash of black pepper flakes,  2 peppercorns work even better
-a few small chunks of chopped dried ginger, or two dashes of ground ginger
-a dash of ground cardamon
-a little dash of ground cloves, or allspice will do in a pinch
-ground cinnamon or a stick to taste
-a tea bag of black tea, cut open (loose black is even better)

Start by slowly heating your milk, whisking in the sweetener to taste.  While the milk heats up, get your tea strainer/tea ball/tea leaf holder/etc and place it over your tea cup.  Add all of your dry spices and tea leaves to your tea strainer.

Once the milk begins to steam a bit, remove it from the heat and whisk thoroughly to whip up a tiny bit of foam on top.

Pour the sweetened milk slowly through your tea sieve.  If you have a strainer that sits low in the cup (like mine) pour the milk into the cup first, then slowly dip the strainer down into the cup.

Place a lid or small plate over the rim of your cup and let it all steep for several minutes.  Remove strainer, stir, and drink it up, preferably while listening to earthy folk music (today's selection in the Nest was Fleet Foxes "Helplessness Blues").

Do check out the awesome looking version on Eat, Live, Run.  I'm tempted to buy the real ingredients and try it out myself.

Namaste!