Over the years I have gone from drinking coffee to tea to coffee again. And then tea again. I could never do both, say having a coffee in the morning and then tea in the evenings. It was one or the other.
A couple of years ago I decided one morning that I didn't want to carry on the the hot drink at the time. Coffee. It was always instant with one sweetener. So I stopped. Just like that. I not only went back to tea, but to a herbal tea from a plant that is grown wildly in South Africa called Rooibos. In English: Redbush.
I still drink rooibos tea. With one sweetener and skim milk. Whenever we went out for "coffee" I'd normally go for a latte or hot chocolate. Rooibos tea wasn't available at the coffee shops around England, but it was sold at the supermarkets.
Basically everywhere you go in Australia there are cafe’s. At the gym, at the swimming pool, there are at least 6 in our small village, shopping malls – many malls having more than one of the same cafe in them – and now even at Maccas (McDonalds). I started having regular latte’s here but for some reason had a bad headache every time I got one. Not sure if this is the type of coffee they use, or just because my body isn’t used to it anymore. So I reverted to Hot Chocolate again until…
When out grocery shopping with Miss M a couple of months, she wanted to try a tea called Chai. I had seen it advertised on tv and never gave it a second thought. It’s expensive, so just in case she wouldn’t like it, I bought a small box of 10 Twinings Chai tea. And it wasn’t bad. A lightly spiced black tea infused with ginger and cinnamon, scented with vanilla flavour Based on centuries-old recipes native to India, Chai is servd with milk and is often sweetened to enhance the flavour of the spices. In India, Chai is cherished for producing a warming and satisfying effect. Best enjoyed with or without milk. That’s what it says on the box. It’s very lightly flavoured, but is a nice tea.
So I started getting Chai Latte at the cafe’s I frequent which is ooooh so much better. Like any latte, it’s all milk. I took note of the containers they were using for these latte’s and made sure to look out for it at the supermarket, hoping it wasn’t sold in bulk to cafe’s only. And there it was. In a container sitting on the shelf in 2 flavours, Vanilla or Spice. I like spicy so that’s what I went for. Still not cheap at $6 for only 240g but so worth it.
This drink has become my before bedtime drink. Even though I bought the spicy, it is nowhere near as spicy as a traditional Indian curry! And quite sweet. I still use skim milk, but I don’t add a sweetener. I use my cheap-as-chips thingamabob from Ikea to froth up the milk to make it just like I get it in the cafe’s!
If you can find it in your supermarket, give it a go.
Next week I’ll tell you how they make it at the cafe’s as compared to how I make it at home. As soon as I ask at swimming tomorrow!
Robyn x
Might have to try it Robyn. I'm not a hot cuppa person but did enjoy chai when in India. It might be a real hit in our home....then again, maybe I shouldn't start buying it as we'd go through a container in no time!
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