The Spread of Serious Chai Tea

By Susan Clotfelter
Published on August 1, 1998
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Chai can include (clockwise from top left) black tea leaves, ­coriander seeds, peppercorns, aniseed, sliced gingerroot, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.
Chai can include (clockwise from top left) black tea leaves, ­coriander seeds, peppercorns, aniseed, sliced gingerroot, cinnamon sticks, and cloves.
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Warm and spicy chai is a tea tradition in India and neighboring countries.
Warm and spicy chai is a tea tradition in India and neighboring countries.

• Dinner Party Chai
• 220-Volt Chai
• Caffeine-free Chai

Why chai? Why have national coffeehouse chains recently adopted this tea-based beverage? Why has Celestial Seasonings, the company that brought herb teas to mainstream grocery stores, acquired a chai company? What makes a beverage, long established as a cheap street food in its native land, suddenly achieve chic status on a continent far, far away?

Could it be the growing interest in Indian or Nepalese cuisine? Movie stars turned Tibetan advocates? Or the realization that, when it’s spiked with spices and frothed with steamed milk, people will actually pay close to $3 for what is, when you get right down to it, a cup of tea?

It could be any of these factors. As I started researching chai’s migration, I fortunately found myself drinking a lot of it, prepared by a variety of tea chefs. After much testing, I came to a conclusion: chai’s popularity has everything to do with taste. Made well, it’s delicious. It’s also fascinating because, like the culture of its home region, it has so many faces.

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