Spice Is Nice: Three Perfect Chai Cocktails

Spice Is Nice: Three Perfect Chai Cocktails
It’s my favorite time of year: chai season! Actually, if you know anything about me you know I think any time or season is perfect for chai, but the crisp air and spicy scents of fall make the autumn months even more so. To celebrate, I thought I’d share some of my very special, very delicious chai cocktail recipes.

Chai Cocktail Basics


Let's do a little preliminary prep, shall we? The perfect chai cocktail starts with, well, chai of course. Cold-brew your favorite brand of spicy tea, then remove the leaves and store the tea in the fridge until you're ready to use it. (Plum Deluxe has an interesting autumn seasonal chai for sale right now that you may want to check out for this very purpose.)
To really give your cocktail an extra bit of zip, infuse some tea into your vodka the night before. I recommend using chai (naturally) or a vanilla black tea. Simply add half an ounce or so of unbrewed, loose leaf tea to your standard bottle of vodka, put the cap on, and stick it in the fridge overnight. The next day, filter out the tea, put the vodka back into the bottle, and voila! Tea-infused vodka.
We'll also want to make a simple syrup by boiling one part water in a saucepan, turning off the heat, and whisking in one part sugar. You can infuse the syrup with tea flavor, too, by adding a teaspoon or two of unbrewed chai to the syrup as it cools (slap a lid on to keep the flavors in). After about ten minutes, strain the syrup into a container and let it cool, then put the lid on and pop that baby into the fridge with the rest of your cocktail ingredients.
You're all ready to go! Raise your glass and let's delve into some recipes.


Vanilla Chai Cocktail



Ingredients:
  • 4 ounces cold chai
  • 1 ounce tea vodka
  • 1 ounce vanilla vodka
  • 2 tablespoons simple syrup
  • splash of cream
  • ice

Preparation:
Measure all ingredients into a glass over ice and stir.



Dirty Chai Cocktail



Ingredients:
  • 4 ounces cold chai
  • 2 ounces Kamora coffee liqueur
  • 2 tablespoons simple syrup
  • 2 ounces cream
  • ice

Preparation:
Measure all ingredients into a glass over ice and stir. Alternatively, you could make this drink with hot chai and omit the ice for cold-weather comfort.



Frozen Chai Mudslide



Ingredients:
  • 4 ounces cold chai
  • 4 ounces kahlua
  • 2 cups vanilla ice cream
  • chocolate syrup for garnish

Preparation:
Add chai, kahlua, and ice cream to a blender and blend just until combined.
Drizzle chocolate syrup around the inside of a glass, then pour the chai mixture in. Garnish with more chocolate syrup and a straw.

Photos are courtesy of the author.

Ciaran Keast

Ciaran Keast loves art, semicolons, books, cats -- and all the tea, ever. When they're not posting tea photos on social media, you'll catch them at almost every Plum Deluxe event.
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