Best recipes we’ve found in Altay villages
Chai is basically steeped herbal tea with selected spices and milk. Each ingredient adds subtle flavor changes and steeping methods vary widely. There is no end to the diversity of recipes for making your own herbal chai. Preparing chai is fun and allows you to experiment until you get it ‘just right’ for your personal taste.
We have collected the most authentic recipes from remote areas of Altay to help you in your quest for the perfect ‘heavenly chai’.
- Herbal Chai with lemon, mint, and honey (for energy and elevated mood) – Chemal region
Steep 5 grams of Ivan Chai in a paper tea sachet, in a large cup (~16oz) for 5 minutes, squeeze a teaspoon of lemon juice, and add a tablespoon of your favorite honey. Stir for a minute, while repeating the Ho Pono Pono Mantra. When finished – add a mint leaf.
For iced tea, steep until it cools down and pour it over the ice. Enjoy!
- Herbal Chai with lemon, jam, mint and honey (best for cold symptoms) – Ust’ kan region
Steep 5 grams of Ivan Chai in a paper tea sachet, in a large cup (~16oz) for 5 minutes, squeeze a teaspoon of lemon juice, tea spoon of lingonberry or raspberry jam, and add a tablespoon of your favorite honey. Stir for a minute, while repeating the Ho Pono Pono Mantra. When finished – add a mint leaf.
For iced tea, steep until it cools down and pour it over the ice. Enjoy!
- Herbal Chai with steamed milk and chai spices (for elevated mood on a cold day) – Ust’ Koksa region
Steep 5 grams of Ivan Chai in a paper tea sachet, in a large cup (~16oz) for 5 min, add a tablespoon of your favorite honey. Stir for a minute, while repeating the Ho Pono Pono Mantra. Add steamed milk of your choice. Top it with ready chai spices mix, or cinnamon, cardamom and cayenne mix. Adding some whip cream is an extra special treat!
For iced tea, steep until it cools down before adding cold milk of your choice, then pour it over the ice. Enjoy!
- Herbal Chai with steamed milk and Altay spices mix (for good health and energy on a cold day) – Onguday region
Steep 5 grams of Ivan Chai in a paper tea sachet, in a large cup (~16oz) for 5 minutes, then add a tablespoon of your favorite honey. Stir for a minute, while repeating the Ho Pono Pono Mantra. Add steamed milk of your choice. Top it with special Altay chai spices mix. Adding some whip cream is an extra special treat!
For iced tea, steep until it cools down before adding cold milk of your choice, and then pour it over the ice. Enjoy!
Herbal Chai with steamed milk, orange peels, and Altay spices mix (for good health, good mood, and good energy on a cold day) – Kosh-Agach region
Steep 5 grams of Ivan Chai in a paper tea sachet, in a large cup (~16oz) for 5 minutes, then add a tablespoon of your favorite honey. Stir for a minute, while repeating the Ho Pono Pono Mantra. Add steamed milk of your choice. Top it with special Altay chai spices mix and orange peels. Adding some whip cream is an extra special treat!
For iced tea, steep until it cools down before adding cold milk of your choice, and then pour it over the ice. Enjoy!
If you discover a new recipe, which turns you on, don’t hesitate to share it with us!
Few hints to make delicious tea:
If you want to draw out the flavor and aroma of tea, soft water (low mineral content) is recommended. If you don’t like a chlorine smell, keep water boiling for 1-2 minutes before making tea. Hard water is generally said to be unsuitable for making tea. However, some kinds of tea are nice with hard water so choose the water according to your preference.
Measure the amount of tea correctly. Even if you scoop the same volume of tea with teaspoon or tea scoop, the actual weights differ according to the leaf’s shape. A heaping teaspoon of granulated tea weighs much more than that of a full leaf tea.
HAPPY TEA TIME!
Don’t have a bottle with strainer? Here is solution: