LAVENDER CHAI TEA – CONCENTRATE

Ready to try something a little different with your chai tea? How about adding a little lavender to the brew! It’s my new favorite ingredient and will add that little something extra to the ordinary.

This Lavender Chai Tea Concentrate features notes of cinnamon, cloves, peppercorn, ginger with the soft floral nuance of lavender. It’s a new flavor sensation and welcome addition to the Beverage collection!

Lavender Chai Tea – Concentrate

Inspired a few weeks ago while visiting my mom, I took what few stems were left of her culinary lavender. Once home I googled and came across a few recipes for lavender chai tea, and was especially interested in making a chai tea concentrate. I love the idea of making a concentrate, having some now and storing the rest for later. And with summer here, an iced lavender chai tea was the perfect antidote! The floral notes of the lavender pair well with all the wonderful flavors of this chai tea. Its an unusual mix that works!

Be inspired and add some lavender to your pantry essentials. I ran out of the lavender I picked up from my mom while testing this recipe and purchased some here (it’s the lavender pictured above). It comes in a large enough size that will last a loooong time. I’ve also used some in this Kale, Quinoa & White Bean Soup. It’s so good! I will definitely be adding more recipes that include lavender in the future.

Gather your ingredients and let’s make tea!

What you’ll need:

• 3 1/4 cups water
• 3 black tea bags or 3 tablespoons loose tea
• 1 large or 2 small cinnamon sticks
• 8 whole cloves
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon culinary lavender
• 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger or 1/2 inch piece fresh
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom or 3 whole pods (optional)
• dash of nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Once tea concentrate has been brewed and cooled, strain tea into your container of choice. Serve with non-dairy milk in whatever ratio you like.

This concentrate works really great for making iced chai tea. Once chilled in the fridge it’s so easy to pour over ice, add milk and serve. Icy perfection! There’s a little more work when serving hot but it’s worth the extra step. Serve however you prefer. You may even like to make a double batch.

Enjoy this Lavender Chai Tea Concentrate often!

LAVENDER CHAI TEA – CONCENTRATE

A wonderful flavored chai tea made into a concentrate. Simply mix with a little non-dairy milk or water, and enjoy.

• Prep Time: 10 min
• Cook Time: 15 min
• Total Time: 25 minutes
• Yield: Serves 4 - 6
• Category: Beverage
• Cuisine: Vegan

Ingredients

• 3 1/4 cups water
• 3 black tea bags or 3 tablespoons loose
• 1 large or 2 small cinnamon sticks
• 8 whole cloves
• 6 peppercorns
• 1 teaspoon culinary lavender
• 1/4 teaspoon dried ginger or 1/2 inch piece fresh, sliced (optional)
• 1/4 teaspoon cardamom or 3 whole pods, lightly crushed (optional)
• dash of nutmeg
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1/4 cup pure maple syrup

Instructions

Bring 3 cups water to a boil, add tea, cinnamon, cloves, peppercorns, lavender, ginger, cardamom and nutmeg, turn heat to low and simmer for 15 minutes. Turn of heat and let cool 10 minutes. Remove tea bags. Add vanilla and maple syrup, give a good stir. Strain out the large ingredients and place in container of choice.

In a glass or mug/cup, pour tea concentrate to about 1/3 – 1/2 full, fill remaining with water or milk.

Serve warm or iced.

Store leftover tea in the refrigerator, use within one week.

Makes about 4 – 6 servings.

NOTES:

If you don’t want to use all these ingredients, try using chai tea bags instead.

For the tea I used 2 black tea bags and one orange pekoe. I recommend going with the strongest black tea you can find since this is a concentrate.