The relaxing and healing beverage Chai is a 2000 year old (give or take) drink that means tea in many languages. The word chai originates from the birthplace of tea, China, where it is called chà (pronounced as chah). In Arab countries, one sips a very sweet and hot chai in shade temperatures exceeding 100F and amazingly feels refreshed afterwards. In Russia, the chai is poured from a samouvar as the drinkers can only gaze at the sugar cubes in their dish. In Hebrew, "chai" means life, so the traditional toast of "L'Chaim" when done with Chai tea adds extra significance. In India, chai is a spiced and creamy tea that is an example of Ayurveda, an ancient system of holistic healing. The western world has recently discovered the wonders of Indian Chai and, have for better or worse, turned it into a gourmet caffe latte clone.

Chai comes in various forms: liquid concentrate, powder, tea bags and last but not least, loose tea. Each form presents advantages and disadvantages but when you sum it all up there is no comaprison to loose tea. It lasts longer, tastes great, is cheaper and is certainly the messiest of the bunch.

Chai tea is made up of 4 parts :

• Tea - can vary from black tea, green tea, decaf tea or herbal tea(s)
• Masala - a spice concoction usually consisting of ginger, cardamom, cloves,and cinnamon. Nutmeg, black pepper, star anise,lemon grass and fennel are other spices that have been used.
• Milk - or substitute
• Sweetener - sugar or honey

With these 4 parts varied even slightly, different chai brews are seemingly infinate. The poor and thirsty folks at the Messy Gourmet decided it was their duty to seek out the different chais and present an objective review in ways only we can.

Pacific Chai
It is so simple to make this instant chai...just boil water and mix. The powder mix comes in different size dummy proof packages.The folks at Pacific Chai do not allow you the opportunity to screw up making their chai. The 1 LB bags come with a scoop inside the mix. One scoop full per 1 cup water. The single serve packs are perfect for camping or for your Y2K bunker. There is nothing better than relaxing with your chai in hand after a long hike. We speak from experience.
The spices (they use real spices and not flavoring) remain at the bottom of the cup so don't worry about the grainy feeling at the end of the drink. The chai taste is not from the spices itself but from the oils that are emitted from the spices with hot water.
Comes in Vanilla(Caf and Decaf) and Spice flavors. You can even customize the single serve packs to display your company's logo. www.pacificchai.com

Messy Gourmet Quality: Perfect for the great outdoors where chai was meant to be savored.

Oregon Chai
Oregon Chai - Herbal Bliss - Kiss you chai goodnight
The best decaf tea sampled. They mix ginger, mint and camomile to perfection. Herbal Bliss comes in liquid concentrate 1 Litre box that should make at least 2 Litres of chai.
We suggest you ignore the instruction of 50% chai liquid to 50% milk. Even a sweet tooth will find this mixture too sweet. So compensate by adding more milk than chai liquid and not only will it taste better but will stretch the chai to get more bang for your buck (actually $6).
Excluding the instruction and ingredients, Oregon Chai's box packages are a delight to our Messy G's eyes. Here are some snippets : "Manufactured for Oregon Chai without the advice or consent of the Dalai Lama, but we sent him a case with a couple of Three Stooges movies so we expect to hear from him soon"
In addition to Herbal Bliss, Oregon Chai also makes Original Chai, Organic Chai, and Chai Charger.www.oregonchai.com

Messy Gourmet Quality : The inscriptions on the box is indicative of how this chai is brewed..with lots of fun! We are sure the Dalai Lama is laughing at Curly's antics and taking a soothing sip of the Herbal Bliss to prepare for meditation.

Chai Amore
Chai Amore touts itself as the "Tea of Love". While we cannot scientifically verify that claim, this powdered "just add water" chai, is sure to make any kitchen klutz a messy gourmet. The unique quality of this Chai is the beverage is non-dairy, but you would never know. (Lactose intolerant folks cheering in the background.) As well, Chai Amore has some exotic flavors such as: Tahitian Vanilla, Peach Green tea, Mandarin Orange,Key Lime.... Caffe D'Amore are experts at the instant beverage business, as they were pioneers of instant capuccino. www.caffedamore.com

Messy Gourmet Quality : Simplicity of preparation and the exotic chai names make you feel like a gourmet, when all you did was boil water.

Honest Tea
Their Kashmiri chai comes in a small snapplish glass bottle. Very little discernable sugar taste. Natural purists will like it's tea simplicity, but if you take your tea with sugar you will definately be shocked at the first gulp. However, the sugarless taste make this the best tea to mix with your favorite vanilla ice cream to create a chai-shake.

Messy Gourmet Quality : The company name is punny yet true.