In my college years, a favorite drink splurge of mine was chai tea. I loved the spice, taste, and especially the warmth it provided on a cold morning en route to classes.
In recent years, I’ve avoided vanilla chai drinks due to the caffeine in black tea and the high amounts of sugar.
In an attempt to consume more ginger for health and find a warm, soothing, mug-worthy drink to replace a morning cup of coffee, I happened upon the following creation!
If you like chai, I believe you will love this as much as I do. As an added punch, I included some gelatin in this drink. I find the gelatin provides numerous nail, hair, skin, intestinal, and filling benefits. When I have this tea in the morning, I no longer feel hungry an hour after breakfast.
To make life a bit more simple, I make a gallon of tea at a time and store it in the fridge — ready to be warmed up whenever the urge hits.
Vanilla Ginger Chai Tea {with gelatin}
If you like chai, I believe you will love this as much as I do. As an added punch, I included some gelatin in this drink. I find the gelatin provides numerous nail, hair, skin, intestinal, and filling benefits. When I have this tea in the morning, I no longer feel hungry an hour after breakfast.
Ingredients
Base:
- 1 sprig ginger root fresh , about an inch and a half long
- 2 ceylon cinnamon sticks
- 1 tablespoon whole cloves
- 2 quarts pure water plus additional as desired*
Serve:
- 1-1/2 tablespoons sustainably-sourced gelatin (certified glyphosate-free)
- 1/2 to 1 teaspoon molasses
- 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 2 teaspoons raw honey
- shake ground nutmeg
- raw cream
Instructions
Base:
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Boil water.
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While waiting, cut up the ginger in thin, length-wise pieces and drop them in the bottom of the gallon jar, along with cinnamon and cloves.
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Slowly add boiling water to the jar, and cover jar loosely.
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Let this seep for 30 minutes or more, depending on whether or not you like a strong ginger flavor. (I often let steep all day to get a rich flavor.)
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Then fill the remainder of the jar with pure water and store in the fridge.
Serve:
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When ready for a cup, boil as much base as you would like.
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Put gelatin in your cup first, wait for the tea to boil, then add tea to the cup with gelatin, stirring rapidly.
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Once the gelatin is incorporated in the tea without any lumps, add molasses, vanilla extract, honey, and nutmeg.
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Add cream last.
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Enjoy!
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As an added treat, if you still have tea left once it cools, it turns to chai jello which my little 2-year-old loves to wiggle and eat.
Recipe Notes
- Spice ingredients vary in potency. If you feel that using the listed amounts of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves does not yield a strong enough concentrate for you, then drink the tea without diluting with additional water. Then next time you make the concentrated, double or triple the amounts of ginger, cinnamon, and cloves.
Enjoy! Do you love chai?
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I like chai but I never drink it on a regular basis. I do like hot tea in the mornings though. I’m going to pin this and see what my husband thinks of it. Thanks for sharing Tracey!
Thanks, Jenny.
I hope you enjoy especially while there might be a few more cool mornings before summer hits!
Blessings to you!
One of my favorite spices in chai is the black pepper. Is there any nutritional reason that you didn’t include it?
Hello Susan,
i just added it in my last batch and it was excellent! Thanks for the tip. : )))
This sounds delicious! After steeping, do you strain out the spices before storing in the frig or do you keep them in the water during storage? I’ve already started a batch!
Hi there, Joni!
Let me just say yes, and yes. I have strained the spices after a few hours, and I have also left them in for days. If left for days, the ginger gives quite a punch and my stomach is not strong enough to handle it. A day or two is strong and perfect in my opinion.
I hope that helps. : ) Would love to know what you try. : )
Hi,
I was a little confused about the gelatin in this recipe. Do you add it to the half gallon recipe and then store in the frig? Or, wait and add gelatin when you reheat the tea and put it in your cup? It says both ways. 🙂 Thanks!
Hello Liz,
Well, it depends on the gelatin you use. I currently have the kind that needs warm water to dissolve, so I add the gelatin for each serving that I warm up, a bit in my cup before I pour in the hot liquid. I think collagen hydrolysate does not require heat to dissolve- however I have not splurged on that benefit yet. : ) I do not know if it would gel if kept in the fridge though??? Would love to hear if anyone has experience with this.
Blessings!
Collagen hydrolysate does not gel.
Hi Tracey,
Thank you so much for replying to my question! You are so right about letting the spices steep for a day or two in the tea. I had made the chai tea in the morning and left the spices in to steep all day until evening. After my husband and I tasted it we both decided it wasn’t strong enough for our us. I was a little concerned that by morning it would be way too strong but decided to go ahead and let it continue steeping until then. It wasn’t too strong at all……it was perfect!!
Great to hear!!!
This looks wonderful. I do not have cinnamon sticks. Can it be made with ground cinnamon?
Can this be made with ground cinnamon? I don’t have cinnamon sticks.
I’ve made tea with ground spices before and it works just fine, it’s just harder to strain out.
I’d like to add black tea to this. How would you recommend doing that? Also, where do you get your gallon jar?
Thank you!
A good place to get a gallon jar is from the hamburger restaurant “Five Guys”. They get their pickles in gallon jars and will gladly give you one. It just requires diligent washing to get the pickled smell out. I use it for kombucha and anything else calling for a gallon jar.
I’m a little confused with the amounts in this recipe. Am I correct in thinking the spice and water amounts are for the whole batch, but the gelatin, molasses, and honey are per cup?
Thank you! I look forward to trying this. I love a warm drink in the mornings but have trouble finding something I can feel good about drinking that I actually like.