Name: Elizabeth Taeed
Class Year: 2009
Country of Residence: Portugal
Why is this recipe great? What’s its backstory?
My husband and I run a small loose-leaf tea shop, stocked with our favourite teas discovered during our four years of travel. Yerba mate is one of them! It is a herbal tea with caffeine levels on par with coffee, but without any bitterness and with a rich, smooth taste. We also fell in love with masala chai during our year in India, so combining the two is an obvious combination.
This is a simple recipe we’ve created ourselves for our tea shop, and although it takes a little time (30 minutes), it’s worth every minute of steeping. While you can change the chai ingredients listed as much as you like (including type and amount), I strongly recommend including turmeric pieces as they turn the milk a gorgeous gold and give that distinctly Indian taste! Lastly, if you can’t find yerba mate, you can of course replace it with a black loose leaf tea.