Ma·sa·la Chai

Black tea simmered with milk and warming spices — cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, clove — into a spiced, sweet brew.

Masala chai is less a single recipe than a household tradition — nearly every family in India has its own ratio of milk to water, its own spice blend, and its own opinion about how sweet it should be. The tea itself is usually a robust black tea like Assam, simmered rather than steeped so it can stand up to milk and spice.

The word “chai” simply means tea, so “chai tea” is technically redundant — but “masala chai” (spiced tea) is the more precise term for the spiced, milky drink most people picture.