I've still been drinking tea, but I haven't ventured into the "new tea" category in a while. I ordered a bunch of 250g packages from DAVIDsTEA when they were doing their super-promo (I got a kilo of tea for $58. HECK YES), but it's all stuff I've reviewed before.
I am, however, going to give you a bit of a review today.
I was at McDonald's (yes, I know. Stop looking at me like that) the other day, and I tried one of their iced chai frappes. They are fairly decent, but there seems to be a ludicrous amount of dairy in them, which disagrees violently with my digestive system. Since I prefer to actually spend my day DOING THINGS and not BEING IN PAIN, I wondered if I could make my own.
Short answer: Yes. They're not as pretty, but you can, in fact, make an iced chai frappe in your own kitchen.
What you need:
- Milk (whatever your preference is. I used 1%, but I'm sure you could use soy or rice or whatever)
- Vanilla syrup (Vanilla agave, or the vanilla syrup from Starbucks is what I use) (You could also use vanilla extract and sugar to taste)
- Chai tea (either bags, or you could steep loose tea. DAVIDsTEA's Pure Chai is perfect for this)
- Ice
Steep your tea. Add sweetener & vanilla to taste. Pour it over ice to chill it. Add desired amount of milk.
Now, if you had lots of ice, you could put the ice in a blender and make it slushy consistency, then add your cold mixed tea. Or if you had lots of time, and some rock salt, you could pour your tea into a ziplock bag, put that bag in a bigger bag, add some ice and rock salt and shake until it was slushy (mixing salt into the ice makes the temperature go below freezing). This, however, requires a lot more time than one might have. When I want tea, I want it NOW, not an hour from now. (although, to be fair, half the time I make tea, it takes me an hour to even take the first sip...... Sooooooo .....)
I normally don't add milk to my tea, and even MORESO, not my iced tea. But I gotta say, the milk adds a nice bit of .... something. Perfect, anyway.
Also, the vanilla agave? Apparently it's a bestseller at DT, because they can't keep it in stock.
I haven't figured out where to buy a big bottle of vanilla syrup (that isn't $20) in Winnipeg. If anyone has any tips, please feel free to let me know! I'm always on the lookout for a way to stock my kitchen that doesn't involve wiping out my savings.
