Here's the thing about really good spice blends: they're not one-trick ponies.
Sure, our Chai Masala, Golden Milk, and Mumbai Street Chai were all created with beverages in mind. But once you've got these warming, aromatic blends in your kitchen, you start seeing possibilities everywhere. In cakes, cookies, cocktails, and places you wouldn't expect.
This is your guide to three beverage blends that'll earn their spot in your pantry, not just your mug!
Chai Masala: The OG Spice Blend
Let's start with the basics. "Chai tea" isn't a thing. The word "chai" literally means "tea" in Hindi, so asking for "chai tea" is really you asking for "tea tea." Kinda redundant, right?
What we're talking about here is Masala Chai, which means spiced tea.
Our Chai Masala blend is made with ginger, cinnamon, green cardamom, black pepper, clove, and allspice. It's the warming spice mix that originally showed up in Ayurvedic medicine as Kadha (a mixture used to heal all kinds of ailments), and eventually became the foundation for the spiced tea that's now a daily ritual for millions across India.
The drink itself became popular in the early 20th century when the Indian Tea Association (owned by the British) pushed black tea consumption in India. To keep costs down, vendors would add lots of spices, milk, and sugar. Way more than the British ever intended. Factories started offering "tea breaks" to workers, and chaiwallas (tea vendors) began popping up at railway stations, selling their Masala Chai in clay cups called kullhads.
By the 1960s, when industrialized tea production made black tea even more affordable, Masala Chai became a staple. Today, it's a way of life. Many homes in India include chai as part of their breakfast routine and as an afternoon pick-me-up with snacks like pakoras, samosas, and biscuits.
Want the full story? Check out our Spice Advice: Chai Masala for a deeper dive into the history and culture of this iconic blend.
How to Use Chai Masala
Start with the classic: Traditional Masala Chai. Equal parts water and milk, bring to a boil, add black tea and Chai Masala, simmer for 3-4 minutes, strain, and sweeten to taste. This is the baseline. Once you've nailed this, you can riff.
Get boozy: Spiked Chai takes everything you love about Masala Chai and adds a kick. Perfect for cold nights or when you want your nightcap to have some personality.
Bake with it: Chai Masala Coffee Cake is what happens when you let those warming spices infiltrate your baking. The ginger and cardamom bring this subtle heat that makes every bite interesting without being overwhelming.
Make it Mexican: Chai Horchata with Añejo Tequila is one of those "wait, that works?" moments. The cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger from the Chai Masala play beautifully with the rice-almond base of horchata, and the aged tequila just makes the whole thing feel like a celebration.
Golden Milk: Liquid Gold That Goes Way Beyond the Mug
If you haven't tried Golden Milk yet, you're missing out on something special! Also called Turmeric Tea, this silky, vibrant drink has been served by mothers and aunties in India for thousands of years as a holistic remedy for pretty much everything.
Turmeric (the star ingredient that gives it that golden color) contains curcumin, a potent anti-inflammatory and antioxidant. Add ginger and cinnamon (both in our blend), and you've got a powerhouse drink that's said to help with joint pain, memory, heart health, digestion, and even symptoms of depression!
But here's the most important thing to know about Golden Milk: it's delicious.
Our blend combines turmeric with roasted coriander, cinnamon, ginger, black pepper, and nutmeg. It's warming, earthy, bright, and honestly kind of addictive once you get into it.
Learn more about this blend's health benefits and versatility in our Spice Advice: Golden Milk.
How to Use Golden Milk
The drink itself: Classic Golden Milk. If all this blend ever did was make you this perfectly cozy, caffeine-free beverage, we'd be happy. Warm milk (dairy or non-dairy), stir in the blend, add a touch of honey, and strain. That's it. That's the magic.
Bake it into desserts: This blend is shockingly versatile in sweets! Golden Milk Peach Upside-Down Cake brings those warming spices to summer fruit in a way that just works. Golden Buttermilk Pie is creamy, tangy, and has this subtle spiced undertone that makes it more interesting than your standard custard pie.
Get fancy with it: Golden Milk Panna Cotta with Cardamom Honey Bourbon Sauce is what happens when you let Golden Milk crash an Italian dessert party. It's decadent, delicate, and tells a story with every spoonful. Plus, bourbon. Always a good call.
When Two Blends Are Better Than One
Before we get to Mumbai Street Chai, we need to talk about these Condensed Milk Cookies with Golden Milk and Chai Spice Icing. This recipe uses both Golden Milk AND Chai Masala, which might seem like overkill until you taste them.
The Golden Milk goes into the cookie dough itself, bringing that earthy turmeric warmth. The Chai Masala flavours the icing with ginger and cardamom. Together? They create this layered spice situation that's greater than the sum of its parts. It's proof that sometimes the best move is to just use all the spices.
Mumbai Street Chai: Bold, Unapologetic, Real
The newest addition to our beverage lineup is Mumbai Street Chai, and it's built different. This isn't the overly sweet, flat tea you get at a coffee chain. This is street chai with backbone, baby! The kind that makes you understand why an entire subcontinent stops everything multiple times a day to drink it.
We built this blend on three essential ingredients: Wagh Bakri CTC Black Tea (CTC stands for Cut, Tear, Curl, and it's the processing method that creates that robust, full-bodied flavor chai vendors have relied on since 1892), ginger (for heat, brightness, and that wake-up-your-palate kick), and green cardamom (the magic ingredient with notes of eucalyptus, mint, citrus, and a bit of floral).
The first sip hits you with boldness from the tea. Then the ginger arrives with its sharp, warming bite, followed by cardamom's aromatic complexity. It's chai that's both robust and nuanced, and once you've had it this way, there's no going back.
Get the complete story about chaiwalla culture and how we captured authentic street chai in our Spice Advice: Mumbai Street Chai.
How to Use Mumbai Street Chai
Traditional street chai: Chef Meherwan Irani's Chai Recipe. Equal parts water and milk, boil, add the blend, simmer 3-4 minutes, strain, and sweeten. This is the method perfected over centuries. This is what the chaiwallas (tea vendors) at train stations across India have been making for generations.
A regional variation: Surti Style Chai is how they make it in Surat, Gujarat. It's a little different, a little special, and worth trying if you want to understand how regional variations shape the chai experience.
Make it a showstopper dessert: Seasonal Trifles use Mumbai Street Chai to bring warmth and depth to no-bake layered desserts that look fancy but are actually pretty forgiving to make. The chai flavour infuses the cream and plays off whatever fruit you're using for the season.
Why These Three Belong in Your Kitchen
What makes these three blends so essential? They're not trying to be everything. They're focused.
- Chai Masala delivers warming spices with that signature ginger-cardamom kick.
- Golden Milk brings earthy turmeric balanced with cinnamon and ginger.
- Mumbai Street Chai is bold CTC tea with the exact spice profile that's been perfected on Indian streets for over a century.
These aren't single-use blends. They're the kind that earn their spot in your pantry because you find yourself reaching for them over and over again! In your daily cup, sure. But also in your afternoon baking project, your weekend cocktail experiment, and that dessert you're making for dinner guests.
Whether you're making a simple cup of chai on a Tuesday morning or going all-in on a bourbon-spiked panna cotta situation for a special occasion, these blends show up and do the work. That's all you really need from a good spice blend: reliability when you want simple, and versatility when you want to get creative!
Stock up. Experiment. Make the classic drinks, then see where else these blends can take you. That's the fun part, friends!
Spread love, cook food!
Cara Manning, E-comm & Brand Manager
