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Chai obsessive.
Jun. 17th, 2006 07:12 pmIt probably isn't obvious from this blog but I'm a diagnosable chai obsessive.
Last year on May the 21st a friend of a friend introduced me to the joy of Chai. Yes, I know the exact date, and I celebrated this year on... Chai Day.
It gets worse. I've been keeping track of all the Chai's I've ever drunk. As of this afternoon, I've drunk 324 chai's (I was up to 187 by the end of last year.) Yes, I am a sad obsessive fuck.
Chai is an interesting drink - no two places make it the same way. There's the Chai Latte, frothy milk with some kind of chai powder or liquid. Then chai tea, a milky tea made with proper leaves. A vast number of herbal-based infusions, entirely lacking in actual tea. T2's Spi Chai being a good example. But at AU$19 a 120 gram bag, it's ever so on the expensive side. I think pot costs less these days. Then there are undrinkable preparations made with tea bags and the crap which Gloria Jean's flogs as Chai.
Every now and then you'll go into a cafe or something and ask for a chai, and meet a fellow obsessive working behind the counter. I am not alone I swear, and I'm always trying to spread the disease.
There's a cafe in the atrium of my office building which makes a rather good Chai Latte. I tried to find the syrup everywhere, and ended up contacting the Phoenix Organic Beverage Company in New Zealand, then calling their victorian distributor. He put me on to a couple of "Wholesome" retailers around my part of town - Organic Gertrude which is incogrusiously on Station Street in Fairfield. And a place called Super Fruit in Ivanhoe. I drove to both these places - the first hadn't stocked it in ages because no one asked for it. The second was in the process of closing when I finally made it there - what an errand! I stuck my head in and asked about it, and the nice bloke there sold me a litre of the stuff! Yay! Finally! I did a little dance in front of the car to celebrate -![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
evildoom_bunny was suitably un-impressed :-)
BTW, chai is a south east asian or sub-continental word meaning... Tea. So "chai tea" is a tautology... And I'm sure there's an Indian grandmother brewing her ancient family recipe, pouring in sweetened condensed milk right now who would be scandalized by the crap I drink and call Chai...
Last year on May the 21st a friend of a friend introduced me to the joy of Chai. Yes, I know the exact date, and I celebrated this year on... Chai Day.
It gets worse. I've been keeping track of all the Chai's I've ever drunk. As of this afternoon, I've drunk 324 chai's (I was up to 187 by the end of last year.) Yes, I am a sad obsessive fuck.
Chai is an interesting drink - no two places make it the same way. There's the Chai Latte, frothy milk with some kind of chai powder or liquid. Then chai tea, a milky tea made with proper leaves. A vast number of herbal-based infusions, entirely lacking in actual tea. T2's Spi Chai being a good example. But at AU$19 a 120 gram bag, it's ever so on the expensive side. I think pot costs less these days. Then there are undrinkable preparations made with tea bags and the crap which Gloria Jean's flogs as Chai.
Every now and then you'll go into a cafe or something and ask for a chai, and meet a fellow obsessive working behind the counter. I am not alone I swear, and I'm always trying to spread the disease.
There's a cafe in the atrium of my office building which makes a rather good Chai Latte. I tried to find the syrup everywhere, and ended up contacting the Phoenix Organic Beverage Company in New Zealand, then calling their victorian distributor. He put me on to a couple of "Wholesome" retailers around my part of town - Organic Gertrude which is incogrusiously on Station Street in Fairfield. And a place called Super Fruit in Ivanhoe. I drove to both these places - the first hadn't stocked it in ages because no one asked for it. The second was in the process of closing when I finally made it there - what an errand! I stuck my head in and asked about it, and the nice bloke there sold me a litre of the stuff! Yay! Finally! I did a little dance in front of the car to celebrate -
evildoom_bunny was suitably un-impressed :-)BTW, chai is a south east asian or sub-continental word meaning... Tea. So "chai tea" is a tautology... And I'm sure there's an Indian grandmother brewing her ancient family recipe, pouring in sweetened condensed milk right now who would be scandalized by the crap I drink and call Chai...
