Chai syrup

Ingredients for 1 servings:

• 1 liter of water
• 650 g sugar, brown or white
• 5 tbsp, sautéed fennel seeds or 5 tea bags of fennel tea
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 2 tbsp, heaped cloves
• 2 tbsp, heaped cardamom
• 1 piece(s) ginger (4 cm), fresh
• 4 star anise

Instructions

Working time approx. 10 minutes; Rest time approx. 2 hours; Cooking/baking time approx. 20 minutes; Total time approx. 2 hours 30 minutes

with cinnamon, cloves and ginger – for chai tea or chai latte

Heat the water and sugar together in a saucepan. In the meantime, prepare the spices. Peel the ginger and finely grate it with a grater or cut it into small cubes. Measure the cardamom and split or otherwise chop the pods. Add it to the hot sugar water along with the fennel seeds, cinnamon sticks, star anise, and cloves. Bring to a boil, then simmer over low heat for 15 minutes. In the meantime, prepare the bottles. After the 15-minute boil, strain the syrup into a second container and let it cool. Pour into the sterilized bottles and seal. Tastes delicious with milk or black tea. For chai tea, use strong black tea and pour over boiling hot water, then let it steep for 3-5 minutes. Fill only 2/3 of the cup. After the steeping time, remove the tea bag and add syrup to taste. Then pour in milk or, even better, top with milk foam. Alternatively, the syrup can also be added to hot milk or coffee. If you plan to drink the syrup with coffee, it’s best to use a little less ginger, as otherwise the drink may taste slightly bitter.