Chai Ice Pops Made with the Chai Spice Pack

When freezing chai, the most common mistake is brewing it stronger.

Cold closes an aroma down, so the urge is to concentrate it. But the longer the tea simmers, the sooner the leaves' astringency comes forward, and the aroma of the spices hides behind it. So the brewing stays exactly as in "How to Brew Iced Chai (500 ml)" — no change to amounts or times.

The only change is mixing in 100 ml of heavy cream after straining. With milk fat in the mix, the ice crystals cannot grow large, and instead of a crunchy, icy texture you get one that melts apart in your mouth.

The aroma stands even after freezing because this brewing method is built from the start on the ratios and timings at which the spices' aroma comes through strongest. The linalool of the Assam CTC that leads the ingredient list builds the body, and the cool aroma of cardamom and the sweet bark of cassia keep their outline even inside frozen milk fat.

The 3 tablespoons of sugar allow for how much harder sweetness and aroma are to perceive when cold. Freezing dulls them further, so do not reduce the amount.

Total time: about 15 min

Add to this 4 hours of freezing in the freezer.

Ingredients (Makes 6)

• "Chai Spice Pack" — 1 packet
• Milk (dairy, soy, oat or similar) — 300 ml
• Water — 250 ml
• Sugar (unrefined cane sugar recommended) — 3 tbsp (about 45 g)
• Heavy cream — 100 ml

Preparation

1. Open the "Chai Spice Pack" and cut the cardamom lengthwise with scissors.
2. Prepare molds for 6 ice pops. If you don't have molds, paper cups and ice-pop sticks work too.
3. Fill a tray with ice water. This is for rapid cooling.

Instructions

1. Put the 250 ml of water in a pot.
2. Add the cassia, the cardamom (cut lengthwise with scissors) and the tea leaves to the water, then place over medium heat and bring to a boil.
3. Once boiling, reduce to the lowest heat and simmer for 2 minutes 30 seconds. Kept at a rolling boil, the tea leaves turn bitter, so hold it at the lowest heat — or with the heat off — for the 2 minutes 30 seconds.
4. Add the 300 ml of milk, the powdered spices and the 3 tbsp of sugar. Draw a cross along the bottom of the pot with a spoon, then simmer for 1 minute 30 seconds, keeping the heat low. Above 74°C, milk develops a cooked smell that gets in the way of the spice and tea aromas. Small bubbles around the edge of the pot are enough.
5. Turn off the heat and draw a cross along the bottom again, along a different path this time. Then stir the whole gently with the spoon to bring it together. Stir as if dissolving the sugar settled on the bottom.
6. Pour slowly through a tea strainer into a bowl. Pressing the tea leaves releases astringency and bitterness, so be gentle and don't crush them.
7. Add the 100 ml of heavy cream to the strained chai and mix. Set the bowl in the tray of ice water to take off the heat.
8. Pour into the molds and freeze for at least 4 hours. For molds with separate sticks, insert the stick after about an hour, when the surface has begun to set — it will stand straight.
9. If a pop won't come out of its mold, run tap water over the outside of the mold for about 10 seconds.

Why the heavy cream goes in

With milk fat in the mix, the ice crystals cannot grow large. Instead of crunchy ice, you get a texture that melts apart in your mouth. It freezes without the cream too, but the bite then comes closer to a sorbet. Either is fine — your choice.

It works with Cacao Nibs Chai too

The Cacao Nibs Chai Spice Pack, layered with roasted cacao nibs, follows exactly the same steps. The gentle bitterness of cacao joins the milk fat and shifts the whole toward chocolate ice cream.