Written by Anjli Vyas
There are only two places I've ever really loved drinking tea. One is my grandmother's house and the other is when I lived in Bombay. My favorite was the bubbling cauldron lemon grass masala chai post my yoga class from the local chaiwala Sanjay. Somehow tea is not a daily staple for me, it's a direct line to nostalgia and something I make when I want to be transported.
For a long time, that meant tea felt like something that happened to me, in specific places, made by specific hands. But there's a different kind of magic in making chai for yourself, at home. When the whole house fills up with the smell of cardamom and ginger and cloves, something shifts. I am not just drinking a cup of tea, instead I’m being transported, on my own terms, in my own kitchen. It's the rare thing I get to have again, but entirely by way and that for me right now is in a Tonic form.
Quench your thirst
Having lived for so many years in India and akin to Ayurdevic living, I never really opt for cold drinks, instead it's always room temp or warm water. However, something about London's heat hits different. Maybe it's the fact that we don't have air conditioning as a central part of our cooling system (no pun indeed) or maybe we get the worst of Island life - go figure. But what I know is that during these balmy temperatures, I - like most people, turn into an ice fanatic. Apart from the ritual morning of tea, everything else needs to be cold, including my chai. Most people take their chai with milk. I'm a black tea person through and through, which led me to what I've been calling my Iced Chai Tonic, it's my current, undisputed go-to drink of the summer. The bitterness of the tonic against the spice of the chai and the brightness of the lime is something I didn't know I needed until I had it. It's not quite an iced tea, not quite a cocktail just its own thing, it’s mine. Now yours too.
The Iced Chai Tonic
What you'll need:
- Loka Chai (brewed strong, black, no milk)
- 1 tablespoon of sugar or maple syrup
- Ice (large cubes if possible)
- Tonic water
- Fresh lime
- Mint (optional)
How to make it:
- Brew a strong pot of Loka Chai, black, without milk.
- Stir in a tablespoon of sweetener of choice while it's still hot, then let it cool/refrigerate. This becomes your chai base
- Fill a glass with ice.
- Pour in the chai base, filling the glass about halfway.
- Top it off with tonic water.
- Finish with a good squeeze of lime and some mint.
A Summer Playlist for Sipping
No good drink is complete without the right soundtrack, and this one comes with some family history attached. In the spirit of this sweltering hot summer we are embracing, there is nothing I prefer to listen to than some jazz. Why? Well, I was lucky enough to grow up surrounded by music thanks to my parents' travels. They came home with a stack of records from each trip, West African Jazz, Flamenco, and New Orleans Blues. Unknowingly, Jazz became the musical anthology of my childhood, that I only truly understand the value of today.
It's that same rhythmic base, the veracious vocals, second-line pulse, the one running
underneath New Orleans blues and jazz that I hear in bands like Ezra Collective, Fela Kuti's music and Highlife music. Different decades, different continents, same heartbeat.So here's a little playlist for sipping your own Iced Chai Tonic in the sun. Pour the tonic, put the playlist on, and let the house fill up with spice.
