How We Brew Kulhad Chai at Chaiyo Bar

Everybody in Bargarh has an opinion about how chai should be made and almost nobody has written their method down. This is ours, in full, so you can either copy it or argue with it on the evidence.

What makes a chai taste Kolkata

Two supporting details. The leaf is strong CTC Assam, not a leaf-tea blend, because a delicate leaf cannot survive a hard boil without turning bitter. And the milk goes in after the leaf has boiled, so the leaf has already given what it is going to give before the milk dilutes it.

The equipment

• A wide pot, aluminium or steel. Wide matters: more surface area means faster reduction.
• A strong CTC Assam, roughly one tablespoon per 250 ml of final chai.
• Fresh ginger, crushed, not powder.
• Whole spice if you are making masala chai: clove, cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper.
• A kulhad, or a heavy mug if you are starting out.

The method, step by step

1. Water and leaf. Cold water, leaf in, heat on high. Do not add sugar yet.
2. Boil hard for three minutes. This is the step people skip and it is the whole difference. The colour should visibly darken and the surface should go from foam to a rolling boil.
3. Add the milk. Roughly three-quarters of the final volume. Bring back to a boil immediately.
4. Reduce for four minutes. Keep it boiling and let it come down by about a quarter. This is where the body comes from.
5. Sugar. Add at the end, not the start. Sugar added early dissolves into the water and never caramelises, which is why early-sugared chai tastes flat.
6. Ginger and spice. Fresh crushed ginger goes in during the last two minutes. Whole spice goes in with the leaf if you are making masala chai, and gets strained out before pouring.
7. Pour straight into the kulhad. Never into a jug first. The clay needs the heat immediately, and the last of the reduction goes into the cup.

How ours differs at the counter

Mostly volume and timing. A single cup is made exactly as above. A hundred cups go into a bigger pot with the same ratios, and the entire batch is poured into pre-warmed kulhads within ninety seconds of the sugar going in. The second we lose is the sugar sitting and dissolving.

The Bargadiya Special adds one thing to the method: roughly twice the ginger of a normal chai, cut into small pieces rather than crushed, so it holds its bite in the hot milk instead of dissipating in the boil.

Common mistakes

• Sugar too early. The single most common error, and it makes the tea taste flat no matter how long you boil it.
• Not boiling hard enough. A gentle simmer gives you a weak cup that tastes diluted.
• Fine tea instead of CTC. It will turn bitter under a hard boil.
• Warming the kulhad in advance. Not a mistake exactly, but a pre-warmed cup holds heat noticeably longer, which is a free improvement.
• Reusing the same pot for chai and coffee. The masala oils from a full day of chai will follow you into the coffee. We use separate vessels.

Frequently asked questions