Pumpkin Chai Latte

This week starts off with our Chai Week! We also have Christina from Dandelions on the Wall and Alisa from Alisa's Garden contributing with some very fun and unique recipes on their blogs this week.

When the air is turning crisp and the leaves are falling, there is just nothing better than a hot cup of chai to guzzle. I love the smell of the spices as they infuse the tea over the stove. Mixed with pumpkin, it's just one beautiful cup of Fall! Best enjoyed in a cozy sweater and with a book.

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Besides being absolutely delicious, Chai is also a multi-tasker! The Ginger helps to increase circulation and aid in digestion (great for nausea) as well as being detoxifying. Cloves can help relieve stomach or tooth pain and strengthen the immune system, killing intestinal parasites. Cardamom helps relieve gas and can be soothing for bronchial problems. Black Peppercorns has antibacterial properties. Cinnamon also aids digestion when stagnant and can be great for indigestion and cramping (Nursing Mothers be careful of cinnamon as it can be the culprit for acid reflux in little ones). It is also can help fight fungal, bacterial, and parasitic infections (originally posted on my simple chai recipe).

I already have a simple chai recipe here on the blog which you might have seen mentioned in the Iced Coconut Chai Recipe (are you getting how much I like chai?). But for today's recipe I added a couple more spices and made the concentrate a more robust, detailed below.

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Pumpkin Chai Latte
1/4 part pumpkin puree
1 part chai concentrate*
1 part milk of choice
Sweetener of Choice (I used a little maple syrup = mmmm)

1. Warm chai concentrate, pumpkin puree and sweetener in a small saucepot (or microwave).
2. Seperately, warm the milk. Whisking for foam. (If you don't care for foam, you can heat the two together).
3. Pour the chai tea into the cup then the foamy milk. Sip. Enjoy!

Another option to enjoy this is to freeze the chai concentrate and blend it with the milk and pumpkin for a pumpkin chai frappe.

Chai Concentrate
3 Tb cardamom
3 Tb clove
1 Tb red peppercorns
A few square inches of ginger
1 TB allspice
3 anise stars
6 cups water
3 Tb Black Tea

1. Put all the ingredients except for the black tea in a medium saucepot. Boil then simmer for 15 minutes.
2. Remove from heat and add black tea. Cover for 5-10 minutes (depending on desired strength).
3. Strain and store in fridge.

Meanwhile, you can check out Christina's delicious-sounding, gluten, soy and dairy-free chai-spiced scones on her blog.

If you don't have time to make your own pumpkin puree, you can subscribe and save organic pumpkin on Vitacost (here's $10 off your first order) or 12 pack Farmers Market Organic Pumpkin from Amazon.