dear doris. how do you make your chai?
issue 37 ♡ chai is the spice to life. tea is a window to contemplation & presence.
dear doris. how do you make your chai? what do you put in it? love feathers, perth australia.
why does this chai taste so good? what’s in this chai? love airbnb guest, fremantle australia.
dearest feathers & guests
this is the last issue of the year. thank you for being here.
i never see myself as a writer. it just happens to be the best tool of translation to capture the intangible of the higher self into a tang-ible form for human interpretation. somehow i self-committed myself to a year of this dee-coding and published over forty thousand words here rounding up the year with issue 37.
part I is a download from the higher self doris who tells us the purpose of tea from a higher perspective. in part II i share with you my recipe — a daily morning ritual of mine — coined the arrival chai i serve to visitors and guests in the kawa heart studio.
part I.
chai is to be served hot, brewed in milk. it is an ancient ayurvedic formula of herbs and spices — cardamon, ginger, black tea, cloves and anise to create the perfect elixir for a hot day with honey to sweeten and nourish the tongue with contrast to the spice.
when serving tea, do remember to sip and contemplate gratitude for life or vida even if it is living la vida loca. tea is a window to contemplation and presence. the act of sitting with tea is an ancient tradition formed many hundreds to thousands of years ago in the highlands of china that meets india. somewhere the combination of cultures created a boiling pot (literally) of combining tea from the chinese and adding spice of india to infuse to another level.
the preparer of tea must be present with their tea so that the vibrations and intentions of the tea are infused and served with reverence to those concerned and constituted with the tea. gratitude for a simple cuppa tea is gratitude for life.
when we sip a cuppa of tea, all the debris of life settles and for a brief moment we are offered a moment of clarity and claircognizance — a deep knowing that every thing or one will be okay — that for the moment that we are here to support one another, that we are all suited to a tea in this blessed moment in time.
look to the horizon to further calibrate and concentrate in this moment. may the serendipi-tea be with you.
love d(oris)
ps. dee makes the best chai cos’ she is an ascended tea connoisseur with leaves in her blood stream. ask for her recipe and she will provide you with the tea-riffic recipe.
part II.
my relationship with chai began in my mid twenties in a rambling art deco sharehouse in east brunswick in melbourne. i had began making my own before work and upgraded from a bulk box teabag to a fancy pyramid variety. i was employed at american apparel in their first australian store on chapel street. it was there i met a beautiful co-worker named rafa — who would give me two gifts that i would treasure forever — her namesake and chai recipe.
rafa disclosed with me — over spacing a rack of rainbow blended hoodies while clad in shiny disco pants and a sweatshop free tee — that the blunder commonly made down under was brewing tea in boiling water. in her bangladeshi culture and family kitchen they would always steep tea and spices in milk over a lengthy period of time.
this changed the way i made tea from that day on — that it was to be attended to and attuned to — a devoted practice not just a quickie with a drippy teabag and hot kettle. over the years i began to add medicinal mushrooms and cacao to this recipe below. please adjust accordingly to taste and what local produce you can source.
arrival chai
chai black tea
cinnamon
reishi
local honey
oat / almond / soy milk
milk pan + tea strainer
pour a cup of mylk per serve into a milkpan. add heaped spoon of chai per serve. heat on medium-high for 3-5 mins. do not boil the milk.
when it begins to seep and change colour adjust to low heat and brew for another 5-10 minutes. stir occasionally. the longer the brew — the tastier and richer it will become.
turn off the heat. optional to add a teaspoon of reishi for clarity or medicinal mushroom of choice. add a teaspoon of cacao to open the heart. add honey to taste and stir thoroughly.
pour into a mug or keep cup using the tea strainer. pour the remains into a jar and place into the fridge for an ice chai treat later in the day.
enjoy. may the serendipi-tea be with you :)
happy holy daze good humans. big love and blessings into 2024.
you can read all past issues of dear doris here.
love d xx
thank you for tuning into dear doris this year. if you enjoyed reading this, tap the ♡ to like or restack ↻ or share post. your support makes a big difference & beams straight into my heart. read my picture book love is. that captures the moments of nirvana we experience as humans on earth. available at kawa heart studio ♡
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