Sipping chai in Boise
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One of my favorite coffee shop beverages is chai. Hot, cold, amped up with a shot of espresso – it's one of my go to's. Today's story was written by Sonya Feibert Kuhn and it's an ode to chai in Boise and beyond. Enjoy! Sipping chai in BoiseBy Sonya Feibert Kuhn It only seems fitting to write about chai with a hot mug of hot chai in hand, the steam wafting into the air and the scent of many spices inviting me to take another sip. It also seems fitting to chai out some puns… Chai me. Chai that on for size. Chai it iced, chai it hot. Don’t take it personally, he’s just chai. Okay, not that I have that out of my system, time to spill the tea… My love for chai was born in Africa and runs spicy. I was 19 and spending a semester in Kenya and Tanazania when I first tried masala chai. During two weeks in Zanzibar, I drank a cup every morning with my friend Mika, who was equally obsessed. The heavily spiced tea made me sweat as much as the 90-degree weather. I loved it. Chai originated in Southeast Asia, and recipes and methods may vary but tend to orbit around a few key ingredients: black tea steeped with water and/or milk and the addition of jaggery, sugar, honey, or a similar sweetener. Sometimes spices like ginger, cardamom, cinnamon, and pepper are added, and you might see spicier versions called masala chai (my favorite). As Farah Jesani, Chief Chai Officer of One Stripe Chai in Portland, Oregon (and winner of my favorite chai pun with their ‘Chai Me At Home’ blend) reminds us that chai means tea. So if you say chai tea, you’re just saying "tea tea." Years after my experience in Africa and since I started drinking less coffee, I've returned to chai. Here are some of my favorite chais in Boise. Boise's best chaiSeveral coffee shops around Boise make their chai with care and craftsmanship. Here are some of those local spots and a bit of the story behind their chai recipes. Enjoy! Good Times Bagels - Good Times makes their chai with fresh ginger to create their spicy-sweet drink. As owners Ashlee and Kale shared, “Our team of baristas helped create our signature recipe and we are really proud of it.” The result is a delicious chai latte that pairs perfectly with a bagel and spicy honey cream cheese. Or avocado. Or really any bagel and spread combo. neckar coffee - Born out of a frustration with chai that was either too sweet or lacked complexity, neckar’s house masala chai blends a bounty of spices, including cinnamon, clove, and cardamom, to create a depth of flavor. It hits the perfect spicy-sweet blend for me—high on the spice, lower on the sweet scale. Sunshine Spice Cafe - Alongside their ube lattes and namesake saffron-spiced drinks at Sunshine Spice Cafe is co-owner and lead baker Bahar Amir’s masala chai. It lives up to the cafe’s name—Bahar uses 8 different spices to deliver the perfect sweet-spicy blend. As she told me, “All the spices have their own benefits, and I want people to get the full benefits.” Hideout - Kayla, Hideout’s barista who creates beautiful mugs as part of her pottery business Lala’s Fresh Pots, is also the creator of Hideout’s chai. She tested a few recipes for masala chai to get the perfect balance of spicy and sweet. As Kayla shared, “My inspiration was wanting to make something without a bunch of additives and sugar.” Fresh ginger, black pepper, and a whisper of brown sugar are a few of her key ingredients. Get it with oat or sesame milk (my favorite). Flying M Coffee - Flying M has been making their chai in-house for decades with a combo of spices, including cinnamon and clove, and Irish breakfast tea. Sweet, spicy, and everything nice. Form & Function - The team at Form & Function starts with black tea to make their chai in-house. It’s on the sweeter side but as they note, not sweet like the chai concentrate you’re likely to get at chain coffee shops, and it has a nice touch of spice. I like it with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top. Roosevelt Market - The historic East End market makes their own spicy-sweet chai with a lovely sprinkle of cinnamon on top. As of October you could add maple pumpkin or apple cinnamon syrup for a seasonal touch. Broadcast Coffee - Broadcast starts with Traveler’s masala chai out of Seattle, a blend of organic spices and Assam CTC black tea. The Broadcast team brews it in-house and it’s a little sweet, a little spicy, and very nice. Primal Coffee - Primal’s ginger turmeric chai is my go-to when I want spicy-sweet goodness without the caffeine. They make it with spices including turmeric, ginger, and cinnamon, then infuse it with five types of mushrooms from Fergs Fabulous Fungi. Each serving packs 500 milligrams of cordyceps, lions mane, chaga, turkey tails, and reishi mushrooms. It’s got a nice zip of spice, a mellowing zap of honey-sweetness, and is somehow energizing despite containing no caffeine (maybe the magic of mushrooms?). It looks like sunshine in a mug with a cinnamon sprinkle on top. Perfectly warming on a chilly day. A little convo about a love of chaiWanting to learn more about chai, I asked my friend Anisha about their experience with the drink and what good chai means to them. Their answers are so lovely and vibrant that I wanted to share them with you. Anisha, what’s your relationship with chai? I have a very special relationship with chai. It’s one of the drinks I associate with patriarchy, community, and chit-chat. My earliest memory of chai is that it was something I was constantly tasked to make. My father is very particular about how he would like his chai to be made—how the water needs to be boiled, how much milk, the right point when the tea has been boiled and you add milk. When I was in school, we used to have a group study and I would hang out with a Gujarati friend of mine who introduced me to the concept of adding masala. Her mom used to make masala powder at home. Her mom was a stay-at-home mom so everything used to be dry-roasted and ground and kept in a special bottle. I loved masala chai. When I woke up at four in the morning to study, my mom used to bring me chai with toast. Chai maska bun is another memory. It’s a soft sweet bun that has a dollop of butter, a dollop of jam, and the whole combination is delicious. If you ever go to Ahmedabad, my city, you must try it. I lived for a month in the highest village in the Himalayas. Over there the chai is just water that has been boiled, but there’s so much sweetness in the way everyone knows everyone. It’s a very small village, so if you’re walking around, people ask you over for tea. It’s the norm. That’s also something I associate with my grandfather. He was a doctor, so there was always chai flowing in the house. There’s this thing of abundance and community and hospitality around chai. I was an insurance salesperson at the start of my career, and one of the tips I learned from my seniors is that if a customer asks if you want tea, always say yes. It’s a way to accept their hospitality. I used to not drink chai—I have all this memory of chai and sharing it, but I didn’t have a habit of it. Chai is an opportunity to have a connection and a conversation. We used to have this chai kitli, basically a group of stones and a burner, and chai which would be boiling and boiling, usually around any college in my city. This habit of drinking chai, drinking chai in community, is celebrated. I have so many memories of chai. Sometime I will tell you over a cup of chai. Yes please! Speaking of, what do you look for in a good cup of chai? When I look for good chai, for me, it’s the masala, the ginger. I have both of those here in England. I’m still continuing with the chai leaves I brought from India. I don’t have a habit of drinking it, but I love making it, I love sitting and having a conversation around it. When I do have chai, I add a lot of sugar, so it’s something I don't do very often. All this talk of chai, I’m going to get myself some tea. Thank you, Anisha, for sharing your beautiful recollections of chai and what it means to you. I hope you enjoy your next cup when you have a moment to sit and sip it among friends and good conversation. What about you? Where’s your favorite place to get chai in Boise? Thanks for reading! With love from Boise, Marissa This story was written by Sonya Feibert Kuhn, a writer, improviser, and performer in Boise. She's an avid Treeforter and an enthusiastic patron of and participant in the storytelling and comedy scenes. On sunny days, find her in the foothills hiking with her pup, Chloe, and partner, Mitch.
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From Boise
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