Chai is a winter drink everywhere except here, where Christmas arrives at 35 degrees and nobody wants a steaming mug with their pavlova. The fix isn’t to give up the spice — it’s to chill it. Brewed strong, cooled completely and poured over a tall glass of ice and cold milk, chai becomes exactly what a hot December afternoon is asking for: sweet, spiced, and very cold.

Sticky chai is the right tool for the job. Organic sticky chai is whole spices and real tea leaves bound in honey — no powders, no syrup, no shortcut aftertaste — and all that cinnamon, ginger and cardamom survives the chilling with its character intact. Most iced chais are made from syrup and apology. This one is made from actual chai.

What you need

4 heaped tbsp organic sticky chai
500 ml water
500 ml cold milk of your choice — full-cream and oat both shine here
Plenty of ice
Hunnie raw WA honey, to taste

Method

Toast the sticky chai in a dry saucepan over medium heat for a minute, until the honey loosens and the kitchen smells like a spice market. This step is thirty seconds of effort for a whole extra layer of flavour.
Add the water, bring to a gentle simmer for 5 minutes, then take it off the heat and let it steep for 10 more.
Strain into a jug and, while it’s still warm, sweeten with honey to taste — honey stirs into a warm concentrate beautifully and sulks at the bottom of a cold glass. Chill completely.
Fill tall glasses with ice, pour them half full with concentrate, and top with cold milk. Stir once, lazily, for the marble effect.
Serve on the verandah. Repeat through February.

The concentrate keeps for four days in the fridge, which makes Christmas morning a pour-and-done affair. For a frothier glass, shake concentrate, milk and ice in a jar like you mean it. And Simara Blends’ sticky chai brews the same way with its own spice signature — worth running the comparison, for science.

When the cool change finally comes through, the same leaves go back to the stove — our authentic stovetop masala chai is the hot-weather-be-damned original, and the rest of the tea shelf covers every season in between.