Who Invented Chai? Well, It's Complicated | AJ+

Tea is warm, nurturing and perfect for digestion after a massive carb-loaded meal. And for many Americans, specifically those in diaspora communities, tea is how they connect with family and their roots. But for many societies around the world, tea has a bit of a complicated history – and it traces back to colonial empires.

Learn more here:



Music tracks courtesy of APM and Audio Network.

Presented by: Sana Saeed
Edited by: Michael Zipkin
Animations by: Chia Liu
Produced by: Sana Saeed, Kathryn Wheeler and Omar Duwaji
Senior Producer: Imaeyen Ibanga
Executive Producer: Sarah Nasr

Music tracks courtesy of APM and Audio Networks.
Footage and images courtesy of Getty.

[liliebilie]

I'm Somali and we drink shaah. It's a big part of our culture, everyday life, and out gatherings. It tastes a lot like chai and I'm certain we got it from South Asia. I'm from the North which was colonized by the British who brought over South Asians to work. They lived in that part of Somalia until the Civil War in the 80s. I think that's part of it but hundreds of years before that we traded often with South Asia and the Middle East so I think that's where we got it from.

[biggee]

I asked an India 'Walla' what the secret to his Chai was. He said that he used equal parts of water and milk. He also said that he boiled his milk before hand a few times to get it creamier. Delightful !!!

[totallyprofessional]

Most America tea is southern sweet tea. Not like chai.

[joelcrawford]

I have a entire pantry dedicated to all the different teas around the world from India, China, Japan, Russia, Middle East.
Love tea so much.

[hassaantauseef]

Chai should be brewed strong with fennel seeds and cardamon and a little ginger, topped with a generous amount of milk and boiled till it's sizzling. Lastly, I don't care if the British brought Chai here, our Chai here is so different and loudly represents our culture through the use of authentic spices

[FlyingBalcony]

I'm chinese, I fell in love with masala chai the first time I made it, it was so much better than the instant powder ones, I'm very curious about Indian and Pakistani cuisine and culture. So far I've made Goan fish curry and Dal tadka. Love from China and Australia

[DaisyHHR]

"tea is, kinda, the result of empires clashing." ??? tea or cha already had thousands of years of history/culture before the colonists arrived...

[brucewayne]

I am from Kenya and chai has been an integral part of the daily life of Kenyans including myself because of British Colonialism which brought Indian immigrants to Kenya to build a cross country railway in the mid 19th Century and with them came their amazing cuisine including chai. I came to the US for college in 93 and after about 10 years of relying on Starbucks chai 💋😫😝👎🏿 started making my own chai again and becoming a purist in terms of the spices used. I am a full-fledged Chai connoisseur/snob and only drink what I make with the 9 spices and fair trade black tea leaves I get from home 🤣🇰🇪

[debodatta]

This is actually incorrect in that Tamils a large south indian ethnic group had tea far before the brits arrvied due to historic ancenstral trade routes to china as well as indonesia and cambodia...Its not even called Chai (a north indian word) so quit stereotyping and over generalizing. Also you gloss over east India (the seven sisters) and their historic tea roots not all of india is north india some indians have been drinking tea far before brits arrived.

[matrix]

I just know that a Persian PM hid the chai seeds in his cone and brought them to Iran

[pratapsinghuuwngifhgj]

watching chai and samosa while its raining here in my city.
i know what i am having this evening.

[guillaumep.]

Interesting but 2 remarks :
- Using tomatoes in Italian cuisine is somehow irrelevant as an example of colonialism, because Italy never had colonies in South America, plus the tomatoes where not grown then to be sold in Europe, they were discovered there, seeds were taken and grown in Europe. So you don't need to colonize a place to bring some seeds back home.
- It is unfortunate that Taiwan is not mentioned, probably because its rich tea history is not because of colonialism but because of pure business development at least at first, then grew under Japanese colonization, so as it doesn't relate to AJ's American audience, it is not worth being mentioned....

[horseenthusiast]

I’m technically Irish/Welsh/Scottish, but my family has been in America for so long that we don’t have much connection to our roots. So in attempts to get to know my own culture(s) and also in work dealing with the endangered language of Yurok and the surrounding culture, I’ve learned that one of the absolute easiest ways to learn a lot about a culture is food. It’s really cool that you can just follow the history of chai and find ways to explore so many key points of history, and so many cultures, little and big.

[humera]

Sana you presented very well thank you. I just wanted to add in some missing info and I hope I'm not wrong remembering the history. As you pointed out that initially tea was the elite drink before becoming a household treat, true but it wasn't after when British left that every poor peasants also started drinking tea. It was actually after the Boston tea party incident during the late 1800 that British Empire had a glut of tea and didn't know where to sell. At the same time their hold was weakening in China. So Thomas J Lipton hooked every household on tea drinking they went to every nooks and crannies and served free teas for a long time until people were hooked on tea and they all eventually became their consumers.

[sajidrahman]

Taste of tea depends on the procedure of making it, not everybody can make a good cup of tea.Besides if you can make chai from pure mik it tastes a lot better.Some people are lactose intolerant, so they can't really enjoy real chai at all(FACT-chai without milk is like smartphone without internet)>>>FYI--You guys didn't mention about the largest producer of chai in the world i.e ASSAM.

[MYInteriorArchitect]

رَبَّنَا ظَلَمْنَا أَنفُسَنَا وَإِن لَّمْ تَغْفِرْ لَنَا وَتَرْحَمْنَا لَنَكُونَنَّ مِنَ الْخَاسِرِينَ

[tamadherash]

Here in oman people are chai addict they cannot function without thier chai.
We make it with cardamom and Cinnamon or saffrons or ginger
And it tast amaaaazing 😋😋

[tenzinsangmo]

i am tibetan, born in india . In my family we make both chai and butter tea( its tibetan tea ), and when there is guest we have both and server depending on what they want .

[greenewinston]

The best quality chai is not boiled in the pot. First you boil the water, then you take it off the heat, then you add the leaves. For even better quality, try a pour over brew. Steeping too long creates bitterness and off flavors. With pour over, you can have three to six infusions, with the second and third considered the highest quality.

[ZakharPerez]

The word for tea, in China, “茶” which pronounces “chá”.