Our spices…
What really makes a masala chai is the fragrant spices that create that delicious, soul-warming beverage that we love so much! We use cinnamon bark, dried ginger root, cardamom pods, cloves, fennel seeds & black peppercorns as our ‘base spices’ in our blends, with other add ons and variations sometimes used. These are considered the traditional masala chai spices, with some recipes adding star anise, bay leaves or nutmeg to name just a few examples. There are no doubt thousands upon thousands of recipes worldwide for making the perfect masala chai, and we’ve certainly got our own!
Just like with our tea-leaves, the sourcing of our spices are important to maintain a quality product and to work with responsible farms who look after their land and the environment around them. We aim for all of our spices to be organic-certified (the majority of them already are) but we also look beyond organic certification as this process can be simply unaffordable for many small farms owners (just like with our tea leaves; check out our previous post for more info). It’s scientifically proven that growing organically not only yields better quality crops, but helps increase biodiversity, enhances soil and overall protects the environment in comparison to using artificial fertilisers & pesticides. This is such an important aspect of our business and how we can make sure we’re helping support responsible & regenerative agriculture.
We are currently still in the process of sourcing/finalising all of our spice suppliers, but here are some that we work with and will continue adding too:
Organic Herb Trading
We’ve sourced some of our spices from Organic Herb Trading; a 100% organic company who offer a range of herbs, spices & botanics. They have operated for over 40 years working closely with producers to negotiate fair & ethical trade deals and have built long-standing relationships with said producers. They understand the importance of working with growers that ensure workers are paid fairly and treated with respect, whilst also being at the forefront of supporting biodiversity within agriculture and supporting environmental conservation efforts through certain producers.
AMBA Tea Estate
If you’ve read our previous ‘Tea Leaves’ blog post, you know how excited we are to be working in the future with AMBA Tea Estate; an organic farm, guesthouse & social enterprise in the UVA Highlands of Sri Lanka. They grow a variety of spices on the farm including cinnamon, peppercorns, turmeric, cloves, lemongrass and much more! We are in the process of sampling some of these spices for our blends, including some green cardamom pods that have just been harvested and are drying as we speak. About as fresh as you can get!
We’re excited to be working with this fantastic enterprise, do check out our previous post for a little more info or visit https://www.ambaestate.com/ for a good read on everything they do.
Keep coming back as we continue to work with more producers/suppliers and expand our masala chai range moving forwards!