I vividly remember the first time I ever had chai tea.  I was in high school and a few of us were at a friend's house after school.  His family was East Indian originally, by way of Kenya, and his mom kindly offered to make us some tea.  She made it in a pot, on the stove, with loose leaf black tea, freshly ground spices, milk and honey.  I had never tasted anything like it - it was warm and sweet and spicy and just like a dream of what tea could be.

Chai became more mainstream as the years went on, in part due to Starbucks, which originally offered Tazo Chai lattes.  But it never quite matched up to that first chai experience for me.  Until i tried Francesca's Chai, which is a tea/spice mix you boil on the stove in a pot, allow to simmer, then strain and cool, keeping in the fridge and reheating half and half with the milk and sweetener of your choice.

Since I have a smoothie pretty much everyday, I'm always looking for new ideas for them.  This Vanilla Chai Smoothie is delicious - it has that beautiful chai flavour, but is cold and creamy and makes an amazing breakfast, snack or after-workout pick-me-up.

Let me know what you think!