Thermos Chai, Filled at Breakfast
Brew it once in the morning and drink it hot at the pass four hours later.
- calories
- 190
- weight
- 1.6 oz
- cal / oz
- 119
- protein
- 5 g
- serves
- 1, scales
- prep
- 2 min
- cook
- 6 min
- total time
- 8 min
- water
- 470 ml boiled
- cost
- $
Calorie and protein figures are my own estimates, good enough for planning a food bag and not meant as precise nutrition data.
- Drink
- Breakfast
- Canister stove
- Alcohol / Esbit
- Backpacking
- Winter / snow
- Day hike
- Bikepacking
- Vegetarian
- Gluten free
- Nut free
- One pot
- Pre-mix at home
- Shelf stable
- Dump and stir
Ingredients
| Loose black tea or two tea bags | 2 tsp | assam or any strong CTC |
|---|---|---|
| Powdered whole milk | 3 tbsp | whole, not skim, or it tastes thin |
| Sugar | 2 tbsp | |
| Ground cardamom, ginger, and cinnamon | 1/2 tsp total | |
| Salt | a pinch | |
| Insulated travel mug | 1 | 470 ml with a sealing lid |
Method
- Boil 470 ml of water. While it heats, pour the premixed bag of tea, milk powder, sugar, spices, and salt into the pot.
- Once it boils, cut the heat and let it sit for four minutes. Loose tea will drop to the bottom.
- Stir hard so no milk powder is left clumped on the surface.
- Pour into the insulated mug through a bandana or a small strainer if you used loose tea. Fill it to within a finger of the rim and close the lid.
- Leave it sealed. Every time you open it you lose an hour of heat.
An insulated mug is a slow-release stove. You spend one fuel boil at breakfast and get a hot drink at ten, at noon, and at the top of the climb, without unpacking anything. On a cold day that changes how the whole morning goes.
Two details do most of the work. Fill the mug nearly to the top, because the trapped air is what cools the drink, not the walls. And premix the powder at home so all you do in camp is dump one bag into boiling water. Powdered whole milk stands in for the fresh milk this normally wants; it dissolves fine in water that has stopped bubbling, and it will scorch if you keep the flame on.
Packing
Premix everything dry into one small bag per day. Preheat the mug with a splash of boiling water and dump it before the real pour; a cold steel mug eats the first ten minutes of heat.
Variations
- Swap the tea for two spoons of instant coffee and skip the steep.
- Cocoa powder in place of the spices makes a heavier winter version.
- Leave the milk powder out and it is plain sweet spiced tea, which keeps better in the mug over a full day.
https://instacuppastore.com/products/vacuum-insulated-thermos-travel-mug-with-handle-coffee-tea