Hot, Sweet, and Spicy Chai Latte

I love Chai, nearly as much as I love a great cafe latte.  I have been looking for a good homemade Chai recipe and have tried a couple out.  My Chai loving daughters and I love this one:

2 cups water

2 Black Pekoe tea bags

1 inch piece of fresh ginger sliced thinly

1 cinnamon stick (Did you know you can reuse cinnamon sticks?  Just rinse after using and sniff. If it still smells of cinnamon, it can be used again.)

5 whole cloves

3 peppercorns

3 cardamon pods(crack and use the inner seeds, discarding the outer shell) 

1/8 tsp grated nutmeg (I use whole nutmeg and a microplane grater)

2-3 tbsps honey (depending on how sweet you want your Chai)

2 cups milk

Bruise the spices to bring out their strongest flavors. Bring water, tea bags and spices to a boil and reduce to low.  Simmer for 5 minutes.  Stir in honey and add milk.  Return to a simmer. Strain and serve. This recipe will make 3-4 servings.

*Whole spices can be expensive.  Karate Kid and I priced cardamon at the local grocery store at $13 for a spice jar.  Penzy's spice catalogue is a much less expensive place to purchase spices, especially if you buy in bulk all the spices you might use at once.  I read another alternative to buying spices in a grocery store is to try your local health food market.