Indian Culture

Chai

Chai is the Hindi word for tea.1,2,3,4 In India it is black tea boiled with milk and sugar; with spices such as cardamom and ginger it is called masala chai.3,5,6,7

Also known as Masala Chai, Chai tea

Chai is the Hindi and Urdu word for tea; it came from the Chinese cha by way of Persian.1,2,3,4,8,9 In India it usually means black tea boiled with water, milk and sugar.5,6,7,10 When spices such as cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, cloves or black pepper are added, it is called masala chai.3,5,7,10 The British began growing tea in India only in the 1830s; chai became an everyday drink in the 20th century, mostly after 1947, through large advertising campaigns and cheaper tea.5,6,10,11,12 Today it is drunk at any time of day, at tea stalls, at work and at home, where it is offered to guests.3,5,7,10,12 According to the pack, Wagh Bakri and Brooke Bond Taj Mahal contain only black tea; MDH Tea Spice Blend contains fennel, ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, cloves and star anise.13,14,15

What is the difference between chai and tea?

In the word, none: chai simply means tea in Hindi. The difference is the method, as in India black tea is boiled with milk and sugar; in the West, chai usually means a spiced tea with milk.1,2,3,5,6,7,8,16,17

What is a chai latte?

A café drink: spiced black tea with milk heated with steam, much like a caffè latte and typical of coffee shops. Merriam-Webster records the word from 1994.6,18,19

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Sources

  1. Digital Dictionaries of South Asia, University of Chicago. (n.d.). cāy. In The Oxford Hindi-English Dictionary (p. 311). Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  2. Alford, J. & Duguid, N. (2005). Chai. In Mangoes & Curry Leaves: Culinary Travels Through the Great Subcontinent. Artisan Books.
  3. Wemischner, R. & Rosen, D. (2000). Masala Chai. In Cooking with Tea.
  4. Cambridge University Press. (n.d.). chai. In Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  5. Lutgendorf, P. (n.d.). Chai Why? The Triumph of Tea in India as Documented in the Priya Paul Collection. Tasveer Ghar. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  6. Lutgendorf, P. (2012). Making tea in India: Chai, capitalism, culture. Thesis Eleven, 113(1), 11–31. DOI: 10.1177/0725513612456896
  7. Katzer, G. (n.d.). Cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum, Kardamom). Gernot Katzers Gewürzseiten. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  8. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). chai. In Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  9. Dahl, Ö. (n.d.). Tea. In The World Atlas of Language Structures Online. Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  10. Rezavi, S. A. N. (2020). Chai: The Story of Tea in India. ASHA: Blast From The Past.
  11. Sivasubramaniam, S. (2026). tea. In Encyclopaedia Britannica.
  12. Arora, N. (2023). Chai as a Colonial Creation: The British Empire’s Cultivation of Tea as a Popular Taste and Habit Among South Asians. Oregon Undergraduate Research Journal, 21(1). DOI: 10.5399/uo/ourj/21.1.7
  13. Indian Culture: Wagh Bakri Black Tea: ingredients on the pack.
  14. Indian Culture: Brooke Bond Taj Mahal Black Tea: ingredients on the pack.
  15. Indian Culture: MDH Tea Spice Blend (T-Plus Tea Masala): ingredients on the pack.
  16. (n.d.). chai. In Online Etymology Dictionary. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  17. Oxford University Press. (n.d.). chai. In Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  18. Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). chai latte. In Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary. Retrieved October 6, 2026.
  19. Cambridge University Press. (n.d.). chai latte. In Cambridge Dictionary. Retrieved October 6, 2026.

Cite this entry

MLA

“Chai.” Indian Culture Glossary, Indian Culture, https://www.indian-culture.de/en/glossar/chai.

Chicago

Indian Culture Glossary, s.v. “Chai,” https://www.indian-culture.de/en/glossar/chai.

APA

Indian Culture. (n.d.). Chai. In Indian Culture glossary. https://www.indian-culture.de/en/glossar/chai