Chai

Arkadia chai in Australia

Arkadia is the chai you have almost certainly been served in a Melbourne cafe without knowing its name. It is made in Australia by a family-owned company, and it is the blend a lot of baristas reach for by default. We stock the range in both the tin sizes cafes buy and the smaller canisters that make sense at home, alongside the rest of the Arkadia range.

If you have been trying to work out why the chai you make at home never tastes like the one from the good cafe down the road, the answer is usually that the cafe is using a proper cafe blend rather than a supermarket sachet. This is that blend, in the same tins the cafe buys.

Arkadia Chai Spice

The signature blend and the one to start with. Black tea, ginger and a warm spice mix, and the flavour most people picture when they order a chai latte. It is the biggest seller in the range by a long way, at home and in venues, and it comes in every size from the 440g canister to the 1.5kg tin and the six and twelve packs of 1kg tins.

Arkadia Chai Vanilla

The same idea, rounded off and softened with vanilla. The easier drink of the two, and usually the one that converts people who think they do not like chai. Available in 440g, 1kg and the multipacks, so a venue can run spice and vanilla side by side without two different tin sizes.

Arkadia Matcha Latte Chai

Built on Japanese matcha green tea rather than black tea, so it drinks lighter and greener with a gentle sweetness. A genuinely different drink, not a variation on the spice blend, and the one to reach for if you want something with less of a caffeine kick than a chai spice. In 440g canisters and 1kg bags.

Arkadia Golden Latte

The turmeric one. Earthy and warm, and the pick for anyone who wants an afternoon drink without the caffeine, because Arkadia lists it at none. In a 500g bag.

Arkadia Chai Espresso, the dirty chai

Chai with espresso through it. A dirty chai is normally something you have to ask a barista to build for you from two products, and this is it in one 240g canister. It was called Dirty Chai on the old label, so if you are looking for that, this is the same product under its current name.

Arkadia Sticky Chai

Not a powder. Sticky chai is a wet leaf blend that you steep in milk and strain rather than stir, which is why it turns up on the menu at cafes that make a point of their chai. It takes longer and it is worth it. Because it is brewed tea leaf, it also carries a lot more caffeine per cup than the powders, so it is a morning drink. In 1kg bags.

Sugar free and low sugar chai

The standard blends list sugar as their first ingredient, which is part of why they taste the way they do. If you want the flavour with less of it, there are two options: Chai Tea Low Sugar in a 240g canister, and a 99% Sugar Free Honey and Ginger blend in 200g. Both are made the same way as the full sugar blends.

Powder or sticky chai?

This is the only real decision on this page. A powder dissolves into hot milk in seconds, which is why cafes use it during a rush and why it works on a weekday morning at home. Sticky chai has to steep in the milk and then be strained, so you are looking at minutes rather than seconds.

The trade is time against character. Powder is consistent and fast. Sticky chai gives you a rounder, more tea-forward cup with actual leaf in it. Plenty of people keep both and choose by how much of a hurry they are in.

What size do you actually need

• 200g and 240g canisters. Home sized. Enough to work out whether a flavour is for you before committing.
• 440g and 500g. The sensible home size once you know you drink it. Also the size for a small office.
• 1kg and 1.5kg tins. Cafe sizes, and the best value per cup by a wide margin. Worth it at home too if chai is a daily habit.
• Multipacks. Two, six and twelve packs of the 1kg and 1.5kg tins, for venues buying a run rather than a tin.

Making it properly

Hot, the method is the same one a cafe uses. Put the powder in the cup first, add a small splash of hot milk and work it into a paste so there are no lumps, then fill and stir. Skipping the paste step is the single most common reason a home chai comes out grainy.

Iced is easier and, through a Melbourne summer, more popular. Make it the same way with a little hot water or hot milk to dissolve, then top with cold milk and ice rather than pouring hot milk over ice and watching it split.

Sticky chai goes in the milk and gets heated together, then strained. Give it a few minutes on low heat rather than rushing it.

Everything here ships Australia-wide from our Melbourne store, and cafe sizes ship the same as anything else. The drinking chocolate, coffee syrups and frappe powders from the same range are a click away. We have been supplying Melbourne cafes alongside home brewers for a long time, so if you are working out which blend suits your milk or how a tin costs out per cup, ask us.