Mint Turns Bitter the Moment You Boil It
Menthol leaves fast and chlorophyll stays behind, which is why boiled mint tastes green and harsh instead of cool.
Spices
What each spice does, when to add it, and how to tell good from tired.
21 articles · updated August 11, 2026 · page 2 of 2
Dried Ginger and Fresh Ginger Are Not Substitutes in a Chai Pan
They come from the same rhizome and behave like different spices, because drying converts the compound that makes ginger sharp.
Black Cardamom Is a Smoke Flavour, Not a Larger Green Cardamom
The pods look related and are not interchangeable; one is floral and volatile, the other is dried over fire and tastes of it.
Long Pepper Is the Older Pepper and Behaves Nothing Like Black
Pippali looks like a small dried catkin, tastes hotter and sweeter than black pepper, and needs a fraction of the quantity.
Dry-Roasting Chai Spices Buys Aroma and Costs You Shelf Life
A short turn in a hot dry pan changes what spices smell like and starts a clock on how long they will stay that way.
Dried Rose Petals Are a Perfume Ingredient, Measured in Pinches
Rose enters a chai pan as scent rather than as flavour, and the line between fragrant and soapy is remarkably narrow.
Liquorice Root Sweetens a Cup and Refuses to Be Ignored
Mulethi brings a sweetness that is not sugar and a flavour that takes over any blend built without planning for it.
Coriander Seed Is the Quiet Bulking Spice in a Chai Masala
It rarely announces itself, which is exactly why it is in so many blends: it fills space that would otherwise go to clove.
Buying Whole Spice by Smell Rather Than by the Label
Nothing on a spice packet tells you how long the contents have been sitting, so the only useful test is the one you do yourself.