13 Hot Drinks From Around the World

India: Masala Chai

I absolutely LOVE, LOVE, LOVE chai tea! Since I’m not a coffee drinker, I enjoy drinking tea and my go-to is almost always chai tea. Unfortunately, the Americanized version can be quite different from the chai tea found and made in India.

Masala Chai is a spiced hot tea made with black tea and different spices. The following ingredients are generally included:

• Water
• Black tea leaves
• Water buffalo milk
• Sugar
• Green cardamom
• Black peppercorns
• Ginger

Other spices or ingredients that can be included are:

Cinnamon, cloves, allspice, vanilla, nutmeg

It is very common for people in India to drink masala chai and most people have their own recipe. 

Here’s something interesting: a street vendor who sells these teas is called a chai wallah. Chai means “tea” and wallah is the person who is doing the task. So, a chai wallah is a person who sells tea. 

Chai wallahs in India sell this delicious spiced black tea drink from their business locations or they take them to different locations to sell.

Take a look at this Youtube video to see how it’s done. I’m telling you, it’s HARD WORK!!

Morocco: Mint Tea

Morocco’s mint tea is a very popular and very traditional hot drink among its people; it’s super sweet and perfect to drink any time of the day.

Moroccan mint tea is easy to make, too!

All you need is water, gunpowder tea (this kind of Chinese green tea leaf is rolled into a tiny ball), mint, and sugar.

You can find out more about gunpowder tea on simplelooseleaf.com.

Also, you can find out more about Moroccan mint tea and how to make it on mymoroccanfood.com.

Take a look for yourself!

Tibet: Po Cha

Po cha is a salted butter drink.

It’s salty–not sweet.

This hot drink consists of black tea, milk, butter, and salt. Please note, the milk and butter come from yaks, not cows like what we’re used to here in the United States.

To make po cha here in the U.S., you would use black tea, full-fat milk (cow’s milk is fine), salt, and butter (salted or unsalted).

First, you boil the water. Then, you steep the black tea in the boiling water. Next, you add salt. 

Take the tea bags out after the tea has steeped the desired length of time depending on whether you like your tea strong or a little weaker.

Add milk.

Pour the tea mixture into a blender and add about two tablespoons of butter.

Blend the mixture together.

Pour the mixture into a coffee mug. 

That’s it!

If interested, I would recommend that you take a look at this page on youwangdu.com to find out more about po cha. 

To make this drink more appealing to us westerners, they recommend you think of this tea more as a soup than a drink.

Interesting concept, right?

If you want, you can take a look at this super informative video to see traditional and modern ways of making this tea.

Japan: Matcha

Many of us here in the United States have either tasted or at least heard of matcha green tea.

Matcha is made from processed, young green tea leaves. To make matcha, these leaves are finely ground into a bright green powder. 

The difference between drinking matcha and other green teas is that when you are drinking matcha, you are consuming the tea leaves as opposed to other green teas where you steep the leaves and then remove them right before drinking. 

This means you are consuming all of the nutrients contained in those leaves without throwing the leaves away as you would with other green tea varieties.

Interestingly, matcha is said to have great health benefits for those who consume it. The caffeine acts as a stimulate while the theanine that is contained within it acts as a stress reliever. Also, the antioxidant properties are said to prevent cancer and help with weight loss.

Its modern uses are for making matcha tea as well as for flavorings such as mochi and green tea ice cream.

Mexico: Atole

Atole is a hot drink made from hominy flour, called masa harina (it’s different from cornmeal).

What is hominy? It looks a whole lot like a corn kernel you might be used to seeing on an ear of corn at your local grocery store, but it’s BIGGER! In fact, hominy is derived from a corn kernel. Read on to learn more.

Hominy is also known as maize. The maize goes through a process, called nixtamalization, which involves soaking the corn kernels and “cooking” them in an alkaline solution (normally limes) and then removing the outer hull of the corn. 

This makes the corn kernels easier to process later for purposes such as grounding them up into flour. 

The chocolate version of this drink, atole, is known as champurrado. Have you heard of it?

Champurrado is my favorite kind of Mexican hot drink! 

Regular atole and champurrado are very popular drinks that are normally consumed around Christmas time and for Dia de Los Muertos, which is a day of remembrance of those who have passed away. It is celebrated on November 1st and 2nd of every year.

In addition to masa harina, the other ingredients used to make atole include water, piloncillo (raw sugar cane), vanilla, and cinnamon.

How do you make atole?

Atole is made by first boiling water with cinnamon sticks (oh how I love cinnamon) and toasting the hominy flour on a griddle. This griddle is commonly found in many Mexican households and is called a comal. 

After the masa has been nicely toasted, it is transferred over to the boiling water with cinnamon and mixed together until it becomes thick. 

This drink is normally served with an accompanying tamale.

More Detailed Information for How To Make Atole

• In a saucepan, mix together whole milk, piloncillo (raw unrefined sugar cane), and cinnamon until the piloncillo is completely dissolved.
• Remove the cinnamon stick.
• Whisk warm water and masa harina together in a bowl.
• Add the masa harina mixture, as well as vanilla and salt, to the saucepan and whisk ingredients together.
• Bring the mixture to a simmer and then reduce the heat and cook for about 30 minutes (stirring constantly so that the milk does not burn).
• Serve in cups once the thickness of the atole covers the back of a spoon.

And there you have it!

[Be sure to check out Isabel Eats for more detailed information, like the measurements].

FYI: Guatemala has a rice version called atolillo.