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At least in Australia, "chai" is on sale in cafes meaning Masala chai, a mix of leaf tea and Indian spices and herbs. And then you've got the "chai latte", like

At least in Australia, "chai" is on sale in cafes meaning Masala chai, a mix of leaf tea and Indian spices and herbs. And then you've got the "chai latte", like a regular latte but with "chai" instead of espresso. Amusing weirding of language - it should really be a "masala"!

gcb0 9y ago
if you want to argue correctness, it should be "spicy" since Australia speaks english :)
- oasisbob 9y ago
  Translate garam masala next. :)
  - mseebach 9y ago
    Hot or warm spices? It's a language-weirding in itself that the quality of having spices means that something is hot. Plenty of spices (most, really?) aren't hot. Too many places, especially in Europe, fail at making spicy food, they just make burning hot (or bland) food.
toomanybeersies 9y ago
Except that chai lattes are usually made with sickly sweet syrup, rather than powder. I must admit though, I do have a soft spot for dirty chai, which is a chai latte with a shot of espresso.
oasisbob 9y ago
Same in many parts of the US, except it's taken one step further with "chai tea" - even in big-budget advertisements by chains who should know better. Seeing or hearing "chai tea" drives my Indian wife up the wall everytime.
- Cyberdog 9y ago
  I'm the type that gets triggered by people who enter their "PIN number" into an "ATM machine," so I can relate.
- kerneltime 9y ago
  +1 Would you like some coffee latte with milk and cappuccino with foam with your chai tea latte order :-P
protonfish 9y ago
Masala means "blend of spices" "Garam masala" is a blend of hot spices, "chai masala" is meant for making tea, In the US, Chai usually refers to Indian style tea with milk and spices. Source: I've worked with a lot of Indian people.
- seshagiric 9y ago
  As an Indian I want to put this on record, the spiced tea is absolutely obnoxious. We do not drink it. There is a different one flavored with ginger or cardamon, which people like and tastes so much better than 'masala chai' sold in US etc.
  - thekingshorses 9y ago
    Indian here too. We do drink masala chai in India (Gujarat).
    - washadjeffmad 9y ago
      We have a few who do garam chai with their chai pani, too.
- lenocinor 9y ago
  Unless you're talking about movies. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_film
  - cardiffspaceman 9y ago
    The call center beverages seen in "Slumdog Millionaire" appeared to me to be some sort of hot milk+tea beverage. At the time based on sources I had already read, I thought this would be spiced. I remember that in the movie, each serving was in a decent size drinking glass of about 10-12 oz and the glass was wrapped with what appeared to be a paper napkin. For some reason this is stuck in my mind.

gcb0 9y ago

if you want to argue correctness, it should be "spicy" since Australia speaks english :)

oasisbob 9y ago
Translate garam masala next. :)
- mseebach 9y ago
  Hot or warm spices? It's a language-weirding in itself that the quality of having spices means that something is hot. Plenty of spices (most, really?) aren't hot. Too many places, especially in Europe, fail at making spicy food, they just make burning hot (or bland) food.

toomanybeersies 9y ago

Except that chai lattes are usually made with sickly sweet syrup, rather than powder. I must admit though, I do have a soft spot for dirty chai, which is a chai latte with a shot of espresso.

oasisbob 9y ago

Same in many parts of the US, except it's taken one step further with "chai tea" - even in big-budget advertisements by chains who should know better. Seeing or hearing "chai tea" drives my Indian wife up the wall everytime.

Cyberdog 9y ago
I'm the type that gets triggered by people who enter their "PIN number" into an "ATM machine," so I can relate.
kerneltime 9y ago
+1 Would you like some coffee latte with milk and cappuccino with foam with your chai tea latte order :-P

protonfish 9y ago

Masala means "blend of spices" "Garam masala" is a blend of hot spices, "chai masala" is meant for making tea, In the US, Chai usually refers to Indian style tea with milk and spices. Source: I've worked with a lot of Indian people.

seshagiric 9y ago
As an Indian I want to put this on record, the spiced tea is absolutely obnoxious. We do not drink it. There is a different one flavored with ginger or cardamon, which people like and tastes so much better than 'masala chai' sold in US etc.
- thekingshorses 9y ago
  Indian here too. We do drink masala chai in India (Gujarat).
  - washadjeffmad 9y ago
    We have a few who do garam chai with their chai pani, too.
lenocinor 9y ago
Unless you're talking about movies. :) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_film https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Masala_film
- cardiffspaceman 9y ago
  The call center beverages seen in "Slumdog Millionaire" appeared to me to be some sort of hot milk+tea beverage. At the time based on sources I had already read, I thought this would be spiced. I remember that in the movie, each serving was in a decent size drinking glass of about 10-12 oz and the glass was wrapped with what appeared to be a paper napkin. For some reason this is stuck in my mind.