I first tasted chai at a mobile teahouse the summer between my junior and senior years of high school. A group of community-minded folks outfitted an old truck with extendable wings, a big stash of pillows and a small kitchen. Each week they would travel around to a different park around Portland and set up for an evening in the grass (I believe they did this with permission but I don't know for sure).

They would extend the wings to provide shade, scatter the pillows around and serve drinks and snacks. The food was all donation based, people made it at home and brought it to share (this did mean that the menu was always changing). You weren't charged when you received it, you were just asked to make a donation that then went to a local charity. Musicians would set up around the truck and take turns playing all evening long.

Someone had made a large batch of home brewed chai concentrate the first night I went to the teahouse that the folks behind the counter were serving up with either regular or soy milk. This was before chai was ubiquitous and so it was a totally new taste combination for me. I still vividly remember the experience of having the sweet and spicy flavors meet my tongue. Really good chai still reminds me of that moment, on a lovely summer evening, hanging out with my friend Jessica, drinking chai that a stranger generously made and donated, while a drumming circle formed nearby.

Sadly, the mobile teahouse didn't survive past that summer, but my enjoyment of chai still persists. The blogger over at the Apartment Farm brought all these memories sweeping back for me today with her post about DIY Chai. She makes her with soymilk, but I imagine you could use conventional milk (or goat/almond/rice) if you prefer. It's got me seriously thinking about whipping up a batch for myself tonight.

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