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Factory

 At the Factory —

How We Make Sticky Fresh Chai

Verse 1 -Behind the Scenes

28/06/2025 • Composed by Benjamin Kelly

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A behind-the-scenes look at how we make our fresh chai: a window into the process, for baristas and home makers who want to understand how it’s made — or maybe even try making their own.

Note: We call ours fresh chai. Most refer to it as sticky. I use the terms interchangeably here — apologies in advance.

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So What Is a Sticky Chai?

Chai — more specifically, masala chai (spiced tea) — has deep roots in India. Boiled with tea, spices, milk, and sugar, it’s made daily in homes, and street stalls across the country.

The versions used in Western cafés — whether sticky chai or chai lattes — are different in form and function. They’ve been adapted for café settings: built for consistency, speed, and milk-based service.

Most Sticky Chai Recipes Are Pretty Similar

I've seen hundreds! We cant give you an exact recipe but this will be a good place to start.

- 45–55% honey or sweetener

- 20–30% black tea

- 20–30% spices — usually 7 to 9 total, ginger and cinnamon leading % and the hotter spices use more sparingly (obviously).

Where things really shift is in the detail — spice quality, tea selection, and processing (we're nearly at the factory stage).
But first:



Key Questions

Spices

– Work with a local merchant or go direct to origin? Local’s fine — if you’ve got a solid relationship. The majority of spices in Australia are old and bought at Auction. Direct-to-farmer is ideal, but it’s a full-time job to manage properly (and we mean that literally).

Tea

– Many chais out there use CTC to full/flower BOP's. We use an organic FBOP from Lumbini Estate — it gives structure, grip, and length, but still holds complexity: floral, fruity - the secondary characteristics.

Honey

– Big bush honeys can dominate. We prefer floral ones — they stay in the background and let the spices speak.

Fresh Ginger?

– Adds serious depth: sweetness, heat, a lemony edge. But it shortens shelf life. Worth it, if you’ve got the systems to handle it.


A note on Ginger

Fresh and dry ginger aren’t the same — chemically, functionally, or in flavour.

Dry ginger brings warmth, a little burn and structure. It’s been heat-treated during drying, which converts gingerol (the sharp, bright compound in fresh ginger) into shogaol — deeper, more lingering, and slightly more bitter. It holds the base.

Fresh ginger is cleaner, sweeter, with more lift. It’s high in gingerol, which gives it that sharp, citrusy heat. It hits earlier, smells brighter, and adds a top layer of aromatics you lose in drying.

Used together, they bring balance and incredible mouthfeel.


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Production Workflow: How It’s Actually Made

So, let’s get into the factory part.

Sticky chai looks handmade. But doing it well — consistently, at volume — that’s where the science comes in.

At the core, we’re suspending tea and spice particles into honey, supported by the emulsified pulp of fresh ginger:

1. Milling

We use both pin mills (8,000–14,000 RPM) and hammer mills to process spices. Pin mills shear volatile oil cells open gently; hammer mills break tough materials like cinnamon. We keep temps below 40°C to protect the oils.

Flavour impact: Releases aromatics like eugenol, linalool, and cineole. Our multi-cut approach means fast release (fine powder), flavour body (medium), and long finish (coarse).

Get it wrong: Overheated mills = burnt, flat spice. Single cut = unbalanced extraction and muddy milk.

2. Sieving

We use a multi-deck vibratory sifter to separate into 3 sizes 1. Fine (<150μm), 2. Medium (150–1000μm), and 3. Coarse/Granulated (>5,000μm). This is spice grading — an incredibly important step. This brings control and layers of complexity to the blend. Base, middle and top notes.

Flavour impact: Fine hits fast, medium holds, coarse lingers. Layered flavour.

Get it wrong: Unfiltered = sediment, bitterness, haze. Texture loss and mouthfeel damage.

PlayApologies for the crappy iPhone filming


3. Ginger Pulping

Cold-processed with chilled blade grinders. This preserves zingiberene and gingerol, which give brightness and top-note freshness.

Flavour impact: Clean, lemony lift that integrates through emulsification into honey.

Get it wrong: Warm blades = oxidation, dull brown flavour, stringy mouthfeel.

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4. Honey Warming

Gently heated in jacketed tanks. The exact temperature is personal and for some of our clients to an exact figure. Just go gently warm as possible is what I would recommend. This keeps it pourable and opens it for binding, without denaturing enzymes or aromatics.

Flavour impact: Binds particles and solubilises spice oils. It’s not just a sweetener — it’s the carrier of flavour.

Get it wrong: Too cold = no bind, separation. Too hot = caramelisation, flat taste.


5. Blending

We use paddle mixers for low-shear folding. Ribbon mixers would overwork it; drum mixers don't fold ingredients into honey.

Flavour impact: Emulsion + suspension. Keeps everything uniform and aromatic.

Get it wrong: Poor mix = pooling, clumps, inconsistent dose.

Minimize imageEdit imageDelete imageMixer Comparison Breakdown


Optional Rest / Maturing

Stainless-steel bins, sealed 24–48hrs. Honey bonds aromatics, spices round out.

Flavour impact: Chai “melts together” — spice harshness softens, sweetness aligns.

Note: keep in a temperature controlled room.

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Packaging

Vacuum or crimp sealed in a low-oxygen environment with a rotary doser.

Suggest foil-lined pouches. This is a messy/sticky product so packing machinery is a must.

Aroma & Integration (wait a few days before using)

Flavour evolves over time. Freshly roasted coffee is around day 14.

Fresh Chai is the same:

Day 1: Bold, raw - short finish, maybe slight split.

Day 3–7: Notes begin to harmonise - beautiful flavour, but may lack length

Day 7–14: Peak integration - Balanced with complexity.

That’s because the suspension continues to mature. Honey + spice oils bond, and you taste the result in every cup.



At the Café – Tips for the Barista

Sticky chai doesn’t need long extraction. All the hard work is already done in the factory —

Here’s what we tell baristas:

Don’t add hot water first

It melts the honey, separates the oils, and makes the tea steep too early. You lose the balance.

Whisk before you steam

Texture is everything - if they pour themselves at the table the fine creamy mouthfeel is gone.

Serve in a glass

Texture is everything - if they pour themselves at the table the fine creamy mouthfeel is gone.

8 hours in the factory needs < 45 seconds at bar.
That’s faster than most flat whites.

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