Brown sugar tea (chai with demerara sugar)
Preparation Time
2 minutes
Cooking Time
8 minutes
Difficulty Level
easy
Meal Type
Drinks
Serves 2
Key Ingredients
- Brown sugar (demerara), 2 tsp a cup, plus a little more to taste
About This Recipe
Demerara is a light brown sugar with part of the natural molasses left in, and that molasses is what gives the tea its caramel note and deeper colour. White sugar is refined to plain sweetness; demerara keeps its molasses, so a cup sweetened with it tastes of caramel under the tea rather than of sugar alone. Our guide to brown sugar covers the types and how it is made.
People ask whether brown sugar works in tea at all, and the answer is yes: unlike jaggery, it does not split milk, so it can go into the pot with the tea leaves and dissolve while the chai brews. That is the moment to add it, with the leaves for an even sweetness in every cup, or into the strained tea when everyone sweetens differently. Two teaspoons a cup is the starting measure; use one for a light sweetness and three when the brew is strong.
The taste sits between the other two sweeteners. White sugar tea is purely sweet, jaggery tea carries a faint smoky, earthy edge, and brown sugar tea lands in the middle with a clean caramel taste. The brown sugar vs jaggery page compares the two in detail. White sugar swaps in at the same two teaspoons a cup, and jaggery powder works too if you prefer its deeper taste. Ginger and cardamom stay optional here, because the caramel note holds a plain chai on its own.
Ingredient List
Serving Size:
1x
2x
3x
Tea
- Water — 1 1/2 cups
- Ginger, crushed (optional) — 1 inch
- Green cardamom pods, lightly crushed (optional) — 2 pieces
- Black CTC tea leaves — 2 tsp
- Full-fat milk — 1 cup
To sweeten
- Brown sugar (demerara), 2 tsp a cup, plus a little more to taste — 4 tsp
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Serving Suggestions
Serve hot, straight off the strainer, with a crisp, salty side to balance the caramel note: khari, mathri, namak pare or a slice of buttered toast. The chai also travels well in a flask, since the sugar is fully dissolved, and it is a drink to finish fresh, because a reheated cup tastes stewed.
Tips for Cooking Brown sugar tea (chai with demerara sugar)
The caramel note sits under a strong brew, so keep the full two teaspoons of tea leaves for two and a half cups of liquid. Simmer rather than boil once the milk is in, because a hard boil turns the chai scummy. Add the sugar with the leaves so it dissolves before the cup is poured, and use fresh milk so the chai comes back to the boil quickly and stays creamy.
Chef’s Note
Two teaspoons of brown sugar a cup adds about 38 kcal and 9.8 g of carbohydrate to the chai, nearly all of it from the sugar. No composition values are printed for milk or dry tea leaves, so the milk is left out of the figure; a cup of this chai is richer than the number suggests. The caramel comes from the molasses the sugar keeps, which white sugar loses.
Per serving (approx.): 38 kcal, protein 0 g, carbs 9.8 g, fat 0 g, fibre 0 g. Computed from IFCT 2017 / USDA values for the listed quantities. Measures: 1 cup = 240 ml, 1 tbsp = 15 ml, 1 tsp = 5 ml.
Happy Cooking
!!
ByCOWBERRY
Jun 15, 2026
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