Spice · Ingredient
Cardamom pods
Elettaria cardamomum
Plump green pods, ribbed and papery, hiding sticky clusters of black seeds. Crack one and out comes a cool, citrusy, almost eucalyptus perfume that makes chai smell like chai.
Blend with cardamom pods →The benefits
Why we love cardamom pods
The scent of chai
Cardamom's cool, sweet perfume is the first thing you notice in a good masala chai, lifting black tea and milk alike.
Bright and aromatic
Its citrusy, slightly piney aroma brings lightness to heavier spices like clove and cinnamon.
Naturally caffeine-free
Cardamom contains no caffeine, so it spices a rooibos chai just as happily as a black one.
Good to know
No special cautions for most people in normal tea amounts.
Green cardamom is native to the misty Western Ghats of southern India and is often called the queen of spices; today Guatemala grows more than anywhere else. It perfumes Arabic coffee poured for guests, Swedish cardamom buns and Indian masala chai, where the pods are crushed and simmered with milk and black tea.
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