1-1/2 cups water
1 inch stick of cinnamon
6-8 cardamom pods
6-8 whole cloves
2/3 cup milk
grated or ground ginger (to taste)
6 tsp. sugar (or to taste), honey may be substituted
3 teaspoons loose black tea (Darjeeling works well) Put water in a saucepan. Add the cinnamon, cardamom, and cloves and bring to a boil. Cover, turn heat to low and simmer for 10 minutes or longer. Add the milk, ginger and sugar and bring to a simmer again. Throw in the tea. Cover, and turn off the heat. After 2 minutes, strain the tea into two cups and serve immediately. If you want, you can chill the mixture in the refrigerator and enjoy it cold, too.

Once you have the basics down, try adding some of the spices below to really chai one one:

Allspice
Black pepper
Coriander seed
Mace
Nutmeg
Star anise
Fennel
Bay leaf
Vanilla bean

It's fun to experiment, and easy to persuade friends and family to be research assistants when the subject is this tasty.