Stirring up Mischief with Local Chai

An Interview with Tara Huie

By Barth Anderson

Wedge Deli Manager Mary Lou Williams is very proud to introduce Mischief Maker Chai, a locally-produced blend. Mischief Maker is available daily in the Wedge Juice Bar.

"I don't have the words to describe how special this chai is," said Mary Lou. "It's smooth, not bitter, and less sweet than the box chai we were using. Whenever I open a container of Mischief Maker, it's just intoxicating."

"This may be the thing to make me give up coffee," noted Aaron Nytroe, Meat and Seafood Manager, after tasting his first Mischief Maker chai.

Tara Huie, proprietor of Mischief Maker, talks about her amazing product.

When and how did you get started making chai? And why chai, of all drinks?

I took an amazing trip to Nepal and hiked the trail towards base camp on Everest. Our guide, Doorji, was always reminding us to walk "slowly, slowly..." to not get overwhelmed by the altitude. Locals, of course, were moving twice as fast with twice the load. To help us, we stopped frequently at small villages along our route. As is custom, every household has chai brewing, and it is a gesture of hospitality to offer chai to friends as well as new acquaintances.

When I returned I craved the warm brew and could find nothing that compared to it. So, I started experimenting. My poor husband has had more than his fair share of chai, and my kitchen was a sticky mess for months. But I finally came up with a ratio of spices and tea that brought back that feeling of traveling through the Nepali landscape filled with prayer flags, peaks and welcoming faces offering up tea.

Where do you get your ingredients for chai?

All of the ingredients are from Frontier Natural Products Co-op in Iowa. I started out with a non-organic recipe and in September 2007 started selling the wholesale and retail versions with all organic ingredients. I am in the process of getting the organic certification from the USDA.

In your opinion, what's unique about Mischief Maker Chai, taste-wise?

What seemed to be lacking in other chai products was the intensity of flavor I remembered from Nepal - that chai wasn't all sweet and cinnamon. There was a complexity of spices that you couldn't easily define. That's why it took me a while to experiment with the ratio of spices as well as the preparation process. Traditionally the milk, honey/sugar, tea and spices are all brewed together. The fat in the milk is what holds on to the more subtle flavors of cardamom and coriander.

Initially, that is how the first versions were made - all in one pot. The first coffee shop to serve it was Anodyne on 43rd and Nicollet. Theresa Lien, the owner, was incredibly helpful in figuring out how to translate the flavor of the chai with the workings of a busy coffee shop. It became clear that brewing it all together wasn't going to work because the public wants choices - 2%, skim, soy, etc. So back to the kitchen I went because it didn't taste the same when you only brewed it with water and honey/ sugar. The subtle spices needed to be added back in when the milk was added to the brewed spiced tea.

Now the wholesale and retail versions are made that way and the complexity of flavor has been reestablished.

How long have you been in business and where else do you sell your chai? And how did you come up with the name?

I started officially selling it through Anodyne in October of 2005. It is still sold there as their chai and as a retail pack along with Mischief Maker t-shirts for babies, kids, women and men. Yum! in St. Louis Park started selling it as their chai in fall of 2006. Because it is a second business for me, I have taken on only what I feel I can handle. I brought my mom on as my only employee to help with packaging and bookwork to see if Mischief Maker Chai had broader appeal. So far, the response has been great and I hope to keep building the chai empire!

I was brainstorming with Carla Januska about what the product was, what it represented to me, what I hoped for it to become. Through that process we came to Mischief Maker and she designed the packaging and logo. The t-shirts and promo material read just "mischief maker" and "every day needs a little mischief," because that is how I saw myself to an extent. I resonate with the care and skill of traditional cooking and craft (I have been a potter as well), but I'm not a traditional person nor am I representing a product that is passed down traditionally from an East Indian heritage. So I wanted it to represent those ideas in addition to people often wanting to treat themselves with something other than a coffee drink. Having a Mischief Maker chai just sounds like a treat.

Are there health benefits to chai? As a shiatsu therapist, is this chai part of your personal or professional health practice? Tell us a little about your shiatsu practice.

I have been in private practice as a Shiatsu-Anma practitioner for 10 years. My office is now in St. Louis Park. I graduated from the Minnesota Center for Shiatsu Study, which is now Centerpoint. I continued training in an herbal studies program at the American Academy of Acupuncture and Oriental Medicine.

Through that study, I found out more how the herbs in chai relate to supporting the Traditional Chinese Medicine concepts of Spleen/Stomach and Kidney, in particular. From a Western model the herbs are considered soothing to both mood and digestion, and are anti-bacterial and anti-parasitic. It makes sense in that the countries of origin for chai (India, Nepal, Africa) had no refrigeration for dairy and the spices provided digestive and protective qualities along with great flavor.

Currently, I'm pursuing second level certification in Chi Nei Tsang which is Chinese abdominal massage. CNT focuses on physical digestive issues along side emotional digestive issues. I incorporate it into my shiatsu as well as offering full hour CNT appointments. I'm also a certified yoga instructor and teach yoga and self-acupressure to women with eating disorders at Water's Edge in Burnsville.

Huie lives and creates her chai right here in Minneapolis. Her chai is available by the cup in the Wedge Juice Bar. Learn more about Mischief Maker Chai at http://www.studiot.biz/chai.htm