A Beverage Recommendation

It’s no longer the weather for iced beverages. The citizenry needs warm, even hot, drinks to fortify themselves for the coming winter days.

The beverage you want is a chai with a shot of espresso. The chai must be made with a milk base, and preferably from a liquid mix, not a powder. The end result is rich and creamy, sweet but not too sweet, and not utterly lacking in caffeine. My classmates and I started drinking them with great regularity in high school, and there was an informal and failed movement to have the beverage called “the Emerson” (after our school) at the cafes in proximity.

In the DC area you find this drink made acceptably at Tryst, where it is called a “chaipuccino”, or made exceptionally by several baristas at Murky in Arlington, where you must simply order a chai with a shot. I am honestly filled with deep, deep regret when I order most any other beverage at Murky. It’s a hidden gem. They even do little swirls of “latte art” in the foam they manage to coax from the concoction.