“Chai was part of everything,” says Nancy Daniel, founder of Indian tea company Madhrasi. “We always gathered around chai, we made random friends with chai—chai has a lot of meaning to me.”
The word “chai” means tea in Hindi, Persian, Russian, and Arabic, and is derived from the Mandarin word for tea, “cha.” Today, chai typically refers to masala chai: black tea brewed with a spice blend, or masala, and served warm with milk. Starbucks introduced Americans to chai in the mid-1990s, calling it “the perfect balance of sweet and spicy,” and the drink quickly became a fixture on coffeehouse menus.
When Daniel moved to the United States from Chennai—the city whose old name, Madras, inspired her company’s name—she found the chai bland and began drinking coffee instead. While managing a branch of Flour Bakery + Cafe, Daniel loved everything about the bakery except the chai. This distaste set her on a quest for a better source.
Chai, Daniel realized, is more complex than most American beverages, which are made with two or three ingredients. Masala chai requires at least eight. Daniel insists on Assam tea processed to maximize aroma and flavor. She imports most of her spices from India and Sri Lanka, grinds them just before brewing, and adjusts recipes depending on where the spices are grown.
Daniel founded Madhrasi in 2023 to make chai that carries a strong sense of place. Assam tea is brewed to full strength without becoming astringent, then blended with fresh spices. While many commercially produced chai concentrates lead with a sweet flavor, Daniel employs sugar for balance.
Madhrasi sells 25-ounce stand-up spouted pouches of chai concentrate. Daniel recommends mixing equal parts concentrate and milk. Each pouch makes about six servings; masala chai is $15 per pouch; saffron chai and rose chai are $21. Rose chai, inspired by Daniel’s favorite childhood drink, rose milk, is milder and designed to be diluted with one and a half times the milk. Turmeric and black pepper bring heat to the golden latte mix which is $19 for a 14-serving bag. Powdered masala mix is $16.99 for a 30-serving bag.
A roadside chaiwala—Hindi and Urdu for tea seller—in Mumbai inspired the taste of Madhrasi’s masala chai; Daniel’s engineering brings that experience into home kitchens and farmers markets, where a cup of dairy-free iced chai latte is $5.
Madhrasi, https://madhrasi.com. At the 2025 Lexington Farmers Market biweekly: September 2, 16, 30, October 14, 28. Also sold at Lexington Community Farm, Wilson Farm, and Nouve Bakery.
Eighty years ago, Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins expanded America’s palate for ice cream flavors and introduced Baskin-Robbins’ signature 31 flavors—one for each day of the month. Since then, American tastes have become more international and food science has matured, making room for flavors once unimaginable, such as kulfi at Rancatore’s, horchata at Honeycomb Creamery in Cambridge, and ginger at Bedford Farms.
This summer, five new Middle Eastern-inspired flavors of a sesame and oatmilk-based dessert have arrived in Lexington from Needham-based Sweettahini: Cardamom Pistachio, Cinnamon Date, Walnut Fudge Swirl, Vanilla Bean Halvah Swirl, and Chocolate Choco Flakes.
Though scoopable like ice cream, to compare the taste of Sweettahini’s pints to ice cream would be to miss their novelty. Sweetened sesame butter sends full halva vibes while the texture resembles a rich ice cream cake. Cardamom Pistachio occupies the unique venn diagram overlap between Middle Eastern and South Asian flavors, and has been the runaway hit.
Walnut Fudge Swirl is inspired by the walnut-stuffed halva that Sweettahini founder Hila Krikov remembers from her childhood. “When I was little, we would go on a day trip near Jerusalem and go to a bakery and buy halva by the block. To this day, I still go to this village bakery that still makes it the traditional way,” she says.
Cinnamon Date is North African-inspired and full of sweetness while having the least added sugar. Chocolate Choco Flakes is the richest dark chocolate halva spun into ice cream, thanks to cocoa powder and dark chocolate flakes from Guittard.
Sweettahini has been producing Middle Eastern sweets commercially since 2018. Though Krikov had grown distribution for her date rolls to more than 100 stores, she discontinued them to collaborate with an ice cream industry insider and focus on this new frozen plant-based dessert.
“I’m not really an ice cream fan, but I like halva—whenever you blend tahini with sugar, you get a halva flavor that so many people are addicted to in the Middle East,” says Krikov. Add Lexington to the list of halva flavor addicts; flavors often sell out, but Krikov does accept pre-orders until noon before a market.
Sweettahini, https://www.sweettahini.com. At the 2025 Lexington Farmers Market biweekly: September 9, 23; October 7, 21. Preorders accepted until noon here. Also sold at the Lexington Community Farm.
Read more about the Lexington Farmers Market.
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