San Antonio Express-News (Sunday)
Chai tea at Amaretti Coffee is a heady blend
Chai fans take note: a new coffee shop on Broadway near the Pearl is serving the best cup of the stuff I’ve had in San Antonio.
Amaretti Coffee’s Authentic Indian Chai ($4.75 for an 8ounce cup) is a heady cup of tea and whole milk blended with potent notes of cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. Amaretti owner Nirav Amarnath prepares a large batch his chai daily with fresh spices, black tea leaves and whole milk for a cup that tastes remarkably clean and vibrant.
Amaretti’s chai is a noteworthy contrast to the many coffee shops and restaurants in town serving chai that can taste stale, bitter or artificial when made from powdered mixes or syrups. Amarnath’s recipe is inspired by the chai his grandmother prepared for him during his childhood in California.
Amarnath doesn’t sweeten his chai, instead offering customers a number of options, including individual packets of sugar, stevia and powdered monk fruit — a rare find in San Antonio coffee shops. Amaretti only has chai made with whole milk, but Amarnath plans on developing chai made with milk alternatives in the future.
Amaretti also serves a Dirty Chai Latte ($5.75 for 12 ounces, $6.60 for 16 ounces) made with an intensely flavorful commercial chai concentrate, espresso and a choice of milk or dairyfree alternatives. A wide range of coffee- and espresso-based drinks made with beans from the Austin-based Cuvée Coffee is also available.
The cafe draws its name from the amaretti cookies ($4 for two cookies) Amarnath prepares from scratch in-house. He taught himself how to bake the cookies, which have a deep almond flavor and a delightfully crisp, sugar-rolled exterior over a tender, chewy interior.
Amaretti Coffee, 1800 Broadway, Suite 1131, 210-481-4141, amaretticoffee.com, Facebook: @AmarettiCoffeeSA. Hours: 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Friday, 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday and Sunday