Masala Chai, an orgasm in a cup for spice lovers

I can never get enough of spiced ANYTHING. Here's my recipe for chai. This recipe contains cloves (which can be done without if you want. I heard somewhere that pregnant women should avoid large amounts of cloves in their diet. So mommies-to-be might want to either nix it or significantly reduce the quantity. I'm not a doctor; but ask yours!) =D

If you're entertaining, this'll make about 5 large cups... and probably 10 of those cute little tea cups with no handles (it's probably better for first timers in small quantities).... anyhow!!

**note... when i make this, i don't really measure things... you kind of just get the hang of it after a while. But if you've never made it before, you can start of with these measurements and make it more personal in time. Every Indian family has its own nuanced chai recipe. So there's no exact way to make it.

Masala Chai
(Masala = spice & Chai = tea/sweet tea with milk)

5 cups of water
1 and 1/2 tbsp of loose black tea leaves or 1 black tea bag (You can experiment with green tea and other dark teas if you're a thrill-seeker)
1 cup of cow's milk (or soy, or almond milk, even goat's milk!)
1/2 tbsp of cinnamon
1 tsp black pepper (yes, really!)
2 tsp of ground cardomon (or 3 seeds per cup)
2 tsp of ground nutmeg
28 cloves (or generally 14 cloves per 2 cups of water. It depends on your taste)
6-8 pieces of thinly sliced ginger root
1 tsp of vanilla extract ( I love how it adds flavour that just rolls over your tongue)
4 tbsp of brown sugar, or white sugar, or honey, or all of them mixed together! (to your taste!)

Stir constantly, and avoid covering the pot because it'll foam up. Bring all of these to a boil for 10-15 minutes. If you like it stronger, boil longer!

And to add my Jamdadian (Jamaican+Trinidadian) heritage to the mix, you can spike a shot of rum to each cup if you're looking for a good time! Oh lawd!