Aunty Diane's Chai Tea - an Auntie Chai

I think all this tea is changing my digestive habits...okay moving on. Todays tea was prepared by my Auntie Diane, who has taken it upon herself to educate me on tea. She made a homemade Chai tea, for which now I am going to call an Auntie Chai.
Preparation as follows:

• 6 tsp black tea
• 1 tsp fennel seeds
• 1 cinnamon quill crumbled
• 4 bay leaves crushed
• 7 star anise flowers crumbled
• 2 - 3 grinds of black pepper
• 2 shakes of nutmeg
• 1 shake of clove powder
• 2 - 3 slices of dried root ginger
• 1 tsp cardamom pods, crushed
• Simmer for 5 minutes
• Strain through sieve into cup
• Add a dash of milk warmed
• A teaspoon of honey

Now I'm no fan of prep time and weighing stuff out in general when it comes to tea, as it usually doesn't taste good anyway, and is therefore an even bigger waste of my life, but it sure smells pretty fantastic.

You can see my feet, but please don't let that take away from
the visual. I cooould crop that out, but my tea blogging fame
has gone to my head, and I'm starting to believe my own crap;
I DON'T NEED YOU, I DON'T NEED ANYONE. I GOT HERE
ON MY OWN, YOU ARE NOTHING WITHOUT ME, I GIVE
YOUR LIVES MEANING!

The final preparations

Initial observations:

Aromatic definitely, I don't actually know what each ingredient smells like by itself but something in there sure is pleasant. I can smell the cinnamon, I know that one.

First thoughts on the first sips:

Hmm, the tea has earned a little less than it normally would thanks to the addition of milk and honey, I'm not sure if it stands on it's own two little Chai legs; the colour of money honey and all. Honey feels like cheating because I would literally drink warm milk and honey by itself; it is just a wonderful combination, hell even my shampoo has milk and honey:

WARNING! DO NOT DRINK! I know this is a tea blog, but
not all pictures are of edible things.

Many sips later:

The sweetness of the honey makes it addicting - oh, I guess a 'honeypot' metaphor doesn't work well here when the thing drawing me in is actual honey. Damn. I am like a fly to honey. Damn! A sting operation! Yes! Let's not worry about how well that one actually works. 
So, it's good, but for all the huff and puff put in at the beginning, it doesn't feel like a party in my mouth like I thought it would. That said, it's still really, really tasty and complex; there is a few flavours battling it out, kind of like three level 9 CPU Captain Falcons fighting on Kirby's Dream Land in Super Smash brothers, when there should have been four.

Recommendation: 

Yeah give it a crack, make it yourself and see how you feel. I feel like I need more honey. Brb.

The magical thing about this recipe is that you can edit it yourself, so give it a shot and see if you can hit the sweet spot (zing?).

Final words:

Thanks aunt! You are my favourite Australian aunt! Seriously though, thank you for making that one for me, it was really nice!