Chef Meherwan Irani’s expertise with Indian spices extends past the masala-tinged fish and cumin-and-chile-seasoned lamb burgers he serves at his restaurants around Asheville, Atlanta, and now Charlotte, where the four-time James Beard Award nominee is opening a third iteration of Botiwalla at the new Optimist Hall. This wintertime treat mingles his Spicewalla chai tea blend with rum and North Carolina amaro.
Drinks
Hot Spiked Chai
A warming, spicy, boozy sipper from the Botiwalla team

photo: Molly Milroy| Chai Pani Restaurant Group
Ingredients
Yield: 1 cocktail
4 oz. equal parts brewed masala chai tea (such as Spicewalla Chai Masala) and hot milk
1½ oz. Amrut Old Port rum
1 barspoon Eda Rhyne Appalachian Fernet
½ oz. honey
Preparation
Brew black chai tea to listed specifications and add hot milk. Preheat a mug with hot water. Discard water and pour in milky chai tea. Stir in remaining ingredients. Top with grated nutmeg.
Related Stories:

Recipe
Prize-Winning Peanut Butter Fudge
A county fair champion from Appalachia shares one of her most popular recipes

Recipe
Peach-Raspberry Jam
County fair champion Linda Skeens shares her blue-ribbon-winning recipe, plus canning tips

Recipe
Rodney Scott’s Spice-Rubbed Bacon Burger
Here’s how the prolific pitmaster amps up summer’s signature sizzler
Trending Stories:

Music
Song Premiere: Listen to Chapel Hart’s New Single, “If You Ain’t Wearing Boots”
New music from the Mississippi trio who rose to fame last year on America’s Got Talent

Arts & Culture
“The Outsiders” Turns Forty
See rare images of the stars—before they were big—around the Oklahoma set

Arts & Culture
A South Carolina Seafood Company Reveals a Piece of Forrest Gump History
How much shrimp is required to create a movie classic? About six thousand pounds, apparently