Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Caraway Tea Company
Product Description:
Like Chai? You’ll love our Rooibis Chai. Add a little milk two cubes of sugar and you got a real treat. Yum!
Ingredients: Red Rooibis, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, vanilla.
Taster’s Review:
To tell the truth, I am rather blasé when it comes to rooibos chai. I have had so many that are rather lackluster that I have come to expect it when I try them. This can be a good thing when I happen to find a tasty rooibos chai – like this Red Chai Spice from Caraway Tea Company – because then I am happily suprised!
And this is indeed a good rooibos chai! The dry leaf offers an aroma of sweet cinnamon that reminds me of the scent of a freshly baked cinnamon roll. This is further expressed in the flavor, as the sweet cinnamon is the dominate flavor of the blend. The cinnamon taste is followed by the warmth of the cardamom, and it surprised me that I could taste the cardamom over the flavor of the ginger! While I do like ginger, it was very nice to experience something just a little different when it comes to chai!
The rooibos base is more detectable in the scent than it is in the flavor, I can smell the distinct scent of rooibos without actually tasting a strong rooibos flavor. There are faint hints of a nutty, woody taste in the background, but this cup is free from that weird sweetness that is sometimes associated with rooibos.
The ginger is quite subtle, offering hints of a peppery note that seem to come and go as I continue to sip. The vanilla lends a sweet, creamy taste to the cup and with this addition of vanilla, I found this to be a perfectly delicious chai without the addition of milk.
I do recommend a drizzle of honey or a little sugar (try some turbinado sugar in this one!) as it helps to enhance the spices a little bit. It doesn’t need much though, as I found this to have a little sweetness on its own.
I like this. It isn’t overwhelmingly spicy, but the level of spices here really works with the light-bodied quality of the rooibos. A very refreshing change on chai!
