Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Starwest Botanicals
Company Description:
A non-caffeinated chai tea made with Rooibos, spices and hint of stevia to sweeten it up.
Ingredients: Organic rooibos tea, organic cinnamon, organic ginger, organic cardamom, organic cloves and organic stevia.
Taster’s Review:
I really like the spice level of this particular rooibos chai. It is very vibrant in flavor, and I also like that I can taste the individual spices. I can taste the cinnamon. I can taste the ginger – nice and peppery! I can taste the cloves and the cardamom! Sometimes with chai blends, one spice is so strong that it overwhelms the other spices – but that doesn’t happen here. Each spice is fairly represented in my cup and I like it.
If I had to change anything about this particular blend, it would be the addition of the stevia. Perhaps it’s just me, but I really prefer honey in my chai. I feel that the honey brings something special to chai and gives it “the right” flavor. I think that the stevia here is a bit too sweet and it leaves a little bit of a funky sweet after taste that just doesn’t sit perfectly on my palate.
Other than the stevia, this is a really good blend that is heavily laden with spice. It is lovely served latte style with a little warmed, frothed milk.
One other thing I feel I should mention: this is a very finely ground rooibos and spices blend. I recommend using a T-Sac to brew it because the grind is so fine that it will sift its way through most wire mesh strainers – even the very fine mesh strainers – and it will clog a nylon strainer. Because a T-Sac is made out of unbleached paper, very little if any sediment will strain through it.
