Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Puerh, Chai
Where to Buy: The Spice and Tea Exchange
Tea Description:
An organic pu-erh chai tea with creamy vanilla and bright peppermint. A rich, smooth tea that adds a refreshing twist to the traditional chai tea flavors. Moderate caffeine. Contains: green pu-erh tea, vanilla, peppermint, ginger, cinnamon, licorice root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I received this from a fellow Steepster and I was totally not expecting to! When you wake up to a nice box of unexpected samples from a friend – that is the best day ever! This tea was included in that box. I have never sampled anything from The Spice and Tea Exchange before that I can recall so I grabbed this right away to try! The name of this tea also got me, with its quirkiness.
The puerh base here may not be the most complex out there by any means but it does provide a nice bold backdrop for the other flavors and is strong enough on its own not to let strong flavors like mint, for example, take over.
The puerh has a leather aspect to it, and a slight sandalwood note. A very nice puerh to use in a blend. I would not want to see a highly prized puerh used in a blend personally, yet I also want one with enough character to give the backdrop a good blend deserves and I feel that The Spice and Tea Exchanged selected a good base for this blend.
The vanilla is noticeable and the spices are quite lovely. Nothing tries to take over here. There is a wonderful mint lift which still allows the vanilla to have its time in the sun. Something of an after dinner mint flavor is what I am getting. You know those Chocolate Andes mints in the green wrapper? Yup that kind of mint flavor, so good! Now I am not saying that this tea tastes all that chocolaty but the spices and puerh tend to lead it in that direction just a little.
On the spices, they are lovely! I am not one for licorice or anise in any amount by nature although there are a few blends out there that have surprised me – this is one of those blends. I feel that The Spice and Tea Exchange has captured the best elements of a chai and added the fun vanilla and mint aspects very well all in a really solid puerh base.
I have had three very successful steeps from these leaves and am going on steep four.
This tea does make me want to check out The Spice and Tea Exchange website now and see what other teas they have to offer. I can also order my spices and herbs there as well. That is a bonus! It is always nice to try a new company and enjoy the cup, even more surprising when it is not a blend I would choose for myself yet I still enjoy it. That leaves a great first impression!
