Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Spice Melange
Where to Buy: Yogi
Tisane Description:
Embark on a journey to the ancient Mayan temples, where prized cocoa beans were ground and mixed with spices to create a sacred beverage that symbolized fertility and prosperity. We’ve taken this combination into the modern era by combining Organic Cocoa Shells, which supply antioxidants, with the traditional Ayurvedic warming and invigorating spices of organic Cardamom, Clove and Cinnamon Bark. Enjoy this rich tasting and enlivening blend any time of day for a delicious treat.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Even though this Mayan Cocoa Spice Tisane from Yogi isn’t marketed as a “chai” … because it has many of the “usual” spices of a masala chai blend, I decided to categorize it as a chai. And even though this is a tea that can be purchased at my local Chuck’s Produce and it’s a bagged tea, it’s not too bad.
It’s actually pretty good.
Perhaps it’s the cacao that won me over here. I love the spiced chocolate taste of this, it reminds me a bit of a mild Mexican hot chocolate. The chocolate is good and strong (which makes the chocoholic in me very happy) and the spices don’t overwhelm the chocolate, instead, they enhance the chocolate-y flavor. Especially nice is the chicory, which lends a “coffee-esque” sort of flavor to the cup without coffee’s bitterness, and coffee and chocolate seem to go together very well. And so it would seem that chocolate and chicory work equally as well together.
The other spices are well portrayed in this melange too. The cinnamon is the strongest of the spices, but it isn’t an overpowering taste. The cardamom and clove add a nice background of warmth, and the ginger and black pepper add just enough “kick” to this to spice it up without becoming too spicy (although, I can’t help but think what an interesting taste it would be if there was just a hint of cayenne or something stronger in this!)
My biggest issue with this blend is the stevia in the blend. I don’t like it when any tea or tisane includes stevia or other sweetener in it, because I like to decide how sweet or not sweet I want my beverage to be. I don’t like that predetermined for me. And the stevia does impart a slightly “funky” taste to the cup, fortunately, the spices are strong enough to curb this funkiness a little bit, so I’m just getting a wee bit of funky, and its not enough funky to stop me from sipping on this spicy chocolate drink.
Not a bad beverage. It’s not something I’d buy again, but, if it were offered me, it’s not something I’d turn down. I liked it.
