Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Davidson’s Organics
Tea Description:
Beautiful, full-flavored black tea, chai spices, anise and mandarin orange essence.
Ingredients (* organic): Black tea*, cinnamon*, cloves*, cardamom*, orange peel*, natural flavor & anise seed*.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
This is another tea that I received from a friend as a holiday gift. I hadn’t yet tried the Mandarin Chai with Anise from Davidson’s Organics so I was happy to receive it!
Eh … this is alright, but as far as chai blends go, it’s a little on the underwhelming side. The black tea is flavorful, but the spices are a bit tame for my liking. It’s not extraordinarily spicy, and chai blends don’t all have to be extraordinarily spicy to make me happy but, this just … seems to miss the mark a little bit. Every once in a while I notice that my palate seems to be “searching” for the peppery kick of ginger but it doesn’t find it because there isn’t ginger in this.
I do like the snappy little licorice-y note that I get from the anise, and the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom give it a really wonderful warmth. But part of me would like this to be a wee bit spicier than it is. I think maybe I’d feel less disappointment if this weren’t called a chai and was instead called a “Mandarin Spice” blend. I realize I’m arguing semantics here, because, ‘chai’ means ‘tea,’ but, as I’ve mentioned more than once, in this part of the world, we’ve come to think of chai meaning a spiced tea, and usually a highly spiced tea.
I do like the orange in this blend, it’s a little bit of “brightness” in the cup and it brings an overall “holiday-ish” sort of feel to the drink. This tastes very much like what many tea companies would promote as their “holiday” blend, but there is much less spice to it than in the typical holiday blend.
It’s alright, but, just kind of boring. In a world that is filled with so many interesting and wonderful teas, this one just falls a little short of the mark.
Mayan Cocoa Spice Tisane from Yogi
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.
Organic Chocolate Chai Tea Blend from Rishi Tea
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh Tea & Yerba Mate
Where to Buy: Rishi Tea
Tea Description:
Velvety, mellow and deep, this chai is an enticing blend of energizing pu-erh tea, shade-grown yerba maté, and cacao. Made even more inviting by creamy vanilla, nutty coconut and fruity, pungent and uplifting Ayurvedic long pepper, Chocolate Chai is a most sophisticated take on hot cocoa.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
On this cold and wet evening in the Pacific Northwest, I wanted something warm and invigorating. This Organic Chocolate Chai Tea Blend from Rishi Tea is just what I needed!
And it is tasty! I did a quick rinse of the leaves (there’s pu-erh in there, and I didn’t want the cup to taste too earthy) and then I steeped this for four minutes in just under boiling water.
I find that when I use boiling water for Yerba Mate, the resulting brew comes out just a wee bit bitter. My solution to this was to use just under boiling water for Yerba Mate and Mate blends like this one. That way, I can steep a while to get full flavor out of the blend without having a bitter cup.
I’m really liking this chai, although, I find myself in disagreement with calling this “chai.” While I do understand that the word “chai” means “tea,” here in the United States, we’ve come to recognize the word “chai” to mean a tea blended with spices, and these spices usually consist of (but are not limited to) a combination of cinnamon, cardamom, cloves and ginger. There are sometimes omissions of one or more of these, and sometimes other spices like peppercorns or anise are added.
However, this blend includes these ingredients:
Ingredients: Organic and Fair Trade Certified™ pu-erh tea, organic roasted cocoa nibs, organic roasted dandelion root, organic yerba maté, organic coconut flakes, organic long pepper, organic cardamom, organic vanilla bean.
With only one of the “usual” ingredients, I find it difficult to call this a “chai.” That … and the fact that this isn’t as spicy as you’d normally experience with a chai. There is some warmth from the pepper and cardamom, but, it’s not a strongly spiced tea.
That said, this is still really enjoyable. I love the deep, mellow notes of the pu-erh and how well they marry with the earthy, vegetative notes of the yerba mate. The cacao and coconut and vanilla play incredibly well together to give this a sweet, rich, chocolate-y and creamy coconut-y flavor. YUM! It’s almost dessert-like!
I love the warmth, I love the complexity of flavors, and you KNOW I’m loving the chocolate! A really yummy tea!
Original Chai from Chico Chai
Tea Type:
Chai Tea/
Black Tea Based
Where To Buy:
Chico Chai
Product Description:
A more traditional blend, robust and spicy. –
Holiday Blend Black Tea from English Tea Shop
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: English Tea Shop
Tea Description:
Holiday Blend: Black tea, cinnamon pieces, ginger pieces, cardamom pieces, nutmeg pieces, pepper, cloves and orange peels with vanilla and apple flavours.
Taster’s Review:
I received a lovely tea package from a friend for the holiday, and this Holiday Blend Black Tea from English Tea Shop is one of the teas that she sent me. And because the ingredients sound very “chai-like” to me, I decided to categorize this as a chai tea as well as a black tea.
However, I must admit that it doesn’t taste quite as chai-like as it sounds. (Yes, I know that chai means tea … but I’ve come to think of chai as a blend of spices and tea rather than just “tea.”) This is a bagged tea, and I’ve never made any secret about my feelings about bagged teas, but for what this is (that being a bagged tea) it’s really not bad. I steeped it for 2 1/2 minutes in boiling water and the flavor is sweet and warmly spiced with tasty fruit notes.
The black tea base is a mild-tasting black tea, leaving me to suspect that it is probably a Ceylon. It has a medium body, and it has a smooth, even taste – it’s not an overly assertive tasting tea.
The spices are not assertive either. They’re gently warming, and I think that with this particular blend, it is the moderate spice levels that make it work … there is just the right amount of spice here. In one sip, I notice subtle touches of cinnamon, ginger and clove. In the next, I’ll pick up on hints of cardamom, and nutmeg. In the next, I’ll notice the softness of vanilla peeking through, and a kick of pepper toward the finish. Every spice is represented without the blend ever tasting too spicy.
The same is true for the apple and orange notes. The apple is smooth and sweet, and the orange brightens the cup with a sunny note of citrus, but neither fruit tastes overly done. All the flavors here have been carefully balanced so that all the flavors are accounted for without any one flavor profile overpowering the blend.
It’s a pleasant cup of holiday cheer!