Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teas and Botanicals
Tea Description:
Chai tea is an aromatic spiced tea originally from India. Our Real Chai Tea is a blend of two loose leaf black teas and a variety of spices, which brews a delicious and satisfying beverage.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
This Real Chai Tea Blend from Teas and Botanicals is a really flavorful chai. As far as spices go, it’s a relatively basic masala blend – possessing the usual suspects: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves … with pepper which is not as often utilized in spiced chais but I am encountering more and more chai blends that do include black pepper (and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned!)
The black tea is a solid black tea, chopped very fine (This is a very fine CTC) but, don’t let that detract you from trying this blend … I’ve tasted many CTC teas that are remarkably flavorful. The key is knowing that you shouldn’t brew them quite as long as you would full or broken leaf tea, because there is more surface area. A longer brew time may result in a bitter tea with a CTC tea. I brewed this in boiling water for just three minutes and I was treated to a very flavorful, strong tea without bitterness.
The spices are bold and delicious! I enjoyed this chai served without milk and just a little bit of turbinado sugar to enhance the spices … and then I tried it with a splash of warmed, frothed milk and what a TREAT! Yummy! This makes a fantastic chai latte!
A really good chai – I love chai and this one is delicious!
Rooibos Masala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Description:
100% Certified organic and caffeine-free, our new Rooibos Masala Chai is appealing to a broad cross-section of customers. It has a similar taste profile to our Traditional Masala Chai, but with the delightful base of naturally sweet and nutty rooibos. Those who cannot or wish to not drink a caffeinated chai, can now freely indulge in their favorite BLC drink.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little skeptical … but Blue Lotus Chai has made a believer out of me with this Rooibos Masala Chai! It’s yummy!
As one who tends to be a bit leery of rooibos anyway, I was really kind of freaked out about trying a finely ground chai powder made with rooibos. But, this is really quite delicious. The flavor is warm and spicy, with a lovely nutty flavor. The natural nutty flavor of the rooibos accentuates the nutmeg in this masala blend, and since nutmeg is one of my favorite spices, I really like how the rooibos and nutmeg work together in this cup.
The other spices are spicy, but not over the top. I get a nice amount of peppery kick to it, a warm, delicious note of cinnamon and notes of clove and cardamom. The rooibos is not a strong, prominent flavor in this, but it does add the aforementioned nutty flavor.
I think … if I were to offer one criticism with this chai it would be that some body is lacking in it … it just … kind of falls flat there. I think that by following the suggested recipe on the package, the milk kind of overwhelms the overall flavor, so I would recommend instead using about half as much milk as suggested and replacing the omitted milk with water. It makes a little bit of a thinner chai but because the rooibos tends to be thinner anyway, it works out. And the thing I like about Blue Lotus Chai’s blends is that you can customize it to taste the way you want it to. I also did notice that this blend was a little harder to incorporate than the other two blends from Blue Lotus Chai … this blend requires some extra stirring and some extra frothing with the hand held frother. But, the results are worth that little extra work!
Warm, soothing and comforting … a perfect chai treat any time of day or night, because it’s naturally caffeine free!
SororiTea’s Tri Pi Chai from UniqTeas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White and Black Tea
Where to Buy: UniqTeas
Tea Description:
Started with a White Chai Base added a hint of Caramel & Raspberry. Aromatic, Spicy, Sweet, fruit and vegetal notes underneath with a overall medium strength flavor. A Sororitea Sisters White/Black Tea Blend.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Sororitea’s Tri Pi Chai from UniqTeas is really something different when it comes to a chai tea. Generally, but not always, I add a little honey to my chai teas. I prefer them sweeter with some cream, or made into a latte. Most teas I always prefer straight but chai for me is different. I think it is because I was drinking chai long before I was drinking loose leaf tea on a regular basis. Chai was most always what I preferred to get at a Starbucks. I would also buy it in the store already prepared in the container – you know the Tazo brand. I was about to go grab my honey and add it to my cup when I took a sip. I wanted to try the tea straight before hand. Its a good thing that I did because this tea needs absolutely no sweetening. The sweet in this tea is balanced perfectly with the spices which are not too strong. I rather like that as I am not a huge fan of anise which in some chai tends to take over depending on how it is blended. I would say of all the spices in this blend the ginger.
The raspberry and caramel seem to give more of a sweet, yet fresh backdrop and do not drown out the tea leaf itself. I seem to taste the raspberry’s fresh tartness and liveliness more than the caramel which to me just seems to make the cup creamy more than flavored, yet adds to the sweetness which is nice. On that note, the black tea does not over take the delicate flavors of the white tea either.
It is a really good chai, and so different than most as it seems to capture the idea of fresh and lively along with rich and creamy, and spicy, all at the same time.
This would make a wonderful latte!
Mint Masala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Description:
Our new variety is a taste sensation! Exhilarating and surprising, it rises to the same standard of excellence that defines Blue Lotus Chai, and that our fans have come to expect.
Ingredients: Naturally brewed and flash-dried black tea powder; 100% Certified Organic powdered spices: ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, peppermint from extract.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I was thrilled when I found this Mint Masala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai (as well as their other varieties) available at my local Chuck’s Produce Market! I just love Blue Lotus Chai!
And this Mint Masala Chai is awesome. It tastes very much like the Original Masala Chai, but with a big burst of refreshing mint flavor! The mint adds such a nice dimension of flavor – it’s so cool and crisp and invigorating!
I prepared this according to package directions, using 4 ounces of freshly boiled water, 4 ounces of milk, and a heaping scoop (the bamboo scoop that is included with the package of chai is just the right size!) of powdered chai. Remembering last time that I like this to be a little spicier, I added another half a scoop, and this produces the perfect cup of chai for me.
The mint adds a nice sweetness to the cup, so no additional sweetener is needed, but, I did find that if I added a little less than half a teaspoon of turbinado sugar, this brought out the spices a little more, and when I drink chai, it’s usually all about the spice for me! But I love that Blue Lotus Chai lets you decide whether or not to add sweetener rather than going ahead and adding it to the mix. I find that too often with these types of chai mixes, the sugar is just too overwhelming … I like that I control the amount of sweetener I put in … not to mention that I can control whether I add milk and how much strong I want the chai to be!
The smooth flavor of black tea hits the palate first, and then the spices come on strong! I taste pepper and ginger almost immediately, and these flavors linger, but they aren’t so strong that I need to search for the other spices. I taste cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and the delicious taste of nutmeg too. I love that Blue Lotus Chai includes nutmeg in their chai blends!
And then the mint comes forward and it is so fresh tasting – ZESTY! I love the way the mint adds such a cool, bright flavor to the cup. It’s a really nice change from the usual chai blends!
Even if you can’t find Blue Lotus Chai in your local retail store, if you like chai … YOU’VE got to try this! I highly recommend visiting their online store and getting yourself some of this amazing chai – you won’t regret it!
Jennifer’s Chai – a Custom Blend from Ovation Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Ovation Teas
Tea Description:
Black tea blended with cinnamon chips, cloves, ginger, cardamom, almonds, nutmeg, black pepper, and safflowers with chai flavoring and almond & vanilla extract.
Taster’s Review:
I debated with myself whether or not I should write this review, because I recently learned that Ovation Teas is closing their business. I am very saddened by this news for several reasons. The first, and most obvious to many of you, I’m sure, is the fact that they’re a tea business and I don’t want tea businesses to go out of business! They are a local company, and I love to support the local businesses. But one of the main reasons I’m sad is that Ovation Teas had some pretty spectacular blends … and I barely scratched the surface at trying them all (and yes, I wanted to do that!)
I ordered this particular custom blend just before Christmas as a gift for a recipient in a gift swap in which I was participating. My recipient liked chai, vanilla flavored teas and almond flavored teas, so I asked Ovation teas if they could combine all of the above in one amazing blend! And they did … AND in addition to the full-sized portion that I ordered for my recipient, they were nice enough to send me some of the tea to try too!
It brews up dark and fragrant, smelling of alluring spices with hints of almond and vanilla with a rich backdrop of earthy black tea. And that’s what I taste, too. The black tea has a strong presence here, and I appreciate that because often with chai blends, the black tea tends to take a back seat and is often overwhelmed by the spices. That didn’t happen here, and I’m glad. The spices are very harmonious … the cloves do stand out a bit which kind of surprised me, because usually with chai blends it’s either the cinnamon or the ginger that is prominent. Here, the other spices seem pretty evenly matched, with the cloves coming out as the prominent flavor.
And these flavors are nicely accentuated by the flavors of vanilla and almond which offers a sweet, creamy, nutty note. I like that the nutty tones of the almond are further highlighted by the nutmeg in the chai … a really nice touch (I think that this might have been an addition that I requested, and I think I did right to request it, this blend would not be the same without the nutmeg).
This is a really delicious chai that I’m enjoying served straight with just a little bit of turbinado sugar to emphasize the spices a bit. It doesn’t need a lot of sweetening though, because the sweetness of the vanilla and almond are very satisfying. And because of the creaminess of these two flavors, it doesn’t need milk to make it taste creamy … although this would be very tasty with a drop or two of milk just to enhance the creamy tones.
To Ovation Teas, I lift my tea mug up and toast you, I will miss you!