Tea Type:
Black Tea/White Tea Blend, Chai
Where to Buy:
Uniq Teas
Product Description:
Under Creative Commons License: Attribution
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Tasters Review:
If you are a regular reader of ours here at Sororitea Sisters you are aware that Uniq Teas allowed the 3 of us here to blend our own tea and this is mine in the series of 3!
The Tri Pi Chai was the one I blended thru their wonderful service!
You can find this blend here
http://www.uniqteas.com/products/sororiteas-tri-pi-chai#ixzz2DRbhkaPT
It’s made up of:
70% White Chai / 15% Caramelicious / 15% Raspberry
I wanted to do a Chai but not a ‘regular’ chai. I’ve always been intrigued by WHITE Chai’s – I can’t really explain why but I like them and like the tinker with them. This was the very first thought I had when I saw that as an option on their site!
But I also wanted both WHITE and BLACK Teas in them. I didn’t want the black tea to over power the white, tho. BUT…I did want to taste both. Most of the other attempts I have tried with the black and white combined you can’t taste the white…so…fingers crossed!
I also wanted this to be just a little sweet and a tad fruity so that is why I went with a little bit of the caramel and raspberry combo-ed offerings!
I wanted to try infusing this a 1 minute or under FIRST so that is what I did.
Here were my findings:
First…the DRY leaf aroma – right from the tin – smells like white tea, gentle spices, raspberries, citrus, a pinch of sugary and I am chalking that up to the caramel, as well as a little woodsy. It has some interesting yin and yang or masculine and feminine type aromas to it. I like how the opposites seem to attract in this!
This blend – at 1 minute or under – infuses to a medium brown color with a neat copper glow.
To the nose – the liquor smells warming, comforting, mellower, and slightly fruity, floral, and woodsy…all at the same time! WOW! How different…but that is what I was HOPING for!!!
Now the taste…
“Oh…WOW!” were the first two words that came out of my mouth! WHITE TEA! YAY! But there was MORE to it!
It has a nice white tea flavor up front that is mellower but still pushing thru and noticeable. The Chai Spices are subtle and I am ok with that! I didn’t want them to over power! The white tea also provides an interesting floral flavor working with the spices or maybe just a tad more than the spices. The Caramel is also hiding out in the background and does contribute an oh-so-small-hint of sweetness to possibly tone down the floral flavor. More importantly – I think the Caramel assists with the texture and gives it a nice creaminess to the middle of the sip. However, as it continues to cool at room temperature I can taste the caramel more and I like it! I also think the black tea working with the caramel works well, here, again, I didn’t want it to overpower the white and I really don’t think it did. YAY! Also as it cools the Raspberry started to come out to play more and it’s really welcoming and fun! It’s just enough to make you say “What’s that? Fruit!?” So, yeah, I guess I just really wanted this to be complex…but I wanted it to be interesting and diverse, but jive in it’s own certain way. Just like a Sorority I guess. So far…I think this reached those things.
I named this Tri Pi Chai for a few reasons! One being…The SororiTEA Sisters are made up of 3 Tea Lovin’ Sista’s…Liberteas, Azzrian, and myself. We are all different but we all love tea and we all work well together. I also named this Tri Pi Chai to do a little Play on Words to work hand-in-hand with SororiTEA Sisters. Also because I used 3 different offerings Uniq Teas offered.
The more I drink this the more I like it and as it cools the flavors dance around and become more youthful and seem to morph at different temperatures!
I will experiment with this at different temperatures but I am really liking it with a shorter infusion time, so far.
Special THANKS to Uniq Teas for this awesomely-fun opportunity!
Tiger Chai from Kally Tea
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Kally Tea
Chai Description:
Traditionally Chai is brewed by adding milk/cream and a sweetener. The spicy complexity of this libation is just as delicious brewed as a regular beverage without any dairy or sweetener. Try it both ways to discover your favorite way to enjoy.
Learn more about this masala chai blend here.
Taster’s Review:
HAPPY NEW YEAR!
And what better way to ring in this chilly, wintery New Year’s Day than with a warm, rich, delicious spiced Chai tea? I absolutely love a good, spiced Chai blend. This is definitely a yummy Chai, and nothing seems to warm me up from the inside out quite as effectively as a warm spiced tea like this one.
The black tea base is rich and slightly caramel-y with notes of malt, which leads me to believe that it is either an Assam or an blend of teas that includes an Assam. It has a very full-flavor, and it is a substantial enough tea to be able to stand up on its own while it is surrounded by the flavors of robust spices.
The spices are sensational! Warm and spicy, but not so spicy that I’d consider this to be spicy-hot. It is what I’d call “spicy” … but it isn’t so much so that I feel the need to temper the spices with the addition of milk – and even though this Chai does make an incredible latte – I rather like it when brewed simply in boiling water for four minutes with no other additions except a half a teaspoon of turbinado sugar to help enhance the spices.
It’s rich and warm and satisfying, and very comforting too, with a smooth creaminess thanks to the little touch of vanilla in the blend. And I think that it is the touch of vanilla in this blend that makes it so comforting and smooth … without the addition of milk.
I taste the black pepper and the ginger here, and these are the two “stand out” spices in the masala blend, but I wouldn’t say that this is a peppery chai, really. The other spices are strong enough to mellow the peppery notes out a little, and give the overall cup some balance. I taste the cinnamon, I taste the clove, and I taste the cardamom. It is a warming, delicious blend that I think everyone can enjoy – it is spicy enough for those who like a warm, spicy chai, but, it isn’t so spicy that those who tend to shy away from spicy-hot drinks would not be able to enjoy it.
A very lovely chai – from one of my favorite tea companies! I wish everyone a very happy and wonderful new year!
Chocolate Chili Truffle from Spire Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Tea Description:
Unveil the sweet and spicy layers in our Chili Truffle tea made with Ceylon black tea; chili, chocolate and peppercorns.
Learn more about Spire Tea on their website.
Taster’s Review:
This tea isn’t technically a “chai” by what we here in the United States have come to call chai, however, the spiciness of this tea is very warming and reminds me of a chai, so I decided to categorize it as such.
I really like this a lot! Then again, that should not be surprising, given my love for chocolate. And when I shop for chocolate, I often find myself looking for (and purchasing) chocolates that are chili infused … I love the combination of sweet (or bittersweet) chocolate with spicy foods. The sweetness of the chocolate tempers the heat from the spice just enough while the notes from the spice cut through some of the sweeter notes of the chocolate to keep it from tasting so sweet. I love that contrast.
And that contrast has been captured perfectly in this cup of tea.
The black tea is a mellower black tea base – a Ceylon – but, it does its job here well. It supports the flavors of chocolate and chili very nicely without getting in their way. It is a strong enough Ceylon to be tasted without overpowering the spicy chocolate notes.
The chocolate – while it could be stronger (I do love my chocolate!) offers a rich, creamy taste that is more like dark chocolate than of milk chocolate … although if you prefer a milk chocolate taste that can be easily remedied by turning this into a latte. It adds a nice texture to the cup too, it tastes really rich and decadent!
And the chili adds just the right amount of heat. I would classify it as a mild-to-medium heat, it isn’t super-spicy, even as the heat builds as I continue to sip, I never feel it becoming TOO spicy for my mouth. Just a really enjoyable, warm heat.
A really lovely tea from Spire … this one might be my favorite yet from them!
Sweet & Sassy SororiTea From Uniq Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Uniq Teas
Tea Description:
Sweet caramel notes are accented with a touch of spice and hint of almond. This is LiberTEAS blend.
Learn more about creating your own blend here.
You can order this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
Not too long ago, we (the SororiTea Sisters) were contacted by Uniq Teas and invited to each create our own blend which we could then sample and review. Well, of course we took them up on it! It sounded like fun!
And it really is fun! The Uniq Teas website is so easy to use! You just create an account, then choose from their selection of 40 different Organic and Fair Trade teas to create a blend. You choose the teas, and you choose how much of each blend is used to come up with your own unique blend. Then, you name the tea, design the label, and you write the description. You even decide if you want the tea to be a public tea (available for everyone to purchase) or a private one.
It was a blast to put this blend together. It is a blend of black teas: Caramelicious, Black Chai, and Almond. I then chose the name Sweet & Sassy SororiTea because caramel and almond is sweet, and I thought that the spices would add a certain sassy attitude to the cup without coming off as being too spicy.
And I’m really happy with this! The black tea offers a strong background of flavor – it is rich, assertive and slightly astringent. I’m not experiencing any bitterness, but, I also think that this is a tea that you don’t want to over-infuse, because I think it could become bitter if it’s left to brew too long. I steeped this for 3 1/2 minutes and it came out just right.
And even though the black tea base is strong, it doesn’t overwhelm the flavors which I find to have just the balance I was looking for. The caramel comes through as the strongest flavor, and there are hints of almond in the background. The spices are loud and indeed sassy, but they aren’t overly spicy. It was my intention that even though a chai blend was being used as part of my tea blend, I didn’t really want it to come off as a chai. I wanted it to come off as a spiced caramel blend with a touch of almonds, and that’s just what I got! This blend is great served straight … but I like it even better as a latte as it helps to bring out the creamy notes of the caramel and the sweetness of the almonds.
I am definitely going to be returning to Uniq Teas in the future to create another blend … maybe a twist on Earl Grey next time!
Traditional Marsala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Blue Lotus Chai
Chai Description:
With its deep and truly authentic flavor and amazing ease of preparation, our flagship product has become part of the daily rhythm of many homes. Tasting is believing!
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I am totally and completely in LOVE with this chai! There have been a few chai products that I’ve felt this way for, but, I think that this one may just replace them as my favorite, or at the very least, be a contender for that spot.
This is amazing. I love it not just because it tastes amazing, but also because it’s a local product and I love supporting my local community. But, I think I’d be head over heels for this even if it wasn’t local. Because it is really good.
It is a concentrated spiced powder, so, it’s very much like some of the instant chai products that are out there. But this differs in a couple of ways. First, there’s no milk products in the mix, so if you want to control the amount of milk that goes in to your chai – or the type of milk that goes in to your chai – you can do that. Second, there is no sweetener in this chai, so you can decide if you want it sweet (or not!) and what kind of sweetener you want to use. I love it for these reasons alone, because I find that so many of the chai preparations out there tend to be overly sweetened and I like being able to have the freedom to choose how much milk I want … sometimes those other prepared chai mixes have too much milk product in them and they end up tasting too creamy for my liking.
I mean, I like a decadent, creamy beverage, but, I don’t like it to be so heavily laden with cream that I feel like I need to scrape the residue off my tongue, you know? I like that this product offers me the freedom to choose just how much milk goes in to my chai latte!
The first time I prepared this, I prepared it according to the suggested preparation instructions, which suggests 4 oz. of boiling water, 1 rounded scoop of chai powder (each package comes with the most adorable little bamboo scoop that measures out 1/4 teaspoon of chai powder), and 4 oz. of milk. Add sweetener of choice if desired (I added about 1/4 teaspoon of turbinado sugar). After you stir to combine the ingredients, heat it up a bit (to replace the heat taken by the chill of the milk), and enjoy. It was delicious, but I found that I wanted the flavors to be a little stronger, so I added another half a scoop – yet another reason I love this chai, I can add more to the cup if I want to! – and found the beverage to be perfect chai JOY!
The cup was rich, spicy, and creamy. Decadent! I can taste the richness and hint of malty notes from the black tea, and I love that I can taste the nutmeg here! This chai blend has all the “usual” suspects: cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger … plus some black pepper to spice it up (which I can taste too!) and then the aforementioned nutmeg. It is spicy but not overwhelmingly so. Blue Lotus Chai has achieved a really nice balance. (However, if they’re looking for suggestions for blend #4, might I suggest one with Anise and/or fennel? I do love a licorice note in my chai!)
I love this chai latte that I made thanks to the ease of Blue Lotus Chai! This blend has everything I want from a chai latte, and I loved that I could very easily customize it to make it that way. You can’t get that from your local coffee shop! This is the way chai SHOULD be!