Product Information:
Where to Buy: Treatsie
Product Description:
Tea-flavored hard candy. Flavors include Lemongrass Green Tea, Chai Latte, Arnold Palmer and Mango Black Tea.
Learn more about Treatsie’s Subscription Box here.
Product Review:
I know I’ve confessed it before, but, I’ll confess it again: I have a sweet tooth. And I find myself particularly attracted to sweets that are tea inspired, like these yummy hard candies from Raley’s Confectionary. While recently perusing the Treatsie website, I came across this tea flavored hard candy assortment, and you know I couldn’t resist!
I recently discovered Treatsie, and they’re a subscription box (similar to the box that I get every month from Simple Loose Leaf), so every month, I will get a box full of yummy treats. (And chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?) You can also shop for the products individually and there are some really interesting curated boxes that you can buy at Treatsie too. I bought these tea flavored hard candies separately, because as I said before, I couldn’t resist when I saw the words “Tea Flavored Hard Candy.” Um … yes please!
My separately purchased products (not the Treatsie subscription box) arrived this afternoon, and I’m really pleased! It was packaged beautifully, and I even got a “thank you” treat tucked inside – another package of Raley’s Confectionary’s hard candies – these little “thank you” candies actually say thank you right on them, and they’re pomegranate flavored! Yum!
These tea flavored candies are really tasty. The Mango Black Tea candy has a very distinct mango note and I can taste a softer black tea note in there too. The Lemongrass Green Tea has a lemon-lime-ish sort of flavor to it, with a background of a sweet, grassy green tea note. The Arnold Palmer tastes more of lemonade than it does of tea, but every once in a while I taste a slight tea-ish flavor. I like the tangy note of the Arnold Palmer, though, it seems to balance out the other sweeter tasting flavors of the package.
And then there is my favorite of the four: Chai Latte! I think I’d be happy to have a whole package of just the chai latte. They have a gentle spice to them (these aren’t strong in spice! They’re more sweet than spicy!) and I can taste the black tea as well as a creamy note to them – they’re like a sweet little chai latte!
I love that the flavors that are promised are the flavors that are delivered. Sure, they’re sweeter than what you’d experience if you were actually drinking a cup of chai latte or a mango flavored black tea – but they ARE candies, after all! They’re supposed to be sweet. What I love is that these are not just something that satisfies the sweet tooth in me, but also the tea lover in me too.
So, now I’ve found this sinful company that will send me sweet-tooth indulgences once a month … how do I say no to that?
Chai Cacao Tea from Tisano
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tisano
Tea Description:
In India tea has it’s roots in Ayurveda, a wholestic approach to medicine focusing on food and lifestyle. From there, India’s most popular beverage – Masala Chai, “Spiced Tea,” was born. Tisano takes this 5,000 year old tradition into the 21st Century – we source estate grown Assam Black Tea leaves, cloves, cinnamon, cardamom and other spices to create a unique sweet and spicy chocolate Chai Cacao Tea.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was so excited when this tea was offered on sale on the Tisano website recently, because I’ve been wanting to try it ever since I heard that it had been added to the Tisano line of teas and tisanes. I’m really fond of Tisano’s original cacao tea which I reviewed previously (and plan to review again for this site soon!) That moment when I first sampled the original was my first introduction to cacao shells (rather than nibs) as a source for chocolate-y infused drinks. And seriously, there’s nothing better to infuse than cacao shells to get a rich, true, chocolate-y flavor!
When I visited the Tisano website to start prepping for this review, I learned that this wasn’t just a simple blend of cacao shells with spices like I first thought it was! No! This is actually a tea with camellia sinensis leaves, as well as cacao shells and spices.
Mmm! This is so yummy! The chocolate note is rich and prominent. It’s the first note that I taste when I take a sip. Decadent, rich, delicious chocolate! Just beneath the chocolate-y surface is a satisfyingly smooth, malty note of Assam. Then I pick up on the spices.
The spices here are not strong or “spicy.” The spice notes are warm and I love the dimension that the spices add to this cup. There is a really nice balance of the spices. No one spice takes center stage, it is a well-rounded collection of spices that add warmth to the cup without overpowering the cacao. Instead, the spices elevate the earthy notes of the cacao.
The cacao shells are the perfect representation of chocolate. It’s rich and intensely flavorful. It tastes like true chocolate much more so than any chocolate flavoring that I’ve experienced with flavored teas, and it’s also a better chocolate-y representation than cacao nibs. This tastes like a deep, dark, rich chocolate with notes of bitter and sweet. It tastes amazing as a latte too. Perfect!
This is THE CHAI for chocolate lovers. If you love chocolate, you really must try this tea!
Masala Chai Blend from The Persimmon Tree
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where To Buy: The Persimmon Tree
Tea Description:
Our Masala Chai tea combines premium organic Assam black tea leaves with warming cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and other fragrant spices. This tea is finely balanced to create the perfect aromatic blend for you to enjoy black, or as it has been traditionally enjoyed, with milk and sugar.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s Chai Latte time! Mmm! While chai teas tend to be my autumnal go-to cuppa, I enjoy a good masala spiced chai blend any time of the year, and I’m really enjoying this Masala Chai Blend from The Persimmon Tree. It’s warm and spicy and dee-lish!
While the spices are strong in this blend, I like that I am having no trouble tasting the bold flavor of the Assam black tea base with this tea. It is a rich, malty Assam and the sweetness of the Assam is a nice contrast to the zesty spices. The tea is a little on the astringent side, so I would recommend steeping this for 3 to 3 1/2 minutes. I steeped it for 4 minutes and I’m finding it to be a little astringent. Not too bad, but I think a little less time to steep would still produce a flavorful result with less astringency.
The spices are comprised of the “usual suspects” – cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and ginger. I think that they’re nicely balanced here. I taste a good amount of cinnamon and cloves, but the peppery taste of the ginger and the warmth of the cardamom also are detectable.
This is delicious served straight up, although I would recommend a little sugar or honey to accentuate the spices. I have always been one who thinks that spices need a little sweet to bring out the best flavors in the spice. (Sugar and Spice makes everything nice.) But for a real treat, add a splash of warmed milk (almond milk is really good in chai!) The spices aren’t diminished by the addition, and the creaminess of the milk seems to elevate the drink to a whole other level.
Or you can make an iced drink by brewing the chai extra strong and then blending the cooled tea in a blender with some milk, honey and ice. Yum!
Rooibos Spiced Chai Tisane from Davidson’s Organics
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Davidson’s Organics
Tisane Description:
Rooibos (“red tea”) is harvested from shrubs grown in the high elevations of the cape regions of South Africa. Rooibos has a full-bodied, rounded character, a slight sweetness, and blends well with green tea, black tea, other herbs and spices. Enjoy this red tea based chai with just the right hint of sweetness and spices. Delicious with milk and sweetener. High in vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, Rooibos is well-known for its numerous health benefits and calming effects. And it’s completely caffeine-free!
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’m writing this review, it’s rather late in the evening. A little too late to indulge in something caffeinated. Caffeine in tea doesn’t usually overstimulate me but, I am still cautious once it is past a certain hour, because I don’t want to take a chance that I’ll be kept up from drinking too much caffeine. So I decided to try one of my caffeine-free choices, and this Rooibos Spiced Chai is what I grabbed.
Hmm … it’s alright. Not the best rooibos chai blends that I’ve tried. I’m finding it to be just a wee bit thin, not just in body but also in spiced flavor. I taste cinnamon and cloves, but I didn’t taste any other spice notes, and I guess that’s because the ingredients only list cloves and cinnamon. I don’t really consider that to be a chai … but OK. For me to think “chai” I want some peppery spices, perhaps some black pepper or ginger. Some cardamom would be nice too.
But overall, it’s not a bad tasting rooibos chai. It has a nice, honey-esque flavor to it, and the nutty flavor of the rooibos seems to accentuate the warm spice notes of the cinnamon and the cloves. I like the way the earthiness of the spice plays with the natural earthiness of the rooibos. It’s a pleasant, warm and cozy type of blend, and I found it helped to calm and relax me, which is what I want this time of night.
I don’t know if I’d buy this again. It’s not something I’d put on my must have list nor would I make it a staple of my tea cupboard. But it’s tasty.
Autumn Chai Custom Blend from Adagio Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Adagio Teas
Tea Description:
This blend combines candy apple tea with spiced apple chai and caramel tea for an autumn explosion! Add sugar for a Halloween treat too. I added a pinch of cinnamon black tea and this chai completely rocked! If you’ve got some cinnamon tea on hand, add it for an extra kick; or blend freshly ground cinnamon for an autumn adventure.
A Carolynne Keenan Custom Blend.
Learn more about this custom blend here.
Find more Carolynne Keenan blends here.
Taster’s Review:
As I was brewing this Autumn Chai Custom Blend (created by Carolynne Keenan) from Adagio Teas, I was surprised by the scent of apple! Yeah, it says in the description that there is Spiced Apple Chai in the blend, but, with the other ingredients, I didn’t expect the apple to offer such a prominent fragrance.
I could also smell notes of cinnamon, cloves and ginger, with the cinnamon being the most pronounced of those aromatic spices. The brewed tea smells strongly of spice with hints of apple in the background.
This is pretty good. As I’ve said more than once before, I’m not crazy about the black tea base that Adagio uses as it tends to come off tasting harsh. And even though the custom blends seem to be less harsh (and sometimes not very harsh at all), I’m getting some of that harshness here. Not as much as if I were drinking one of the single flavored teas from Adagio (as opposed to the custom blends), but, there is still some of that brash astringency to this cup.
Fortunately, that harsh note isn’t too aggressive, and I am enjoying the other flavors that this drink has to offer. The cinnamon and other spices are fairly well-balanced. The cinnamon is the strongest flavor, but it doesn’t overwhelm the other spices. I taste notes of ginger, clove and cardamom. Then I get a smooth, silky sweet note of caramel. Mmm! The apple comes through shortly after I notice the caramel. In the distance, I notice a bright note of orange.
Overall, it’s an enjoyable chai. Not my favorite, because even though the harshness isn’t terribly assertive, the fact that I’m detecting it means that I’d rather it not be there. And the orange … while it does perk up the cup a little bit, it seems a little out of place. It is certainly tasty though and something I’d be willing to drink again.