Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Doehi
Tea Description:
China black tea with cinnamon, cloves and orange bits with added flavoring.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The dry leaf aroma of this Chai Americaine Blend from Doehi smells very much like red-hot cinnamon heart candies! And hey, I love red hot cinnamon hearts, so I’m liking what I’m smelling here!
The flavor is sweet and hot. Yes, what I’m tasting is very much like the aforementioned red hot cinnamon hearts. The cinnamon is prominent (obviously, right?) and I can taste the clove. I don’t taste a lot of the orange in this blend, but there are hints here and there of a bright citrus-y note. The little bit of citrus seems to perk up the flavors a little bit, adding a hint of contrast to the strong spicy notes, and adding a sweet undertone to the zesty cinnamon and clove.
The black tea base is a smooth and pleasant tasting. It’s not an overpowering black tea that throws off the sweet-hot cinnamon taste, but it isn’t so docile that I can’t taste it, either. It’s playing its part in this cup, and I am enjoying it.
This is the kind of tea that I like to turn to on chilly mornings, and even though spring is in full-swing here in the Pacific Northwest, the mornings are still a little chilly and this tea is just the ticket for mornings like this, especially with it being allergy season … I like that the flavors here are full and robust.
I like this tea served hot and neat with no additions. If you like honey in your tea, this would take that addition nicely, but don’t add too much because this tea does have a bit of sweetness without the added sweetener. I wouldn’t add milk to this, I think that would really throw the whole thing off. This does taste pretty good iced too, but I prefer it hot.
An enjoyable offering from Doehi. I’m new to discovering this company, but I like what I’ve tasted thus far!
Winter White Chai from Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Tea Description:
A soft, delicate version of traditional Indian chai, Winter White Chai features our fine Shou Mei white tea amongst the backdrop of customary chai spices, with one surprising addition: coconut. Delicious served in the traditional chai manner with milk and sugar or untouched for a more simplistic and delicate cup.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Simple Loose Leaf’s NEW Selection Club subscription program here.
Taster’s Review:
I love the aroma of the dry leaf of this Winter White Chai from Simple Loose Leaf. It smells so delightfully spicy with notes of cinnamon, clove and pepper with a high note of coconut. My mouth began to water when I smelled it.
The brewed tea doesn’t have an overpoweringly spicy fragrance, instead, it smells warm and mildly spiced, like spice cake baking in the oven. And that’s the first thing I thought of when I took my first sip: spice cake! The spices come together in a very pleasing way in this chai – they’re warm and comforting.
Of the spices represented in this blend, the cinnamon and cloves are the most prominent. I taste a light kick of pepper from the ginger and the pink peppercorns, and there is a very gentle cardamom flavor to this too. I think that these spices were very thoughtfully blended: it’s a well-balanced masala chai blend that pairs well with the light Shou Mei base.
And I do taste the Shou Mei. When it comes to white teas, I think that Shou Mei is the least delicate tasting, and I think that it was the right choice for this particular blend because it needed something that could be tasted beneath the spices and other components of this blend. It has a subtle earthy tone, but the biggest contribution that I’m getting from the tea base is a refreshingly crisp note that enlivens the palate.
The coconut and vanilla notes work in unison to offer a soft, creamy note. I don’t taste a really obvious “coconut” flavor, but I taste more coconut in the aftertaste than in the actual sip. I find my thoughts debating among themselves as I’m trying to decide if I’d want more distinct coconut flavor to this tea. On the one hand, I do like the creaminess from the coconut and vanilla; it sort of gives a “latte-ish” taste to the cup without adding milk or cream to the tea (milk in white tea? No, that just seems wrong!) and I think that a stronger coconut presence might shift the focus off the lovely spices of this blend. I really like the blend as it is … then again, I really like coconut and there’s that part of me thinking “more coconut might be nice.”
The lemongrass adds a very light citrus-y note to the cup. It isn’t a strong presence, but it brings a little brightness to the overall flavor.
I really liked this Chai. It’s light and crisp, but still pleasantly spiced.
Desi Masala Chai Blend from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
A robust, full flavoured malty Assam blended with traditional spices like cardamom, cloves, cinnamon and ginger.
When tea was first grown in India to break Chinese monopoly on tea, it was not a popular beverage among the locals. The usual practice was to drink ‘kadha’ instead which was water and milk boiled with spices (as was recommended according to the Ayurveda, an ancient alternative medicinal system based in India). The Indian Tea association (at that time under the British) promoted tea among them in the preferred British way by adding a little milk and sugar. However Indian vendors began adding tea to the kadha they drank already. Although the Tea association at that time frowned at this practice as this reduced the usage (and thus the purchase) of tea leaves, the practice stuck and Chai tea was born! A perfect morning tea or a tea for a busy day.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Desi Masala Chai Blend from Tea People smells amazing! Even before I started brewing it … the dry leaf smells so spicy and enticing!
And it tastes even better than it smells!
The ingredients of this chai are the “usual” suspects:
Premium Assam black tea, ginger, cardamom, cinnamon and cloves .
But they are blended perfectly! The black tea base is an Assam, and it is rich and malty. It has a full, robust flavor that provides a perfect platform for the spices to express themselves. I love that I can taste notes of each spice in each sip and that it’s not all about one spice or the other. They aren’t competing with one another, they’re complementing each other.
The spices are strong and flavorful, but it isn’t TOO spicy. It’s spicy … but this cup isn’t all about the heat. I can taste the complexity of the spices. I’m getting the peppery tones … but I can even taste some of the sweeter notes of the ginger! The cinnamon is a sweeter cinnamon but I get some heat from it too. But this isn’t that red-hot candy cinnamon flavor. It tastes true to the spice. I’m tasting some of the eucalyptus notes of the cardamom and some of the warm, zesty flavor of the clove.
It’s a collective of all the spices, but even though I can taste the individual notes, there is a seamlessness about the flavor too. It is a very beautiful marriage of warm and sweet spices.
This chai tastes amazing served straight up with no additions, but it also makes an amazing latte. You can brew it stovetop in a 1:1 ratio of milk and water, or you can brew it at a concentrated strength in water and then add a splash of warmed milk after the brewing process is complete. I prefer the latter because it means less mess in the kitchen and I’m all for that!
I do recommend a little bit of sweetener to accentuate the spices. I recommend using either raw honey or turbinado sugar (I prefer the turbinado sugar because I love how the hints of molasses to the sugar meld with the sweeter tones of the spices!) You don’t NEED the sweetener to experience the spices, though, but, I find that sugar and spice is very nice!
A really great chai! I’m loving the teas from Tea People!
Also, please check out Tea People’s indiegogo fundraising campaign to help tea garden workers!
Spicy Anise Black Tea Blend from English Tea Shop
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: English Tea Shop
Tea Description:
Spicy Anise: Black tea, ginger pieces, cloves and star anise with ginger, mint and anise flavours.
Taster’s Review:
The ingredient list of this Spicy Anise Black Tea Blend from English Tea Shop shows a variety of spices that are reminiscent of a chai blend, however, the flavor is more like a warm, slightly spicy and minty tea rather than a chai. The anise is not as prevalent as I would like it to be, especially when considering the name of the tea. The name suggests to me that I’m going to have a strong anise-y tasting tea, but, the anise is not as dominant as the mint is in this blend.
The other spices – ginger and clove – are very subtle and offer a warm background note. The black tea base almost seems lost in the presence of the other flavors here. Oh, I can still taste the black tea, but it is a little too mellow in my opinion. I think a bold black tea base as well as a stronger presence of anise would make this a tea worthy of a name called “Spicy Anise.”
This is a bit disappointing, really. I was hoping for more from this blend.
White Tea Chai Blend from Tea of Life
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Learn more about Tea of Life and Amazon Teas here.
Tea Description:
White Tea with Chai (Cardamom, Cinnamon, Black Pepper, Cloves, Ginger and Nutmeg)
Taster’s Review:
When I opened the pouch that held the tea bag that brewed this cup of White Tea Chai Blend from Tea of Life, I lifted the tea bag to my nose to get a whiff of what I would soon be tasting. And … I was a little surprised and just a little dismayed that I couldn’t smell much in the way of spice. I mean, spices should be FRAGRANT, right? When I smell a chai, I like there to be no mistake of what I’m smelling. I like to smell those vibrant, warm spices.
But, I didn’t smell a whole lot of spice from this chai, at least, not in it’s dry form. However, now that the tea has been brewed, I can really smell those spices. What a lovely aroma! I smell (in order of most prevalent scent): pepper, clove, cinnamon and cardamom. I am picking up hints of nutmeg and ginger too.
And the main reason why I want to be able to smell the spices is because I want to taste them when I take a sip! I love chai: I love that spice! And I can taste those spices here! The black pepper is the most dominating flavor that I taste in this cup, but because I can also taste the other spices, this doesn’t taste like a black pepper white tea, this tastes like a white tea chai!
The white tea is soft and deliciously delicate, and now that I think about it, it’s probably good that the spices presented such a subtle fragrance because had the spices been stronger than they are now, they would have surely overpowered the sweet white tea and I am enjoying the way the white tea is represented in this blend. It is soft, sweet, and it evokes thoughts of the taste of rain on fresh spring leaves. Not that I go out and start licking the leaves after a rain … but if I did, this is how I would like that to taste. It’s only because I don’t know that this is what I would taste that I don’t go out and start drinking rain off of leaves.
And I like how the pepper POPS in this. It makes for a really interesting and different tasting chai. Normally, pepper is a accenting ingredient, here, it takes more of a central focus. I like pepper, and I like how it’s brought to life here.
Overall, a really enjoyable chai!