Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Stash Tea
Tisane Description:
Rooibos, an antioxidant-rich herb also known as red tea, combines with clove, ginger root and sweet cinnamon to create a unique, caffeine-free sweet and spicy chai.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This Spice Dragon Red Chai Herbal Tea from Stash Tea is another gift that I received over the holidays. It was one that I hadn’t yet tried from Stash, so I was happy to have the opportunity to give it a try.
I steeped this the way I would usually steep a rooibos tisane: using 195°F water and steeping for 10 minutes. With rooibos, if I use boiling water and attempt to steep that long, I get a sort of sour wood like flavor that I don’t find agreeable. But I found by lowering the temperature slightly, I can steep the tisane for 10 minutes to get a whole lot of flavor out of the blend, and not get that weird sour wood taste.
And this isn’t too bad. It’s strongly spiced with cinnamon, and there is some ginger and clove to this too. I find myself missing cardamom here, because I think that it might offer a more well-rounded spice note, but, as it is, it’s tasty.
I taste mostly cinnamon, and it’s a sweet cinnamon – not that red-hot cinnamon candy type of cinnamon. This is a sweeter cinnamon taste. The clove adds a warmth to the cup, but I don’t taste a lot of ginger. Maybe a little more ginger would add a zesty, spicy edge to the cup.
I don’t taste a lot of rooibos flavor here. I do taste a nutty/earthy sort of flavor that I attribute to the rooibos. This nutty taste marries seamlessly with the cinnamon.
This is kind of a “one-note” type of tisane. I taste cinnamon, and a background of clove and hints of nutty rooibos. Every once in a while I detect the peppery note of ginger. But, it isn’t as complex as other rooibos chai blends I’ve tasted. It has less spicy kick to it than some rooibos blends out there. Tasty, but not the best rooibos chai I’ve ever tasted.
Bourbon Chai Blend from Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Vintage TeaWorks
Tea Description:
Inspired by the rich flavors of Kentucky Bourbon, this chai tea is blended using a beautiful Sri Lankan black tea, organic cinnamon and star anise. We then wrap our blend in honey creating sweet and spicy treat.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yeah, I know I’ve said it quite a few times: I’m not much of a drinker of alcohol. I prefer tea. (That might appear obvious!) So, I’m not sure what it was about this Bourbon Chai from Vintage TeaWorks that prompted me to order it as soon as I could when I heard about it. Maybe it was because I’ve tried the other blends from this company and I was very impressed with them, and so when this tea was announced, it was one that I added to my must try list immediately!
The first thing I noticed about this new blend from Vintage TeaWorks is that they’ve changed their packaging (or at least, they have different packaging for this chai). The wine-inspired teas from this company that I’ve tried came in tubes that resembled wine bottle tubes. This chai is packaged in a shiny gold tin that was wrapped with a removable paper label that has been wax sealed in place. Cool!
When I opened the tin and the inner cellophane packaging, I could see that the tea was kind of wet-looking and sticky, as though the tea had been marinated with soaked in honey! The tea smelled of bourbon and spice with a distinct sweet note. As the tea brewed, I could smell more of the spice notes developing. The brewed tea smells lightly of bourbon and strongly of spice.
This tastes amazing! It tastes spicy, but not in a hot sort of way. It’s more like a spicy-sweet kind of taste. It tastes warm and cozy, with a strong spice note. The spices offer a very harmonious flavor. I don’t notice one spice attempting to compete with others. I taste notes of each spice, but one note doesn’t attempt to overpower others. It’s a very congruous tasting tea.
The black tea is also easy to distinguish in the sip, and it tastes rich and satisfying. And what I like about these teas from Vintage TeaWorks is that they’re incredibly creative. They “recreate” the flavors by which they’re inspired, rather than being an ‘alcohol’ infused tea. Here, Vintage TeaWorks has recreated the flavor of bourbon using spice and honey, and this tastes what I’d imagine a bourbon that has been infused with a chai tea might taste like. This is a very comforting cuppa!
As I sip … I can feel the warmth of the bourbon and the spice tickling the back of my throat. It reminds me a bit of when I used to drink whisky (I liked Jack Daniels and Pepsi, although I usually went heavier on the Pepsi than the JD) – the warmth here reminds me of that slight “burn” that I’d feel at the back of my throat from the whisky, although this is a gentler heat than that burn ever was. I think I like this better than the JD and Pepsi … not just because of that gentle heat but because this IS tea and I can taste the tea and spices too.
A really wonderful cup of chai! I drank it with a half a teaspoon of turbinado sugar to accentuate the spices. I didn’t add milk or cream though … and I think that this tastes lovely as a non-latte chai. I think it would also be tasty as a chai, although the dairy might soften the bourbon-like flavors a bit.
Mandarin Chai with Anise from Davidson’s Organics
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.
Sea Breeze Tisane from Eden Grove
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Tisane
Where to Buy: Amazon Trading
Ingredients:
Hibiscus, Chai, Rose Hip, Calendula Flowers, Lemongrass, Mango, Pineapple, Papaya, Cinnamon Bark, Cardamom, Cloves, Orange & flavors of Mango & Pineapple.
Learn more about Amazon Trading here.
Taster’s Review:
I didn’t have high hopes for this Sea Breeze Tisane from Eden Grove. When a tisane sports hibiscus as its primary ingredient, that doesn’t sound promising to me.
But this isn’t too bad. I brewed it for just 5 minutes in 195°F water. Usually when I brew a tisane with hibiscus, I keep the steep time to 5 or 6 minutes to keep the hibiscus from overpowering the cup. When hibiscus steeps too long, I find the resulting liquid to be too tart and too thick and syrupy. Fortunately, at five minutes, this tea does not taste too tart, nor is it too thick or syrupy.
I do taste the hibiscus, but I can taste other flavors too! I taste the cinnamon, cloves and cardamom. I like these spice notes. They offer a wonderful contrast to the sweet notes of the fruity notes. There are notes of mango, papaya, orange and pineapple! I taste notes of mango and pineapple mostly, but I can also taste hints of citrus as well as papaya.
I still find myself wishing the hibiscus wasn’t there, because the tartness of the hibiscus is still strong here, even with the short steep time. I like this alright, but, it hasn’t been my favorite tea that I’ve tasted thus far from Eden Grove.
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!