Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Chai Description:
Thanks to LiberTEAS for the idea for this blend (and no, I’m certainly not calling her a witch of any sort; that’s just what this blend brings to mind for me). LiberTEAS wanted a smoky chai blend with some additional spices, so we blended some of our premium black tea base with some extra assam and some lapsang souchoung (smoked black tea), ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, star anise, nutmeg and cumin along with some organic flavors. The result is a smoky, spicy treat that will warm you to your bones. Get yours today while they last.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
Now, that’s what I’m talking about!
If you read the above description, you’ll see that I suggested this blend to Frank (the Chief Zoomdweebie over at 52Teas), and he made it for me and called it Witches’ Brew Chai Blend. He wanted to express to me that he in no way thinks I’m a witch, but I told him that it’s perfectly fine to think of me as such … I’ve been called worse! Ha!
Back when I was still blending teas, I created what I considered the perfect chai. I know I’ve told that story more than once. I spent over a year creating the perfect recipe. One of the ingredients that was a MUST for my chai back then was cumin seeds. I would even toast the cumin seeds myself, because it brought out such a lovely, warm, slightly smoky flavor. And of course, I never forgot the nutmeg, which I would freshly grind into the blend.
But one spice that I didn’t include in my chai was star anise. This is a spice that I didn’t become well acquainted with until after my blending days were over, and I have since fallen in love with the spice and it’s licorice-y tones. So, when I asked Frank to create this blend, I wanted star anise in there too. I thought that the star anise, together with the other spices and the smoky notes of Lapsang Souchong … would be … absolutely divine.
And I was not wrong.
This is as perfect a chai as I’ve ever tasted since I stopped blending my own. I love the star anise, I love that it is warm and spicy and there is a complexity within the spice notes. I love that I taste the rich, malty tones of the black tea base, and the way the smoky notes of the Lapsang Souchong meld with the licorice-y notes and the spice.
I love it served non-latte with a teaspoon of turbinado sugar to enhance the spices. It also makes a spectacular latte, just add a splash of milk or cream. Do take care not to add too much milk to the cup because the dimensions of flavor from the spices is really amazing … and too much of the creamy stuff will obscure that. Just a little bit of milk or cream to bring out the malty notes of the Assam will make a devilishly delicious chai latte!
And this chai is perfectly named too. One taste of this and it evokes thoughts of a great big cauldron over a pit fire, and a cloaked figure stirring the brew. This is SO SO SO good.
This is, hands down, my favorite chai from 52Teas yet … and certainly one of my top favorite chai blends of all time! It’s awesome!
Red Hot Chai Rooibos Blend from The Tea Spot
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tisane Description:
This strong spiced chai kicks the cold away with the season’s boldest flavors: red rooibos, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, chai spices and a kiss of vanilla come together in this complex yet balanced herbal chai tea. Naturally caffeine-free and high in antioxidants and minerals, Red Hot Chai’s rooibos base provides health benefits and a mild honey sweetness to compliment the bold flavors of a traditional masala chai. Absolutely decadent when made with steamed milk as a chai tea latte (click here and then click on the “recipe” tab toward the bottom right of the page for the chai latte recipe!), Red Hot Chai is sure to please palates any time of day this season.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
You might have noticed that I’ve been drinking a lot more chai teas lately. The reason is simple: chai blends are my favorite teas this time of year. The heat from the spices warm me from the inside out, and when it’s chilly outside, I need something warm and tasty to sip! And this Red Hot Chai Rooibos Blend from the Tea Spot fills the bill.
This is a very cinnamon-y blend, reminding me a lot of the red hot candies. But I’m not minding that because I love those little red hots! I also notice notes of ginger and cardamom as I sip, and there is a creamy undertone from the vanilla. I think that the vanilla note is my favorite thing about this blend … I like the way it melds with the spicy to give the cup a sweet, creamy yet spicy taste.
I don’t taste a heavy “rooibos” flavor here, and that’s just fine with me. I do taste a little bit of nutty background notes, but none of that weird sweetness or the sour wood note that I sometimes taste with rooibos. This is a really tasty tisane, the kind of tisane I like to curl up to on a chilly autumn evening. And The Tea Spot is one of my favorite companies to deal with as a consumer, because their customer service is TOP notch!
As a special incentive to our readers, you can get 15% savings off any order placed with The Tea Spot between now and December 15th! Just use the coupon code hotTEAs in the coupon field at check out and enjoy your savings! That’s a great way to save a little bit of green this holiday season!
And … check this out! Right now, The Tea Spot is currently offering a FREE sample giveaway! Awesome right? They are also running a Facebook promotion where you can win Free Tea for a Year! Now, that’s the way to kick off the new year … with FREE TEA!
Chocolate Chai Rooibos Blend from Red Leaf Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Tea Description:
This red tea combines the tangy flavor of ginger with the citrus notes of cardamom, to produce a chocolate chai with a taste like no other. With an inherent sweetness that is perfectly blended with spicy warmth, chocolate chai offers the dark sumptuousness of chocolate chips with the smoothness of rooibos tea. With two well-known antioxidants, this is a dessert tea that is a treat in the evening or in the morning!
Learn more about this rooibos chai here.
Taster’s Review:
Hmm … this Chocolate Chai Rooibos Blend from Red Leaf Tea is tasty. It isn’t an overly spicy tisane, but the spices are warming and certainly agreeable on this chilly autumn day.
Let’s start with the chocolate, shall we? Because, if you’ve read many of my articles, you are probably well aware of my fondness for chocolate. Here, the chocolate is not as rich as I would like it to be. Then again, seldom do I find a chocolate tea that satisfies me with it’s level of chocolaticity. (Yes, it’s a word, I just made it up.) That said, there is certainly some chocolate notes here but it isn’t as rich and decadent as I would want a tea that calls itself a “Chocolate Chai.” But I am enjoying what chocolate there is here.
The spices are pleasing. I think that the spice level here is one that most people could enjoy – even those that tend to shy away from spicier teas. This isn’t what I’d call hot or spicy. There is some peppery warmth from the ginger, and the cardamom adds an exotic element to the cup.
The rooibos base is nutty and adds a nice dimension of flavor to these other ingredients. I’m not always happy when I can actually taste the rooibos flavor in a blend, but, here it’s working for me. The nutty tones work well with the earthiness of the spices and the sweet, creamy notes of the chocolate.
A tasty blend. Not my favorite “chocolate chai” that I’ve tasted, but, it’s pretty good, and a nice cuppa to cozy up to on a chilly evening when you don’t want to be drinking a more caffeinated beverage.
Chocolate Chai Blend from Chico Chai
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Chico Chai
Chai Description:
Raw cacao is blended with black tea and exotic spices to create a spicy chai with a touch of chocolate. Blended in small batches, by hand in Chico, California. Only Organic Ingredients and Fair Trade Organic teas are used to make Chico Chai.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I started getting excited to try this Chocolate Chai Blend from Chico Chai as it brewed because I could smell the anise and the cacao. The aroma of the tea as it brews is so delightfully yummy!
And it tastes even yummier than it smells. The brewed liquid is kind of … well, I want to call it cloudy, but, in the tea world calling a tea “cloudy” is not a compliment, and I don’t want to insult the tea. The reason it is cloudy is because of the finely ground cacao. This looks a little like someone combined tea with hot cocoa. So with this chai, cloudy is a GOOD thing because that’s chocolate in there! (Mmm! Chocolate!)
I brewed this the way I typically brew a chai: with water instead of milk (I prefer to taste the tea brewed without milk first, and then decide if I need or want the dairy addition) and it’s brewed a little strong to make sure that I get a good representation of both spices and tea in the cup. Also, if the tea is brewed strong (with extra leaf), if I do choose to add milk, the addition won’t dilute the tea.
And after my first sip … this really doesn’t need milk. I believe that there is some vanilla in this chai, because there is a creamy element to the cup without the milk. Perhaps it is the cacao, although I suspect it is a combination of both of these ingredients that is giving this cup it’s creamy notes. Of course, if you wish to add milk to it, there’s be no harm in that – I’m sure it would be delicious! But, I like it just the way it is!
This is chocolate-y rich, but, I like that the spices are still the star of this show. OH … the anise! I love the combination of anise and chocolate together. So delicious. The anise is warm and zesty, and the chocolate tastes rich and dark and decadent. Mmm! Smooth, but, the snappy licorice sort of cuts through it at just the right point.
I also taste the pepper and the ginger, and the cinnamon is also strong, but, it doesn’t overpower the cup. This is a pleasantly spicy cup and it’s probably not for those who usually shy away from spicy-hot flavors. It’s not exactly hot, really, but there’s enough heat to it to slowly warm the palate and as I continue to drink, this builds a little in a very agreeable way.
I’ve had the opportunity to try all of the flavors from Chico Chai, and I think of all of the four loose leaf chai blends that they offer (you can try them all in their Chico Chai Sampler Box – it’s such a cute box – and it would make a really great gift for the chai lover on your holiday list!) as well as their strong brew concentrate, this Chocolate Chai blend is my favorite! I love the way the chocolate and anise meld together … I love the way the spices and the black tea work together harmoniously. I just … LOVE it!
African Chai Blend from Justea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Justea
Tea Description:
Our African Chai is whole leaf Kenyan black tea with organic African spices and rose/safflower petals. “The fennel, clove, coriander and liquorice root makes this chai smooth and silky on the palate. This African chai is balanced – it has a tea hit first and then a sweet finish”
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about Justea’s fundraising effort to support Kenyan farmers here.
Taster’s Review:
Are you looking for a truly DIFFERENT chai blend? This African Chai Blend from Justea might be just what you’re looking for! This chai is quite different from many of the other chai blends that I’ve tasted … and different is good!
That’s not to say that I’ve not enjoyed the other chai blends I’ve tasted … you know how I love a good spiced blend. But this blend focuses on other spices: I taste the fennel and licorice root up front, and they give the cup a sweet, snappy kind of taste, and like the Tea Sommelier video for this tea states, it’s a very silky sort of wash over the palate. The clove and coriander lend warmth and zest to the cup without turning this into something overly spiced. The balance of the spices allows for enjoyment of each ingredient’s presence here, and I like that.
The Kenyan black tea is an excellent base for this tea because it is so rich and smooth, and it has its own sort of natural spice taste to it. It seems like a smart choice to accentuate the natural spice tones of the tea by turning the tea into the base of this African Chai.
I also taste the rose in this. I like the hint of sweetness from the floral notes here. It adds just a little interest, just a little something to keep the palate excited to keep tasting.
This tastes less “spicy” and more warm and “spiced.” It doesn’t have a “spicy-hot” sort of flavor, instead, it tastes comfortably warm, with a cozy sort of taste to it. The kind of tea that you like to warm up with on a chilly autumn day. As I continue to sip, my mouth feels warm, as though I’ve had something peppery, but not so hot that I feel the need to wash it down with something cooling. It’s a very enjoyable warmth.
I tried this African Chai a few different ways. First, I tried it straight up, and it was delicious. Then I tried it with a little bit of raw turbinado sugar, and discovered my favorite way to drink this chai. The sugar brings out the subtle nuances of the spices, and I got the most enjoyment out of this chai with just a little bit (about half a teaspoon for a cup of tea) of sugar (honey would do nicely too!) Finally, I decided to try it latte, and this makes a really outstanding latte too. Just a splash of warmed milk enhances the silky smooth quality of this tea. I really enjoyed it as a latte, but, the milk does mute some of the spices just a tad, and since I really love the spices … I’d have to say that the best way – or at least, my favorite way – to enjoy this is with just a little bit of sugar or honey. It’s so good!