Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Addiction
Product Description:
Ingredients: Black tea, roasted chicory root, almond, coffee beans, flavoring.
Are you a fan of both tea and coffee, or are you looking to transition from coffee to tea? If so, you’ll love this new blend of black tea, coffee beans, toasted almonds, and roasted chicory root.
This black tea satisfies like coffee but gives the health benefits of tea. The liquor produced by Coffee Almond Tea has a rich black tea base with a hint of coffee and almond and is great hot or iced.
Taster’s Review:
I wouldn’t consider myself to be a fan of both tea and coffee – although I guess I used to be. I used to drink coffee every morning, until I realized that it was coffee that was causing my mid-day nausea. I have since become a somewhat disgruntled ex-coffee drinker. Truth be told, I do occasionally miss the flavor and aroma of coffee, but I love tea much more than I ever liked coffee.
This tea gives you a little bit of both worlds.
The dry leaf is very attractive, with big slivers of almond and whole coffee beans tossed amongst the black tea leaves and pieces of roasted chicory root. It smells a little bit like coffee, a little like tea, and a little like almond.
This tastes much better than I thought it would. Because of my disenchantment with coffee, I expected to really dislike this. But, it’s actually quite lovely.
The flavor is deep and rich. The tea flavors are stronger than the coffee, but both beverages can be tasted here. It has a little bit of bitterness from the coffee, but, it isn’t an unappetizing bitterness. There is a nice balance between coffee bean and chicory root (which is often used as a coffee substitute because it has a similar flavor) so that the flavor does not become overwhelming. It doesn’t overpower the tea notes.
If I were to change anything about this particular tea, it would be to increase the almond flavor. It almost gets lost with the other strong flavors in the cup. It is a detectable flavor – sweet and nutty – but, I think the tea would be even better with a little more almond taste.
As it is, though, I quite enjoyed it. I drank it hot with a little bit of turbinado sugar (I have never been a black coffee drinker!) I also had a cup with a splash of milk to see how it tasted and I think I prefer this one as a latte. It seems to bring out the almond flavor while lending a creamy texture to the cup! YUMMY!
Organic Hojicha Chai from Eden Foods
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Eden Foods
Product Description:
Our master tea blender says, “Innovating, breathtaking, this audacious blend combines familiar Malty notes of Hojicha with exotic Indian spices. A classic revisited.” Chai is the generic word for tea in many countries of southern Asia and is believed to have originated in India over 5,000 years ago. Usually made with black tea, Eden’s is made with Hojicha, roasted summer green tea leaves. Rich smoky, deep flavor similar to that of black, but with less caffeine – 67 percent less than brewed coffee. Traditional chai is made with milk and sugar or honey. We use Edensoy Vanilla or Edensoy Vanilla Extra, sweetened with naturally malted organic grain extract, or EdenBlend naturally sweet from organic amazake. It’s delicious plain as well. Spicy, warming, and stimulating.
Ingredients:
Organic Roasted Green Tea Leaves (Camellia sinensis), Organic Cinnamon Bark, Organic Cardamom Seeds, Organic Ginger Root, Organic Star Anise, Organic Roasted Chicory Root, Organic Cloves
Taster’s Review:
As some of you probably know, I love spiced chai. I love ’em spicy and I even love ’em mildly spiced. This chai falls somewhere between these two – not quite what I would call spicy, but certainly not mild either.
When I first tore in to the package, the aroma of star anise took my breath away. I love star anise; I love that sharp yet sweet licorice-y flavor it brings to a tea.
And that licorice flavor is definitely tasted in this blend, although it isn’t nearly as strong as the aroma lead me to believe. But this is a good thing, while I do love star anise, I don’t like it to overwhelm a chai.
The spices are nicely balanced. I am not finding one particular flavor standing out above the rest. Instead, they seem to bring a synergistic harmony to the cup.
But where this tea really shines is with the roasted flavor of the hojicha and chicory root. I love this toasty element in this cup. It gives it a baked sort of feel, like a freshly baked spice cake or gingerbread cookies! Yummy!
I enjoyed this. It certainly is not my favorite chai out there, but it is nice to have this bagged tea on hand when I am kind of pressed for time but still want a great tasting tea.