Country Chai Spice from The Cozy Leaf already made me feel warm and relaxed just from the name. Makes me think of being under a quilt out at a cabin, maybe beside a warm fire. Beyond the name, this tea had a surprisingly pleasant long list of spices in its ingredients list. Cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom, I expect, but not all chai teas comes with cloves and anise, and the never seem to come with fennel. What a lovely change of pace.
Brewed, this is a sweeter chai, thanks to a hearty serving of anise and cinnamon. The anise isn’t strong enough to make this a black jelly bean chai, but it does add its token throat-soothing, candy-like properties.
Much to my surprise, the ginger and clove take a back seat in this tea, subtle enough that you might miss them if you’re not paying attention. The fennel and cardamom are gentle and earthy, and add a much needed almost-savory pairing to the anise and cinnamon.
Just when I’ve thought that I’ve tried every chai tea I can think of, I find something new. I look forward to getting cozy with another cup of Country Chai Spice from the Cozy Leaf sometime soon.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Cozy Leaf
Description:
Full-bodied black tea chai made with real chai spices of rich cinnamon, cardamon, ginger, and sweet anise and clove for a healthy and delicious treat.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Chai Five from Tickled Tea. . .
This is not a tea I would pick for myself. In fact, it is not a tea I picked for myself. I am not one for chais, though I will admit when done right, they can be awesome but that is hard to accomplish when each person likes a different balance of spices and “right” to me may not be the same as “right” to another. That is why I left this out of my cart when grabbing samples of the many Tickled Tea offerings. Nonetheless, this appeared in my package and today, as the chilly autumn air set in, seemed like the perfect day to give it a try, latte-style.
Chai Five, as per the product description, is a spicy blend of black chai tea, including 5 traditional masala chai spices: cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and peppercorns. It smells strongly of cardamom so I was definitely surprised when I got more clove flavor. That and a cinnamon sweetness. This is also one of the few times in a tea that I actually tasted the peppercorn, which is a nice kick. For those that love cardamom, don’t fret as there is still some of it to be found in the taste, though not as much as you would anticipate given the smell. Ginger lovers may be disappointed as I am finding my mug at least is lacking.
Nonetheless, this is actually a pretty lovely take on chai. Spicy and sweet and complimented beautifully by the creaminess of the milk. Like I said before, I am not a lover of chais, but on a cold day like today , a chai latte can be a nice bit of warming comfort in a mug and this certainly fit that bill.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tickled Tea
Description
A spicy blend of black chai tea, including 5 traditional masala chai spices: cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, ginger and peppercorns.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Elderberry Chai from Elderberry Herb Farm
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Chai
Where to Buy: Elderberry Herb Farm
Tea Description:
A delicious warming & fragrant blend of organically grown all-natural herbs & spices! Historically, elderberry & many of the ingredients were used to boost the immune system. Brew as herbal tea or Chai.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This tea is beautiful. There are nice sized elderberries, chai ingredients, herbs and spices in this blend. I’m pretty impressed with the quality of this blend.
Elderberry Herb Farm carries a few different herbal teas. I’ve tried a couple and they are really good. This one is good too, but I think it is my least favorite.
I am not a huge black licorice fan and this blend has a black licorice taste to it. There is also a strong clove flavor running through each sip. I could very easily drink this. The tea is good. This is just isn’t my favorite chai or would this be a tea I would reach for again.
On the other hand, one of my boyfriends’ twins tried this and adored it. He asked me to make him another cup of it. This kid loves chai, so the fact that he loves this tea is really no surprise. He asked if I would keep some aside for him for tomorrow and later in the week when he and I have our “tea parties”. It was really cute.
If you are a fan of black licorice, this blend is totally for you. If not, I say give it a try anyway. I am not a huge chai drinker and I could drink this if it was around.
With a touch of honey, sugar, and cream, I bet this tea would be fantastic!
