cloves cardamom

Chai Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Chai Description:

An Indian specialty, warming and delicious with spices galore — orange peel, ginger, cinnamon, vanilla, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg and one secret ingredient.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

Oh yeah! I’m always eager to try a new chai!

This one is delightful. In fact, I enjoy it so much that I had finished my first cup before I had a chance to start writing about it. But, that’s okay, it gave me the opportunity to make another cup and try it latte.

For the first cup, though, I drank it without the milk addition, just a little bit of turbinado sugar to enhance the spices. I noticed right away that the spices were well balanced, as I didn’t find myself noticing one particular note. Instead, I tasted a warm, unified set of spices. I also noticed that the black tea base was pleasantly robust: it was a good, strong black tea that provides a solid background of flavor. It doesn’t try to compete with the spices, but, it holds its own.

By about mid-cup, I noticed the orange and a hint of creaminess from the vanilla. These are not particularly strong, stand-out notes, but, they are strong enough to be noticed, and this chai would not be the same without them.

Another ingredient in this that the chai would not be the same without is the nutmeg. While it does comprise the “unified set of spices” it gives the cup a warm, nutty taste that I don’t often experience with chai, and I really enjoyed it.

As for the latte, it turned out really good too. As with any chai, I do recommend steeping it at double strength (steeping twice the amount of dry leaf) so that the milk does not overwhelm the cup. I found that the milk brought out the vanilla tones a bit more, and some of the spicier notes were muted a little, but it wasn’t too apparent. Overall, the latte was deliciously creamy, warm and satisfying. YUM!

I would recommend this to all the spiced chai enthusiasts out there, because if you’re like me, you gotta try them all! I’d also recommend this to someone looking for a well-balanced chai with just a little something different. This one is sure to satisfy!

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea, Chai