Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Teas and Botanicals
Tea Description:
Chai tea is an aromatic spiced tea originally from India. Our Real Chai Tea is a blend of two loose leaf black teas and a variety of spices, which brews a delicious and satisfying beverage.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
This Real Chai Tea Blend from Teas and Botanicals is a really flavorful chai. As far as spices go, it’s a relatively basic masala blend – possessing the usual suspects: cardamom, cinnamon, ginger and cloves … with pepper which is not as often utilized in spiced chais but I am encountering more and more chai blends that do include black pepper (and that’s a good thing as far as I’m concerned!)
The black tea is a solid black tea, chopped very fine (This is a very fine CTC) but, don’t let that detract you from trying this blend … I’ve tasted many CTC teas that are remarkably flavorful. The key is knowing that you shouldn’t brew them quite as long as you would full or broken leaf tea, because there is more surface area. A longer brew time may result in a bitter tea with a CTC tea. I brewed this in boiling water for just three minutes and I was treated to a very flavorful, strong tea without bitterness.
The spices are bold and delicious! I enjoyed this chai served without milk and just a little bit of turbinado sugar to enhance the spices … and then I tried it with a splash of warmed, frothed milk and what a TREAT! Yummy! This makes a fantastic chai latte!
A really good chai – I love chai and this one is delicious!
Rooibos Masala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Description:
100% Certified organic and caffeine-free, our new Rooibos Masala Chai is appealing to a broad cross-section of customers. It has a similar taste profile to our Traditional Masala Chai, but with the delightful base of naturally sweet and nutty rooibos. Those who cannot or wish to not drink a caffeinated chai, can now freely indulge in their favorite BLC drink.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I was a little skeptical … but Blue Lotus Chai has made a believer out of me with this Rooibos Masala Chai! It’s yummy!
As one who tends to be a bit leery of rooibos anyway, I was really kind of freaked out about trying a finely ground chai powder made with rooibos. But, this is really quite delicious. The flavor is warm and spicy, with a lovely nutty flavor. The natural nutty flavor of the rooibos accentuates the nutmeg in this masala blend, and since nutmeg is one of my favorite spices, I really like how the rooibos and nutmeg work together in this cup.
The other spices are spicy, but not over the top. I get a nice amount of peppery kick to it, a warm, delicious note of cinnamon and notes of clove and cardamom. The rooibos is not a strong, prominent flavor in this, but it does add the aforementioned nutty flavor.
I think … if I were to offer one criticism with this chai it would be that some body is lacking in it … it just … kind of falls flat there. I think that by following the suggested recipe on the package, the milk kind of overwhelms the overall flavor, so I would recommend instead using about half as much milk as suggested and replacing the omitted milk with water. It makes a little bit of a thinner chai but because the rooibos tends to be thinner anyway, it works out. And the thing I like about Blue Lotus Chai’s blends is that you can customize it to taste the way you want it to. I also did notice that this blend was a little harder to incorporate than the other two blends from Blue Lotus Chai … this blend requires some extra stirring and some extra frothing with the hand held frother. But, the results are worth that little extra work!
Warm, soothing and comforting … a perfect chai treat any time of day or night, because it’s naturally caffeine free!
Mint Masala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Blue Lotus Chai
Tea Description:
Our new variety is a taste sensation! Exhilarating and surprising, it rises to the same standard of excellence that defines Blue Lotus Chai, and that our fans have come to expect.
Ingredients: Naturally brewed and flash-dried black tea powder; 100% Certified Organic powdered spices: ginger, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, cinnamon, cloves, peppermint from extract.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I was thrilled when I found this Mint Masala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai (as well as their other varieties) available at my local Chuck’s Produce Market! I just love Blue Lotus Chai!
And this Mint Masala Chai is awesome. It tastes very much like the Original Masala Chai, but with a big burst of refreshing mint flavor! The mint adds such a nice dimension of flavor – it’s so cool and crisp and invigorating!
I prepared this according to package directions, using 4 ounces of freshly boiled water, 4 ounces of milk, and a heaping scoop (the bamboo scoop that is included with the package of chai is just the right size!) of powdered chai. Remembering last time that I like this to be a little spicier, I added another half a scoop, and this produces the perfect cup of chai for me.
The mint adds a nice sweetness to the cup, so no additional sweetener is needed, but, I did find that if I added a little less than half a teaspoon of turbinado sugar, this brought out the spices a little more, and when I drink chai, it’s usually all about the spice for me! But I love that Blue Lotus Chai lets you decide whether or not to add sweetener rather than going ahead and adding it to the mix. I find that too often with these types of chai mixes, the sugar is just too overwhelming … I like that I control the amount of sweetener I put in … not to mention that I can control whether I add milk and how much strong I want the chai to be!
The smooth flavor of black tea hits the palate first, and then the spices come on strong! I taste pepper and ginger almost immediately, and these flavors linger, but they aren’t so strong that I need to search for the other spices. I taste cinnamon, cloves, cardamom and the delicious taste of nutmeg too. I love that Blue Lotus Chai includes nutmeg in their chai blends!
And then the mint comes forward and it is so fresh tasting – ZESTY! I love the way the mint adds such a cool, bright flavor to the cup. It’s a really nice change from the usual chai blends!
Even if you can’t find Blue Lotus Chai in your local retail store, if you like chai … YOU’VE got to try this! I highly recommend visiting their online store and getting yourself some of this amazing chai – you won’t regret it!
Traditional Marsala Chai from Blue Lotus Chai
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Blue Lotus Chai
Chai Description:
With its deep and truly authentic flavor and amazing ease of preparation, our flagship product has become part of the daily rhythm of many homes. Tasting is believing!
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
I am totally and completely in LOVE with this chai! There have been a few chai products that I’ve felt this way for, but, I think that this one may just replace them as my favorite, or at the very least, be a contender for that spot.
This is amazing. I love it not just because it tastes amazing, but also because it’s a local product and I love supporting my local community. But, I think I’d be head over heels for this even if it wasn’t local. Because it is really good.
It is a concentrated spiced powder, so, it’s very much like some of the instant chai products that are out there. But this differs in a couple of ways. First, there’s no milk products in the mix, so if you want to control the amount of milk that goes in to your chai – or the type of milk that goes in to your chai – you can do that. Second, there is no sweetener in this chai, so you can decide if you want it sweet (or not!) and what kind of sweetener you want to use. I love it for these reasons alone, because I find that so many of the chai preparations out there tend to be overly sweetened and I like being able to have the freedom to choose how much milk I want … sometimes those other prepared chai mixes have too much milk product in them and they end up tasting too creamy for my liking.
I mean, I like a decadent, creamy beverage, but, I don’t like it to be so heavily laden with cream that I feel like I need to scrape the residue off my tongue, you know? I like that this product offers me the freedom to choose just how much milk goes in to my chai latte!
The first time I prepared this, I prepared it according to the suggested preparation instructions, which suggests 4 oz. of boiling water, 1 rounded scoop of chai powder (each package comes with the most adorable little bamboo scoop that measures out 1/4 teaspoon of chai powder), and 4 oz. of milk. Add sweetener of choice if desired (I added about 1/4 teaspoon of turbinado sugar). After you stir to combine the ingredients, heat it up a bit (to replace the heat taken by the chill of the milk), and enjoy. It was delicious, but I found that I wanted the flavors to be a little stronger, so I added another half a scoop – yet another reason I love this chai, I can add more to the cup if I want to! – and found the beverage to be perfect chai JOY!
The cup was rich, spicy, and creamy. Decadent! I can taste the richness and hint of malty notes from the black tea, and I love that I can taste the nutmeg here! This chai blend has all the “usual” suspects: cinnamon, clove, cardamom and ginger … plus some black pepper to spice it up (which I can taste too!) and then the aforementioned nutmeg. It is spicy but not overwhelmingly so. Blue Lotus Chai has achieved a really nice balance. (However, if they’re looking for suggestions for blend #4, might I suggest one with Anise and/or fennel? I do love a licorice note in my chai!)
I love this chai latte that I made thanks to the ease of Blue Lotus Chai! This blend has everything I want from a chai latte, and I loved that I could very easily customize it to make it that way. You can’t get that from your local coffee shop! This is the way chai SHOULD be!
Chai Masala from Capital Teas
Chai Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Capital Teas
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!