Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
Tea Description:
A robust and full flavored black tea accented with exotic imperial spices. The bold concentrated character of this lush black tea lends itself well to the full notes of cardamom, ginger and clove. The sweet hint of tropical coconut fragrantly fills the cup, offering an inviting taste of paradise to savor from any spot on the map. Delicious with a splash of milk. A bright and flavorful steep. Sunglasses not included.
Fair Trade Certified Indian Black Tea*, Cinnamon*, Ginger*, Cardamom Pods*, Whole Cloves*, Orange Peels*, Nutmeg*, Black Pepper*, Natural Coconut Flavor, Natural Cinnamon Flavor.
* Certified Organic
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I really have to be in the mood for a chai. Coconut Chai Tea from Zhena’s Gypsy Tea was really calling to me today. Sent to me from a Steepster.com friend, and I am happy for it, I am sipping a yummy chai with a nice hint at coconut, and a slight taste of vanilla. No vanilla is listed in the ingredients but I taste it nonetheless. Must be how the coconut gives the tea a light milky and nutty flavor combined with the typical spices in chai. Regardless, I am really enjoying this chai from Zhena’s.
Somehow I have managed to drink loose leaf for over a year now and had yet to have tried Zhena’s Teas. This is an excellent first introduction to this company.
I will say if you are expecting a really coconutty tea, this isn’t it. Honestly I would not mind a bit more coconut flavor myself, but I am satisfied with it being lightly flavored.
I had the first half of my cup straight, then added a little vanilla almond milk to the rest. It was excellent both ways but I think I prefer it straight which is interesting because most of my experience with chai has always been the tea mixed with milk of some kind.
I look forward to trying more of the teas offered by Zhena’s Gypsy Tea.
Spiced Doughnut Chai Black Tea Blend from Compass Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Compass Teas
Tea Description:
Mmmm… Doughnut Tea! It could easily be considered a ‘dessert tea’ that could help you cut your calorie and fat intake by substituting this yummy cup for your normal dessert. Scrumptious as is, but tastes amazing with a spoonful or two of our all natural Amber Sugar Gems (made of pure Cane Sugar) and a dash of milk, if you like.
Learn more about this blend here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a tasty chai blend from Compass Teas, but, I’m just not getting Spiced Doughnut from it. It is a rich, flavorful black tea blend, but, I guess with a name like Spiced Doughnut Chai, I was expecting more of a sweet, dessert-y taste that just isn’t there.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s still really good. The black tea base is bold and full-flavored. I taste more of an Assam-like base here than I taste Darjeeling, but I do taste certain notes that hint of a Darjeeling presence in the blend. Every once in a while I note a sort of “lightness” … a bright note, if you will, that is distinctly Darjeeling-esque. But the Darjeeling is more of a presence in the background … very soft-spoken and allows the other flavors to do their thing.
The spices are pleasant … the ginger is warm but not too peppery, the cinnamon is more of a spicy than a sweet cinnamon, and I like the nutmeg in this blend. I taste the cardamom … I taste the cloves.
I am wishing for more of a vanilla taste to this … perhaps that would give it more of the sweet, dessert-y flavor that I had mentioned previously. The aftertaste has an almost “bake-y” kind of flavor so I can ~almost~ taste where they might get the idea of a spiced doughnut … almost … but not quite. It’s like almost reaching the finish line … but if you don’t reach the finish line did you really run the race? Sure. And this cup almost makes it.
It’s a flavorful tea, but, it doesn’t quite live up to the name Spiced Doughnut Chai for me. I wish it did, because the idea of a Spiced Doughnut Chai sounds absolutely divine. Close … but this one isn’t quite there yet.
Chaz’ Chai Organic Black Tea Blend from Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants
Tea Description:
This flavorful and zesty blend is our own recipe – Assam black tea is mixed with carefully hand-roasted spices to provide a delightful twist on an Indian tradition. Try simmering in milk with a touch of honey.
Learn more about this chai here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! I’m having a chai latte!
This Organic Chaz’ Chai Black Tea from Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants makes a seriously good latte! It is good and spicy, and it is still spicy after I added the milk … I love that the milk didn’t dilute the spices to the point of tasting lackluster. This is still very flavorful. YUM!
The black tea is an organically grown black tea from India. The label on the canister doesn’t elaborate about which type of Indian tea is used here, but if I had to guess, I’d say that it’s either an Assam or a blend composed of Assam. After visiting the Jasmine Pearl Tea Merchants website, I see that my guess is accurate, it is indeed Assam. It is rich and malty, and something that took me by surprise is that it was not as bitter as Assam tends to get after a four minute steep. There were some bitter tones to the cup in my first couple of sips – sips that I took before adding the milk just to gauge whether or not I should make a latte. The milk eliminates the bitterness … a definite plus! It is a solid tasting black tea, full-flavored and robust and it doesn’t lose that impact even after milk is added to the cup.
The spices are strong! It surprised me at how spicy this tea actually is, especially after reviewing the ingredient list and noticing that there is NO ginger in this blend? What? It’s so peppery! The peppercorns are doing a good job at providing a very savory kick to this cup. And I love the anise! Just a hint of licorice-y flavor, and I find the combination of the licorice taste and the pepper to be really delightful. The cinnamon is warm and zesty, and the cardamom and cloves add a nice background of spice. Also worth noting is the nutmeg, not just because it adds a delicious, warm nutty flavor to the cup, but, also because it is often an overlooked spice when it comes to chai blends and I love that it was utilized here. The taste is understated but it is a really lovely addition of flavor.
To make my latte, I brewed this tea slightly stronger (by adding a little extra leaf) and then I steeped it in water. Then I added a splash of milk to the brewed tea and frothed the cup a little bit with my hand-held frother. The frothing wasn’t necessary, but I like to make it a little foamy (for more foam, I recommend heating the milk first, and then frothing before adding the milk to the tea). You could also make a chai latte the “messy way” – aka the stove top method – which entails simmering milk in a pan on the stove top and adding the loose tea and simmering for a few minutes. I don’t like this because it is messy (as I’ve so aptly coined it). And when I make a mess in the kitchen, guess who has to clean it up? Me. I prefer to make my tea brewing as mess-free as I possibly can while still experiencing the true joy of tea – in other words: loose leaf! I think that by brewing this chai double strength (or even triple strength if you like a very strong chai) in water and then adding the milk to the brewed tea still yields a very flavorful chai without the mess of the stove top method.
But, hey, feel free to brew your chai any way you want! If you do decide to go non-latte, I recommend a slightly shorter steep time to ensure that your cup of chai is not bitter. This is a really flavorful chai blend – I highly recommend it to all chai lovers out there!
Jennifer’s Chai – a Custom Blend from Ovation Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Ovation Teas
Tea Description:
Black tea blended with cinnamon chips, cloves, ginger, cardamom, almonds, nutmeg, black pepper, and safflowers with chai flavoring and almond & vanilla extract.
Taster’s Review:
I debated with myself whether or not I should write this review, because I recently learned that Ovation Teas is closing their business. I am very saddened by this news for several reasons. The first, and most obvious to many of you, I’m sure, is the fact that they’re a tea business and I don’t want tea businesses to go out of business! They are a local company, and I love to support the local businesses. But one of the main reasons I’m sad is that Ovation Teas had some pretty spectacular blends … and I barely scratched the surface at trying them all (and yes, I wanted to do that!)
I ordered this particular custom blend just before Christmas as a gift for a recipient in a gift swap in which I was participating. My recipient liked chai, vanilla flavored teas and almond flavored teas, so I asked Ovation teas if they could combine all of the above in one amazing blend! And they did … AND in addition to the full-sized portion that I ordered for my recipient, they were nice enough to send me some of the tea to try too!
It brews up dark and fragrant, smelling of alluring spices with hints of almond and vanilla with a rich backdrop of earthy black tea. And that’s what I taste, too. The black tea has a strong presence here, and I appreciate that because often with chai blends, the black tea tends to take a back seat and is often overwhelmed by the spices. That didn’t happen here, and I’m glad. The spices are very harmonious … the cloves do stand out a bit which kind of surprised me, because usually with chai blends it’s either the cinnamon or the ginger that is prominent. Here, the other spices seem pretty evenly matched, with the cloves coming out as the prominent flavor.
And these flavors are nicely accentuated by the flavors of vanilla and almond which offers a sweet, creamy, nutty note. I like that the nutty tones of the almond are further highlighted by the nutmeg in the chai … a really nice touch (I think that this might have been an addition that I requested, and I think I did right to request it, this blend would not be the same without the nutmeg).
This is a really delicious chai that I’m enjoying served straight with just a little bit of turbinado sugar to emphasize the spices a bit. It doesn’t need a lot of sweetening though, because the sweetness of the vanilla and almond are very satisfying. And because of the creaminess of these two flavors, it doesn’t need milk to make it taste creamy … although this would be very tasty with a drop or two of milk just to enhance the creamy tones.
To Ovation Teas, I lift my tea mug up and toast you, I will miss you!
Orange Spice Cake from sTEAp Shoppe
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black – Darjeeling and Yunnan
Where to Buy: sTEAp Shoppe
Tea Description:
Organic Yunnan Black TeaThis is a wonderful citrus tea with subtle spice notes playing through it. This Organic Yunnan Black Tea with it’s rich orange liquor in both color and flavor make the perfect vessel for creating a warm inviting orange spice cake tea. With notes of cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg to give this tea depth and warmth inviting you in to take another slice of cake.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a really nice tea. Maybe it is the cold weather and the holiday season but it makes me feel festive. I am sure this tea would also be amazing in the summer, cold brewed.
On first sip it reminded me a little bit of Constant Comment but trust me there is no comparison! This is by far and above better and has far more layers to it than a simple orange spiced tea.
The spice is balanced so perfectly and does not take over the wonderful citrus.
Often a tea will be named with “cake” in the title, or something indicating it should taste like cake, but this one really does and you won’t be disappointed in the bake-y goodness of this cup.
On the other hand, the sweetness is not over done and the cocoa nibs offer a perfect amount of chocolate goodness. I really love the way that sTEAp Shoppe handles the chocolate flavor in their teas, it tastes like good chocolate.
The aroma is intoxicating and the color of the cup is delightful to look at.
A tea that could be served at parties to please everyone.
All of the ingredients in this tea blend perfectly to make a well balanced delicious dessert or any time tea.
