Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Compass Teas
Tea Description:
You will love the amazing aroma of Cinnamon, Almonds & Spices in this Chai Green Tea. Enjoyable hot or iced, sweetened or unsweetened.
Learn more about this chai blend here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m really enjoying this Chai Green Tea from Compass Teas, and I think what I’m liking best about this particular chai blend is that it doesn’t have ginger! Now, don’t get me wrong, I LOVE ginger – LOVE it! But, I think that ginger in this particular blend would have overpowered the smooth flavor of the green tea as well as the delicate note of almond, and that’s what’s really winning me over!
The green tea base is a soft flavor. Hints of subtle vegetation and a light, creamy tone add a delightful dimension of flavor to the spices in this blend. It isn’t bitter, it just tastes fresh and light and sweet … with notes of butter and cream.
And those butter/creamy notes really play nicely to the hint of almond in the cup. When measuring out the dry leaf, I really had expected more of an almond flavor based on the sheer number of slivered almonds that landed in my teapot. But, the almond notes are really very subtle … and for that reason, I really wouldn’t recommend going latte with this particular blend. I think that adding dairy to this cup would completely overwhelm the almond notes … and the almond notes are what makes this blend really special in my opinion.
The cinnamon is the strongest spice note in this blend. It is a spicy-sweet cinnamon that is just a little more sweet than spicy. I like that, because, again, too spicy a cinnamon would throw off the balance that Compass Teas has achieved with this chai. The cloves and cardamom give a nice background of warm spice.
Overall, this is a very pleasant cup of chai. It isn’t a ~spicy~ chai, but, it has a certain zesty quality to it that I find quite enjoyable. It is a gentle, warmly spiced chai with a smooth, sweet flavor and just a hint of nutty sweetness. A really nice way to sip away the chill on these still cold days of early spring!
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.
Spiced Rooibos Blend from Spire Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Tisane Description:
A warm holiday spice blend of rooibos, coconut, nuts and warm spices. This dessert in a cup is one of our favourites.
Learn more about Spire Tea on their website.
Taster’s Review:
I don’t usually get excited to try a rooibos blend, but, I’ve got to tell you that when I opened the pouch of this Spiced Rooibos Blend from Spire Tea (also known as Mowbray Ridge Rooibos Blend), I got a little excited about it. It smells so good – so deliciously warm and nutty, spicy with just a hint of coconut goodness in there too. My mouth started watering when I smelled the dry leaf! That’s how good it smells!
The brewed tisane smells really delicious too. It smells like warm spices and toasted nuts … it smells like the holidays!
My first sip, my initial reaction is: this tastes like something called a Sin Dawg. Here in the Pacific Northwest, we have a bread company called Dave’s Killer Bread Company. Imagine the love child of a cinnamon roll and a delicious, whole grain bread that is loaded with seeds and nuts. That’s a Sin Dawg. They are so good that there simply are not words adequate enough to explain how unbelievably delicious they are. It takes a great deal of willpower not to buy one every time I’m at the grocery store!
And that’s what I tasted with my first sip of this tea. I tasted the sweet, nutty flavor, the cinnamon, and … the coconut … isn’t really screaming out “coconut” … it’s more like a sweet, creamy flavor that goes together so well with the rest of the Sin Dawg … err… tisane. At least, the coconut wasn’t screaming out coconut in those first two or three sips. Now that I’m about one third of the way through the cup, I’m noticing more coconut flavor. It’s still not a strong, dominate flavor of the cup, but, it’s more distinguished than it was at the start.
The rooibos is also distinguishable here, usually that’s something I consider a bad thing as I usually prefer the flavors to overwhelm the rooibos taste … but the nutty, sweet flavor of the rooibos really works well with these flavors. It just ties in really well.
This is just a really well conceived cup of rooibos! I really like this one a lot!
Eggnog from Trail Lodge Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White and Green
Where to Buy: Trail Lodge Tea
Tea Description:
This is our own holiday creation; green and white tea combined with the flavors of eggnog. The combination of China Green and white tea brews up to a light and sweet liquid that combines perfectly with the flavor of eggnog. Real pieces of vanilla beans and nutmeg turns it into a truly guilt free decadent treat. Be sure to get some for gifts and to sip while you decorate the tree and listen to holiday music. Ingredients: Fair Trade Certified TM Organic China Green Tea, Fair Trade CertifiedTM Organic Pai Mu Tan, and Organic Vanilla, Organic Nutmeg, and Organic Natural Flavoring
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Eggnog from Trail Lodge Tea has a distinct aroma of spices and custard when steeped. From the visual aspect, white tea, is my favorite tea. The dry leaf is beautiful, downy, and whole.
The cup steeps to a golden yellow and is clear.
Trail Lodge Teas are organic and Fair Trade Certified which is always a plus in my book!
The flavor is quite creamy, but the spiced notes do not come out in the taste as much as in the aroma. There is a nutmeg spice in the flavor, its not strong, but there is enough. In the aroma I get more of the clove spice as well.
There is a lacking in the sweetness for me personally, yet I did not try it with any added sugar, so I can’t say if that would have helped or not.
I keep looking for the white or green tea base flavor to jump out at me because it is not as if the spice or other flavorings are overdone, and I do get a touch of vanilla in the flavor, yet I keep straining to find the base tea. I get a tad more of the green base than the white, but I think I would enjoy the tea more if the base were a bit more outstanding.
Overall this is a good eggnog blend and it does indeed taste like eggnog. Its creamy, and it has the right flavors with the spice and vanilla bean. I don’t know if this is one I would personally go right out and order, yet I would suggest if you enjoy this flavor profile to try some. I know Trail Lodge Teas has several other teas in their arsenal that I adore, so now and then I would probably add this to my cart before checking out.
Real Chai Tea Blend from Teas and Botanicals
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!