This was the tea of the week a couple of weeks ago. I was in the mood for a chai so I grabbed this one. It might be a bit late for a chai since I’m trying to adjust my sleep schedule but my internal clock doesn’t seem to be cooperating with me.
I was inspired to create this tea a couple of years ago, actually – on “Talk like a Pirate day” – I thought, hey, wouldn’t it be cool to have a pirate inspired tea? So I wrote the idea down along with the flavors that I envisioned for a pirate chai blend. I had planned on blending this last year for Talk Like a Pirate day, but I needed to change the menu for whatever reason so I docked it until this year.
This is really tasty – the rum & coconut give this an interesting twist to the classic chai flavors. It still has a chai flavor – not overly spicy though – but the flavor I pick up the most is the rum. The coconut softens the overall cup a bit (along with the vanilla) – to give this a creaminess which is nice because this is one that I don’t recommend going latte with because the dairy (or non-dairy milk) doesn’t meld very well with the rum notes – and it’s just not the same experience. If you do decide to go with a latte, be sure to brew this extra strong.
Nice – unusual – tasty!
Edited to add: the smoke is pretty subtle with this one. I start to pick up on it more as I reach mid-cup but really, what I notice is that the smoky notes meld with the rum a bit to give the rum a little bit of something. Like I said – very unusual, but I really like it.
