23 Tasting Notes
Nothing I write about this chai right now will be anything approaching objective, since I’m overwhelmed with both guilt and pleasure. I’m breaking my no-black-tea rule this morning.
THIS IS SO DELICIOUS! So yummy that right now I don’t even care that I and my nursling will be paying the price for the caffeine I’m consuming.
I am going to re-steep this until there’s nothing left.
Preparation
Interesting.
I’m working my way through the cupboard now, turning each tin to the back until I’ve worked through them all once… I’ve been procrastinating this one, thinking it’d be too summery sweet and fruity.
It’s not. It’s a fascinating mix of flavors, and I can’t really detect any one overpowering the rest. It’s a delicate balance of a lot of heavies, and I am impressed.
I’m a little embarrassed to admit that I did add a small amount of agave nectar before I knew what I was doing, but I don’t think it’s detracting from anything that’s going on. I’ll do a second steep with none.
Preparation
Don’t be embarrassed! It’s not my personal preference- but drink what you like and like what you drink and add what you like.
Well… it’s just that it’s pretty fruity-sweet already. I don’t know why I reached for the syrup but I was already adding it before I really realized what I was doing.
This would be awesome iced, by the way.
It’s ok, I’m the person that never sweetens tea of any temperature and I put just a drizzle of maple syrup in my maple sugar black:) It’s pretty darn good, but I wish I could find a green version, I’m not so much of a black tea person.
Hey I just noticed you’re originally from WI:)
Yep! I grew up there, down in the SE corner of the state, near Lake Geneva. I see you’re a cheesehead, too!
Yep, except for I can’t stand the packers (this week was the one and only game I’ll watch this season- and I didn’t root for the packers) and aside for pepper jack and mac and cheese I don’t really like cheese. And I don’t drink beer either lol. Although I wonder what a tea w/ hopps would taste like?
Eh, I can’t stand beer!
(I do love me some good cheese, though!!!)
This one just makes me swoon from its perfection.
I’ve been savoring every cup from the 2oz I bought a few weeks ago and the last week has been torture as I rationed out the last small amount. I’m not joking when I write that if I could strap the tin to my head like a feedbag just to breathe it in, I would. This morning I caved and ordered 8oz to be here by the weekend, so in celebration of that purchase I just brewed some up from the last remaining.
Man, this is sublime. I brewed 16oz using 3tsp of tea and 1tsp of rock sugar, steeping for about two minutes at around 175 degrees. That went into mugs with rice milk—2/3 tea, 1/3 rice milk. Perfection.
Thanks to a toddler in the house, I drink almost exclusively out of travel tumblers. This is one grand exception: it smells so wonderful and is such a pleasure that I want the full experience of my most treasured stoneware mug to warm my hands and thrill all my senses.
This is my desert island tea, no question.
(So many reviews mention blending this one, and maybe I’ve just not yet developed a sophisticated enough tea-palate to get it, but there’s nothing I’d change in this one.)
Preparation
That sounds absolutely divine. I always know that a tea is truly worthy when I panic at the idea of running out of it. I will have to try this one.
So it’s been awhile since you posted this note, but I’m curious.
Several other commenters have said this doesn’t lend itself to milk. I see you’ve gone the milk route and liked it (and I normally do a 2/3 to 1/3 like you). Do you have any thoughts on milk vs. non-milk with this one?
I had this once and realized that it would probably be much more satisfying drunk cold on a hot summer day.
However, my 13-month-old baby LOVES it! Rooibos is wonderful for babies and kids, and I brew a batch of this up and keep it in the fridge for his sippy cup. He doesn’t get any juice at all, so this must be wonderfully sweet and delicious to him!
He gives it a 90, at least.
This is totally one of my desert-island teas right now. I love, love, love chai and am sticking to rooibos or low-caffeine as much as I can during pregnancy. This one is perfectly delicious, with or without the agave nectar and rice milk I frequently add to it.
Preparation
Adagio has a rooibos vanilla chai and a decaf spiced green which is pretty much like a chai. Have you tried adding a chai spice mix like the one culinary teas to a decaf tea you like? That may give you more flavor options. Adagio also has a decent selection of decafs, especially blacks.
Thanks for the recommendations! I’m about to put together an Adgio order—it’ll be my first—and I’ll definitely try that vanilla chai and a sample of the spiced green. That one sounds interesting!
It is! I never thought green tea and chai spices would go so good together, but they do!
There really isn’t much oomph to either the chocolate or the mint here, and maybe that’s indicated by the “smooth” modifier. There’s nothing offensive about this one, no odd taste at any point, but it’s just not that interesting or exciting. I have a whole 8 ounces of it, though, and while I’ll certainly work my way through it quickly enough, I don’t think that I’ll be in a hurry to replace it.
For a chocolatey tea, I adore Teavana’s Haute Chocolate. No mint, but it’s got a little kick of pepper… if that kind of spicy is your thing (as it is mine), I’d check out that one.
(A steep time of 8 minutes or more means that I’ve made it in my Rhapsody… so it steeps as long as it takes me to drink it!)
Preparation
Oh my gosh! I’m going to Cincinnati in June and I just checked out Essencha’s website! I may not actually bring much tea with me on vacation;)
I love them! Their prices are generally better than Teavana’s (my other major expense), and their customer service is amazing. They ship their teas in tins, and I ordered four 8oz tins to use as part of Christmas gifts, and when they arrived, each of the tins had some significant denting as a result of the packing. I sent an e-mail just to let them know, and got a reply from someone’s Blackberry on a Friday night saying that they’d get four new empty tins out to me first thing in the morning, plus a $5 coupon for my next purchase. They’re wonderful!
(Adding clarification that the 4 8oz tins I originally bought as gifts were full of tea—not just empty! And they sent replacement empty tins.)
lol I knew what you meant. But I wasn’t talking about ordering from there, I was talking about going there! Unfortunately it’s 8.5 miles from my hotel…:(
