A sample from Miss B. I think all of my recent tea orders might be waiting for me when I get home, so all the more reason to work on some samples today! I think I’ve only tried maybe one or two Thai-style teas before, although I tend to enjoy them. Usually it’s coconut that sets a thai chai apart for me, but I don’t see a lot among the dry leaf here. There’s some black tea and some rooibos, plus dried ginger root, orange peel, the odd fennel seed…It’s not giving much away at the moment! I used 1.5 tsp for my cup, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up unexpectedly dark, so I added a decent splash of milk. Milk and chai make me happy anyway!
To taste, it’s noticeably a Thai blend rather than Indian, but I’m finding it hard to put my finger on exactly what makes it that way. It’s sweeter, even without any added sugar, and there’s definitely some coconut which gives it both a tropical edge and a distinctive creaminess. I’d say there’s also quite a lot of fennel seed, because there’s quite a well defined aniseed flavour, and that’s helping with the sweetness too. I can taste cinnamon, and a touch of ginger in the aftertaste, but they’re not particularly prominent. I’m thinking that even the rooibos is helping the effect a little, giving is a lighter, woodsy-tasting base rather than the thick maltiness of a more traditional chai blend.
I’m enjoying this one, and it’s nice to be reacquainted with a Thai chai! If anything, it’s reminded me how much I’ve missed not having one around for the longest time. I’d quite like to try adding coconut milk to this one, just to see if I can amp up that aspect a little more, but I suspect the sample will be gone before I get around to doing that! One for the future, maybe :)
