The Path of Tea

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer – not all the way full just enough to cover the tea
Steep Time: a little over 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: I can see golden raisins, and smell hibiscus and currents?
Steeped Tea Smell: hibiscus (inhales deeply) and spice
Flavor: hibiscus, spice
Body: Full
Aftertaste: tangy
Liquor: opaque deep red

Thank you for the sample SoccerMom!

I love hibiscus, but if you’ve been following my posts long you know this.

DELICIOUS, but all the other flavors get stomped, that is the one thing holding this back from greatness. If the spice was more prominent, or other flavors also strongly present with the hibiscus I would be in love with the lover’s kiss.

I will take this as is though. I think if I had more I’d try some honey or sugar or perhaps try it iced.

Okay so I have had this in my cupboard for about 2 months and I have had it twice. I honestly haven’t tried many “chai’s” but I keep reading all of the chai reviews on here and some of the sweet concoctions you all come up with had me in an experimental mood and today I am going to do something about it.

One heaping teaspoon of Organic Masala Chai the chai is full of spices and smells mostly peppery so I add it to about 6 ozs of hot water, steeped about 4 minutes tasted it and it’s okay not something delicious like what I imagine when I read some of the other chai reviews so seems this maybe my chance to do my experiment here goes my experiment/sweet concoction.

So yesterday I’m at the grocery store and I pass the creamer section and think hmmm… from time to time I hear my fellow steepsters add some creamer to there tea so I look through the 30 plus creamer flavors and brands and settle on Coffemate’s Vanilla Chai and so I think I AM going to add some creamer to my chai. I know people normally steep chai in milk but I am out of milk as usual (teenager still at home) and so I add a tablespoon and half of creamer and it tastes okay nothing to write home about or anything just okay. Then I think what the heck I’ve already added the creamer what could really sweeten the deal!? I do a quick sweep of the fridge and see that Mrs. Richardson Butterscotch Caramel Topping so I decided to give it a shot. I pop the the bottle of B.C. into the microwave and ding ding it’s soft enough to add a tablespoon to my chai. At worst I’m thinking could be a sugary sweet mess at best I could have created something that should go on a Starbucks menu I’m hoping for the latter but who knows? Well the final result is neither :(

It’s a milky, butterscotchy (butterscotchy? there’s something I never heard myself say) chai mix not something worthy of resale :)) but not something that I really want to pour down the drain either. It is what it is……..whatever that maybe. Definently don’t see myself trying it again.

If anyone else has any tea recipe ideas for me so that I can try to find away to use up my Vanilla Chai creamer I would definently appreciate it.

A nice morning cup. I’m not sure what’s exactly in the blend it’s a little smoky and very smooth.

Nice Organic Citrus Oolong. The Citrus doesn’t seem to over power the oolong it’s a nice cup.

When I smelled it in the shop I thought I have to try this tea, but I was already sipping on a pot of Holiday Blend so I thought I better take a couple ozs. home or I’ll have to make the 45 minute trek back up here next weekend because I won’t be able to stop thinking about how good it smelled.

It smells like raisins, rosepetals black tea and currants if you can imagine those mixed together. It makes a beautiful reddish pinkish brew it’s a okay cup a little strong on the currants making it a tad bitter for my taste but I will finish it probably won’t purchase it again though. Too many teas too little time, to be drinking only “okay” teas.

I stopped drinking sodas/colas because I can get my caffeine fix from tea! So I decided to stock up on some black teas to get me up and going in the morning that’s when I discovered Organic China Mist a really nice cup of black tea without the harsh aftertaste of some black teas. It has a soft smoky flavor. Not a bad way to start your day!

Nice puerh when I first purchased the tea I found it to be a little too fishy it felt like I was about to experience and asian ginger fish dinner! But after sticking with it, I have come to enjoy it more and more especially the second steeping it is quite good when I am working and hungry but don’t have time to eat when I am working on the computer it hits the spot!

Usually I can go either way with jasmine tea. This one is really good. The pearls are lovely and they unfurl nicely as the tea steeps. The scent is amazing, and the flavor is definitely distinctly jasmine without tasting soap-like. As someone who’s not always a jasmine tea fan, I’m pretty impressed by this one.

To be honest I was a bit worried that I’d hate this one. I’m pretty picky about citrusy flavors in hot tea and I don’t usually like rooibos all that much. The smell was quite strong, to the point that I was afraid it might have an artificial taste. It was actually much milder than I was expecting. I’m not going to be a rooibos convert after this tea, but I think for someone who likes rooibos more than I do, this would be a nice cup.

One of my Christmas presents from my sister was a box of three tea tins from The Path of Tea, an organic tea house in Houston. In addition to the fact that the blue magnetic-closure box the teas came in is pretty cute, this chai is very good. The website doesn’t list all the ingredients, but I can see green cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon. There is a discernible pepper taste, but it’s not so strong as to be unpleasant to milder chai fans. Mixed with warm soy milk and honey, it tastes very similar to the yogi tea at Sunlight Cafe in Seattle.