Tipu's

Picked this up at Dean & Deluca yesterday since I was in the neighborhood after work. I was trying to talk myself into some Mariage Freres but common sense ended up winning and saying that $24 for a whole tin of something you haven’t tried isn’t a good idea…So I got this instead. Hey, I had to have something to buy with my chocolate. Otherwise, the bag was going to be very empty. Of course, that philosophy led to more things like double Devon cream butter… :)

On to the tea. Brewed per package suggestions: 1 cup water to 1 tablespoon mix plus 1/3 cup milk.

Wow. First impression without sugar is BAM – pepper in yo’ face!

Add some sugar and it calms down a bit, but there is still a significant bite to this brew. Lots of flavor. I think there are other spices I taste that the pepper is trying to muscle out – cinnamon, ginger, cloves… not sure what all else. It’s not a bad chai at all, definitely packs more flavor than several I have tried.

I’m not sure I can taste the tea since my tongue is tingly and going numb from the pepper, though… :)

Off to get some bread worthy of the butter. :)

I’m a chai lover, but have never been a fan of instant chai or chai mixes. But, after reading about this one, I just had to try it! Prior to brewing, this mixture resembles coffee grounds which I presume is the black tea ground with a myriad of spices. And, it smells strongly of cinnamon and cardamom. Following the directions, I dumped a scoop of this into two cups of water and boiled for 3 minutes. The aroma remained the same and permeated the house with a nice potpourri scent. I then added the milk, but threw in a little ground cardamom (couldn’t find my pods) and fresh ground ginger. Boiled 3 more minutes, strained and added my brown sugar. Resembling coffee with cream, the taste is prevalent but not quite what I expected, especially compared to chai I make per an ex-Pakistani husband’s instructions. It tasted mostly of cardamom, ginger and cinnamon. The black tea seemed to get lost and the consistency of the liquor was rather thin. I’ll probably finish my bag of Tipu at some point, but will stick to what I know when it comes to making chai. I wouldn’t say this is actual chai, but rather a chai mix although the best chai mix I’ve ever tried.

Tea of the afternoon. I fixed this one according to the package directions. (2 cups water and 1 heaping tsp, simmer for 3 minutes. Add 2/3 cup milk, simmer for 3 minutes, strain.) Sweeten to taste.

This is a spicey one, but it is good. I can taste the cloves and maybe even pepper. I do find this one a little messy to strain, too. The mix itself comes in a ground up state and makes me miss the ease of straining full leaf chai. Not likely a good one for me, though, once this package is gone.

love, love, love. local missoula business. best chai around. add cream and agave.

The idea behind this masala chai powder is that it’s supposed to be prepared traditionally…but economized slightly. Preparing an authentic chai requires a saucepan, milk, and infinite patience. If these were normal bulk herbs, it may have taken longer…but it would’ve been simpler. The powder was difficult to sift and filter.

That said, it tastes great, compliments milk perfectly and…whisper voice…you can bag the powder yourself and brew it normally. It’ll still taste good that way, too.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2010/08/24/review-tipus-chai-authentic-indian-chai-decaffeinated-concentrate/

My neighbor swears by this stuff so she made me a big jug of it. As directed, except she didn’t sweeten it. I admit I’m a bit nervous, only because this isn’t my prefered water:milk ratio- but here it goes. My fears of it tasting like massively watery spiced milk are instantly gone as soon as it hits my tounge. It’s thick, spicy, and oh so good. It still won’t damage my relationship w/ Mayan Chocolate Chai though.

made this today by brewing it like regular tea, in a teapot with infuser basket. 5 min. Was weaker than when I simmered it on the stove for 6 min – so clearly the simmering is the way to go – but it was quite drinkable nonetheless.

I made this according to directions – simmered it in water,then added milk and simmered it some more, then strained. It was delicious, very spicy. The mix is very fine – no visible leaves – most of the solids stayed in the bottom of the saucepan, and I used a regular tea strainer to strain it. Next I will try to steep it in teapot and see how that works, since it would be easier than “cooking” it.