Thai Chai

This tea reminds me of a coconut macaroon cookie, like the kind we used to make at Mrs. Fields cookies (I worked there wayyyy back when they were still owned by Debi Fields, and we mixed the dough fresh every morning instead of pulling frozen dough pucks out of the freezer.) It almost tastes like the love child of a snickerdoodle and a macaroon. Incredibly yummy. Much better than I thought it would be.

In a much better mood today! Yay! Since I was in such high spirits I let myself open one of my unopened, not yet tasted teas! Yipee!

I decided to go for this chai 1. Becuase I have been wanting chai 2. Because I still had a bit of latte base (that I made 4 days ago…) that I wanted to use up and figured this would work great with it!

Brand new tea opening is always so fun! I opened it and breathed in the first whiff of this tea. First thought: “Yum! Spicy Chai!” Second thought: “Wait… Where is the coconut creaminess? Where are my coconut pieces?” Turns out the coconut pieces where much smaller that what they look like in the picture (think grated cheese). Once I scooped out my 2 teaspoons I did get a hint of coconut creaminess, but not as strong as I was wanting it to be.

I brewed it for 5 minutes (as recommended) and ended up with a creamy smelling chai! This is much more like the smell that I was expecting. I smelled a lot of clove and cinnamon with notes of cardamom and pepper. The lemon grass poked through nicely when brewed. It popped up to say “I’m here, I’m here!” and lead way for the final note which was a creamy coconut.

I tasted it first plain. It was pretty sweet on its own and had a nice creamy something towards the end. Not quite coconut, but it reminded me more of butter cookies with a hint of coconut. The lemon grass was a main player along with the other chai spices, and definitely a good inclusion. Once I added my latte mix (basically just 1 part condensed milk stirred over heat with 2 parts milk) the coconut leaped out, but I lost a bit of the lemongrass which I really was enjoying. I think I almost like this plain more than with milk!

I happily finished up my Thai Chai latte and smiled knowing that I have a full 3oz of tea to drink before it is gone! : )

A good twist to a chai. Not strong enough to be my favorite but good enough to make me smile.

This one hit the spot today! I was really looking for something creamy with a little spicy kick on the backend and found it with Adagio’s Thai Chai.

Really liking this one better than the old coconut chai I had been housing for what seemed like forever! Zhena’s Gypsy Coconut Chai is too spicy for me – not a fan of black pepper in my chai.

This one has cinnamon, ginger and a little cardamon – just enough spice to keep my tongue excited. :)

Half-n-half and sweetener made this almost too much for late summer, but in the winter I can see this as a regular winner!

What was I waiting for? Ninavampi sent me a sample of this months ago!

I’m always willing to try a new variation on chai. Chai has always interested me in its balance of spices, so adding coconut and lemongrass is pretty intriguing. Especially since I planned on having it cold. Anyway, I let it brew for six minutes in about half of the amount of water I would for normal iced tea. I then added a splash of cold milk and two good handfuls of ice.

The result is a delicious summer breakfast. The traditional chai spices are there on the surface; cinnamon, cardamom, ginger. I can’t say I can really taste the lemongrass, but the coconut is there. The coconut is faint, and reminds me a little more of plain vanilla. Since I love vanilla chai, I don’t mind. The black tea is hardly present, but that might have something to do with me neglecting this sample for so long. I would have to try a fresher batch to make any judgements there. In summary, I really like this chai, and it’s great iced.

This is a black tea blend from Adagio that works for me. In other samplings of their flavored black teas, they always tend to turn bitter. Not this one. I already tested this before joining Steepster and have already purchased a larger quantity. It’s that good (if you like chai teas in general).

Black tea, cinnamon bark, ginger root, dried coconut, lemon grass, cardamom pods and natural coconut flavor.

On first sip, you really notice all the spices, with none really dominating over the other. If I had my way, there would be less ginger, but that’s neither here nor there in evaluating this tea. What sets it apart from a “normal” chai is the lemongrass and coconut. They play a major role in the overall flavor of the tea, and in my opinion make it special. The flavors are strong and yummy, and with the addition of honey, it’s nice and sweet. Would recommend a test to the chai tea lovers out there.

do.not. like. i think it might be the coconut but this starts out as a nice chai and then the after taste makes me cringe. I appreciate the share terri but this one is not for me! :)

I really like this one! I think it might just be my favorite from Adagio. I was digging through the tea packets I have here at the office looking for something that felt spring-like enough to compliment the warm breeze coming in the window on this beautiful spring day.

But, since my taste is always geared toward spicy, dark, autumnal flavors (caramel always reigns supreme in my book!) there wasn’t much to choose from. But this one, with it’s Thai-inspired coconut and refreshing lemongrass flavors, fit the bill. I tore open the bag with visions of Thai beaches roaring through my head (why, oh why aren’t I rich enough to spend my vacation in Phuket?), but upon opening it, I was walloped with the not-so-springtime smell of cardamom and cinnamon. But I could also pick out coconut and there were ample pieces of lemongrass, so all hope was not lost!

(That’s a really drawn-out way of saying, “I got caught up by the ‘Thai’ part of the name and completely missed the word ‘chai.’”) But man, I’m glad I pushed on even after my mini let-down because this tastes awesome. It’s spicy, with a good amount of heat from the ginger and cinnamon waking up at the back of your throat. The coconut adds a touch of creamy sweetness and makes it a real warm weather tea. And the clean, crisp taste of the lemongrass ties it all together in a totally unexpected, yet awesome, way.

This is just like drinking Thai food! It’s spicy, clean-tasting and a little sweet – all the flavors that I crave when I hit my favorite restaurant. It’s so wonderful that it’s making me crave fresh rolls with peanut sauce and tofu panang curry. Oh, and basil fried rice. Yes, definitely basil fried rice. Yum. Now all I can think about is getting takeout on the way home. Argh, curse your spicy goodness, Thai Chai!

Ugh!! I can’t believe it! I wrote my Thai Chai tasting note and then accidently deleted it! AHHHHH!!!! You can never write the same thing again. It’s never exactly as it was. What a pain! Blurg! This sucks…now how to try and recoup my loss.

I made this tea two ways: a traditional Chai tea latte and a normal cup of tea. I’ve had limited Chai experiences, so there’s not a whole lot of things to compare it to. But this one still ranks pretty highly. It’s not my favorite. Adagio’s Spiced Apple Chai still claims that title.

It’s good though! Just not quite as spicy as I like. The lemongrass and coconut create a much sweeter, softer Chai. It’s a completely different experience. If you love Chai, I definitely recommend you try this one out.

The normally brewed tea tasted remarkably similar to the latte. I couldn’t distinguish much difference. That’s good and bad, in my opinion. Good because you don’t have to expend a lot of effort to make a great cup of tea. Bad because I did expend a lot of effort to make two different cups of tea and that effort was kind of wasted.

But overall, I enjoyed this. You know what? I didn’t like my first review anyway. This one’s better, right? Oh, how would you know. Whatever. Drink more tea!!!

I tasted this tea in 3 stages. Steep time 5 minutes 212 degrees. There is a strong first fragrance of cardamom and ginger root. Liquor Golden with a slight green tinge. The wet brew is a salad of chopped coconut and lemongrass, ginger root, some type of small light seed (not coriander), black tea, cardamom and cinnamon. Very pretty. First pour plain is slightly sweet and mainly tastes of ginger root with a lemony finish…nice and light. Adding sugar brings up the cardamom a little bit. Adding milk…WOW…this is CHAI! The cardamom comes up further and the blend becomes creamy, balanced and delicious. The ginger is calmed down by the milk but the cinnamon still lends a bite. If I were to correct anything at all I would increase the coconut content and tone down the ginger a bit so that you know coconut is there along with the lemongrass which gets a bit lost. I like Chai that takes you somewhere exotic. For that…this tea hits the mark. I am not in North America when I drink this, I’m on a journey and transported. (I know some people say I’m not on this planet either)…Good tea though!

What makes a Chai “Thai”? Is that coconut I smell? It is!! Mmm…coconut. Love the smell of this as it steeped.

Very smooth taste; spices are well-balanced and no single one is trying to steal the show. It tastes “Thai”: spicy, coconutty, lemony. More sweet-spicy than hot-spicy, but it still warms you up from the inside out!

Thanks, Meghann, for sending me some of this. It’s definitely one of my favorite chais that I’ve had!