Getting caught up on reviews. I consider this my 50th review since 2 of my 52 notes are still backlogged.
Decaff for my reflux and just to have more tea drinking options later in the day.
I agree with the other review-this seems like just a regular caffeinated tea. Actually, every quality tea I’ve had decaffeinated by the carbon dioxide process has tasted normal to me. I love that it’s organic. I also like that all the spices have purported health benefits.
I brewed this by adding boiling water from my tea boiler into a pre-warmed cup with an infuser basket in it. Almond milk was added after steeping. I know it’s not “proper”, but I did buy a boiler for convenience-not to always be “proper”.
So, this cupping is tasting a little different than last time. Previously, I used soy milk and sugar. Tonight I am using vanilla almond milk with sugar. Not normally a huge vanilla fan but it is working very well here. The spices seem to be drawing out the vanilla. This is supposed to have extra pepper, but I don’t taste an inordinate amount-perhaps because of the vanilla. This is really good with the vanilla almond, but it does change the character of the tea-so I’ll probably have to review it using unflavored soy next time.
Otherwise, it’s a pretty standard quality masala chai. Like the addition of cloves though, as that is not always in masala chais. I can add this to Upton’s Rooibos Chai as another very good dessert/evening tea option.
I think it at least partially has to do with the decaffeination method that’s being used. Some of them will leave a taste ‘residue’ while other won’t.
I’m certain that is it. I also think that the overall practice has improved greatly since the time I first started exploring decaffeinated teas.
In my search of all things tea like, I stumbled across how to decaffeinate tea. Since caffeine is soluble, one can simple steep for 20-30 seconds and discard the water. Resteep and you have your decaff tea. I used to drink a lot of coffee so its very hard for me to tell if I am feeling the effects of caffeine or not. I do not have trouble sleeping when I do this but I didn’t have trouble sleeping right after drinking a cup of coffee either.
There are some who believe this, I don’t know it to be true. I have read conflicting studies that suggest that this process does not remove all of the caffeine. In fact, if I remember correctly, this was a topic of discussion in the forum at one point.
Anyway, I don’t have difficulty sleeping due to caffeine intake, this was merely a sample that was given to me so I sampled it. :)