Masala Chai

Yesterday was a special day, I received my swap box from the wonderful Dexter3657 . In fact, we received each other’s box on same day! Last night, as i felt physically and emotionally drained, I needed comfort in a cup to bring to bed with me…Chai being an old friend, I thought it was the obvious choice out of the MANY teas I got in my swap box.

I say old friend cause about 4 years ago, I started getting more into loose leaf tea beside the traditional earl grey and jasmine tea I had been drinking all my life.

I discovered Davidstea and chai became a revelation to me, something exotic I had no clue even existed. I went on a chai spree and bought all the chais DT had to offer. That’s all I drank for 6 months!

Then I discovered Steepster, and realized there was other tea retailers in the world, started experimenting with straight tea, and finding my perfect black and oolong tea became my quest. I have pretty much succeeded at that, but haven’t had a decent cup of chai in the last 3 years!

When Dexter and I initiated our swap, I lurked at her chai stash and thought it would be a great opportunity to renew my vows with it!

She very generously sent many to choose from, I picked this one cause the note said it was her favourite out of that bunch. I was so excited to try something of better quality than what I had in the past.

I was very happy with my choice, cause I need to take things slow and this is not an overwhelming chai blend. It’s surprisingly smooth, yet that little kick is there. I could not find the list of ingredients on their website and i’m a little rusted, but I think I could detect mainly clove, cinnamon, cardamom, and I get a little tingle on the tongue so that’s probably ginger. This is an excellent chai to begin with, nothing scary about it.

But what i enjoyed the most, was the comfort it provided that I needed so badly!

I welcome you back into my life Chai, it’s been a long time :-)

Thank you so much Dexter3657 for this special blend, can’t wait to try the others you have sent!

Another one from Dexter3657 – thanks so much again! Another chai to try, I say in glee. :D I looked up more info on the site for this one, and there is a wonderful list of ingredients but to me this mostly looks like black tea leaves mixed with CTC black tea leaves. Even after a few minutes, this tea is surprisingly smooth for a CTC. There are hints of ginger and not much else. The picture looks exactly like the blend I have, actually, so I guess this is an accurate batch of this blend. But I love how smooth this is and it has a bready flavor.. not astringent at all! I really wish there were a billion more spices here, but as a black tea it’s good stuff anyway.

I’m not avoiding Steepster notes any more… apparently my Amoda box went missing in the mail. :/ I guess I will just ruin the surprise if it just happens to happen.

Tea 8 in the great chai quest. I really like this one, it’s a bit mild, but nice balance of spices. It just seems more warming and soothing than most of the others I’ve tried.

Mild but OK chai. Drank it with/with out milk. Nothing outstanding. I always wonder if a tea is old when I don’t get much flavor. I will withhold giving a rating.

From the Round 3 Here’s Hoping TTB

This is a nice chai, but it’s not my favoritte. The base tea is really, really good. It has body and a touch of malt. The spice blend is pretty weak though. There’s ginger and cardamon with some cinnamon. I’m sure there are other spices as well. The spice blend is so light that there were times I didn’t taste it at all. So, not the best chai, but still a nice tea.