Chocolate Chili Chai

Like many people who reviewed this tea as well, I also thought I’d be hit in the face with chili…seems much the opposite is true. This tastes more like just a chocolate tea. I’m getting a very very slight chili taste, but nothing spectacular…that’s not to say it’s not a good tea. I like it. It doesn’t quite live up to it’s name, but I’ll drink it when I feel like chocolate.

When I’m looking for a serious chocolate fix though, I’d probably pick another tea first.

This morning served as a good reminder to always look outside before deciding what footwear to walk to work in. I’ve gotten in the habit of checking the temperature with my weather app (a balmy -3C today) but totally forgot to check how much snow had fallen… So there I was all ready to head out; I opened the door took one step outside and went “Wait a minute!” (We’ve probably gotten about a foot of new snow in the last 24 hrs.) Turned around and headed right back inside and started looking for my socks; high boots today it is! (I wear Vibram’s Lontra “shoe” when it’s not super cold out, or when I don’t have to plow through high snow drifts.)

Now for the tea! After a weekend filled with cinnamon and cloves (gotta love homemade apple cider!) I wanted something a bit different today so I reached for my small bag of Chocolate Chili Chai. The heat is still really subtle (see my previous note) but enjoyably tingly. I had a hard time finding the chocolate though today… not sure why. Oh well, it gave me a chance to enjoy the black tea base a bit more; to be honest it’s nothing to write home about but still a decent black tea.

A big thank you to Kittenna for this sample.
This one is just okay for me.
I do appreciate the nice light spice from the chilies mixed with chocolate and I think if the chocolate were a better flavor it would be darn good HOWEVER being the chocolate snob that I am I don’t care for this chocolate flavor used in this tea.
Its not too hot just so you know – it won’t cause you to break a sweat and the mixture is well balanced. My rating is only due to the use of the chocolate flavoring that is displeasing to me.

Oh yeahhhhh, this hits the spot :)
I remembered to add extra this time! and just for a change, some agave and milk. I think perhaps I was craving it because I missed out on spicy chocolate yesterday…
I’m getting quite a bit of astringency though, a little too much- a product of the extra leaves?? hmmm. Also, I’m definitely getting more of the roasted corn note here.

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this chai! I was excited to try it, but I see that it is no longer on the website. I guess it is a winter only chai.

This is really good. The chocolate is stronger than the chili taste, and I love that. The chili is zesty without being too hot. It does leave a chili pepper ZING in the aftertaste, along with a light throat burn, which is quite alright with me, because I’m loving it.

The black tea is not as notable a flavor, I can taste it, but, the chocolate and chili really do outshine the black tea. I don’t get a lot of other chai flavors here – as in cinnamon or ginger… I’m tasting mostly just chocolate and chili. It’s really good though.

My husband is finally home after a 5 day course for work and tonight is my last night at home for 5 days before I’m away looking after my parents dogs. The first thing he complained about was tea, apparently Birmingham tea is horrible, so this tea was chosen to welcome him back.

I can taste the chocolate which is definitely real chocolate, not cocoa but actual chocolate. As for the Chai aspect I can’t taste a large array of spices so that is a bit of a let down, past the peppercorn I can’t sense any other spices. There is a spot of chili but very mild, enough to cause the flavour but not enough to be spicy and tingle.

It’s of moderate strength with some sweetness and spice. It leaves a somewhat dry after taste. It’s missing the heat, I think it should have either had more chili or more chai spice rather than focusing so much on the chocolate element. So it’s a nice tea but also a disappointing one, not something I plan on trying again.

Another one I removed from Momo’s teabox – thanks everyone! I accidently poured most of the sample into the brew basket (maybe two teaspoons)… but the flavor is pretty mild, so it wasn’t terrible. This blend seems like my ideal blend. Spicy chocolate chai! I was looking forward to it! But even with two teaspoons and a steep time of a few minutes, the flavor was mild. My favorite part was the milky sweet chocolate flavor, probably the chocolate chips. I don’t think I’ve had a chocolate David’s tea before but I like this one! Hardly any spice or heat – just chocolate! I decided to add the bit of the leaves that I didn’t accidently dump into the brew basket for the second steep, since the flavor was so mild and there was less than a teaspoon left. The second cup was nice too! I wouldn’t mind having this around for a chocolate tea with a mild base, but as a spicy chai it FAILS. I like what is here though…. just use LOTS of leaves!

Mmmmm, this one seems better this year than last. I feel more of the heat. It was a nice mix of chocolate and chili in the two cups I had today. I woke up very congested, and with a lot of pressure as a result, and a headache. This helped breathe some life back into me and got me to a point where I was able to go into work for a few hours in the evening instead of being at home all day.

I had almost opted for some Ginger Pu Erh for the sinus clearing and medicinal benefits of the ginger. But no, I wanted sinus clearing AND comfort. So I had the Chocolate Chili Chai…and I am SOOO glad I picked it up yesterday with more Alpine Punch (one can never have too much Alpine Punch).

So, today, even though I am in Canada, and we had our Thanksgiving last month, I was very thankful for this tea today!

Things that are not this tea’s fault:
1. I used a cheap infuser basket that left little pieces of leaf escape into my tea
2. I forget to set my timer, so I have no idea how long I steeped
3. I was impatient, so the water may have been a tad too cool

Things that are this tea’s fault:
1. The chili is a little milder than I’d like
2. It screams for creamer to get a real hot chocolate consistency, which makes me up my calorie intake (But oh-so-very worth it! Decadent!)
3. It makes me crave MOAR CHOCOLATE
4. It always makes me want another cup…or 12. And a chocolate bar…or 10.

This is wonderful, even if it is inappropriate for late May.
If that’s wrong, I don’t wanna be right!

Oh my gosh…I am having a winter love affair with this tea. It’s like David knows what I am going to want to drink every season with his releases. I don’t reach for pumpkin chai as much anymore because it tastes like fall to me. And even though it is technically still fall, my taste buds are already in late December. Cue this tea:

It tastes like spicy, dark, hot chocolate. You have to steep it long enough or it will taste watery. It’s got a very bitter cocoa taste that I love because it isn’t overly fake tasting. It tastes like a really strong dark chocolate with spice. Yummmm. I am going to be having this everyday until spring.