Tea type
Black Chai Blend
Ingredients
Black Tea, Cardamom, Cardamon Seed, Cinnamon, Cloves, Nutmeg, Vanilla
Flavors
Raisins, Star Anise, Cinnamon, Candy, Cardamom, Cloves, Ginger, Nutmeg, Pepper, Spices, Spicy, Sugar, Sweet, Vanilla
Sold in
Bulk, Loose Leaf, Tea Bag
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by antleredguy
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 30 sec 13 oz / 397 ml

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60 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Prepared as a chai with lots of sugar, I liked this well enough. Drinking it prepared as a black tea without adding milk or sugar, not so great for me. The tea base seemed…thin. This one is nice...” Read full tasting note
  • “More tea in the afternoon….. I have several wrapped bags of this in my stash, so I guess this is a test to see if it will be added to the bagged tea for traveling or edited. I have really only...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “Thank you fiddling! I made a cup of this today to help kick start my day. After yesterday’s cleaning and running around, we’re just hitting costco today and then maybe playing some board games to...” Read full tasting note
    41
  • “Brr, It’s cold tonight. I’ve made a steady stream of tea throughout the day to keep myself and my partner warm instead of turning on the heater. That’s the only thing I’m looking forward to about...” Read full tasting note
    76

From Harney & Sons

Previously known as our “Indian Spice” tea, Chai tea, combines assam tea, freshly ground cardamom, and spices to create a hauntingly subtle spiced tea blend. Add some milk and sugar, and you could be in Calcutta awaiting the fresh teas coming down from Assam & Darjeeling. This is the tea to use to brew your own chai tea.

About Harney & Sons View company

Since 1983 Harney & Sons has been the source for fine teas. We travel the globe to find the best teas and accept only the exceptional. We put our years of experience to work to bring you the best Single-Estate teas, and blends beyond compare.

60 Tasting Notes

3224 tasting notes

Prepared as a chai with lots of sugar, I liked this well enough. Drinking it prepared as a black tea without adding milk or sugar, not so great for me. The tea base seemed…thin. This one is nice prepared as a milky chai, but without all that milk it is a bit astringent. It smells good. They did a good job in the spices if you want a chai that will be widely liked by a lot of different people with different tastes, but I don’t think I will reorder this one. If I want a chai made with milk and tons of sugar, I will add my own spices to one of my own favorite black teas.

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80
985 tasting notes

More tea in the afternoon…..

I have several wrapped bags of this in my stash, so I guess this is a test to see if it will be added to the bagged tea for traveling or edited. I have really only prepared this as a chai in the past, so I really needed to test it as a standard brew in a cup.

It will be saved! But not replaced. I do have to say that as far as bagged tea goes, it is good. Convenience coupled with decent tea are a must when I travel, and this will work. There is a solid black tea base with notes of cinnamon and cardamom. It is not a super spicy blend, but it is very warming and cozy.

The key to bagged tea for me is to be sure I am using the right amount of water (which is 6-8 oz for most bags, and 12 oz for most sachets) and a shorter steep than I would for loose leaf since the teas in the bags are likely more broken up than loose leaf. I know in my pre-loose leaf days, I would use almost twice the water that one bag could flavor well. Ick.

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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41
15006 tasting notes

Thank you fiddling! I made a cup of this today to help kick start my day. After yesterday’s cleaning and running around, we’re just hitting costco today and then maybe playing some board games to relax once we get home. We bought two new ones yesterday and there are a few in on the shelf we haven’t played through already. lol tough part is finding friends who are willing to come over and play a game for an hour or so…so sad!
However, since both my other half and i are only children, we have no issues playing through a game on our own with ephelant and helen the corduroy dinosaur. :)

This tea? not bad, though there are other chai’s i would drink first. I think this one might be better steeped in milk with a splash of honey so that will be the next way that i try it :)

ashmanra

We had family night for years, still do, but it is no longer game night. But when my son comes home, you bet we will be playing games. Do you play Settlers of Catan? That and Scrabble are two favorites, but UNO, Yahtzee, Phase 10, MtG, Monopoly, and many more are on shelf and enjoyed!

Sil

We play settlers, though less often since we have 50+ other euro games on the self. Still a good one though! My other half keeps telling me we just need to have kids and then wait 7 years lol

gmathis

Nobody’ll play with me at home any more :(
(Yet another reason I teach fifth graders on Sundays—-weekly kid fix.)

Sil

Aw…gmathis…that’s sad! I have my other half…so we are gradually amassing a collection of two player games.

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76
100 tasting notes

Brr, It’s cold tonight. I’ve made a steady stream of tea throughout the day to keep myself and my partner warm instead of turning on the heater. That’s the only thing I’m looking forward to about the upcoming winter – I’m going to get through a lot of my tea.

Dry, this smells like a beautiful mixture of nutmeg and sweet Assam.

This was my first time making chai. I used a 2:1 ratio of milk to water, and added 5 tsp of brown sugar. Gently simmered for 4 minutes. Came out quite well. I was wary of the cardamom (not a huge fan), but it hardly spoke up. Due to the nutmeg, it reminded me a lot of Pumpkin Pie…and now I have a craving which won’t be satisfied until I visit North America again!! Nooo!! Damn you New Zealand and your lack of Pumpkin Pies! (but thank you for your delicious pumpkin soup, which I always miss when I’m in Canada).

I definitely want to explore more chai’s, and the looming cold weather is going to give me an excellent excuse for a tea order in a couple months. Either Bukiti or Verdant (new to both), haven’t decided.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 45 sec
Nicole

I like Harney chai quite a bit and I love Butiki chai- they are the two I make sure to have on hand. Haven’t tried Verdant yet.

Sil

I’ve never tried harney chai but verdant and butiki are both delicious, though each in a different way.

Miss Starfish

Thanks lovelies – good to know!

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84
790 tasting notes

Another pot of this today while making Smoky Chicken Chowder for dinner tonight. :)

Made this with 2 cups water, 1 cup non-fat half-and-half cream (since I had it for the soup anyway…) and a scant 1/4 cup of sugar.

I do like this blend because I can taste the tea as well as the spices, milk and sugar. That said, however, since I have been having more and more chais lately, I can’t say that this is on the top of the list. Right now that spot is held by Butiki’s chai blend. But this is definitely a strong second place.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
darby

Can I come for dinner? Smoky Chicken Chowder….YUM!!!!

Nicole

Anytime you can make it here, no one goes hungry at my house. :)

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82
169 tasting notes

Made this with coconut milk and added a little knob of fresh ginger and turmeric, sweetened it with raw honey.
Yummy. Starting out my Monday right, ya’all!
Have a great day!

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92
120 tasting notes

I had a sample of this (in bagged form) lurking in my stash for some time. Unforgivably, I am at a loss as to who gave it to me. So I will take this opportunity to thank the many friends I have on Steepster who have helped shape my tea experiences. Steepster is such a special place.
I found this to be a little mild as far as chai/Indian Spice goes. I like it. The cardamom is not overpowering, and the black tea shines through. A little honey, warmed milk, this would be a good little cup of tea. Here at my desk, with a little splenda, it is just fine.

ashmanra

If you make it with milk per the enclosed instructions, it tastes like liquid pumpkin pie! MMMM!

teawing

I will try it! Thanks.

ashmanra

I have some loose leaf I can send if your sample is all gone!

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86
735 tasting notes

Decided to give this a try this morning, but didn’t have time to log it. I drank it fast while I got dressed and did my makeup before meeting a friend for hibachi.

The aroma of the dry tea is delicious and spicy, smelling like a good standard chai. The blend is more uniform than what I’m used to seeing in chai loose leaf. Usually, there are brown and tan bits, nuts, etc. but this is mostly chocolate-colored leaf and what looks like cinnamon bark. Maybe? It’s so small I can’t tell what it is.

Anyway, the flavor isn’t quite as bold as the scent lead on, but it’s alright. I tend to like my chais on the spicy cinnamon and gingery side, and this doesn’t really present that. (Granted, I added a heavy splash of 1% milk.) But I’ve certainly had rougher chais before. I’m glad I got a chance to try Harney & Sons’ take on a classic, but I will continue my search for the perfect one.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec

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73
2036 tasting notes

Since becoming a chai fan I’ve been adding samples of anything that looks remotely like chai into my orders, which has been fun. But I think I’m starting to get tired of dating chais and ready to settle down. Not with one, of course. With a small harem’s worth.

I bought this sample with my last H&S order. In the sample packet, it has rather mild spicy scent. I can detect something that seems slightly like anise under the cardamom. Unlike many chai blends, I can smell a strong tea fragrance here. The Assam has an earthy scent, like soil, with an interesting chocolate note to it.

I prepared this on the stovetop, using TeaFrog Assam as extra black tea.

It makes a creamy, chewy, tasty, and very mildly spiced chai. Very, very mildly spiced. It’s on a par on the mildness scale with the most mild I’ve tasted so far, the TeaFrog.

What makes it somewhat different is that it seems to have a stronger tea flavor than a good many other chai blends I’ve tasted. Particularly in the aftertaste. This might be because of the CTC leaves. Since I haven’t tried this without milk and sweetener, it could be that the tea itself is much stronger with long brewing because of how it was prepared, and that this, accordingly, comes out as tea flavor under the milk and sweetener. Whatever the reason, it’s a nice change.

Still, I like even my mild chais a bit more strongly spiced than this. While I liked it, I don’t think it’s going to be selected for the harem in the long term.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more
LENA

Your tea harem made me LOL!

sophistre

I’ve been really enjoying the 500 Mile Chai from Tao of Tea. Might be worth giving it a try!

__Morgana__

Thanks, Sophistre, I will put it on the list!

Rabs

Oh yes, “tea harem” is fantastic!

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90
41 tasting notes

I have been sort of off chai all summer but with the cooling weather, yesterday afternoon I decided to brew up some of this chai. It is as good as I remember it. I did note however that I wish it had a touch more cardamon and a touch more ginger. Cardamon is a tough one to put into a tin. Ideally it should be fresh ground as it has aromatics that decrease markedly over time. The same with ginger. Dried ginger just cannot compete with fresh ginger.

That being said I really enjoy this one a lot. I might try this afternoon crushing a cardamon pod and adding a slice of fresh ginger. In India they only add the ginger during cool weather since it is very warming. This morning the temperatures dropped significantly so maybe more ginger is the ticket.

Preparation
4 min, 30 sec

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