Vanilla Rose Chai No. 69

This is one of the samples from my box from LiberTEAS, and also one of the only teas I specifically requested. Rose and chai are two of my favorite things, so it was a winner before I even tried it! She was nice enough to send me the last she had of this blend, enough for 3 or even 4 cups (not counting re-steeps). That sample box was probably the best tea-related things I’ve ever purchased—it’s been about a month since I got it and I’ve been trying to taste one of the samples every 2 days or so, but so far I have only actually run out of ONE kind! Okay, sorry this is sounding like a paid advertizement, I just get a little giddy whenever I look at how much stuff from it I have left to taste/finish~

Anyway, the tea. I love floral teas, creamy teas, and chai: all of those elements are very prevalent here. It’s floral, but not overpoweringly so, and I’ve always found rose to be the “sweetest” floral scent so it adds a nice balance to the spices. The chai part is warming, not too spicy but it has a great mouth-feel. There’s not a ton of ginger and I don’t think any pepper, which is what usually gives you that “heat”. This blend has more aromatic spices—cardamom, cinnamon, clove, maybe a little allspice? They work SO well with the rose. Then there’s that creaminess from the vanilla, perfectly balancing the spice/floral so nothing is overpowering and everything is in harmony. This is one of the best chais I’ve tasted and is most definitely going on my shopping list!

Oh yum! YUM!!! This is the third tea that I picked up at Tea Chai Te, and I think this is a newer blend because it isn’t even on their website.

It is amazingly good – the spices are warm (not spicy hot). I taste the cardamom and the cinnamon primarily, and the vanilla is quite strong too. It is smooth and creamy, giving this cup a very luxurious kind of taste. The touch of rose is a delicate note, but it does much to add to the luxurious taste. Exotic, sweet, and absolutely irresistible – it is difficult to put the cup down long enough to type!

I am trying Vanilla Rose Chai today. The aroma is just heavenly in the bag! The tea looks beautiful, too, with its bright rose petals. The company suggests brewing it for 6 minutes. Because it is black tea, I prefer to brew it for 3-4 minutes, but I decided to experiment and brewed it twice: once for 3.5 minutes and once for 5. It didn’t affect much the aroma or the flavor of the steeped tea, but brewing it for 5 times made it stronger for me.

I’ve been looking for a good, prominent rose scent in a tea cup. While the scent of the vanilla and rose is quite prominent when the tea is dry, in the cup itself, the vanilla is very subtle. I could smell it, but tasting it was a different matter. The rose, unfortunately, didn’t make an appearance for me in the brewed tea. So, basically, I taste the black tea leaves, with some subtle vanilla. There is a slight citrus aftertaste.

I wanted to love this tea: it smells beautiful, and what could be better than vanilla and rose? It is also organic! However, I am looking for a bolder taste (not just smell) of the vanilla, and I certainly want to feel the rose not only when it’s dry. If someone is looking for an organic black tea with a subtle vanilla scent, this would be a good option. I’ll keep looking…

Sipdown

This is one of the rare occasions where I drank a tea more with milk and sugar than without. This is my kind of chai, and cardamom really is the front runner in flavor and aroma here. I can just smell it now….It stays with you, that aroma.

This was an afternoon- keep-the-munchies-at-bay chai latte this summer, especially on teaching days when I couldn’t just snack whenever I wished.

I find myself missing Portal Tea’s old name (Tea Chai Te). The packaging on this tea still has its old name. I’m trying to use up the samples of a bunch of their teas I have. This was a nice chai. I like that you can taste the rose but it’s not an overly floral chai either. The vanilla helps balance the rose. I’m a big fan of rose and this was nice to sip on while studying.

I reviewed this in the past, prepared as a latte on the stove, and it wasn’t nearly strong enough. Finally getting back to trying this again.

Though I usually make chai as a latte, I brewed it this time hot and plain, and it’s already a vast improvement from what I remember. The base tea is a lovely sweet vanilla/honeyed cream, and there is a nice amount of spice without the tea being bitey. Mostly it is that peppery/citrusy taste of cardamom, with maybe a little pepper or ginger pop at the end of the sip. The rose is present but not strong or perfumy; it’s a soft, sweet floral that, mixed with the vanilla, really brings out a wildflower honey note. Rose and cardamom is a natural pairing, and this is really quite nice.

I think the sweeter vanilla black base makes this one not quite bitey enough to suit adding milk really well, though perhaps using more leaf than I’m used to for a latte could improve it. But I am really digging this as a hot tea with no additions, which will probably be my preferred method for this one going forward. Raising rating!