Market Spice No. 72

A nice Thai-spicy tea, some cinnamon and cardamom, not sharp.

There’s a lot that I like about this tea. The flavors are all ones I enjoy and make for a chai-like taste. There are spices, cinnamon, and some notes of citrus. Overall, this could have been an amazing tea, but sadly I just wasn’t a fan of the overwhelming sweetness that seemed to completely overpower everything else in this tea. Was the blend dipped in sugar prior to packaging? It sure tastes like it. I’m not big on sweet tea to begin with, but this honestly tasted as though I’d dropped several tablespoons of sugar into the water. Definitely feels like a missed opportunity.

I can’t believe I haven’t left a review for this yet… I originally bought this tea on a vacation to Portland in 2019 to help combat the really nasty taste of a nasal spray medication that would drip down my throat with the strong cinnamon candy flavor. I stopped taking that medication, and then the package sort of sat at the back of my cupboard until I realized how old it is now…

I really love this tea. I’m not sure if there is a lot that differentiates it from the thousand other “Red Hot cinnamon candy” tasting teas out there, but it is at least on a nice full leaf black base. I actually like their Rooibos version even more than this one (because I think the sweet cinnamon flavor accompanies the rooibos well and is something I crave after caffeine-cut-off time), but this is a solid morning tea and one I like equally as much hot and cold.

I will definitely have to restock this and the rooibos version at some point!

This is probably the best smelling tea from the tea box, so I had to try it! It reminds me of Harney’s hot cinnamon sunset flavor, but with a bit more complexity. The flavor is mostly cinnamon. Sugar makes the flavor pretty pleasant. While it’s tasty, it’s not really special enough to keep around. I think the Harney version is a little bit better, but I don’t even keep that one around anymore since I haven’t gravitated toward spicy teas lately.

I received an early Christmas gift in the mail yesterday: the black tea gift set from Tea Chai Te! I’ve been wanting to try their “Mount Hood Vanilla” blend for ages and I’m so excited to finally own it, along with several others. This is the one tea in the gift set that I wasn’t quite sure about and sadly it isn’t for me. The description is accurate…this is like drinking melted red hots! Way too much cinnamon for me. I’m sure there’s someone out there who loves cinnamon and will adore this tea, so I’ll be popping it in the Discovery TTB for someone else to enjoy. :)