Chai Chocolate

Drinking this with a bit of almond milk and brown sugar today. I still can’t really smell, but I’m determined to drink sample sizes.

With the almond milk and brown sugar, this is pretty good. No, the chocolate flavouring isn’t my favourite, but I’m enjoying it! I am finding these Simpson and Vail teas are better with a little extra leaf. Which means my next cup will be a blend!

Thank you, Fjellrev!

I’d pulled this out to share with a fellow Steepsterite, so I thought it was high time I tried it myself. ;) Very chocolatey, although the chai definitely comes first. I’d say this is my favorite chocolate chai to date, and one of my favorite chais so far – only Chandernagor from Mariage Frères tops it at this point, for me. It holds up beautifully to cream – hell, it’s better made as a proper chai than a mere tea with some cream added to it. Although I would prefer a bit more chocolate, I do really enjoy this, and am glad I have about an ounce or so to play with.

Just a quick question to all the migraine sufferers out there: do you ever get a runny nose or teary eyes? I experienced another headache episode last night, a few days after the last one, and was even worse this time, with the aforementioned symptoms. Apparently these symptoms are more common amongst cluster headache sufferers (which is even more alarming) but I was wondering if this is perhaps the beginning of a migraine chapter in my life, or even scarier, a cluster headache chapter.

Regarding the tea, I’m kind of a moron for choosing the chocolate chai and not the vanilla. I kept wavering on this one as I was checking out, because I already had so many other chocolate teas in my basket and was afraid they’d all taste similar. What if I didn’t like their chocolate note, which as we know is a possibility when you order from certain companies? My instincts were right and I’m not too crazy over their chocolate note. It’s a little on the artificial side and makes everything chocolate-related taste similar.

The most prominent spices in here are the cinnamon and clove, at least for me. But that pesky chocolate note is right up in the spices’ faces being a super uncool bully. If you like S&V’s chocolate note, then you win, because it is indeed quite noticeable in this blend. For me, though, the more I think about it, the more it tastes like cheap waxy chocolate. Maybe that’s it. It’s not bad in some of the other blends but there’s something about it, especially when combined with spices, that weirds me out.

Should have gotten the vanilla chai. I need some cheese with that whine.

I received this a long time ago from another Steepster member in a sale. Thank you to whomever it was (this might be the first time I forgot who sent me a tea.) Usually the teas from S&V have spot on flavor and this one never really tasted like chocolate SO I was questioning the age of this tea from day one. The black tea also never seemed to get very dark unless I used two teaspoons. So this isn’t really a tasting note for this tea specifically… as I had the idea to make COCOA TEA. So I brewed up some of this chai western style, and then added some delicious cocoa, also from Simpson and Vail, when the infuser came out. I would say the result is divine. Tea and cocoa. I knew I wasn’t really ruining a possible older tea, while also adding some delicious cocoa flavor. I love their sugar free cocoa, as I don’t need more sugar in my day. I added more cocoa on the resteep. I really like this idea. It’s caffeine +cocoa. The flavor was earthy and chocolatey, while still having the hints of black tea in there. (I don’t really see too many spices in this “chai”… it looks mostly like black tea.) I’m not rating this tea as it is older + it had the addition of cocoa. It’s a great way to use up this tea + some of that amazing cocoa I’ve been neglecting. I had another genius idea: making a cocoa tea with Bird & Blend’s Dark Chocolate Chili Chai…. that will be AMAZINGGGG. I can’t wait to try it.

Sipdown no. 88 of 2018 (no.444 total).

I tried this on the stovetop a couple of different ways, in iced form, and as a hot black tea steeped western style, some of which I’ve already written notes about. It was actually pretty good cold, too. Cold chocolate tea can be a little strange at first, but it grows on you (or at least it grows on me). Nothing else to add to previous notes.

Chai to Stay Dry! Today I felt like trying the sampler of this chai that was kindly provided to me from the last Here’s Hoping Traveling Teabox, so thank you so much to tea-sipper and all the previous participants of that teabox! This was the one chai from the box I decided to sample, and now, during my “month of chais” seems like the perfect time to do so!

The sweet smell of the leaf is giving me a bit more of a “candied ginger” feel than chocolate; I don’t distinctly pick up on a chocolate aroma, but I do get a sweet or sugary impression, as well as spices, particularly that “musky clove” scent that I attribute to cardomom. Brewed up, it has a deep reddish-brown color and it is easier for my nose to pick out some cocoa notes, but the spices are still predominant.

I wouldn’t say the flavor of the tea is a strong chocolately flavor, but the rich black base comes off much sweeter, with some cocoa notes in the aftertaste, and there is no bitterness or astringency, making this the sort of chai that would be easy to drink plain. The spice blend is a pretty good balance, though the cardamom notes do linger a bit in the mouth. It is not overly spicy, causing a pleasant warmth rather than an unpleasant lingering heat.

Since I wanted to bring out a stronger chocolately flavor, I decided to try this chai latte-style, and use chocolate almond milk. I made a fairly strong infusion and was careful not to overdue the hot milk, and it was very tasty! A good choice to “ramp up” the chocolate flavor since I found that rather subdued in the base tea.

A sample from Miss B! I pulled out the Simpson and Vail blends first because I’ve experienced a degree of flavour loss in the past with their flavoured blends. These samples are stored in plastic ziploc bags, but they’re not really air tight and I didn’t want to leave them longer than I had to. I should have got around to starting these samples much sooner, but stuff happened and life got in the way, and somehow I just never got round to it. I’m on a more even keel now, so better late than never!

Having said that, I have had quite a day. This week I’ve worked six days, which I never enjoy because I get so tired, but which are essential during open day season and usually at least reasonably fun. I work in a University Admissions department, so my role is pretty much focused on being welcoming and answering queries on entry requirements, course content, and the like. One girl didn’t like what she was being told, and had A TANTRUM on the floor, kicking and screaming, crying and shouting. She was 18, so should have known better, but obviously used to getting her own way. Honestly, I was embarrassed for her. Also annoyed, when one of the academics came up to me later and told me that she’d wanted her to “go home happy, with a smile on her face”, and so had told her that her low grades would be acceptable after all. Helpful, right? That doesn’t make us look unprofessional at all. All I can say is, I’m glad today is over.

Now I’m home, I really wanted a comfort tea. Chai is that to me, especially during the colder months. Chocolate is good, too, obviously. Hence, this one called to me quite strongly. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it approximately 4 minutes in boiling water. I added a decent slug of milk, so it’s kind of a proper chai, without as much fuss.

It’s really delicious. The chocolate and the spices are pretty much perfectly balanced, so that both can be tasted and neither is overpowering. The chocolate comes across as a dark, cocoa-y kind of flavour, perfectly suited to the warmth of the cinnamon and ginger, slight dankness of clove, and the beauty that is cardamon. The black tea base is smooth and a little sweet and malty, and the overall combination strikes me as a really great one. I’m enjoying my cup, now that I can finally start to relax a little.

Out of my MissB box of insanely awesome tea, I chose this for my mid-afternoon cup (THANK YOU, MissB!!!). I didn’t make a true chai with it, but instead just added milk and sugar…and holy moley was it delicious.
I’m sure you could fancy it up, steaming your milk and all that (and maybe I’ll do that next time, since ifjuly taught me that neato frothed milk in a jar trick…), but this was so good.
I found that I had downed my first cup before I knew it, unable to hold back from the deliciousness. I guess I was in a chocolate chai mood…. So, I resteeped, and got to do it all over again. :)
Speaking of chocolate—the chocolate is really nice in this. I love how it’s balanced with the spice…nothing fighting, or arguing for center stage..everything just getting along swimmingly in your tea cup, to the delight of my taste buds.
Thank you so much for sending this my way, MissB!

I made this tea with German rock sugar and some cream. It has a nice little spice to it, but it is not really chocolatey. I think maybe my tastebuds are use to coffee mochas, so this is a lot more mild. Maybe I just needed more of a kick this morning.