Chai Spice Black Tea

So I gave this one another shot this morning, recalling that it was a rather weak tea last time I had it. I decided that I should put in 2 teabags to offset the weakness, and then it would be fine. No. No, no, no, no. Instead of weak black tea with a little scent, it was weak black tea with an entire jar of cinnamon in it. Yuck. Sorry, I really wanted to like this tea, but it’s just not happening.

We went out to dinner and as usual I asked for a cup of hot water ( so that I can put in my teabags) They bring me a tall glass (24 oz) of very hot water. I almost burst in to laughter out loud. LOL I mean really! Apparently the have no mugs since they don’t serve either coffee or tea. Well unfortunately the tea I was drinking was the Spiced Chai. I put two teabags in since I remembered that it had seemed very weak when I had it before. I didn’t let it steep too long because I didn’t want it to oversteep. Well the tea wasn’t any better than I remember it. Rather blah. Too much cinnamon. I didn’t have any more tea with me. OhNo What to do? Well lucky for me, I had brought my own stevia… with a difference…flavored!! Sweet Drops sweetener by Sweet Leaf. I have the vanilla creme flavor. No calories and it makes almost any tea into something I can enjoy. I know it would not be for the purist among us, but I can turn a really awful cup into some thing I can enjoy.

I wanted some tea this afternoon, and I wanted it to be spicy and holidayish, so I went digging through my boyfriend’s mom’s small tea stash and came up with this bag. I knew that there was no way I was going to enjoy this one straight since I always find spicy chai-type teas too strong and overwhelming without additions. As I was looking for some sugar I espied the world’s largest cannister of instant hot chocolate in the cabinet, and I thought about the fact that I haven’t had hot cocoa tea in a long time. I love hot cocoa tea—basically steeping a tea bag in a cup of hot cocoa—but I rarely think to make it. It’s best with strong teas that have enough power to get through the hot cocoa, and spicy chais definitely qualify. I ended up with a tasty caffinated, spicy hot chocolate with strong notes of cinnamon and clove. I could tell even through the chocolate that the tea bag tasted a little dusty, though I don’t know if that is a characteristic of the tea or it’s likely extreme age. Still, I enjoyed it enough that I’m making a second cup.

I added a few cardamom pods to the mix, and it came out meh. “Meh.” I think this is more the fault of the additional cardamom than the actual tea itself.

I think subconsciously I’m trying to get rid of this tea by drinking it as much as possible, and then never buying it again.
Though, I learned today that it is possible to make a good tea out of this. It’s actually really good.
I let it steep much less today and then I added a hint of vanilla almond milk and a little unrefined sugar.
This is actually tasting like what I remember chai lattes tasting like when I was non-vegan, just minus the foam, of course. I think next time I add the almond milk, it’ll be to a better quality chai…
it’s still a decent cup, though!

I spotted the bagged version of this and bought some as I was between chai and feeling impulsive. I really need to stop doing that; it’s turned up a couple of decent bagged teas, but a lot more often it’s something I just don’t like.

This is one of the latter. I’m not sure what it is about this tea, but it tastes sort of dusty. Not tea dusty, but like dusty furniture. The chai flavor is there, it’s just not very strong at all, and definitely not strong enough to overpower the sense that I’m doing housework by drinking it.

Maybe the box I got had been sitting on the shelf for a while? I really don’t know. It smells lovely, at least. Maybe I’ll try it again with some almond milk like others have tried.

I bought this for work and kind of wish I hadn’t. The spices are overwhelming and don’t mix well together. I don’t really taste the tea at all. I use this tea for an afternoon boost when I need it (like this afternoon). I just want to finish off what I have of it quickly.

This tea smells heavily of cloves with hints of cardamom, and cinnamon. The base contributes bitter almost coffee like notes to the tea and its flavour is followed by the taste of cloves with a hint of ginger at the front of the mouth, and a taste of cardamon at the back of the mouth. It creates an interesting sensation of warmth at the front of the mouth and cooling at the back. The base is moderately astringent but not overwhelmingly so. Not a bad chai the level of spicing is quite nice and the tea does have a nice bite to it, but not my favourite. I prefer a chai where cloves are less dominant, the ginger more prominent and with a richer, smoother base.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Additives: none
Water: 8 ounces hot spigot water
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: ginger, cinnamon, clove, spice
Steeped Tea Smell: tea, generic spice
Flavor: generically spicy tea
Body: Light/Medium/Full
Aftertaste: slightly bitter and astringent aftertaste with hints of spice
Liquor: deep dark reddish-brown

This was better, spicier and bolder, than I was expecting from a bagged chai made in the office, but not one that really WOWed me.

Post-Steep Additives: 1 packet sugar = smoother, better
2 packet sugar = spicier, better

think it needs milk/cream

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/stash-teabag-black-tea-chai-spice-black.html

I like this tea. However caffeine makes me hard to be around, so I prefer the Decaf version.