Coconut Chai

Chai to Stay Dry! So, I got a lot of criticism for not being wild about Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s Coconut Chai not long ago, which I found a bit chalky and wasn’t wild about only having artificial coconut flavor and not actual coconut. Now granted, I do understand coconut spoils, and it’s a mass-produced upscale grocery store brand, so I get it… and considering I’m a tea hoarder, I’m now faced with the dilemma of worrying about my own coconut teas getting spoiled. This tea I bought last July, so it isn’t a year old yet, but sniffing the leaf… something seems a little off about it. Sour is the easiest way to describe it. And I’m worried it’s the coconut. But I’m not so worried that I’m not willing to still try it. I mean… it isn’t even a year old yet! So hear we go.

I will say that from the brewed cup, the tea smells like normal ol’ coconut to me, but also has a strong cardamom aroma as well, so maybe the acrid scent I was getting from the leaf was just my mind tripping myself up on the “coconut tea horror stories” I’ve heard recently and applying that to the “musky clove” sort of scent I attribute to cardamom mixed with coconut and other spices when I first opened the bag. Nothing about the taste of the tea seems sour, off, or otherwise odd to me, either. My only complaint about this chai, from the taste, is that it seems a bit cardamom heavy, and I’m not really making out any other spice notes as it is a bit overpowering. There is a noticable coconut flavor to the tea, and it stands out nicely in the dark tea base, giving it some sweetness. The coconut actually seems to help mellow out the spiciness of the chai and most of the astringency of the dark base, so it’s a pretty smooth chai. I like what the coconut adds and how it balances the chai, I just wish more spices lended flavor to the blend. This isn’t the first chai I’ve tried this month that felt way too strong in the cardamom department.

Since this chai has a pretty strong black base, I decided to also try it as a latte. I tried it as one cup double-strength tea with half a cup of coconut milk mixed with the tiniest dash of vanilla coconut creamer just for a little added creaminess. The very small amount of astringency in the base was gone from the addition of the sweet milk, and it became a really creamy coconut drink with a bit of a cardamom spice aftertaste. For those days when I’m in a sweet-tooth mood, I think I’ll definitely make this one up latte-style, and perhaps whip up a batch of iced coconut chai latte for the fridge.