Chai (Full-Leaf Tea)

I bought this tea because I like the tin.

But I am happy I did, because I really like this tea. It has a very pleasing level of spice to it. Smooth with a peppery kick at the end, and an underlying tone of licorice. Delicious!!!

I made this into a latte tonight. I added honey, heated some milk in the microwave and then used my handy dandy aerofoam frother to make perfect foam, and piled it on till it was practically overflowing out of the cup. Then, top with Penzey’s apple pie spice and you have deliciousness.

I had a Tazo Chai at Starbucks today. I brewed it strong—two generously filled sachets in a venti cup—then added four packets of honey and some soymilk.

Based on several experiences with different brews, I think that I don’t really like to use soymilk in place of cream in tea—it’s too watery for me. But the blend of teas and spices in this chai was pretty good. I’ll use half and half next time…

I was excited to see this tin at my local Starbucks. I misinterpreted “full-leaf” tea to mean “loose-leaf” tea, though. There are 15 “sachets” (another word for bag!) per tin, and the sachets are made of nylon. Non-biodegradable nylon, and the price point is considerably higher than the previous line of Tazo teas. The taste isn’t even much better. It took quite a bit of searching for me to find out what material the bags were made of, but knowing that they’re non-biodegradable, I won’t be getting this again. (One FAQ said that users could open the bags to dump the leaves into a compost, but if I’m going to that much trouble, I’ll just use loose tea to begin with.) I can get more loose chai for less money at any of the fancy tea stores in town, and theirs tastes better. At least the tin is pretty.

I admit the only times I’ve had chai are at Indian restaurants with tons of sugar. So I ended up killing time at Starbucks again today, and I thought I’d try something new. I ordered the chai latte, and I am pretty disappointed. I don’t like ginger in general and am pretty sensitive to the taste. Unfortunately, this particular chai seems heavy on the ginger to me at least. I won’t rate it because it’s not the tea’s fault that I don’t like ginger, but I guess this note is to remind myself that this one was a no. It also leaves that sticky, sugary aftertaste in your mouth. The kind you get after eating too much candy/chocolate. At least it’s keeping my hands warm on this chilly fall day.

Man, I cannot WAIT to get my tea shipment. Lacking a tea/pot delivery on my stoop, the day was tea-free till late. Swooped through Starbonx on the way to class to get a perk infusion and wound up with one of these weird nylon bags of chai. It looks like mulch, so it must be good. (That IS how it works, right?)

Aaaanyway. It tastes like chai! Shocking. I removed the sachet after brewing and kept it for another soak. The second try was weaker but also kind of…sparkly. Almost carbonated. Spice was nice with a little kick. Way more expensive than the Numi stuff they have at the other place, though. My internal skinflint says, “hurry home, little teapot!”

And I had such high expectations for this tea today!
I chose it specifically because it’s cold out. I put it in a fancy new mug that my dad gave to me that looks like something a Hobbit would use. I splashed in a little whole milk and stirred in my usual lemon honey.
But when I sipped it, I was entirely uninspired.
Usually this is my favourite chai. But today it’s like faintly spiced water.
SO SAD!
No body at all. It’s got a weight less than water.
Hardly any smell.
Almost zero spiciness…
Well, poop.
I’ll drink it, but I won’t love it this time.

Last Saturday, my MiL asked me to help clean out her tea shelf and take anything I wanted. One of the items in there was this tea. Now I know for a fact that this container is at least 5 years old, maybe even older. Actually I believe I’m the one who initially opened it.

Given its age, I have not has very high expectations. And brewing up a cup, the tea is pretty much dead. There is no flavor there, though the spices are still strong. And, nice bit here, no clove that I can detect, though it is on the ingredient list.

I’m going to try mixing this a nothing special black and see if it helps.

Not rating as its not right to do so with tea this old.

Wonderful organic tea. I originally tried a soy chai tea latte and it was SO good. I decided to try this tea and was pleasantly surprised. Not too strong. Added a little honey to it and mmm mm!!

I received a generous sample of the loose leaf version from Zwi. Thanks! I have had many chais (as is true for most of us) and that’s what this is. I like it but don’t love it. A few years ago, I was totally addicted to the tazo concentrate with vanilla soy milk. (Bad girl… way too fattening) I’ve tried a bunch and I only like a few. This is not one of them, for me. Maybe I under-leafed. I wouldn’t buy this particular tea but it certainly would appeal to many people. I guess I was looking for a little more WOW.