Maharajah Chai/Samurai Chai Blend

I have a large tin of this blend of tea that I’ve had for a while. Thanks to the metal tin and top seal it’s stayed good for so long.
This is a strong tea that is mainly spices and goes good with a dash of cream or milk, however it can still be enjoyed without it. This being a spice tea, it’s very good for the winter and colder months. I made it hot and enjoyed it both by itself without nothing added, and with cream. I like it both ways, though I do slightly prefer it with just a dash of cream as it compliments the spices in my opinion.

I would definitely recommend this tea blend. I love the individual teas on their own as well. My opinion is that you should buy the 2 teas separately, as opposed to when they sell the blend together already mixed in the bag. It tastes better when you do it yourself because in the store they mix it by weight but at home you do it by teaspoon so the ratios actually get screwed up due to maharaja being heavier. Anyway, I drink this blend hot, or iced. No milk, and hardly ever add sugar. Occasionally I add rock sugar, but just a tiny amount. I do 2 tsp of each tea in 16 ounces of near boiling water, for about 4 minutes. And it is perfect. Yummy. You can resteep it but it will be weak. Oh, and they stopped using artificial flavor in the tea even though their website still has it listed, they did not update the website yet.

First my tip about this blend: Get it separated! You will find that it will taste more like it does in store because we keep it separated. ;)

I wanted an extra spicy cup of chai so I used a little more then I usually would for a cup, 2 teaspoons of each for a 12 oz cup. Would have made a full 16 oz but my cup can’t hold that much so I stuck with it. Haha!

I love this blend. It’s not too overpowering in any sense. With it being double strength currently (as I brewed it) I am enjoying the stronger presence of the Cinnamon. The spice feels nice on the throat going down. Nice and sweet. _____

Using up the last of my sample this morning because I felt that a tasty tea latte would be perfect for the morning after two nights of going out (which I never do, I was being a REALLY good friend this weekend). Turns out this hit the spot, toying with the idea of ordering some of this while Teavana is having their free shipping promotion.

I got a cup of this to-go from Teavana while I was out; I was seriously hungry and I needed to stave off the munchies. Not sure if my hunger is biasing this review… I also brewed this with splenda.

First, this tea is EXTREMELY sweet with only a bit of sweetener. It is VERY flavorful and permeates very strongly. It is absolutely delicious. The cinnamon is almost overwhelming, to the point where my gums were tingling a little bit 2/3 the way through. Cinnamon and sugar are the main tastes in this tea. It’s also not at all bitter, tastes fruity… it’s really yummy!

You CAN brew this over again, apparently… even though I just has a satchel of it to go.

Cinnamon, honeyed notes in this tea sample that lured me into Teavana. I was seriously tempted to buy some but remembered to hold back as I wasn’t supposed to be buying more tea unless it was a good deal…or something like that in the resolutions :P

Why was I there you might ask? Well, I walked by just as the wind was blowing directly IN MY FACE, and the staff were literally waiting behind glass doors to pounce and offer me a sample :P To be nice I ended up pretending to browse, looking at their sale items to be nice, and picked up a 75% off holiday set for myself after all…

It’s funny, the brewing instructions on the back of my sample advise me to brew the full sample with 16oz of water – that’s for a full ounce of tea! Granted, this blend does have rock sugar included, but I’m still thinking that’s a lot of tea for two cups. This one may be on par with the strength and sweetness found in their store samples. Even so, I only brought an 8oz mug to work this morning with my small tea ball so that won’t work for me. I’ll just fill up my tea ball and see where it takes me.

This blend smells very spicy – there is some cinnamon here and a bit of sweetness. Looking at the blend, there are very large pieces of sugar along with lemongrass, coriander, dried and candied fruit pieces, and a mix of green-colored tea leaves. Steeping, this smells like cinnamon candies, but more sweet than spicy. The flavor is unremarkable – it tastes only of cinnamon.

Very cinnamon-y and spicy. I like it but it makes my tongue and lips tingle weirdly.

This blend from Teavana was what hooked me onto tea beyond the bag. It’s true, you can’t taste much of the oolong, but the Maharajah tea blend mixed with the Mate blend yields a spicy, slightly fruity sweetened cup that is perfect for relaxing just before getting in bed for the evening (unless you’re hypsersensitive to the small amount of caffeine). The Teavana folks suggested a 50/50 blend, but I use less of the mate, otherwise it is too fruity/sweet. I’d suggest maybe 3/4 of the Maharajah blend and 1/4 of the mate blend.

This is basically cinnamon tea. I also get a little bit of cardamom and maybe some cloves. I can’t taste any of the oolong. I feel this way about a lot of chai though. I’m not a fan. It’s kind of tough to get through the whole cup because the cinnamon is so strong it pretty much smacks you in the face. It was a poor choice for first thing in the morning.