Masala Chai

So, I was gone all weekend (Six Flags for G’s birthday! Fun for all ages!), but this means when I got home and wanted chai there was no milk in the fridge :( So you know what I put in this?

Vanilla ice cream.

A little sweeter than I’m used to, but it worked in a pinch ;) I wish I could have steeped this stovetop with milk, though, I’ve really been spoiled by the method.

This is another of the June teas of the month on the Teavana classic tea of the month plan. I tried it today using the Samovar stovetop method with Leafspa Yunan Gold as the extra black tea.

This is a sort of in-between chai on my scale. It’s not too spicy, but it’s hardly mild. It has a little kick at the end. The spiciness must come from the ginger and cardamom as there’s no pepper listed in the ingredients. It’s also got a decent amount of tea flavor to it, though there’s a tad of harshness to it even through the milk and sweetener. There is vanilla listed among the ingredients, and if I close my eyes and try hard I can taste the vanilla, but it’s not among the stronger flavors in this. It’s hard to say what flavor is the strongest, really. It’s probably the ginger, tied with the cinnamon.

If I hadn’t gotten this as part of the tea of the month club I probably would not have tried it. At this point in my chai experience I’ve narrowed things down enough to know that if it doesn’t have black pepper it’s not going to be able to compete with my favorites in chailand. Even so, I’m glad I got a chance to try this and I’m even gladder it wasn’t just a sample size so I’ll have another shot at it. At it happens, I made this then had to put the 4 year old down for nap, and fell asleep next to him so this was pretty much lukewarm by the time I got to it. I’m sure it’s improved by being hotter.

This tea is not consistent for me. I’ll have it once and it is great, the next time it tastes weak or unbalanced. I steeped this second infusion of the chai/vanilla black blend for a bit longer and it is still weak. After this, I will try for a third infusion, if it is not what I am looking for, the rating will be dropped.

This chai is a staple of my morning routine. I combine it with Samurai Chai Mate, and together I like them better…alone, this chai can sometimes gain that bitter black tea edge, especially if you miscalculate on the water-simmering portion and the leaves have had enough before you’re through heating the milk that you add (if, like me, you find chai lattes the only way to go). The smell is heavenly, velvety-smoke and cinnamon, and the moment I open the bag my entire kitchen smells like the holidays. The aroma it releases when it’s on the stove and heating is almost as much a part of having chai as drinking it is.

Really, that’s what chai has become for me — a morning ritual. It’s certainly not the most slimming of my morning rituals, but I don’t care. Boston is cold right now…bitterly and suddenly, after such a temperate early season. Getting out from under my down comforter is always such a crisis of cold feet and lack of interest in being awake, but if I make it to the kitchen, then I’m good. I can start to simmer the chai blend, turn on a few lamps, and sit and smell the spices while I wait for the gunmetal grey blur outside of my window to turn silver and sharpen up into a proper world. Sometimes the sun throws in a few other colors gratis, too (but not often, because this is Boston and if there’s one thing Boston does well, it’s the color grey).

It’s true that there are probably better ways to wake up than this one, but probably not many.

The black tea leaves in this are smaller than I thought, they look crushed or broken maybe? I believe that is intentional in this tea though.

I made this as a tea latte using 2 cups of water and 2 cups of Vanilla Soy to 4 teaspoons chai tea. I brought the water to a boil and then added the tea, boiled for 5 minutes and lowered heat to a simmer, then added the soy while stirring frequently. I let the soy mix simmer another 10 minutes and then removed from heat, letting it cool with the tea still in the mix for another 20 minutes. Then I strained and left in the fridge overnight.

I think I need to do this with water: soy in a 3:1 ration, too much soy in a 1:1. The chai holds up well, but not quite how I want it. I still have some tweaking to do.

I also purchased chocolate soy to try with the chai…excited to try this one hot!

Bought this over the weekend and really loved it. Here’s why… It doesn’t have that “medicine-y” or astringent taste some other chai mixes seem to have. It’s sweet, it’s cinnamon, it’s rich and most importantly, I can actually TASTE the black tea in it. I guess that’s typically my beef with chai, you can taste the STUFF, but not the tea. This is a great TEA that is flavored perfectly.

One of the best chai teas around.

This is actually my first owned loose leaf tea, and I’ve probably consumed 4 ounces of the stuff to date. Unfortunately, of the countless cups I’ve created I can only remember 2-3 times where it actually tasted Amazing. As another reviewer noted, it’s inconsistent. At times it’ll be thick and spicy and at others it’ll just taste like sweet potato water.

Any idea for why this is? I’ve tried shaking up the contents, adding more tea, steeping hotter and steeping it longer.. but Its just a gamble. Maybe its going bad…

For the times the tea turned out perfect I give it good score, but if it was more consistent it could probably be in the 80-90 region.

Teavana is often a bit too bold with flavours, but a few of their staple teas really hit the mark. I steamed (okay, microwaved) half a mug of milk, and then steeped an extra-strong brew to add to the milk. The result was creamy and delicious!

I usually combine it with Teavana’s Samurai Chai Mate or their White Ayurvedic Chai. I always like to ad extra cloves, peppercorn cardamom & crystallized ginger.