Rooibos Chai

Backlogging.

When we last left Chrine Tuesday night, she had just tealogged the teas she drank that day and was about to go into the forum for a certain chai recipe she’d see and make stove top chai from the last of her Rooibos Chai…

Oh.my.gawd. It was SO good! I used Takgoti’s chai recipe which teaplz posted in the forum using Lena’s suggestion of brown sugar (to spread the credit around for this wonderful experience). It didn’t even come out as good as I could make it and it was still so good.

With the Rooibos Chai at least, I could have added more tea cause I would have liked the chai flavors to be a little stronger. I also could have used less sugar. But this is the last of the Rooibos Chai that I had so I will be moving on to trying it with Rishi’s Marsala Chai. I also covered the pot when I turned off the heat to left it sit and steep so it would stay hot and it bubbled up out of the pot a bit. Next time I won’t cover it or at least won’t cover it right away.

I also got to use my big big lavender and gray swirl pottery mug which I got when I was around 11 visiting my grandma. I don’t use it much anymore cause it holds two servings of tea or coffee. Although, it is cavernous and round and stays warm really well for a long time.

I am sure I will be steeping my chais this way from now on for the most part. Although, not too often because of the milk and sugar.

1 c boiling water. 1 tbsp brown sugar. 1 tbsp Rooibos Chai. simmer 5 min. 1 c milk. bring to boil. turn off heat. steep 10 min.

I picked up some of this on the shopping trip yesterday. It was my first loose tea and I was out and had been for a while. I really noticed the cinnamon A LOT this time around…almost two much this time. :( I may have steeped it a little too long. But will give it another go this evening before bed and see if there is any difference (I do like it as a night time tea).

Oh, gosh. Steepster tells me that I last logged this tea almost two years ago. How can that be? Honestly, this rooibos chai is like that tattered, reliable, security bankie that’s always there for you. I’ve had quite a bit of mediocriTEA (c’mon, I had to) of late and allergies have been kicking my butt, leaving me hacking like a cat to scratch my throat. All in all, things have been just that side of miserable.

I wanted a caffeine-free, flavoured tea, preferably something with ginger in it. I’ve been making my way through the Golden Moon sampler set, and the few samples I have left are caffeinated to varying degrees and none has ginger in it. For the first time in ages, then, I looked into my stash to see what else I have, and happily discovered a pouch of this tea.

Teavana don’t, in general, blow my mind with their teas, but sometimes they come up with some really great blends. One such blend is their rooibos chai. The dry leaves smell heavenly: rooibos, ginger and other spices, and, um…okay, this is a bit strange, but…a touch of Tiger Balm. I’m not really sure where that comes from, but I swear, I get a whiff of it every time I inhale. The fragrance of the steeped tea is all that, minus the Tiger Balm, which magically disappears.

Mmmm… Every sip of this tea is just what the doctor ordered. The ginger soothes the throat without burning, the rooibos calms the nerves, and delivers warmth to every part of one’s being. If you don’t like rooibos, stay away; but if you do, and you like chai, you should love this. Both rooibos and chai can be tasted and experienced separately, but together. Each retains its individual profile but complements the other perfectly.

My Bostonian relatives sent me home with a bit of this to try and I finally got around to it today, I just find it hard to get excited about rooibos blends. Like another reviewer said: “it looks good, smells good, and tastes okay but has no body whatsoever”. That’s the problem with red rooibos in my opinion; it lacks depth and body, it’s completely flat and boring. Green rooibos I enjoy, but the more I try red rooibos blends the more I realize I just don’t like them.

Tea #1 from the Traveling Tea Box C

The jam-packed tea box arrived today, and while we wait for trick-or-treaters my husband and I decided to make up two teas, sample them, and decide who was going to enjoy which one. Because we want to get some sleep tonight (and I don’t want to bounce off walls like rabid super-ball) we went for the first two caffeine-free teas I came across.

The dry aroma smells somewhat muted for a chai, but since I’ve never had a chai rooibos I didn’t know what to expect. The cardamon and cinnamon peek out more in the aroma, but the flavor does an odd vanishing act. At first the sip gives you a promising bite of flavor, but then, just as if you were watching invisible ink fade away, the flavor disappears mid-sip. It really is the strangest thing.

I think the rest of this tea will be traveling on to the tea box’s next destination, but it was fun to try!

mm this is a nice and spicy bedtime chai! Love a good decaf treat in the evening and this hits the spot. I didn’t skimp on leaf so I am getting full flavour – a big thanks to Erin for sending me this sample!

My first teavana tea! I’m not unimpressed.

Edit: my 101st tasting note! ee ^^ I guess I could go edit the last one and say 100… but this is how I roll.

This tea looks good, smells good, and tastes ok, but it has no body whatsoever. It’s kind of like the Natalie Portman of teas.

I’ve yet to find something to mix it with that fixes this issue.

I have this from a gift set and had no plans for it, until today when I woke up feeling queasy and nothing sounded good to drink, except this. Its the only rooibos in the house and has ginger to boot. I tried this only once over the summer, decided it lacked body and moved on.

Yesterday when I was sampling someone commented that the didn’t like chai because it tastes like medicine. They didn’t try the sample, but the comment befuddled me, until this morning. I kinda get some sort of medicine from this, maybe honey and lemon cough drops? Ricola? Heh, I could see blending this with Swiss Vervaine Melange for a Ricola inspired tea and I’m not sure if its genius or disgusting.

Anywho, its fine that it reminds me a little of medicine, as that’s what I need right now. Before I started logging this I was reading about one of 52 Tea’s Lemon and Rooibos blends and I started tasting lemon in the cup, like really sweet lemon (it was just after taking a bite of pb&j. But yeah, definitely taste the lemongrass.

So in short, I am grateful for this tea this morning, but its nothing I would buy or pick off the tea wall as a free beverage at work. I will probably blend this with Maharaja Chai Oolong and Taj Masala Black at home. And I will probably blend this with Swiss Vervaine at work today or tomorrow and see what my cohorts reactions are (they always make odd dessert blends for others to evaluate, I just bring in higher quality straight tea for them to try).

Totes yummy! Nice with a splash of cream. Nice and spicy. The smell is not inviting before steeping. It just bothers me, so I hadn’t had any in a while. I remember loving it though!

Glad I stepped up and brewed it again. I put some coconut bits in it before steeping. Om yom nom.

This tea was ok at first. As I kept drinking it though, I started to get sick of the artificially sweet cinnamon flavour. I love a good cup of Chai but this does not come close. Needs more spices, less cinnamon. Reminded me of some Christmas Celestial Seasonings Tea.