Masala Chai

While packing up my room, as I am moving to San Luis Obsipo this weekend after signing my lease on saturday, I sipped on this with breakfast. I love all chai’s and I was very satisfied with this one. Probably one of my new favorites. As it sits though and cools it does tend to get bitter. I will have to try this one as a latte and iced:) Very happy with this persimmon tree tea.

Another good, solid chai. The spices are fresh and easy to distinguish, and the Assam black tea still comes through. Both the tea and the spices are a little stronger than the ones in the Tealated Chai I drank yesterday, but it’s good. This chai compares very well to that one. So, all of a sudden I’m finding pretty great chais! And once again, no artificial or natural flavorings.

I don’t normally go for chai. I like all the ingredients but find the ginger is often overdone or it is too peppery. I found this one to be very balanced. I started with a straight chai and water steep. The spices were all pretty even except I couldn’t single out the cardamom. For the purist this blend does not have pepper. The black assam base is easily tasted and had an unusual fruity greenness to it. I got brave and added one packet of sweetener, as I know chai is normally supposed to be very sweet. This made all the flavors pop just a little bit more. So I went crazy and added milk. I never add milk with the exception of my morning frappe. The word I used on my blog to describe this was SHAZAM! Normally I think milk mutes and muddies the flavors. In this cup it separated them. Even the cardamom came out of hiding. Never again can I say I don’t like chai. I fully intend to stove top simmer this in milk and sugar next time. Very impressed.

Did you know that October is Fair Trade month? Every Tuesday I’ll be reviewing a different Fair Trade Tea (this tea is from last week, the site was down when I tried to post it.) This Masala Chai from The Persimmon Tree Tea Company is one of a handful of Fair Trade blends that they offer. While chai is traditionally served with milk and sugar I find that I prefer this particular chai plain because I can taste the spices more clearly. It’s very heavy on the cinnamon and cloves with only the barest hint of ginger and cardamom. These flavors seem to get lost once I add milk and sugar so I typically double the amount of loose leaf when I serve it traditionally. I decided to make one more cup last night and found that I had run out of milk again. Instead I made this with half and half, which gave it much more body. I loved how thick and creamy it was, so I may consider making all of my chai this way; it’s much better than using whole milk.

You can read the rest of the review on my blog:
http://www.notstarvingyet.com/index/2014/10/7/tuesday-tea-masala-chai-the-persimmon-tree-tea-company.html

Marco Polo TTB

I made this on the stove top with whole milk and dark brown sugar to share with my chai loving husband.

In the beginning I get lightly spiced cookie (Myhusband thought shortbread?) yeah, a spiced shortbread cookie. As it cools the spices came out to play a little more. I think I may have been depriving myself of cookies because that is what I got from another one of persimmon tree chais . So it got me thinking, it has been months since I last had a cookie, I will have to fix that soon.

I’m so ready for FALL! I’m jealous of the people I see on here with cool weather already.

Ooooch, wow! Yup, that’s a chai! The spices are intense in this and exactly what I’d expect from a chai! Adding cream and sugar mellows out the spices a little. I prefer my chais to be a little more peppery and hot, but this is a really nice cup too. The cup seems to be pretty well balanced and isn’t too much of one spice or another. It looks like the base might be CTC? It is a good first impression of Persimmon Tree!