Banana Bread Chai

B&B Advent Tea #2

This is a lovely fruity but mellow chai. I wouldn’t have minded some buttery creaminess and walnut essence, but I really enjoy the dried fruit and chai spices together. It makes a magnificent winter latte.

When I purchased my 2022 advent calendar, I was intrigued by the chai line up. I saw that the gingerbread would in the advent calendar so I ordered the Banana Bread Chai. We had unexpected guests on Saturday, one of which is known to make banana bread regularly. I brewed up a pot for us all. While we all enjoyed the tea, none of us thought it was like banana bread.
This afternoon, I made another pot for me and the kids. Since it was with the kids, I added a splash of milk in my cup as well. I enjoyed the tea much more and this time, it vaguely reminded me of grilled and buttered banana bread- heavy on the butter. I like the heat of the ginger and cinnamon in this blend; it’s not too strong but enough kick to warm me. Probably going to add a little sugar with the milk in the next mug.

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021 – Day 12

I know I’ve had this before, but I have no recollection of it.

Well, it does taste a bit like banana bread. It has a ripe banana-y flavor with a slight walnut-iness. The banana does go a tad bit candylike toward the end of the sip, not quite banana runts but perhaps banana taffy. I don’t get much from the spices during the sip, but then there’s a slight ginger tingle on my tongue and throat in the aftertaste. Touch of cardamom perhaps?

Not bad, but not remarkable. Does sort of taste like banana bread a little if you ignore the ginger part. :P

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021: Day 12!

I am… not a banana fan. I find their texture repellent and gag-inducing, and the flavor does not make up for it. I’m also very particular about their ripeness—the smell or taste of a green banana (even slightly green!) makes me retch. Nor do I really care for the faux banana flavor, like the kind you get in banana Runts.

One of the few ways I’ll willingly eat a banana is in banana bread (I also use them in smoothies). So I was curious about this blend—what kind of banana flavor would it feature, and would I care for it?

During the first steep, I got a distinct fake-banana flavor, but it wasn’t terribly strong. The chai flavors—particularly ginger—come through a bit more strongly, and the banana was totally gone by the second steep.

Overall, I found this one inoffensive but not particularly impressive… there’s no bread-y note at all, unfortunately. “Banana Chai” would’ve been a more accurate name!

B&B Advent 2021 Day 12

This one is fairly tasty. Almost like their gingerbread chai, but not as heavy as on the ginger. I’m getting mostly a rooibos base with some chai like flavours, but no banana. I threw this in the fridge to chill, and found the banana bread came out much more once chilled.

I decided to broke in this pouch as well. It’s from boxing day sale and I just couldn’t resist as it sounded so good. I had banana bread maaaaybe just once, and one day I will try to bake my own. Hopefully the University workload will be slowly decreasing: as today I spent all day listening to the lectures in front of screen and I have no power doing some other things I should work on (eg. thesis).

Anyway, I digress a lot again.
Steeped two teaspoons in 300 ml. I have expecting more banana flavour, but it’s there. But the ginger is quite ruining it for me. I get it, it’s chai. But I notice only ginger and not the other spices. Maybe more of the bread note… something is lacking for me.

Just tasted in a latte for the first time. Foamy banana first sips combined with with hot ginger in the rest of the glass made this an extremely pleasant brew.

Advent Calendar Day 7

Excited to see another banana-flavored blend today and to try something else from Bird & Blend! However, I’m a wimp when it comes to spice and this one was just too spicy for me to appreciate. As I sip it, I get a nice spiced banana flavor, but the kick of the aftertaste is ruining the experience for me. Amanda sent a super-generous sample of this one, so I’m going to try brewing it as a latte to see if milk and perhaps a bit of sweetener tone down the spiciness enough to make it enjoyable for me.

Sipdown (330)

I saw Banana Bread and had high hopes for this but it didn’t deliver. There is a spice that hits the back of my through which could be warming and nice if it was accompanied by anything other than rooibos. Something about this is coming through almost lotion-like.

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – December Theme: Holiday Teason Tea #21

additional notes:  The advent tea for today!  It’s a surprising one, as I guess it is a limited blend rather than a holiday blend, but I had it in my stash anyway.  My old blend of this, so it’s not really banana anymore, but I’ll take it for being a decent nighttime chai.