The 6th Tea of Christmas
This is one that I’ve not reblended for at least a few years & I’m glad to have it back in my cupboard. I love my chai blends & I love the spicy heat of this blend, not to mention the dark chocolate-y notes! YUM!
I will be the first to admit that my version is a bit softer on the spicy heat than was Frank’s version. That is owing to the fact that he used powdered/ground cayenne pepper while I chose instead to opt for dried, whole cayenne peppers that I opened up, emptied out (most of) the seeds & chopped/minced up the pepper pods & added that to the blend. So, with my version, you get a good amount of heat, but mine isn’t quite as high on the Scoville scale as Frank’s would be.
But I still love it & if I’m 100% truthful here, I prefer the heat level of this blend versus the scorching heat of Frank’s version. I don’t know? Maybe with age comes a more delicate palate? I used to be able to handle more heat than I am now & since I’m the first customer I have to please when I tea out there, I need & want my palate to be able to handle the heat level. I’m sorry to those who would prefer more heat, but if you would prefer more heat, please feel free to sprinkle a little bit of ground/powdered cayenne into your brewing vessel while you’re steeping this tea & you can achieve those desired results. Me though? I want my taste buds to dance, but I don’t want them receding into my tongue & trying to hide from the heat.
So, there’s a really nice, tolerable level of heat to this & as I continue to sip, I can feel the heat develop in the back of my throat. It’s nice! I also appreciate that I can taste the cayenne pepper, but that isn’t the ONLY thing I taste here, I taste the lovely blend of black teas (mostly Assam teas, but with a little bit of Yunnan for a nice, well-rounded flavor), I taste the other spices (cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, cloves & black pepper) as well as notes of dark chocolate.
And I love it!
