Tipu's Chai

Rough morning. Watched a movie til 1am, my dog kept me up til 2am, and I had to be up by 8am (thank God I have no commute to work or I’d really be in rough shape). Just as my alarm went off my boss sent me a text saying he forgot he had a meeting at 9 so we’d have to push back training. Decided to get up anyway rather than going back to bed to force myself to practice. Needed massive caffeine today so I made my morning eye opener: 1tsp chai and one packet instant coffee in a cup of boiling water w/ 1tsp caramel creamer. I’d be a zombie without it today.

Made this the way I always do… 1TB chai stirred into 1 cup boiling water then added 1 cup cold milk while continuing to stir. Although I didn’t pay attention to what spoon I grabbed. I grabbed a plastic spoon from Dairy Queen because of the length of the handle. Ended up w/ a bent spoon by the end of my cuppa. Lovely. :)

I bought a pound of this when the 15% code was active. Shipping is really expensive though. Almost $7.50 for this and a 4oz package and my friend that introduced me to it said shipping is about $20 for a container of the concentrate. Luckily there’s a place 45 min from my house (and in the same town my cousin who comes home every weekend goes to college) that sells it. I must price compare sometime.

Anyway… I have a massive headache so I made a 16oz mug (per my usual when I don’t add it to drip coffee) heavily spiced to drink w/ my 2 asprin. I used 1TB (yes, tablespoon) for my 16oz mug and then added 3TB of spiced rum creamer. You’d think I’d die from the spice, but all the creamer does amazing things to calm the spice. Anyone wanna take bets on if my headache will go away before the chai burns a hole in my stomach? lol.

Oh, and P.S. my friend gave the rest of her slow brew to her gastro-intestinal Dr. who’s an Indian man and he said this really is the real deal.

Ya know the saying “most good things in life are illegal”? Well this should be.
1 cup warm milk
1 packet Christmas VIA
1 tsp chai
1 tsp cocoa powder
1 tsp rum extract
1 TB spiced rum creamer
1 TB marshmallow mocha creamer

YUMMMMM! Rich. Creamy. Sweet. A bit savory. Spicy. There’s so much going on here that even a coffee hater would love this. The VIA just adds depth and character, not a lot of coffee flavor. The large amount of chocolate and rum flavor also cut the spice. Perfect.

Decided to have this… GASP!… sweetened today (1 packet stevia per 16oz serving, 2tsp chai, 1 cup each milk and water). Hmmm… it is not sickeningly sweet like concentrates as I feared it would be. There’s no real flavor change, but the spices are dumbed down considerably… too much in my opinon. But then again I like my chai so strong that you’d get a wake up call from the spices alone. If you like your spices more muted, sweeten it. As for me I think I’ll leave the sweetener to chai mixes containing powdered/milk dairy (which I absolutely love… yes, I know my taste buds are a bit skitzo).

Mom bought Cafe Latte creamer (Coffee Mate brand) and I don’t like it in my coffee cuz it’s too plain for me (I prefer flavored creamers… this is even more bland than vanilla) so I decided to try it in my chai which I use regular milk for. Blech. Still flat. And the texture is that of REALLY watery milk. Do yourself a favor and use milk for the health benefits, mouth feel, and flavor.

Wanted a little some thing special last night watching Extreme Makeover Home Edition since it was filmed 15 min from my house.

2oz cold brewed coffee
6oz water
1tsp rum extract (I’ve gotta find rum flavored syrup…)
1 TB pumpkin flavored ice cream (I used some of a pumpkin pie blizzard I had left over in the freezer)
1TB Marshmellow Mocha creamer
1tsp instant chai

Really freakin good.

Marshmellow Mocha Chai! The marshmellow mocha creamer doesn’t quite scream “MARSHMELLOW!”, but I do almost immediately think “yummm… tastes like a s’more!” And for both of the flavors to be so out in front of this VERY spicy chai (although it’s a bit easier since I made this w/ milk and not water) is pretty impressive. I (heart) holidy creamers. Can’t wait to add this to Twinings Pumpkin Spiced Chai.

HELLO! Yeah, I’m awake now… probably not so good for 7pm. Good thing I’m planning on having a glass of wine later.

Dirty Chai Misto:
1 cup drip coffee
1 cup Fat Free Smart Balance Milk
2tsp chai

…Absolutely AMAZINGLY good! But I’m so glad this was half-caff coffee. Between the caffeine and the spices (and the need to drink it rather quickly so it doesn’t settle too much inspite of constant stirring), I’m a bit zombie-ish.

Lazy man’s dirty turtle chai. 1/2TB each dark chocolate and caramel creamers and 1tsp chai in a cup of drip coffee. But at least I didn’t use instant coffee:)

1tsp in coffee is becoming one of my favorite ways of having this is… which is funny cuz it wasn’t what I intended it for.

3/7

Made as directed… Hmmm… this definitely different than the mix w/ dried milk and creamer (which I always drink w/ milk)… I was expecting a thicker beverage… even my lose leaf steeped in half milk, half water seems creamer- strange.

2/7

W/ water and 1TB dark chocolate coffee creamer. You can definitely taste the chocolate, but it isn’t as strong as when I have it in coffee, no doubt because of the spices. In spite of the additon of chocolate it’s still not overly sweet although it is richer. Would still call this a more savory dessert. Yum!

1/7

My neighbor is addicted to their slow brew, but doesn’t like this because something is it gives her a stomach ache. So I get the sample she got. I completely disregarded the instructions (except for the tea/liquid ratio). I’m going to be trying this 7 ways: just water, water and coffee creamer, just milk, half water half milk, just coffee, coffee and creamer, and cold brewed coffee and milk (2oz coffee, 6oz milk. …Oh, and I’m not going to take their advice w/ any of them and not sweeten at all.

This attempt is the way I try all my chai’s 1st: clean w/ water. Dry, the blend makes me immediately think “pumpkin spice” both in appearance and aroma- it also packs into my teaspoon like very fine brown sugar. Mixed, the appearance and the mouthfeel is very thick and inspite of my fears (Frank has made me a chai ~itch I’m so spoiled w/ his), this is REALLY spicy… like almost as spicy as his! Of course there’s a different taste to it cuz the spice isn’t coming w/ cayenne. Of course there’s no chocolate in it, but if I keep saying “it’s not supposed to be here” as I drink it, I don’t really miss it. It’s weird, but the 1st thing I think of when I drink this is “savory dessert”… Does that make sense? I’d definitely reach for this after a heavy meal when I don’t want anything sweet, but I’m still craving dessert.

This chai alone is pretty spicy, but tastes as if you brewed it on the stove for an hour,which is a plus since it is instant! What I do to combat the spiciness, is add equal parts hot cocoa and chai mix to steamed milk. The cocoa/chai mix is a really tasty treat, and the cocoa combats the spiciness of the chai a bit.

Read more about my thoughts & check out our giveaway- Today is the last day to enter;) http://wp.me/pQxcK-65

This is an instant tea that just requires you to just your hot milk (or soymilk) and the sweetener of your choice. This tea has two taste, the first is the classic chai you know and love, but for me at the ending taste was overpowered with what I think is black pepper.

For the full review visit Tyros of tea
http://bit.ly/aJ1OkA

I’m loving this new Instant chai. I dissolve mine in hot soy milk, add some honey and whisk it with a wire wisk. Better than any chai latte I have ever had!

I’m biased but I think this is the best chai I’ve ever had. It’s real and can be adjusted to suit your taste for spice.

This chai is the real deal, blended only 20 miles from my house! This family used to own Tipu’s Indian Restaurant in Missoula, which unfortunately went out of business a few years ago. Their food was amazing, and so is their chai.