I have an entire tray in the cupboard full of tea samples to try. As today is particularly cold, wet and grey, I thought a chai would hit the spot. The loose leaf tea looks like whole unbroken leaves, but apart from the flower petals, I can’t detect any whole spices so I assuming the “chai” component is flavourings and oils.
I am all too aware that Chai needs a sweetner and milk to bring out and balance the flavours, otherwise the tea just tastes like a mouthful of ground spices, but on this occasion I wanted to really taste the tea so I prepared with milk only. This is ok, although I can’t really taste the vanilla and the spices just leave a slightly bitter aftertaste. I have only found one loose leaf Chai that I enjoyed which was East India Company despite hating their other teas with a passion. I have some chocolate chai which I’ll try with milk and sugar and see if that makes a difference.
It doesn’t taste better or worse without milk, although the colour of the tea is muddy. This is not the worst tea I have had, but it’s nothing spectacular or remarkable.
