Caramel Vanilla Chai

This tea seems to bring out the storyteller in me. Soooo, crazy story first! Tea review second! I just got home from buying lunch. I walk in the door and my cat jumps off a chair to greet me. I walk into the other room for a second and come back. My cat is in the corner, hunched over. I recognize that hunch instantly. He’s caught something.

I figured it’s probably just a mouse. Sure enough, he picks something up in his mouth and walks towards me. He drops it at my feet and steps back. All I saw was a bunch of legs in the air, and I turned and ran for the kitchen! That is no mouse!! What is it?! What is it??? I tried to make myself look at it, but he’s brought me things before that aren’t entirely dead. What if it’s a giant spider and it jumps at me! AHH! I kept trying to look at it, but I hadn’t even turned all the lights on in the room yet and it was GIANT!! I’m convinced it was a giant spider. Like a wolf spider or something.

I went back to the kitchen and grabbed a big Tupperware thing. My idea was I’ll put the Tupperware over it and slide a piece of paper underneath. Then I’ll be able to take the carcass, dead or alive, outside and dump it. I finally found Tupperware that was big enough and walked back into the other room. And what do I see?? My cat EATING the spider!!! AHHHH!!!! I couldn’t even bring myself to get close to him until it was completely eaten. So gross! OMG! What if it’s poisonous??! What will it do to him?! AHHH!!!!! I’m soooo freaked out!!! I immediately called my mother and she told me to call the vet. So far, my cat is acting perfectly normal so I think he’s okay. I’m just going to watch him carefully for a few hours.

Oh oh ohhh! So gross. I’m so grossed out. I HATE spiders and that thing was gigantic! I can’t believe he ate that. Shiver He was really chewing it too. Crunch crunch crunch. Blech! And that thing was in my apartment!! What if there’s more?! I’m going to have creepy crawlies all day. We have a centipede infestation right now. Maybe the spider came in to eat them! Ugh, I’d take centipedes over spiders any day.

Okay, now on to the tea review. I’m just finishing up what’s left of this sample from the 52teas Christmas sampler. Yes, I know. Christmas was over 6 months ago. But this tea’s held up surprisingly well! It’s very spicy, and I’m getting a strong caramel flavor. I think the vanilla is in there somewhere contributing to the overall splendid flavor. But the caramel and spice notes are the strongest to me. Yum! I’m so glad I got to enjoy one last cup of this tea. It’s delicious! Raising the rating from 78 to 82.

Finished my sample today – I had forgotten that it is basically ground tea and spices. Ugh. Threw some in my T-Sac and steeped as long as I dared (2 or 3 minutes). The smell is kind of yucky, very much like an old bagged chai, which it essentially is so that makes sense. Still no caramel or vanilla and boy would I like it if they appeared. There is a smell, almost like melted marshmallows roasting over a fire. The marshmallow business actually smells kinds good, but it’s lost in what smells like very bitter tea.

I just had some grapes so the first few sips aren’t necessarily accurate but they aren’t as bad as I expected either. I just get spice. Cinnamon at the end of the sip, like I ate powdered cinnamon. I also get ginger and nutmeg, but probably because those are the only spices I am very familiar with. It is bold and in your face, and definitely lacking vanilla or caramel. This is not a favourite and I don’t understand why my tastes are SO different from everyone else on this one. Even when I first tried it last December I hated it. Maybe my sample was a joke?

The only reason I’m drinking this cup is to warm up – and the only reason I can stand to keep drinking it is because of the T-Sac and short steep. Blech.

This time around, it’s MUCH better. I used about a 1/3 less leaf and it made for a much better tasting chai. Sweet, creamy, spicy and BOLD! Very tasty.

Off to write my review for SororiTea Sisters!

I was angry last night. Really angry… My bother decided that the best idea he could possibly have was to through a party at my house because he figured that I would stay at the hospital because my Dad had surgery yesterday (everything went well!). I got home, expecting to unwind after work with my doggies, boyfriend, and tea when to my surprise there was about 20 drunk people and loud music blasting… I was sooo angry that I couldn’t even get myself to relax. As a kid I understand that an empty house that you have access to usually means fun, but this was not OK. Well, I didn’t get much sleep and I am still angry, but a tasty tea this morning will make things a bit better!

I bought a pack of this because I enjoyed it so much. It just arrived and it is exactly what I needed! Something spicy, strong, sweet.

I am not sure why the leaves of this tea are ground so fine… It keeps making me expect bitterness, but thankfully I haven’t gotten any from it. It smells great as long as you don’t inhale too strongly (instant sneeze… found out the hard way…)

I prepared it with my tasty condensed milk/skim milk latte mix. It put a wide smile on my face (at least until I see my brother again…) and finally got me relaxing. The vanilla was really strong this time, and the latte mix helped smooth out all the flavors. I couldn’t make my cup last me every long. That is usually a sign that I really am enjoying what I am drinking!

Last night I had a little too much fun. It started with wine tasting and then my boyfriend and I walked to the bar down the street since we haven’t been able to go out for ages.
This morning I woke up with a muscle in my back ACHING. It’s still killing me. I have no idea what I did. Is there a masseuse in the house? Ugh!
On the positive side, I opened the mailbox and had a nice surprise! The best part of wakin’ up is new tea in your mail box! My two bags of Caramel Vanilla Chai from 52 Teas! I really enjoyed the Decaf Extra Bold Masala Chai, and caramel and vanilla flavors are my weakness, so I had to drop some dough on those puppies quick.

I was kind of surprised to see that the dry leaves were not really leaves at all but actually resembled soil. Dried out soil with tiny bits of dried out leaves and bark. Very ground up. Hmmmm.
The aroma was very bold clovy chai with apparent notes of caramel and vanilla.
Steeped 1 tsp per 8 ounces at 205 degrees in my Breville for 3 minutes.
Eek. I have never had a tea escape the Breville infuser THIS much… I took a picture to show the sediment that slipped through using only 2 teaspoons of tea – http://i55.tinypic.com/2zom8bb.png
o_O
The little pieces that didnt’ escape got stuck in the holes of the infuser. First time that’s ever happened with a tea in the Breville, also.
I don’t know if I should lower the score more for that? But the tea ended up tasting pretty darn good, especially with a spoon of brown sugar and a spoon of vanilla icecream, (I was out of coconut milk, but icecream works great as creamer!) Totally representative of the name. Caramel Vanilla Chai goodness. A pretty bold chai at that. I’m starting to learn I like my chais a little more heavy than this on the other spices..especially cardamom. This tea is pretty predominately clove and cinnamon. But overall, yeah.. I think it’s pretty good. I’ll have to see if my opinion changes after I have it again. (Although I’m really not looking forward to dealing with the small bits of tea again :/ )

Using frothed milk? Yessir !!

Thanks so much TeaNSympathy for this delicious Chai! I’m glad I sampled this one. :)) I sampled this first on April 7th-two cups at 3.5 and 5 or 6 minutes, and again today, (with similar results), so I’ll focus on today’s cuppings.

I really like Chai tea, so I thought this one was pretty good. I could definitely smell the cardamon, clove, ginger, and the cinnamon was there to a lesser extent. The caramel aroma came through nicely. At times, I thought I could smell the vanilla-yes….no…I wasn’t sure. The other aromas seemed to overpower the vanilla.

The wet leaf aroma and the aroma in the cup is very nice. All the flavors mentioned are noticeable and well represented. The caramel flavor was soothing, and delicious. :)) The 3.5 minute steep seemed perfect. I really couldn’t smell the vanilla in the cup or taste it. Again, the other flavors masked the vanilla. My second cup at 5 or 6 minutes was very flavorful and not bitter. I thought the vanilla would come through with a longer steep time , but I couldnt smell or taste it.

Truthfully, I didn’t miss the vanilla. Too many dessert blends use vanilla, and usually it is overdone or artificial tasting anyway. Not noticing the vanilla made this chai better! The caramel was a nice addition though. I wouldn’t buy this chai myself, but it is a really good chai that I am glad I got the chance to sample. Thanks again TNS! :))

Cupped: Saturday, April 7, & Monday, April 23, 2012.

Reviewed: Monday, April 23, 2012.

Tragedy Strikes!!

Previous installments of my 12 teas of christmas set have had significant holes in the bottom, where portions of tea have escaped, but previously I’d been able to salvage enough to make a cup.

That all changed today! The ENTIRE (and I mean every last particle) of today’s sample had disappeared through an entirely open bottom, leaving only the sticker left to taunt me about an amazing-sounding tea I won’t get the chance to try :(

Brewed this up for Tea Club this afternoon. I steeped for about 5 minutes because I forgot about it… :) It wasn’t bitter, though. It was definitely strong. But it stood up well to the addition of milk. I added sugar to my cup before tasting and I wish I hadn’t. It was very sweet so I wonder if the chai itself was sweet to start with.

Very caramel-y. And I certainly got a hit of black pepper. It wasn’t the Tea Club’s favorite, but it got overall good reviews.

Thanks for the sample, Liberteas!

This was day 10 (I think?) of the 12 teas of Christmas sampler from 52teas – I am finally getting around to trying both this one and the one from day 12 – both of which were the only new ones (to me) of the last half of the box. This particular sample was the only one of the 12 that had an improperly sealed bottom, but I was able to collect it and still have enough for two full cups, so it ended up okay!

Anyway – steeped one heaping tsp. of this in about 7 oz water at below parameters. The dry leaf was very ground up – I used a paper tea filter instead of my Breville because I remember someone saying how it easily got through the mesh basket, and I didn’t want to have a huge mess on my hands. It smelled quite spicy – no hints of vanilla and caramel, though.

Once steeped, I added milk (probably about 2 oz) and sugar because that’s how I like my chais prepared. Taste-wise, I think the overall spiciness of the chai was kind of weak – it didn’t have as much bite as I wanted. However, I did get a touch of vanilla and buttery caramel, which I suspect the milk and sugar were instrumental in bringing out. I didn’t notice any underlying astringency with the black tea base, but I didn’t try it sans additives so that could be why.

Overall, I think it is a nice, though mild chai. More for people who like the idea of vanilla and caramel tea with a hint of spice, rather than the other way around – but more than a welcome addition to my tea cabinet during this cold weather!