Classic Chai

My dad got me this one. It makes for an amazing chai latte with a bit of creamer and brown sugar. I have made multiple french presses worth of it in one day and unlike some other teas, this one is just as good on the third brew as the first.

I’ve been getting so many variations of chai from sipsby that while most of them are fine I had no real expectations for this particular tea. It was a pleasant surprise. This is spice-forward in the best way. I love a heavy hand with spices and rank some other Davidson’s teas among my favorites for this reason. The blending on this is done well in particular; no one spice completely overwhelms the others, and I do still taste the tea both hot and as it cools.
I completely forgot to set the timer for steeping and wonder how much that factored in here! I’ll have to get more and experiment.

Backlog

I have started to crave random teas lately—chai especially—so, I’ve been getting some samples of everything that I find missing in my tea journey. Now, a chai, for me, has always been that special tea ever since I was a child. I remember first discovering chai at our local bakery down the road from our house while growing up.

My father would oftentimes get a dozen donuts every other week, so I’d like to tag along for the ride (I was able to choose my donuts directly, rather than relying on nasty cream sticks; which have been unappealing to me ever since I had my first jelly donut. Ha-ha).

Anyway, during that time, I had made a note of their drink specials while going with my dad and saw that they had “chai lattes” for the same as a cup of coffee. One of those times, I had asked my dad if I was able to have a cup of the chai latte to try. In fear of having my mother find out that he was going to buy his son a cup of “coffee” (which during this time in my life was restricted for two reasons: I was “too young” for tea/coffee & for another undisclosed reason), he made sure that we sat in the bakery at the only table they had and sip our beverages there. I will admit that that moment was pure bliss. I had found something truly amazing & purely delightful—so much so, that I’d secretly ride my bike there every Saturday for a cup until they went out of business in early 2004-ish. ;)

So, with that said….I found this at the local Giant Eagle before work…..I wasn’t so sure how much to get, so I weighed out an ounce and took it for work….

Notes: A bit maltier than expected, but the spices mixed well with the base of the tea. I had to add a touch of cream to cut that slight bitterness out, but it wasn’t too bad overall.

PS. Sorry about the accidental story time. :p

Chaiday 6 of 6:
Let me start by saying that I am a tea lightweight. I usually only drink 3 teas a day. I knew it was going to be crazy of me to try 6 in one day, but I really want to make some headway into my stash reviews.

I knew that at this point, with my blood made more of cinnamon and black tea than platelets, that I would be tired of tasting and reviewing chai. Even now, the idea of Christmas spices makes me want to run and hide. However, I promised that I would review 6 chais today, so the show must go on.

This tea has always smelled wonderful to me. The blend smells spicy and sweet. I’m wondering what the leaves are coated with—they’re sticky with whatever it is. The spice is nice and strong, and the base makes itself well-known. There’s also a sweet, kind of caramel flavor. I’m glad the orange isn’t too strong, as I like to stay away from citrus, as you’ve probably heard by now.

This is a deep, rich, spicy tea. It’s so heavy to the spices that the tea base doesn’t really shine as much as I would like. Whole cardamom, cloves, orange peel and cinnamon pieces are richly interspersed with the leaves. It reminds me of holiday baking- but the exotic notes of cardamom add their own layer to the brew.

I have a habit of drinking my chai as I would any black tea- straight up, no milk, no sugar. This chai is a bit strong for my taste without the additives. It’s truly meant to be traditionally brewed as a chai- the robust spiciness still shines strong underneath the milk and sugar, unlike some other chai blends I have tried. Some of the spices (I believe the cloves are guilty) can add a bitter taste if steeped too far beyond 4 minutes.

I personally prefer more tea flavor, but this is a pleasant jaunt away from my constant black tea drinking.