Green Almond Chai

I’m so excited! Today is the Anniversary Celebration at Happy Lucky’s Tea House and there’s free tea tastings and Oolong and Puerh classes in the afternoon (and prizes).
I’ll take some pictures to share on another review, but for now…I’m kick-starting this rainy day with a little Green Almond Chai.

It doesn’t take a lot (1.5 tsp) of Chai for an 8oz. cup, but you need to read the instructions. This is meant for adding 20% volume milk and should be sweetened with something. The steep time is long at 5-10 minutes. I chose 5 minutes and can’t imagine going longer. My tea was just on the edge of bitter before adding milk and honey.

The instructions for adding milk and sweetening are serious. I wouldn’t drink this plain (tried and bitter). Adding sweetener was fine but the best way to drink this Chai, in my opinion, is with honey and a rich milk. Whole milk, half & half, soy or almond.

You can really taste the cardamom and almond. The cinnamon and clove spices are very light (thankfully the clove isn’t taking over the Chai).
The Green Tea base wasn’t a player. I couldn’t taste any tea, just almond and spices which I didn’t mind.

Depending on what milk and honey used, that could overpower the taste of the tea too.
I tried Clover honey and whole milk, which was more subtle flavored and gently scented than when I tried Wildflower honey with Almond milk, much bolder.

This is where you can play with how you want your Chai to taste. Orange Blossom honey? Coconut milk? Raw sugar?
My store http://copocoshoney.com (here in Fort Collins) has lots of flavors of honey for tea experiments as well as cooking.

I prefer Black tea Chai’s because I can taste the tea base, but this is nice to play around with and I’m not sure I’d do that with my other Chai’s as much. I’ll have fun experimenting.

Happy Sipping!

Blech. What the hell did I do wrong with this tea? It smells absolutely delicious…cinnamon, spices, and almonds. Even the first taste is amazing. But…as soon as I swallow it leaves this weird bitter, astringent taste in my mouth. Could it be bcause I’m not a huge fan of green teas? I have no idea…but I would never buy this. :(

The dry leaves smell like almond extract. I followed directions on the package, deciding to steep for 7 1/2 minutes, the directions say from 5- 10, next time I will use the whole 10 because it wasn’t very strong.

Do follow the package instructions, out of curiosity I tasted the tea straight and it was probably not the best idea I ever had.

I used lactose free milk in this, which seems to be sweeter than regular milk. I think it covered up most of the almond flavoring because I couldn’t taste it at all even though the dry leaves reeked of it. What I could taste was the cardamom, cinnamon, and cloves.

I did enjoy this, though not as much as the gingered peach. I’ll play around with it though, because I think it has potential. It really soothed my sore throat for a some time while and after drinking it, so I’m definitely going to be drinking it all day today anyway.

Just steeped to directions and enjoying a cup right now. I am liking the idea of a green tea with subtle chai overtones. It isn’t overpowering at all but smooth, elegant, and PERFECT on a 2 degree F morning before you have to go out back and split some wood. I had this the other evening and wasn’t too impressed but I think my palette had been flooded from dinner. This morning, however, it is grand and I foresee this as a staple in my cupboard.