Holiday Chai

Made in the traditional manner. A bit weak, even though it simmered on the stove for over 10 minutes. Not bad, but not noteworthy.

love this tea on a cold winter day. just enough spice in the chai to make it interesting. vanilla notes and or butter rum also. not bitter just do not over steep i think a 60 secs. or so will give you a good cuppa.

The local Bulk Barn had a bunch of boxes of holidays teas on for super cheap so I picked this one up. It smells absolutely delish, like fruit cake – the good kind of fruit cake that’s homemade and soaked in booze (I’ve never understood the fruitcake hate – I can’t wait to try my aunt’s fruit cake every winter).

Unfortunately the scent didn’t transfer over to the flavour – at least not initially. I had to add a bunch of milk and honey before the flavours came out. With those additions it was nice enough though I would have liked a bit more spice. Cloves are probably the most prominent spice present that I can taste, and the sweetness of the honey brings out the rum flavour which I couldn’t taste before.

So continues my “I’m too sick to make loose leaf so I’ll use up the bagged tea that I have” day. Unfortunately that means a lot of 1st infusions (I don’t resteep bags). So I may not sleep tonite… and I had to edit that because I typed “steep” lol.:)

Observations: Bagged -, convenience for 1st steep +, convenience for additonal steeps -, no licorice, anise, or fennel +x3, rum +.

Inspite of this being bagged, I’m REALLY excited to try this because I’ve never had a prepackaged chai w/ rum in it before.

Serving: 1 bag/6oz water… dang, forgot to weigh this. Hot and clean.

The aroma is light and a little sweet from the rum and so is the taste. I’m not sure this would stand up to milk. The only 3 improvements I’d suggest is adding a pinch of chili flake and vanilla bean, and making it loose leaf.

Conclusions: VERY good for a bagged chai, but since it is that contributed to a lower rating. Not sure if it’d stand up to milk, which also contributed to a rate reduction. VERY good if you’re looking for a unique bagged chai that you don’t neccessarily want to add milk to (deserves a 100 for that). If I find a loose version I may want to try it w/ a tiny bit of brown sugar.

1 bag for 250mL water @95C, steeped three minutes 30 seconds, drunk bare.

So sometime in the past I gave this blend a terrible rating. Maybe I steeped it too long. Maybe I burnt it with too-hot water. I dunno. I spotted this tea in the supermarket this morning and, having forgotten I’d tried it before, decided to buy it. By accident, I used 95C water.

Well now.

Gentle black tea — unlike Stash’s regular Chai, which I find a bit harsh — gorgeous balance of spices and an almost creamy mouthfeel. My workplace now smells great. The rum flavouring blends nicely with the gingerbread flavouring.

Not an everyday tea for me but most welcome on a particularly cold and frosty morning. I expect this would be most agreeable with milk and sugar, but it certainly doesn’t need either.

This version of Chai takes a blend of Indian Black Teas and mixes it with Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, Clove, Ginger, Gingerbread and Jamaican Rum Flavoring, and Nutmeg Oil. Yum! The aroma is very sweet, the bag smells mainly of the Nutmeg and Clove with just a hint of the Cinnamon.

The aroma of the brewed tea is also very sweet, but now you get to sample all the olfactory pleasures in this blend. The spices swirl together with just a hint of the Jamaican Rum to bring in the nostalgia of the holidays (especially if that nostalgia involves spiced cookies and clove pomanders.) Stash’s website describes the tea as exotic, but to me it is old fashioned nostalgic goodness! The winter holidays always meant spiced potpourris simmering on the stove, making clove pomanders and Victorian Kissing balls, and drinking spiced…well…everything.

The taste is fairly mild for all the spicy aroma, which is both good and bad. I want a stronger Chai when I drink it, but at the same time I don’t want to be overwhelmed by the Cinnamon and Clove because then I cannot taste the minutia of the tea itself. At first the tea is mellow, a nice Black blend with an idea of spiciness. Next is the slightly tingly and also slight sweetness of the Cloves and Cinnamon, then we have the burn of the Ginger as hits the back of your mouth, lastly finishing with the slight bitterness of the Nutmeg as an aftertaste. Nothing overpowers each other which means it is a spectacular blend, so why am I complaining about it not being strong enough? The base tea, it is there as an idea but not really a flavor, to me the mark of perfect Chai is an exquisite blend of spices in a rich base tea (preferably Assam, but I enjoy blends as well) I want to be able to taste both very clearly.

So honestly me being picky is my only complaint. This tea is delightful and I am excited for the Holidays so I can get more of Stash’s teas, and especially the Chai. As with most Chai it is best with a bit of sugar and cream, though luckily this tea is already slightly sweet so it doesn’t need a ton of sugar in it.

I didn’t think I liked chai (or Stash teas). I think I have more to learn. This one tastes a lot like pumpkin pie to me. One packet raw sugar and some milk added.

Tied with Stash’s Vanilla Nut Creme as my favorite supermarket bagged tea of choice for a quick sweet treat (this one has caffeine though). I always add milk and a tiny pinch of raw sugar.

Bagged
Aroma when Dry: sweet, clove, ginger, vanilla notes
After water is first poured: generic ginger cake
At end of steep: Soured ginger
Tea liquor:
first color: light dusty
At end of steep: med brown
Staple? No.
Time of day preferred: any
Taste:
first notes: rum, vanilla weak cinnamon and clove hint of cardamum. (without sugar and milk)
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? Not at first, added a sprinkling of raw sugar and splash of milk after it started to cool. With milk and sugar it soured further, and only the notes of the black tea, cardamum, clove and rum are noticeable.
Lingers? Yes, sour, woody.

This was the last ‘Holiday Chai’ from my Stash holiday collection. I don’t like it. I usually love chai. The flavors mix together very weird here. I’m not sure why.