Kashmiri Kahwa Masala Chai Tea

What an odd little chai!  And not just because the fragrance here is STRONG which is unexpected if the spices are mainly cinnamon, cardamom, saffron strands and almond.   The flavor is much lighter.  I wish the flavor is more unique than it is.  I wanted more almond, and really more cinnamon and cardamom in the mug to really be a cup of comfort.  This was really quite bland for such a new tea.  Maybe I was too careful with the one minute steep.  The second steep is savory to me or a bit floral, but also kind of like lemon verbena.  Possibly this is the saffron?  Really no notes of cinnamon, cardamom OR almond.  So this seems like a fail to me.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug // 32 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 29 min after boiling // 2 min

Definitely a unique tea, I was really excited to try it. Its a broken leaf green tea… to be honest it looks kinda like black tea. Gently spiced with a unique flavor… I guess its the saffron- not sure how that tastes, the cinnamon, cardamom and orange. I enjoyed it but I don’t think its a re-order for me. Now I’m done with my sampler set. Once I drink through at least one or two of my newest Harney orders, I will probably pick up a Davids tea sampler

Stove Top Latte Sipdown (255)

K is for…Kashmiri Kahwa

Made this on the stovetop and while it was alright, it was nothing special. The green base made it lighter overall but it was just slightly spiced milk. I drank it while playing Pandemic and don’t remember much so pretty unremarkable.

Adventaggedon Day 15 – Tea 6/6

When I saw this tea in the morning I really wanted to attempt to make a traditional style of stovetop Kashmiri Chai – the kind where after hours it oxidizes and turns pink. However, I just wasn’t feeling up to it today, so instead I cheapened out and just made a hot cup.

I don’t know, guys, I’m just a little over Masala blends right now.

This is fine, and I see why people would be into it. It’s maybe a little thin, but the cardamom is great. I feel like I’ve really waxed poetic about Vahdam’s cardamom over the course of the month so far but it’s truly my favourite spice that they use.

I guess I’ll try my stovetop Chai at a later date when I’m feeling more enthusiastic about trying something fun with this tea.

Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CI1bJQzAPNj/

Sipdown! (18 | 295)

Slowly (very slowly…) getting through these Vahdam advent leftovers. I think this is the last masala chai other than a couple of turmeric tisanes, so that’s nice. I’m admittedly not much of a masala chai person, so I’m glad to have sipped most of them down.

Anyway, this one is more appealing to me than most because first of all, it’s a green base, and second of all, it has a couple of more unusual ingredients – almonds and saffron. I don’t really taste almond though, admittedly. Mostly it’s a very soft (almost bland) green tea with a strong cardamom flavor, accented by cinnamon and with a touch of saffron coming out at the end of the sip.

I think I would have enjoyed it more if the green tea were a bit more vegetal or buttery or something. I mostly just taste minerality and a hint of smoke from it. But the saffron is fun at least!

229/365

Another from the Vahdam chai sampler. This one’s a green base, with cardamom, cinnamon, almond, and saffron. To taste, it’s deliciously sweet and smooth. There’s definitely lots of saffron! It’s also quite nutty, and slightly creamy in the way almond can be when it’s good. It’s mildly spicy, but there’s not much in the way of cardamom or cinnamon. This is mostly about the almond and saffron.

I like this one. It’s kind of unusual amongst the teas I drink, and I don’t feel like I’ve tried that many green-based chai blends in the past. The green tea works pretty well – it’s a little grassy, but subtle and unobtrusive. It allows the flavours to shine, and I think that’s pretty important when it comes to chai. I’m going to say that I prefer black tea as a base for chai on balance, but that’s mainly personal preference. I’ll have no problem finishing up my sample.

Well, this is different. The flavor is familiar at first, with noticeable cardamom in the foreground, with some cinnamon in the background. But then the green tea body comes through. To be honest, I don’t really think it’s a great vehicle for these flavors.

The green tea itself is a bit mediocre – some citrus notes, vegetal, and has some bitterness. The green tea and the cardamom, I feel, never really come together in harmony, and instead have conflicting “green” flavors that cause some dissonance on the palate.

In the aftertaste, you do get some almond liqueur notes, which are interesting.

This is obviously a tea that is way off the beaten path and is a local specialty that probably needs some insider knowledge to brew properly. But, I really wasn’t impressed. My biggest gripe is the green tea itself. It just didn’t have much personality and didn’t jive with the cardamom. Despite a fairly thick body, the tea at times had very little flavor (beyond just the additive flavors of cardamom and cinnamon), even despite brewing gong fu style.

If you’re curious, get a sample. But it certainly is a different experience from your regular black tea chai.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BfT9-m8HFR3/?taken-by=apefuzz

I was looking for a true Peshwari or Kashmiri style chai with a green tea base, green cardamom, almonds and saffron. Very difficult to find among a lot of other cinnamon and clove black chais.

It was difficult to brew this to taste. At first I brewed too strong and burnt the leaves at 200 F. It was extremely bitter and astringent. Then I decreased my ratio of leaves and temp to 176 F, and it was too weak and still astringent. The cardamom was quite pungent and prominent; although I love cardamom, it overpowered any other flavor.