Tag Archives: chai

Review: Cafe Escapes Chai Latte for Keurig

Posted on March 20, 2013 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: Hot straight from the Keurig!
Served: Nothing added

Who knew that a chai latte and leftover Irish soda bread would make for a good afternoon snack. Really, it was a pretty good combo. I found the Cafe Express Chai Latte to be quite sweet, so it was nice to pair it with something not-so-sweet with depth of flavor. The Keurig chai latte was one note in flavor, sweet. It completely lacks any spice which is synonymous with chai. That being said, I still thought it was pretty good. For it was more similar to powered hot chocolate in consistency: creamy and sweet. Not really like tea at all, more like a guilty pleasure (the fast food version of chai latte). :)

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea(ish).
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

Cafe Express Chai Latte

Katie says:

Temperature: Hot straight from the Keurig!
Served: Nothing added

Hmmm, I’m beginning to wonder if Keurig is just for coffee! This chai wasn’t bad, but it didn’t really taste like traditional tea. Have you had the coffee shop “chai” lattes that are made from a powder or syrup and not tea leaves? Well, this k cup is like that coffee shop drink. It’s warm and even a bit tasty but more like hot cocoa that tea. Once you’ve had real brewed chai I think it’s hard to ever go back and be satisfied. If you’re a tea drinker and find yourself faced with a stack of k cups I bet, like me, you’d still greatly prefer this to coffee. It is decent, but not great. Hopefully Abby & I can find a k cup tea to review that we think is better than decent! I’d love to share one we think is quite good. For now, the hunt for a great k cup tea continues.

Taste: 3 of 5 tea leaves – A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – this is easy to make!

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Review: Bhakti Chai (Unsweetened)

Posted on February 15, 2013 by | Leave a comment

 

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4 of 5 – quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: Hot from the stove, but not boiling
Steeped: N/A
Served: With 1:1 ratio of milk, then with honey

For me this is hands down, the best chai from a bottle ever. I love the idea of chai mix due to convenience but most are just a syrupy mess. This tastes like real TEA! Also, without sweetener or milk added you can make it to your taste. One word of caution, I think real chai needs real milk. I’m talking 2% or greater…in India it’s practically cream!

I have to say, I was surprised to see Abby’s rating on this one because we tend to agree more often than not. It may just be that while she likes chai, she’s not a fan of milk in tea. And this mix NEEDS milk.  I love that I can count on the ratio and make the same cuppa more than once. If you like traditional chai with a kick of ginger than this is a MUST try. But pass the cream. :)

I also like that this tea comes refrigerated and has a shelf life. That certainly makes it seem more real. And, when you real the label there is in fact good (ie real) stuff in there. It’s also a pretty cool company out of Fort Collins, CO. Check out their website for their story & more of their flavors.

Taste: 5 of 5 – outstanding a must try!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: Hot from the stove, but not boiling
Steeped: N/A
Served: With 1:1 ratio of milk, then with honey

Seriously spicy! You know how, sometimes you find chai teas to be dull without the spice that you love? Well, forget all that.  This tea is spicy and has a ton of flavor. Bhakti Chai comes pre-brewed in a refrigerated bottle containing: “organic fair trade black te, organic ginger juice, organic cardamom, black pepper and other spices.” It carries the fair trade certification, but it is not certified organic. The directions call for heating the tea with milk at a 1:1 ratio and heating on the stove top or in the microwave.  It also says you can serve it over ice, but I can’t even think about that right now (too much snow everywhere for that).  Typically I choose not to add milk to my tea, but for the sake of the review I decided to be a good girl and follow the directions.  I’m glad I did because I think skipping the milk would have been a mistake for sure.  In fact I ended up adding more hot milk and a bit of honey to mellow out the spice level. This tea was good, but I will only have it when I am craving the spice!

Taste: 3 of 5 leaves: A decent tasty tea.
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Bhakti Chai

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Review: Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Fire Light Chai

Posted on April 4, 2012 by | 1 Comment

Overall Rating:

Taste:4.25 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: 4-5 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Fair trade and USDA certified organic, Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Fire Light Chai is a great spin-off on traditional Chai tea!  Rooibos is fused with chai spices to create fantastic aromatics, and a wonderfully rich and spicy-sweet tea.  The aroma as this tea steeps is enough to convince anyone to give it a try!

Compared to other Chai tea blends, this one is slightly subdued while still providing the complex flavor from the concoction of spices.  I found that I was able to easily taste the distinctive Chai flavors instantly upon trying it for the first time, but the punchy experience that is commonly found with other Chai tea was pleasantly missing.  Given that this a milder and sweeter Chai, it would be a perfect first cup for anyone looking to try Chai.  This tea is also caffeine free (yay!), so feel free to have as many cups as you want!  I know I will

Taste:4.5 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: @212 (boiling point)
Steeped: Just leave the tea bag in the cup
Served: Nothing added at first then milk & honey

This tea is my go-to for when I’m looking for the taste of chai without the caffeine. Does it taste exactly like it’s black sister tea? No. However the red tea flavors blended with chai spices and sweetened with cream and sugar is a delicious combination! While this tea is OK with nothing added, in my opinion it’s far better prepared as a traditional chai with the addition of milk & sugar.

Red tea is the newest to my tea box. I think I stayed away from it because I tend to like flavorful black teas with a touch of cream & sugar or light green teas as they are but I pass on most herbal tea. Red tea is herbal, so I skipped it thinking that it would never be a good substitute for my beloved black tea. I was wrong.  While most herbal teas would be gross with cream and sugar, red tea is delicious with this addition. I’m a convert. If a craving for a cuppa with milk & honey strikes me late in the day I have a cup of this! Or, if I’m out I stop into Starbucks for a red tea latte.

Taste: 4 of 5 leaves: Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 — this tea is easy to make!

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Review: Stash Guayusa Tea – Final Four Edition

Posted on March 27, 2012 by | 1 Comment

As you may know, March Madness is once again upon us and has taken over the sports community.  While basketball fans around the country were filling out their brackets, Katie and I were, as usual… drinking tea!  I decided that I wanted to get in on the action too.  So, when Stash Tea was kind enough to send us samples of their new line of Guayusa tea to review I decided to make it a bit of a competition!

They sent us five teas to review: Pure Guayusa (which we will review separately) and four Guayusa blends.  In this review each of the four tea blends will be matched up against one another for comparison, until, ultimately, I come up with the Guayusa tea winner!

In the first matchup we have Guayusa tea with lemon

matched up against Guayusa with mint

The winner of this matchup is the Guayusa with lemon, although I must say it was a close battle!  The Guayusa with mint was a strong and tasty combination.  You often find mint flavored teas as decaf, so it was certainly nice to have a caffeinated tea with a bold mint flavor.  Although the mint blend was good, the overall winner here is the lemon blend. The bright lemon flavor balanced so well with the earthy and hearty Guayusa tea.

Next up we have Guayusa with yerba mate and ginseng

matched up against Guayusa with Chai

In this battle, the Guayusa with yerba mate and ginseng was certainly the underdog given my love affair with chai.  This tea was a little too pungent for my taste, thought I did enjoy the bold flavor.  I must say that even with the interesting and earthy flavor it provided, this tea was not able to beat the Chai with its perfect blend of exotic tea and sweet and spicy flavors.  In the Chai blend notes of the Guayusa tea can be tasted, but it is also familiar because of the blend of Chai spices.  The winner of this match up is the Guayusa with Chai!

Finally the two winners of the previous competitions will match up and the overall winner will be named!  The Guayusa with lemon will match up against the Guayusa with Chai.  This was another close call, but for me the Guayusa Chai blend wins the day!  This tea was really a pleasure to drink and I can already see myself drinking cup after cup of this tea in the future.  The lemon blend provided a nice bright tea which I throughly enjoyed, but the spicy Chai flavors squeaked out the win this time.

WINNER: GUAYUSA with CHAI!

Have you tried any of these interesting new teas?  Have you done any comparisons of these different blends?  If so, which came out on top in your opinion?  This was such a fun way to incorporate the excitement of March Madness into my love of drinking tea!  Thanks so much Stash Tea for so many great new teas for comparison.  Certified USDA Organic and hailing from Ecuador all of these teas are really a treat and worth a try.  Look for our upcoming review of the Stash Pure Guayusa tea for more information on this wonderful tea!

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Review: Atlantic Spice Company Chai Tea Blend

Posted on February 29, 2012 by | 4 Comments

Atlantic spice Co. Chai

Overall Rating:

Taste 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Abby says:

Temperature: @ 212 (boiling)
Steeped: 5 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Chai is one of my favorite types of tea.  I just love the spicy flavor!  When out for breakfast you will most often find me ordering a nice little chai latte, but when I’m at home I like to drink chai with nothing added.  That is just how I drank this tea.  It was steeped for five minutes (as directed) in little dragonfly teapot then sipped without anything added. Classically aromatic, just steeping it is a an experience.  A wonderful blend of spices without being at all perfumy or sharp, this tea has great flavor without being over the top.  The spices have a warming quality that is very comforting this time of year.  It is something that could be had all day without being too spicy to overwhelm the palate or too mild to become boring. This tea will be a “go to” for me in the future!

This tea would be a great addition to any chai-loving tea drinker!  As mentioned, I drank this tea without adding anything, but it would be just as yummy if prepared traditionally.  If chai is your thing, you wont be disappointed.

Taste 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Temperature: @ 212 (boiling)
Steeped: Just leave it in the cup
Served: With milk & sugar

Atlantic Spice Company is one of those places I’ve heard several people talk about but I’ve never been to. Luckily they have a great website! Although I’ve never been there in person I’ve been able to enjoy many of their teas. One of the great things about their teas is that they not only taste & smell great, but they always LOOK great. I love seeing all of the different spices in this tea. Just look at the big chunks of cinnamon!

This is one of my very favorite chai tea blends. It has a very smooth blend of flavors but it is still mild enough to enjoy with many different foods. It’s a good classic chai blend. I keep this one in the little jar (photo above) on my countertop so it’s quick & convenient to make anytime. It also comes in a 1 pound bag for under $12 which is a great deal! Yummy taste, look, smell & a great deal…how can you not love this tea?

Taste 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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Review: Stash Chai Green Tea

Posted on January 17, 2012 by | Leave a comment

Overall Rating:

Taste: 4.25 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 4 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Katie says:

Steeped: below boiling for 4 minutes
Served with: teaspoon of sugar

You may have noticed that Abby & I review a lot of chai teas. What can I say? We LOVE chai! And, this one is no different. While green is an unusual variety for chai I really think that this combination works well. Green tea is usually milder in flavor so I think it lends itself well to blending with other flavors. This particular tea has a really tasty kick of spicy cinnamon. With sugar, the way I like it, the cinnamon sweetens and this is a great anytime tea. It is caffeinated but not extremely strong and I wouldn’t be afraid to drink it in the late afternoon.

Taste 4.5 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

Stash chai green tea

Abby says:

Temperature: Below boiling
Steeped: 4 minutes
Served: Nothing added

Nothing says “Happy Birthday” quite like starting the day with a flavorful chai tea!  Katie is right, we LOVE chai tea – who wouldn’t with such great spicy flavor? Stash Chai Green Tea is great because the green tea mingles well with the chai spices, yielding a mild, lighter chai taste.  In the cup I brewed today, both the green tea and the chai spices were identifiable and balanced each other well. Since it is currently one degree outside this morning I drank this tea hot, but I think it would make a refreshing summer beverage.

This tea would be a nice addition for any green and/or chai tea fans! Green tea is known to have more health benefits that black tea, such as plentiful antioxidants, so here you have a healthier version of traditional chai. This tea contains caffeine, so keep that in mind when choosing when to try your cup.

Taste: 4 of 5 tea leaves – Quite a good cuppa!
Steepability: 5 of 5 tea leaves – This tea is easy to make!

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