Thanks very much to Epi Tea for the pre-release sample of this.
I will start off by saying that I am a chai lover, and I have had many. Traditional and non-tradional ones. I knew looking at the ingredients that this was going to be a non-tradional one since it has vanilla flavoring in it. Which I love, because I like to see what kind of twist they put on it.
When I opened the bag that was the first thing I smelled. Well that and the cardamon. I brewed it according to what was suggested which was 4 minutes. I could smell the vanilla again before anything which did not put me off. Instead It made me think it would a great with a touch of cream. But I wanted to try it straight first.
It has a nice balance of flavors. Although I could make out the vanilla right away I could still make out the other spices. The after taste of it has a slight flatness to it. Not as full-bodied that I would hope for. After drinking it straight had way I decided to add some milk and sugar to it. It really did not need the sugar, but I wanted to drink it as a traditional chai. The cream helped the body, but there was still something lacking that I can not put my finger on.
Either way I am happy that I got to try this before it came out. It is a nice chai, just not not my favorite.
