So this is a sample which I received with a more recent Teavana order. I read through some of the reviews and decided to pull out all the sugar I could find before brewing some. I found 3tsp. of sugar in my 1oz baggie. It seems like a ton to someone like me who never adds sugar to their teas. The amount of oolong in the blend is crushingly low. My blend was about 1/3 sugar, 1/3 mate, and 1/3 everything else. I used 3tsp. of leaf to make 16oz.
Dry and steeping this smelled mainly of cinnamon. Not exactly the same type of cinnamon in the Ayurvedic Chai, which is kind of a sweet cinnamon. Rather, this is a hot cinnamon. There were also so peppery, nutty, and citrus notes as well.
Wow! I left the room and came back and the smell permeated the whole room. It really does smell nice, but very strong. If I was just a bit more sensitive it would probably annoy me. I think I really like this one. It still somehow tastes sweetened. Maybe a few little crystals got in there. If someone blind tasted this with me I’d guess there was only herbs in this and maybe a black base. I really cannot discern the teas because the spices are so overwhelming; but I like my chai that way! I am a huge fan of overtly spicy chai teas and this one is really good. I still think the older samurai/Ayurvedic chai is better.
