Thank you Amanda for swapping this sample out!
I’m very cautious of chai in general. I like the warmth that it can give you, but not necessarily the spiciness. It’s the only tea blend that I religiously check the list of ingredients before swapping/ordering. If it has pepper in it, it’s a deal-breaker.
There is a certain tea vendor’s chai that I really used to like and it had pepper in it, but it was the very last ingredient. Then for some ungodly reason, when I went to reorder the blend a year later, the company changed up the ingredient list and pepper was listed at least 4 ingredients higher. Oh and did I mention when I went to reorder, I bought a POUND of it? So now I’m stuck with lots, and lots of a chai that I no longer like. Ugh! And I’m oh-so-slowly getting rid of it by mixing it with a similar but unpeppered chai. (If you want a coconut chai, PM me and I’ll send you some – probably even more than you’d want!)
Anyway, THIS tea – I was very excited by just smelling it! It’s warm and cozy like my favorite scarf and sweater on a Fall-ish day. I put the sample away, but its been calling out to me for a few days now.
I wish I could share the brewing parameters, but quite honestly I didn’t measure the milk & water. All I can say is that I used 3 grams of tea and 4 tsp of rock sugar. The rest was left to chance. I did brew it in milk first for 3 minutes. Then brewed the leaves again in maybe a third cup of water for another 3 minutes. Having done that, I’m quite happy with the way this turned out! It’s delicious – I really like the way the cinnamon, clove and cardamon mingle in this offering. It really doesn’t taste spicy, but more reminds me of a biscuit or cookie.
It’s going on my shopping list! Thanks Amanda for the sample and saving me from another potential chai-tastrophe!
lol chai-tastrophe cute! ;)