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Trying this today using the Samovar stovetop method with Kusmi Chocolate as the extra black tea.

This is a creamy, chocolatey, spicy, comforting drink. The spice is just enough to make it known this is chai, and I’m getting a lot of chocolate taste (the use of the Kusmi as the extra black tea with chocolate chais has been extremely successful, and I heartily recommend using a chocolate flavored black tea for the extra black if you’re following the Samovar method with a chocolate chai).

Cheesecake, not so much, and I would have thought perhaps that was because I’d added the Kusmi, but then I read the notes here and it seems to be a common observation about this tea. There is a sort of creaminess to the flavor that accentuates the normal milky creaminess with chais prepared this way, and I’m taking that to be the cheesecake flavor. There’s not a piquancy to it that actual cheesecake has. It’s more creamy than cheesy.

I have one more 52 teas chocolate chai in my stash and I’ll be interested to see what the difference is in flavor between that one and this. I can say now that I prefer the spicy yet not blisteringly spiciness of this mixture to the Mayan Chocolate Chai for most purposes, though there are times when the Mayan seems like it would be the only thing that would hit the spot.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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I got obsessed with tea in 2010 for a while, then other things intruded, then I cycled back to it. I seem to be continuing that in for a while, out for a while cycle. I have a short attention span, but no shortage of tea.

I’m a mom, writer, gamer, lawyer, reader, runner, traveler, and enjoyer of life, literature, art, music, thought and kindness, in no particular order. I write fantasy and science fiction under the name J. J. Roth.

Personal biases: I drink tea without additives. If a tea needs milk or sugar to improve its flavor, its unlikely I’ll rate it high. The exception is chai, which I drink with milk/sugar or substitute. Rooibos and honeybush were my gateway drugs, but as my tastes developed they became less appealing — I still enjoy nicely done blends. I do not mix well with tulsi or yerba mate, and savory teas are more often a miss than a hit with me. I used to hate hibiscus, but I’ve turned that corner. Licorice, not so much.

Since I find others’ rating legends helpful, I added my own. But I don’t really find myself hating most things I try.

I try to rate teas in relation to others of the same type, for example, Earl Greys against other Earl Greys. But if a tea rates very high with me, it’s a stand out against all other teas I’ve tried.

95-100 A once in a lifetime experience; the best there is

90-94 Excellent; first rate; top notch; really terrific; will definitely buy more

80-89 Very good; will likely buy more

70-79 Good; would enjoy again, might buy again

60-69 Okay; wouldn’t pass up if offered, but likely won’t buy again

Below 60 Meh, so-so, iffy, or ick. The lower the number, the closer to ick.

I don’t swap. It’s nothing personal, it’s just that I have way more tea than any one person needs and am not lacking for new things to try. Also, I have way too much going on already in daily life and the additional commitment to get packages to people adds to my already high stress level. (Maybe it shouldn’t, but it does.)

That said, I enjoy reading folks’ notes, talking about what I drink, and getting to “know” people virtually here on Steepster so I can get ideas of other things I might want to try if I can ever again justify buying more tea. I also like keeping track of what I drink and what I thought about it.

My current process for tea note generation is described in my note on this tea: https://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6990-the-des-impressionnistes

Location

Bay Area, California

Website

http://www.jjroth.net

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