Seriously, as if this Friday could get any better, I poked my head out of my front door early this evening and what was waiting there but my swap from Azzrian!! Apparently we had a hailstorm today, and I think the poor little guy might have sat on the step through it, but no harm done!
Anyways, I’m super stoked because a) now I get to try more 52teas before placing my order tonight, and b) my tastebuds are no longer angry with me!
So this one is from Azzrian – I wanted to try it and possibly buy it for my roomie, who loves chais and cayenne! So naturally, we shared it together this evening :)
Can’t remember what the dry tea smelled like, and too lazy to go fetch the bag… so I’ll write about that later. Roommate thought the tea smelled like “Gramma”. Which is not an insult :P
Steeped, it definitely smells like a chai. A strong chai. Which is great! It smells a bit different from a traditional chai too, which I like.
So we first tried the tea straight… and woah. It’s weird, NOT what I expected. Chai, but with a deep smokey flavour, and a huge cayenne finish. Super spicy! To be honest, both of us weren’t keen on it at this point – it was just a bit weird, and really strong. Of course, I was disappointed as I thought my roommate would like it :( I thought it was alright, but probably wouldn’t pick it myself. I’m not sure I’m picking up the chocolate, either.
I try not to drink teas with milk/sugar, but due to the strength of this one, I figured it would be worth a shot! So a bit of milk and maybe 3/4 of a teaspoon later…. YES! So much better! The somewhat off-putting smokiness is tamed by the milk and sugar, and now it tastes like a lovely twist on chai! The roommate also approved, and as we drank it, it totally grew on us…. enough that it will definitely be part of tonight’s order!
I tried re-steeping it in a smaller amount of water, and got a lovely second cup out of it too. I’m actually drinking this one straight – I think I’ve now become accustomed to the taste and am really enjoying the spicy hit at the end. It also might be a bit weaker at this point. So not only does it hold up well to milk and sugar, I now find it tasty on its own too!
So a huge thank-you to Azzrian for this sample, which arrived at just the perfect time! I am so sold on 52teas right now…. (and SO excited to try all the other 52teas samples from Amanda, Azzrian, and LiberTEAS – there must be nearly 30 between them!)
Yay so happy you are having a great weekend with your teas!! :)
Very much so! Thank you!