Peanut Butter Chai

I wanted chai so I decided to prolong the life of my Mayan Chocolate Chai and drink this.

1tsp in 6oz (instead of the suggested 8) near (instead of full) boiling water.

I’m not surprised this chai is quite opaque, and unfortunately I’m not surprised at the light color (it is orange though, which surprises me)… I had 5 peanut butter chips in my serving and while it makes sure the peanut butter flavor is there- that doesn’t leave much space for tea or chai.

It smells like… pumpkin pie. Yeah I know weird. Especially since the raw leaf smells like peanut butter.

When I take a sip it tastes like peanut butter… I have to admit when I was trying to wrap my idea of a peanut butter chai, the only thing I could imagine was when peanut butter gives me indigestion and it burns coming up. And it vaguely reminds me of that, but it is definitely a peanut butter chai. I’m just not a fan of solo peanut butter though, it needs chocolate. Wait… crap… I spoke too soon. The 1st taste was great… but after that it just tastes like watery pumpkin pie (yes, pumpkin again)…

Frank, I can see potential w/ this. While I know it wouldn’t be as visually appealing, I suggest chopping the peanut butter chips to make it easier for the peanut butter, chai spices, and black tea base to be more evenly distributed.

Spicy—bordering on savory. At the forefront, I can taste the cinnamon, cardamon, cloves and plenty of pepper—but the peanut butter not as much. There’s an interesting nuttiness and something delicious and “Christmassy”—like gingerbread.

I love the intense spicy-sweet-savory aroma. And as this cools down, I’m detecting the saltiness of chunky peanut butter spread—yummy!

Pretty fun to drink. I like this. :)

It was all I could do not to eat the peanut butter chips out of this blend. Oh, how I love peanut butter. It is my dear friend. And I love chai. How could I not love this? Well….

When brewed it smells deliciously nutty, but definitely tastes like a chai. The black tea in this is as prominent as the nuts, which is why I usually like my chais without black tea and just spices. Hmmm I am on the fence about how to rate this…. I am a chai fan, and I am a PB fan, but I’m having trouble getting super psyched about this. “It’s just a’ight for me.”

Edit- Added some vanilla almond milk, and a touch of Texas wildflower honey. Mmmmmmmm! Much better. Drew out the sweetness of the peanut butter.

Steep Information:
Amount: 3 tsp
Additives: none
Water: 1 cast iron teapot, filtered, boiling
Tools: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 4 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: graham crackers, ginger snaps, peanut butter, girl scout cookies
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon and clove
Flavor:
AmazonV: smooth spiced chai tea, a small hint of peanut butter
MilitiaJim: hot but flavored like cold sesame noodles
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: sweet spicy ginger
Liquor: cloudy reddish-brown

Not enough peanut butter flavor for me, I love peanut butter and I love chai. I believe this is a good chai, but that isn’t was I was expecting so I will need to try this again expecting a chai and not peanut butter and see if I enjoy it then.

Also perhaps a shorter steep time, and steeping one cup at a time might help with the peanut butter flavoring.

I need to give this one another try as it has promise.

Post-Steep Additives: German rock sugar
really the same, I should have perhaps also done a bit of milk

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/52teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-peanut.html

I had this friday night in a latte and it was delicious. Definately gonna have to add this to my collection if it doesn’t sell out first.