Mayan Chocolate Chai

Oh yum, this tea is so tasty! I wasn’t too convinced when I first opened the packet because the first scent that reached my nose was a strong chocolate-almondy note that I just didn’t find too convincing. But I went ahead and brewed up and boy is this fantastic. On brewing the chocolate is still there but it is less predominant, and the chili takes the lead followed by the ginger and cardamom and then the chocolate. If you want a tea that tastes strongly of chocolate this may not be for you but if you would like a really kicky chai with a subtle nuttiness and a chocolate finish then you will love this as much as I do.

Edit: I just have to add that I’ve finished half my pouch of this already & I’m ordering a second, bigger pouch today so that I can keep treating myself to this yummy cup of tea. It is just about the perfect breakfast tea, all those spices really get me up and moving in the morning.

While most chai teas would like to add that extra kick by making the spices stronger, thus intensifying the chai flavor, this tea does it differently.

By keeping the flavor intact, simply adding cayenne pepper seems to give a well balanced chai taste while giving you that extra kick in the mouth.

This tea, while bringing the heat, is bloody delicious as well, definitely igniting a fire of flavor in every sip.

Okay, this is the first bag from 52Teas that I have completely finished and then I had to wait until he blended it (and I think he changed the label at that time, because it wasn’t originally part of “ManTeas”.). I loved it. Itcomes in smooth and sweet with the chocolate and then has that KaPOW at the end… I discovered I had to shake it up every time before I doled myself another spoonful to brew, because it tends to settle, and all the pepper ran to the bottom. It’s very nice in winter because the peppers and spiced help add extra “warmth” to the hot water! I need to clear out some of my cupboard of teas and I will reorder this tea – even if it is targeting men!! It’s got the bite! Doubtless I’m not the world’s greatest tea taster and am glossing over nuances that others are waiting with baited breath for a description of, but I finished my last cuppa months ago and the memory is fading, other than the strong memory that I want to get more of this tea!

As for steeping time, water temperature, I’ve no idea. When the water boiled, I poured it on. I’m not much on scalding my throat and lips….so I like to add my stevia and creamers and such to cool it down if I’m in a hurry. If my lips say “ouch” its too hot and I let it cool. But I’ve never stuck a thermometer into my cuppa to find out what that “perfect temperature” was. Use your common sense, people! I highly doubt the earliest generations of tea drinkers, wherever in the world they lived back in the day (China, India, etc) ever did anything fancier then the “pre-digital thermometer” – stick a finger in it and if they screamed in pain, they took the digit out and let the cup of tea cool off.

I should start off by saying that chai is my favorite kind of tea. Ever. So when I saw 52teas offering this as part of their end of year top 10, I jumped at the chance to try it. It smells wonderful in the package, but I was a little concerned about the overwhelming amount of cayenne pepper I could see in the bag. Turns out, that concern was well founded. It’s hard to say whether I liked the other flavors of this tea as the cayenne just overpowers the rest of it. It needed more of the cinnamon and chocolate and way less of the cayenne, though the pepper in moderation would add just the right amount of spicy to this blend. All in all, it was okay, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering it again.