Spiced Apple Chai

I’m on a chai kick, so I decided to revisit an old favorite tonight… apparently old enough that I haven’t actually logged it here, though I feel like I have a memory of doing so. Oh well! This isn’t going to be a proper review since I played around with it a lot. I was in the mood for a dessert chai: I wanted chocolatey, caramely, nutty. My obious option was to blend (I was going to go with RoT chai + Florence + Caramel Apple Supreme) but felt like I’d lose the spicy chai kick, so instead I made this and added a few things. While it was steeping I cut up a soft caramel candy and threw it in, along with some fresh-cracked pepper and a hint of cloves. Then I poured it over a spoonful of nutella, mixed it all together, and added a splash of milk.

Oh. My. Lord. It is SO good. The additions thankfully don’t overwhelm the chai so it’s quite spicy and strong and the apple is still prominent, but you get a wonderful sweetness from the caramel, chocolatey nuttyness from the nutella and creaminess (presumably from both the caramel and milk). It’s sinfully good.

Now, I liked the sound of apple chai when I chose this from Adagio’s chai list… but when I opened the pouch to sniff, I knew I had stumbled upon something I’d love. I already have a weakness for anything apple cinnamon, and that combined with the spicy scent of chai, which I am also a fan of…

Anyway, I didn’t go exactly traditional when I made it because of the color. Even with eight teaspoons in a little under four cups of water, it didn’t get as dark as I had hoped. It was still a dark, slightly cloudy brown. But it smelled like heaven, especially on such a gray, wet day. I added just a splash of milk instead of the half-half ratio, and sweetened. It’s essentially like an apple cider, strengthened with black tea and chai spices, with the burn of ginger at the end. I love it. I’m absolutely going to buy a half pound.

Here’s a tea that is up my alley. It smells so spicey, all those delicious spices mingling. As it steeps you get some of the apple scent.
Oh yea this is tasty. You can taste all the spices separately, but yet together and at the end of the sip you get the Ginger. it could use some more apple flavour, but even without it it’s pretty delicious.

Oh this would be great mixed with DTs Forever Nuts. Oh god, I wish DT was closer.
As it has cooled to about room temp I have some more apple tartness. Yummers!

Backlog!

Thanks Darby for sending me a very generous amount of this and others! Much appreciated! :)

I really like this one! I’ve been on a spicy tea/chai kick the past couple of days, especially at night, and I have no idea why because I’m not generally the biggest fan of chais or spicy teas, but I have been having cravings for them. This one is super yummy! It smells and tastes like mulled apple cider with the added benefit of tea! I don’t think I would repurchase it, but it is good!

Thank you Emilie for this sweet sample! I have not had Chai or an apple tea for ages! I won an apple pie contest and I don’t drink apple tea…so what’s the deal?! If it wasn’t for Emilie I’d still be un-appled…wanting and vacant. Therefore (great word that), today being my go to Boulder for tea day (went to Teavana and scared the poor guy who worked there until he asked to follow me on steepster…too funny!, and to Dushanbe Teahouse and one other that was beautiful…Ku Cha House of Tea) I wanted to begin with some caffeine and Chai so here it was. A nice sample. What a lovely way to begin a warm Spring day. This had a bit too much clove for my taste…would have preferred more cinnamon and vanilla but that being that it is tasted good with milk and sweetened. So, I think this is pretty good. Not great but pretty good. There are lots of Chai’s out there. Nice to have a good apple one.

OK i am sorry to say I have forgot which one of my wonderful steepster Friends sent this one too me " I should keep better track of that " This was something they threw in special :) And let me just say I LOVE IT!! It reminds me of fall! this is not as good as my Pumpkin chia BUT MAN it comes soo close!! THANK YOU !! to whoever sent this Wonderful delight to me!! I am now taking my cup of tea to bed! UPDATE : AlphaKitty Sent this wonderful tea to me!

Tea of the afternoon…..

I did steep this in the more traditional method….1 cup water, 1 cup skim milk, 4 tsp chai. Simmer for about 5 minutes stirring and being careful not to let it boil over. I added a little brown sugar afterward this time, but I am thinking Splenda will be fine for next time, as well as a little less milk…maybe 3/4 cup milk and 1 1/4 cup water. I am trying to maximize the taste while keeping the calories low.

Anyway, what resulted was a rich and spicy chai with an apple flair. I really think this works for me. I have a few other versions of chai to try in the next week or so. I am not rating, because I do think this prep method makes just about any chai taste pretty good. And this is an inexpensive chai. I know I should probably mix up my own, but the price of the cardamom pods kind of threw me…plus, I kind of like it ready to go if I am going to prep it in this way.

I got a sample of this for Christmas and I figured this would be a yummy way to start out my morning. First off the apples and cinnamon in this blend are huge. It is a very pretty tea. It has a lovely smell of apple cider.

The tea itself tastes mostly of cinnamon with apple undertones. It tastes very similar to twinnings spiced apple chai (which I was craving all fall) but with a little bit richer flavors. It is quite a delicious tea all in all.

I adore the little tins that Adagio has! They’re the perfect size for a sampler. Spiced Apple Chai sounds so perfect for this lazy Sunday morning, to sit and gaze at my decorated tree (and, if you knew me in real life, you’d be checking the back of my neck after reading that. I don’t normally do holiday cheer).

It’s definitely got the spice down. I only brewed for 3 minutes, not the recommended 5, and used only 1 tsp per 8 oz water. The spices are still strong, more like wassail or mulling spices than actual chai. As it cools, I detect a bit more of the apple and get an apple cider-esque drink. It could definitely use more apple, though. If you’re looking for apple cider, I don’t suggest this one. If you’re looking for a nice, seasonal-spiced chai, this one fits the bill.

Oh wow! I like this a whole lot more than I expected to. It is really good! The apple flavor is well-defined, a nice cinnamon note. This reminds me of the spiced apple butter I make every autumn! YUM!

I should mention that I haven’t found a chai that I really like – they’re usually way too spicy for me. When I was placing my last order with Adagio, I figured I’d just try one at least, and this one didn’t seem too bad.

The dry leaf smelled fantastic – apples and cinnamon.

The tea itself is not to my taste. It’s too spicy, and a little too bitter for me. May have steeped poorly. I’m going to try this as a latte, and I think that’ll make it better – it needs milk, I think.

EDIT: Turned this into a latte with a little sugar. Not bad, but still not my favorite.

First and foremost Happy Thanksgiving to everyone who celebrates it! Even though I am far away, I still celebrate! Sadly, there is no vacation for Thanksgiving in Ecuador, but I took the day off to stay home and share it with my family and doggy.

This tea is always a pleasure to drink. As long as you don’t oversteep it, it is really hard to mess up.

The leaves are nice mix of large pieces of spices. some apple pieces and adagios usual black tea base. It is both pretty and fragrant. I always get oohs and aahs when I open the tin. It smells deliciously spicy.

I used 2 teaspoons to my 12oz of water and steeped for 3 minutes. The brew is reddish brown. It smells rich and spicy. Adding brown sugar generously it manages to taste a lot like apple cider. It is missing a tiny bit of apple tartness to be actually called an apple cider tea.

I added a bit of milk and the apple flavor does a disappearing act! It is completely gone! It is still a decent chai, but no longer apple at all. No matter how much I tried to find it, it was gone. Poof!

I made another cup to make sure I wasn’t crazy. I wasn’t! Without milk apple ciderish yummy tea. With milk decent chai no apple at all!

I do really like this tea. I don’t think I will add milk to it again, as there are plenty of chais that work great in lattes. This one is yummy all by itself.

OOOOOH YUM!!!!!!!! This is GREAT!!! It’s sugary, sweet, spicy, and oh so yummy! I can’t believe how delicious this is!

I made a traditional chai tea latte, and it was so worth it! Honestly, I can’t taste the apple at all. It just tastes like chai. But I’m really pleased with the way it turned out.

I think I know where I messed up with the Samovar Masala Chai. With that one, I put all the spices in a small tea ball. I don’t think it allowed the spices to expand enough once they got wet. So, the flavor didn’t really permeate throughout the liquid.

With this one, I just let the spices roll around in the milk and water. That makes this brew a winner! Now I feel really bad that I basically wasted the Samovar Masala Chai. From the smell of those spices, I bet it would have knocked the socks off this Adagio chai.

Oh well, live and learn. At least I have a nice cup of chai to enjoy on Veteran’s Day!

I had high hopes for this tea, which this tea didn’t quite hold up to. I brewed it as a cup of tea (no milk or sugar). Maybe it needs to be used as a chai tea latte, but it’s not quite strong enough of an apple flavor to be called apple chai, and not quite enough spices to be a spiced chai. I think if I added some other tea/spices to this it may be better, but before giving it a rating I will try it as a traditional chai with milk on the stovetop and see how that pans out. Darn, was really hoping for a good apple cider flavor.

2009-11-23 2pm
Preparation Details:
Zarafina Tea Maker: Black, Loose, Medium, 2 cups water, 3 scoops
sweetened with rock sugar

I was feeling awful (migraine and stomach upset) so came home early from work to find my samples from Adagio had arrived. Hooray! I sniffed them all to find one that I felt like drinking and would go well with crackers, and selected this one.

I’m not tasting any apple (sad!), even though I did smell it in the dry leaves. In fact, the tea does smell a bit like apple cider… just doesn’t taste like apples at all.

It tastes like spice, but I"m not sure what. Perhaps when I’m feeling better I’ll have another cup and I’ll be able to identify them.

It’s been a cold afternoon, so this evening I really felt like a warming, creamy chai latte. I’ve been curious to try my Spiced Apple Chai sample for a while now, so it’s this I selected.

Dry, this smells absolutely like apple pie. Apple, cinnamon and clove are the dominant scents, but I can also detect the ginger, and maybe a touch of orange. I gave it the recommended 5 minutes, and then heated up my milk.

While brewing, the spices definetly predominate. I can smell cloves and cinnamon in no small measure, and the apple has all but disappeared. All this changes once I add the milk, though, which seems to soften the spices and lets the apple come through again. It tastes just like apple pie and cream, only in liquid form, and it smells, as it does dry, primarily of apple and cinnamon. I found myself surprised that I could actually taste the apple under all of the milk and spices, but I can. It adds a very slight sharpness, and a little bite. Perfect! This is definetly one I’ll be drinking again. It’s apple pie — and autumn — in a cup!

Backlog —
Apple is a pretty mellow flavor, but it definitely comes out in this tea and isn’t buried at all. The spices really complement the juicy apple cider taste but it’s more of a standard cinnamon apple flavor than a chai. Still, it’s a refreshing change from a standard masala chai.
Definitely follow Adagio’s instructions and use 2tsp of tea per 8oz water. As a force of habit I take this with milk, but I’m sure it’s just as delicious straight up. Or maybe steeped in actual apple cider? With brown sugar? Hmm I might have to reorder a sample and try that out.

I don’t care if it’s midnight, I want a chai. Actually, I just wanted to try this apple chai that Darby sent me in a trade (thanks!) It really has a delicious slightly bitter (in a good way) chai flavor. Very flavorful, nice & spicy. The spices really linger. Sadly, the most intriguing part of this blend seems to be absent: the apple. Maybe the other flavors are so strong they mask the apple, I don’t know. To be fair, my nose is a bit stuffy and I didn’t see any apple chunks actually going into my infuser. Actually, there seems to be a squashy flavor more than apple. I’m taking a few points off for not having a better apple flavor, but as a chai, it’s great. Now at least I know those Adagio chais that you can make some amazing blends with are tasty!

I was in the mood for apples since I went apple picking with my sisters and my boyfriend this weekend! This is the first time I’m trying this. There is a lot going on here in a good way! It is nice and tart! It has a slight sweet and sourness to it! Overall, delicious. I want to try this stove-top. I’ll experiment more with this. Tis the fall season! :)

This is from my Adagio Fall Tea Sampler which I’m happy to revisit now that tea weather has officially hit Texas. Not my favorite chai, but a nice change of pace. I do love the spicy apple potpourri scent, but the actual taste is more watered down.