Masala Chai

This makes a pretty good chai latte.

Very Solid Masala Chai. More apple cider-y than others I’ve had.

I enjoyed this one. It somehow tastes a little bit watery to me – I used plenty of the tea, I’m thinking maybe I’d like it with some additional black tea thrown in. I appreciate that nothing in here tastes artificial – I’ve had a bad history of finding chais that seem to have red hot candies as half the content. I liked it fine, it was just somehow…lacking something. Maybe I would like it better as a chai latte or something? Nice balance of the spices, though.

Sample from Hoálatha

I found this cup to be very bold with layers of spices. This tea has a very thick mouthfeel. I’m getting a slight astringency in the aftertaste, but overall a very tasty brew. I added a bit of milk halfway through to counteract the astringency—which actually helped the profile of the tea to smooth out a little bit.

I received a sample pouch of this chai with my most recent Adagio order. I was not exactly thrilled. I have hated all forms of chai since I was a teenager. I don’t remember why I developed such a hatred for the stuff. I love tea and I normally like spicy things, so one would expect chai to be right up my alley. Sadly, one would be wrong, or at least one would be wrong most of the time. I did not find this chai to be all that bad.

I followed Adagio’s brewing guidelines for this one. I steeped 1 teaspoon of loose material in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 10 minutes. At one point, I tried a shorter steep time of around 8 minutes, but I could not detect much of a difference from the longer infusion, so I will be limiting myself to a discussion of that specific preparation. I also tried a 10 minute infusion with an addition of milk. I will comment on that one briefly.

Prior to infusion, the loose tea and spice blend greeted me with overpowering aromas of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove. I failed to note the aroma of ginger. After infusion, I again noted pronounced aromas of cinnamon, cardamom, and clove. I again failed to pick up the presence of ginger. In the mouth, I detected strong notes of cinnamon, cardamom, clove, and ginger underscored by traces of cream, malt, caramel, and toast. The tea base seemed a little weak to me. I also noticed that as the liquor moved from the entry to the finish in the mouth, the notes of cinnamon and ginger became increasingly dominant. I think it may have been a good idea for Adagio to rein in the cinnamon a bit. It was a little distracting. Interestingly, this chai came across as richly and boldy spicy, as well as a bit bitter and biting. Trying this same preparation with an addition of milk yielded a slightly smoother, sweeter, silkier brew. The milk seemed to bring out the tea base a little more, but it unfortunately further muted the cardamom and clove aromas and flavors to a limited extent.

I don’t know. I fully expected to hate this stuff, but I didn’t. Actually, I thought it was pretty decent for a masala chai. Granted I have not exactly been consuming chai on a regular basis or anything, but I could still get through this without many complaints. I think the fact that it was more robustly spicy and a touch more bitter than I was expecting made me appreciate it more. If I had more of it, I would try it with both milk and a touch of either honey or sugar just to see if the cinnamon and ginger could be tamed a little more.

There’s something dangerous about tea people on the weekends. They have more time to think of weird things to do. My project for today is sipping through my chai collection—all six of them.

I decided to try Adagio’s Masala chai first because the scent was the least enticing. It smelled too spicy, too clovey.

Once brewed, it’s not surprising that this come through in the liquid. It’s extremely spicy, like a very strong pumpkin pie spice. It’s extremely clovey and gingery. It’s actually making me sneeze and making my nose run. That may be the cinnamon. It may be a good choice for when I’m sick.

The base is pretty hidden beneath the spice. There’s some bitterness, astringency, and tannic flavor, but that’s pretty much all I can detect of the base.

This is just a good all-around chai. I especially like it with a tiny bit of brown sugar and steamed milk. Very comforting and pleasant.

Upon replenishing my stock of this tea, was disappointed to receive crushed leaves, chopped spices, and a completely different taste. Very spicy, not enough tea, and now I am on a new quest to find one as good or better as the old Masala Chai from Adagio.

Sample! Woot! I made this stove-top. It’s level of spice is perfect. :) It’s not as tea-flavorful as Samovar’s chai, so if I do decide to purchase it, I’ll probably mix in a black tea I have laying about.

Two thumbs up!

I am pleasantly surprised by this. Really nice balance of spices and a smooth mouth feel despite a bit of bite (in a good way). Tasty and comforting. I am a fan! Which is semi surprising as I am beginning to realize that despite Adagio being my first experience with a larger tea company (and loving the creativity given with fan blends and the point system online), their tea seems to be lacking most of the time when compared to other teas I have had.

But this one? A-ok in my book.