Honey Vanilla Chai

Grabbed this from Wal-mart the other day…I was seeking my Sugar Plum Spice but can’t find it. Horrors! Thought this was a new tea (it’s not) so I thought I’d try it out…

This doesn’t exactly taste like chai to me. It’s clove-y and spicy, but not overly chai. It’s still really smooth and delicate, thanks to the white tea base. I taste the sweetness of honey and a twinge of vanilla, but neither are overwhelming. It’s a nice medley of clove, allspice, a bit of nutmeg and hints of vanilla and honey.

I don’t know if I’d go out of my way to buy it again, but I’m enjoying this for the most part. It’s not my fave CS (that distinction goes to Sugar Plum Spice) but it’s not bad either.

If anyone cares to try it before buying, please let me know; I love sharing tea, because I can justify buying more! ;) (At least to myself, the hubby is no longer fooled.)

This is the second time I’ve made this tea, and I thought I had tealogged the first. Briefly, I steeped it on the lower end of the recommended steep time range at an unremembered temperature and added milk. It came out weak.

This time I steeped it at the upper end of the recommended steep time range, using 3/4 water and 1/4 heated milk as also recommended. I steeped at a lower temperature because of the white tea, which I don’t really know the correct temperature range for but am guessing 170-185° F maybe. There is also black tea in the ingredient list so maybe I need to treat it like a black tea and steep at 205° F.

The chai did come out better this time. The water to milk ratio is good and creamy but does not overpower the spices. The chai could have still be stronger and I’d have liked it. I couldn’t take the tea specifically, black tea or white tea, but it did have a tea taste rather than just steeped spices. The spices were a general chai spice taste with none being prominent. Overall, quick, decent, easy, comforting chai.

This tea reminds me of one of those gift shops that sells candles and potpourri and such. The scent of vanilla is strong and warm, with touches of honey and spice underneath. It’s a soothing blend, but I think it could become cloying quickly. Luckily I like my chai heavy on the vanilla and light on the spice. I added a packet of raw sugar and a healthy splash of whole milk, so this is a very sweet and rich mug. Overall I think I would rather add my own honey than buy a tea with honey flavoring, but I was glad to get to sample this.

Unbalanced. Too sweet. Not enough white tea in the blend to notice. Hollow.

Having a nice quiet eve at home. When reading a good book I love a large hot strong cup of chai. And this certainly holds up to some cream and sugar, they seam to bring out all the flavors of the honey, vanilla, and spices. Nothings smothered! Very Good.

I’ve tried many, many types of chai tea and I keep coming back to this one as my daily standby. I like my tea full bodied (which this one is) but I don’t tolerate bitter well, and I find this tea rarely if ever gets that bitter flavour, even when I accidentally leave the bag in for 10 minutes (isn’t tea supposed to improve memory?). It has more of a full-bodied, warm flavour then a really spicy chai flavour with the vanilla being very noticeable.

I find it tastes best with a bit of milk and honey to sweeten it up, though it needs rather less sweetening then other chai because of the vanilla flavour and aforementioned lack of bitterness. The only thing that makes me sad is that since Celestial Seasonings has revamped it’s packaging this tea has disappeared from most of the grocery store shelves around here! I’ve been forced to hit up Wal-Mart for my fix.

Got this when I was first getting into chai. It makes a good cup—I don’t use much soymilk. The spice isn’t as evident as I’d like it to be (except for one—maybe it’s clove—that sticks out oddly), but it’s not objectionable. I normally love the smell of the steeped leaves, but the smell of this bag when I take it out of my cup is kind of funky. Not sure why (I have had this box for a while, though). Pretty tasty, but I don’t think I’ll get it again—I’ll get something with a more even kick.

Tasty as all hell. Best teabagged chai I’ve tried yet!

this Chai is not quite strong enough to suit my taste. After milk and sugaring it still seems quite watery

5 minute steep time, 75 – 85% of the cup w/ hot water. Added soy milk to fill the cup the rest of the way up after removing the tea bag. Very creamy, not too sweet. Good level of spice flavor – if you’re looking for a very strong spice, this is not for you. But if you’re looking for a creamy drink that has a light, almost pumpkin-spice (w/o the pumpkin) flavor, it is good.

I wasn’t expecting to like this tea – I’ve tried the CS Coconut Thai Chai and thought it was way too spicy. This one, however, wasn’t; the clove does stand out, but it’s also got a nice herbal sweetness – almost like a Yankee Candle, but I can’t place that scent. It tastes really Autumnal, but not especially like pumpkin pie or pecan pie or anything like that…just fallish spice flavors. The honey and vanilla don’t jump out to me, for some reason.

I know this is tea in bags, but I don’t care. This stuff is good with milk and whatever amount of sugar you feel like having at the moment.

Delicious and distinct honey and chai flavor. Amazing with honey and milk/cream
Be careful not to over-steep or else it becomes very spicy

I had this last night. I used to have fond thoughts of this tea… but does it have an expiration date, because this totally let me down! it wasn’t happy and warm and comforting like it used to be! it was bland… and… boring…

perhaps it expired.

Had this with dessert tonight – it went very well with chocolate cake. ;) It was a bit bitter, especially as I got to the bottom of the pot. A combinations of too much spice ‘settling’ and maybe oversteeping the white tea, I think.