Chai Guarana

this was unexpectedly delicious!!!
I’m rather skeptical about Chai in general… having had so many that did nothing for me but the ingredient list seemed pretty benign and so I gave it a shot.
With some agave and heaps of milk, this was just the kind of chai I enjoy. It reminds me of the cuppas I’ve had in Indian restaurants to close the meal. The spices were perfectly balanced, with none of them poking out or lacking.
I did however, see a note in someone else’s review about it seeming a bit thin, and I think I know what they mean.
Initially, I had hoped to get a second steeping out of this, but as I moseyed on to work, taking random sips here and there… I kept thinking “just another minute steeping and it will be poifect!” (yes I’ve taken on an accent, in my head)
but oddly, that minute never seemed to end!
Which is super strange because I typically enjoy my teas on the weaker side…
I suppose it was my conditioning learned in Indian food houses that’s taught me to relish a strong cup in my chai???
Nonetheless, I love this one anyhow. Even moreso because it tasted just like “chai” without the hassle of making it into a bonafide latte! I mean, I’m sure it would be incredible as one, but I couldn’t seem to tell the difference so… shrugs
If it wasn’t for my tea buying ban (which I broke today. Bad IndigoBloom, bad!) I could seriously see myself buying some up for the cupboard!!
Disclaimer: I do have a bit of head cold going on. It’s no doubt affecting my senses!

I drank this tea yesterday and then steeped the leaves again this morning! This tea has a spicy taste that lingers and I quite enjoy it. It’s a pretty basically chai, otherwise, but great to drink it the morning to really jump start the day!

(Especially after being out until the wee hours of the morning at a party, if you catch my drift.)

It smells very spicy and cinnamon-y and tastes that way too. There is far too much cinnamon for my (cinnamon hating) tastes. The mouthfeel is surprisingly light as well, versus how dark the tea is. Of course, I just finished a cup of coffee, so take this with a grain of salt. If you like cinnamon, then you’re ahead of me in liking this tea.
Not bad otherwise, just too much of a kick for me,

A nice spicy tea. Hoping it helps me catch some nice rainbow trout, today is opening day in CT.

Good with milk and honey.

I’m very pleasantly surprised by this! It has an incredibly smooth cinnamon flavor. I wouldn’t really put this in the same category as masala chais, more of just a really good cinnamon tea. The craziest thing of all is that i normally put honey and frothed milk in nearly all flavored black teas, when i took a sip of this one, I liked it totally unaltered. I’m definitely keeping this one. Anytime I can find a tasty black tea that I can enjoy without the added calories, i’m stoked.

This is actually quite a good chai! I add 1/2c hot milk to my steeper along with the water, give it a little stir and let the works steep for 7 min. Add some raw sugar, or brown sugar after straining and you have one delicious, warm, spicy cup of chai – one that packs a punch, the guarana definitely perks me up.

The only downfall is that the tea is quite heavy, so you don’t get as much for your $. Tomorrow I will try David’s Saigon Chai steeped the same way so I can compare.

This tea is one of my absolute favorites. Wakes you up in the morning without the jitters that coffee gives me and tastes like a cinnamon bun.

My new go-to-tea for energy boost! The blend of black tea, guarana and roasted mate keeps me going without the jitters. (sometimes keeps me up all night, so this is my morning tea!) It’s so delicious and i looove having it the Indian way, with lots of brown sugar and milk. It is so yummy and spicy it keeps me warm in the fall weather. Iced latte of this was my fave all summer, and just stocked up for the cold weather too :) highly recommend if you’re not a morning person like me

Another sample to try, compared to the saigon chai this one is like… powder. It doesn’t nearly smell as spicy either. Personally, I hate tea dust. It’s hard to clean up and even using a french press doesn’t always stop bits falling in. So the kicker is that this chai comes with what.. guarana berries? Personally I have no idea what that is supposed to taste like (even after drinking energy drinks) so I was curious to see which one between this and the saigon chai to buy.

Smells a little bit odd, I can smell the cinnamon and the anise but not so much the ginger. It is pretty easy to drink, not too spicy not too overwhelming feels like the ginger is just in the background. It’s funny though, I always think cloves are necessary in a chai but this one has none. Anyways, the berries don’t taste like much I assume and this chai is rather pedestrian. Between this and the saigon, this one cost $2 more per 50g and comes in choppy flakes. I think it’s a no-brainer to go for the cheaper and more full flavour saigon instead. I guess you can buy some guarana seed powder and dump it in any tea if you really think it makes a difference.

The lady in David’s Tea Peterborough recommended this when I asked for a coffee substitute for my 4:30am wake-ups, my body really can’t deal with coffee.

A good chai latté has long since been one of my favourite coffeehouse drinks but they are so often too ‘anise-y’ or ‘clove-y’ for my taste, or there was that one that tasted like dish washing liquid. I have had the same poor luck buying grocery store branded chai teabags.

However, this chai is perfectly balanced for my taste, I agree with the taster that said not one spice was sticking out or notably lacking. It has fast become a staple that I drink on the way to every early shift. My favourite way to drink it is steeped in half hot water, half unsweetened almond milk with lots of honey (honey and chai are the most delicious combo).

Black Tea, Mate and Guarana Seeds, are you tweaking yet? This tea may actually be considered a controlled substance in some places due to the amount of stimulant in it…ok well it might not be illegal but its potent!

Dry this tea looks like it could be used as a spice or a seasoning on some kind of steak its loaded with a little bit of everything. It has a strong but please aroma on the nose, even the smell is a potent pick me up. Steeping this tea gives off the same aroma, there isn’t too much with the tea leaves themselves to see open up or anything.

The final brew from is a dark and potent one, the aroma doesn’t seem to change much unless adding milk or sweeteners to this tea. I enjoyed it personally with two teaspoons of sugar and no milk. It has a great stimulant kick to it that makes it perfect for those mornings where you are dragging your feet or those nights were you want or have to be up late.

Every work day morning for the past week has found me reaching for this tea first. It’s warm and cinnamony and gets my brain to wake up and start functioning. I add a generous pump of agave and try to drink it as hot as I can handle.

So far the best chai tea I have tasted, it is very flavourful. I think they got the spice ratio down pretty good. The gauarana gives you a nice kick in the ass in the morning without leaving you all jittery or having a big downer later on in the day.

So disappointed in this one. Ho hum. I’d been wanting to try it for quite a while and finally got around to picking up a 25g bag last time I was at davids. I was surprised at how heavy it is, the 25g really doesn’t go a long way. But on to the tea itself.

Like a bunch of others, I was surprised at how…powdery..this tea is. Looks almost like the contents of a traditional tea bag. I’m also wondering if mine is from the bottom of the wall tin since it looks like mostly pieces of cinnamon. I was skeptical but I gave it a good long steep and hoped for the best. After a 5-6 min steep it was still looking pretty weak and watery. It smelled delicious, but when I added my usual chai fixings (milk & sugar) it was clear that there was very little actual tea in my cup. With even just a splash of milk, the brew looked like, well, water and milk. Hoping to save my cup, I desperately threw a bag of cheap orange pekoe into the mix. This made it drinkable, but still disappointing. The chai spice blend was really nice and I know I would have enjoyed this a lot if it hadnt been lacking the actual tea element (which is, unsurprisingly, pretty important in a tea :P)

I think I’ll wait a while and try a cup of this in store, hopefully from a different batch. I’m not willing to give up on this just yet, and considering all of the glowing reviews, I’m thinking my experience may have been a fluke.

I love this tea! My ultimate all nighter tea. As far as chai teas go I’d say it’s pretty standard. I prefer my chai teas a pit more cinnamony.
The energy it gives me is absolutley worth it not being my favorite chai taste (not that it’s gross, just a bit bland)
It holds milk well which makes for good chai lattes.

Also try as a latte with chocolate milk.

Day 54 of my 101 days of DAVIDsTEA challenge!

Bough a cup of this in-store. Managed to spill around a tenth of it on myself — I’d forgotten how hard it is to manouver tea and an umbrella at the same time.

Nonetheless, the tea was quite good straight — it had a lovely pungent chai flavour, with sweetness. I quite enjoyed it. However, I’m not sure if it’s because it doesn’t resteep well or because it’s just not as good this way, but I didn’t like it as much the second time around with milk and brown sugar. Therefore, I think this might be the first chai I really prefer straight!

I just hope I have better drinking conditions the next time I indulge in a cup of this….

I’m drinking this tea right now. I hope it will give me the energy to write the massive number of tea reviews I’ve fallen behind on.

It’s a good chai. I really like super-strong chais, and this is stronger than, say, DT’s Saigon Chai, which is nice. I forgot to ask them when I was in the store yesterday which chai they made was the absolute strongest. Whoops.
When I make chai for myself, from scratch, I brew up black tea, then I dump in obnoxious amounts of chinese five spice and cardamom. Usually I end up with a big clump of spices at the bottom.
I was drinking this, trying to figure out what’s missing, and then it hit me: no cardamom. To me, cardamom is what makes a good chai. So I stirred some in. If I bought a bag of this, I might throw some cardamom pods in with the loose tea. Maybe crush them first (which is what I do with big spices in tea).

This is a pretty good tea though

This was yet another reccomendation made by an employee. I was rather skeptical about this one as I am not the biggest fan of the bold flavours. This one really suprised me. The initial taste is quite bold but as it lingers, it almost becomes more spicy as it looses the initial flavour. I only picked up 10g and I can’t see myself stocking up on this one but I would definetely have another cup!

This is definately my go-to morning tea. To be honest, I dont really get that energy boost but I dont blame the tea; I literaly fell asleep right after drinking two large black coffees. Energy boosts and caffeen just dont affect me, never did.

Anyways, at first sniff of the dry leaves this tea smells totally disgusting!!!!!! BUT when you steep it the nasty smell goes away and tastes AMAZING, just like chai should. Its spicey but not too spicy, its a really good chai. I receomend it for all of you chai lovers out there, and maybe the energy boost will work on you hahaha (:

Finally a chai that doesn’t make me sit back and go, “this is nice, but it isn’t the chai flavours I love”. This one has the notes that make me happy, with it being a sweeter chai and therefore one I don’t have to milk for me to enjoy. It has a similar flavour to Chai Spice from the Tea Haus, but also has another note to it, I suspect that coming from the mate. I enjoyed this one, drinking it black, which is something I don’t normally end up doing for my teas. Definitely one I’ll consider re-stocking!