Coco Chai Rooibos

So this is day three of my advent calendar. I am not the biggest fan of chai, so I wasn’t particularily excited to try it out. The smell was part rooibos/ part chai… and same with the taste. I was actually fine with the taste. That was until my stomach started hurting really bad. So I have figured that the worst thing of chai tea is that my stomach doesnt like it.

First cup: Steeped 5 minutes
The cinnamon is the strongest note, with the various spices also rounding out the flavour. I don’t notice the coconut as much (it’s there, but not one of the major notes I’m noticing), but as I’m not a huge fan of it anyway so that’s just as well by me. I can tell that this would taste better with milk and sugar (the way that chai is really supposed to be enjoyed) but it’s not a bad cup on its own either.

Second cup: Same steep, around 25 minutes. Milk and 1 tsp sugar added.
Definitely better with the milk and sugar — more rounded out. The sweetness balances out the spice blend wonderfully.

Third cup: Same steep, around 35 minutes. Milk and Sugar added.
Ok, this is more of a half-cup. (The pot makes 2 cups clear, 3 with milk.) Cooled down a bit as well. The spices are very strong. Not off-putting, but strong, nonetheless. Makes me wonder how this would work if used to spice some sweet cider…. I bet that would be good. I may have to try it sometime.

The spices definitely leave an aftertaste, but thankfully not a bad one. I suppose it more speaks to just how strong the spices were in the first place.

Fourth cup: Resteeped. Milk and sugar added. Steeped for around 10 minutes.
The spices are still coming through very strongly, and I can taste the coconut more, I think.

The second half of the resteep went to my mother, who quite enjoyed it.

I also did a third steep. In general, it wasn’t bad, but the flavours were starting to mellow — the spices were starting to lose their power, and it needed to be clear to really be enjoyable.

My overall impression: Not the best chai that I’ve ever drank, but certainly not bad either. I know my mom likes this one quite a bit as well — she enjoys a good cup of chai and can’t drink much caffeine, so it’s perfect for her. Myself… I’d probably go with a different one if given the chance, so it wouldn’t be a staple for me, but I’m glad it’s there as it’s a solid non-caffeinated backup.

My rating: 79% B+. Definitely a good, solid tea. Not quite at the A level, but enjoyable nonetheless.

I’ve been on the hunt for a tasty rooibos chai for ages now and have always been disappointed in my findings. That was definitely not the case with this particular variety! This is hands-down the best rooibos chai tea I’ve ever tasted.

The traditional chai ingredients all blend together in perfect harmony and the addition of the coconut knocks it out of the park. If you like coconut in your tea and you’re a fan of chai tea, this is definitely the tea for you!

Once again DAVIDs TEA comes through with a delicious, well balanced tea that is very easy to drink!

I like this tea…it was my first David’s tea package I finished! I like most things that have coconut in them so this is a good one for that:)

Used this for a kombucha second ferment and it tastes like apple butter. So yummy!!

All the spicy taste of the Chai,
but the drink is smooth.
A subtile pepper aftertaste,
so… we got a legendary Chai?

If you’re a fan of the Chai blends, but the pure Chai blends like a Masala Chai, have in mind that it’s a smoother one blend. Lot’s of Chai i’ve tasted has some very aggressive spicy taste in your mouth. Like an indian Chai blend. For the beginner in chai tea I would say that Coco Chai Rooibos is the perfect first impression of a Chai blend.

So, do we got a legendary Chai Rooibos?
Yes, a smooth one.
A beginner one.

A Chai you can make to your friend who’s not really a “fan” of tea,
because he never tried a good one and he never tried any Chai in his life.

Finally, it’s a perfect blend for just relax in winter and during summer too,
because the spices won’t overwhelm you during sunny day!

This surprised me. I don’t really think of myself of a rooibos fan, but I’m starting to think that maybe the stuff I had tried in the past were just poor examples of rooibos. I also think that I enjoy rooibos best with other flavours. On its own I find it too… woodsy.

I actually quite like this blend – I think it’s the peppercorns that give it an unusual spice at the end that you don’t get with most chais. The spice makes it feel energizing without any caffeine. You still get that woody note from the rooibos, but the spice holds up well with it.

I am actively trying to sip down all the remaining teas from my advent calendar from two years ago. This one has now been sipped down. Success! This one is actually kind of nice. It has a good coco flavor mixed with chai spices. Some clove, some cardamon and a strong enough flavor overall to make me not notice it is a rooibos. It tastes very similar to a cacao chai I have from Zhi tea except that one will get me pretty wired on caffeine. I like having tasty evening options for tea and might actually consider adding this to my cupboard if they still offer it for sale. I’m on my second steeping and it is still going strong!

I tried to drink a cup of this last night. For some reason I found this seriously yucky. Maybe it’s the peppercorns? I don’t know, but it doesn’t taste anything like what I think Chai should taste like. If anyone would like to try this out, I can send you a few ounces worth.

This is my favourite non-caffeinated chai tea. The coconut really makes it special.

DAVID’s just made a blog and I was catching up on all of entries. Apparently when you make a tea-latte you are supposed to use 10 tsp of loose leaf tea for 16 oz cup! Whenever I’ve made tea-lattes at home I’ve just used double the amount of leaf (about 3tsp for 8-16oz cup) No wonder my lattes haven’t been as good as the stores! The last time I made a tea latte at home I upped the leaf to 2 tbsp (about 4x the amount I normally would use) for 16 oz cup and it improved the taste significantly. Maybe next time I’ll try the 10 tsp- It’ll use up the tea very quickly which is what I’ve been trying to do ;).