Saigon Chai

This is my new favorite chai. Strangely I’ve always preferred the inferior bagged varieties (read:tazo) to loose leaf as I’ve never found the loose leaf brews up strong enough before going bitter. I like my chai to punch me in the face, so to speak, and the only place I could get that from was my box of tazo chai. This one has completely changed my mind. After a 5 minute steep it was perfect. A strong cinnamon base, but not so strong as to overpower the other spices, followed by an intense hit of the black tea flavor and the tingle from the peppercorn. Love.

I don’t know why, but I’ve always been weirdly intimidated by chai teas. I guess I thought they were just ~ too intense. ~ :P I decided to grab 25g of this from DavidsTea when I was there today, to see if I could handle it.

The smell is really nice. I actually picked this tea over the other ones because the scent was more complex. Steeped, the smell is still really nice – quite a bit of clove and cinnamon, but not scary.

I drank it with milk and sugar. I like to sweeten my teas anyways, and although I’m trying to wean myself off milk in tea I thought I’d try it the first time. The taste is quite spicy, but in a really nice way. The spices are all getting along well, and the cinnamon and clove kind of sticks around a bit.

This reminds me very much of Coco Chai Rooibos. Except well this is a black tea instead of rooibos and its also much harsher.

Just smelling the canister can overpower your senses. You would expect this to be somewhat weaker when its brewed but it isn’t. Once the liquor hits your tongue, the spices punch you in the face (I mean this in the best way possible). Its the sort of thing I’d expect a “rugged” guy to drink, and not what a nice old lady would.

I recommend drinking this in the morning. Especially if you can’t seem to keep your eyes open.

Taste and smell is mostly cinnamon and tea, but it’s not overpowering. Smoother mouthfeel and taste than most of the other chais I’ve had. It reminds me a bit of a lot of christmas blends I’ve had. In latte form it’s good, and probably in my top 3 chai latte list. As it’s cooling I’m starting to taste more of the pepper.

I can’t sleep and I’m bored — probably not wise to drink a black tea at 1 AM, but I don’t care. I’m in the mood for something tasty.

Saigon Chai is a pretty decent chai tea. I like it better than Coco Chai Rooibos only because coconut is such a strong flavor in most of the DavidsTeas I’ve had. I don’t feel like coconut in January. Not today at least… Saigon Chai is very nice. I am on a second steep and I left it in a little too long so it is sort of astringent. I enjoyed the first steep a little more which was only about 4 minutes. It’s just a nice, warming cup of chai. I taste clove and cinnamon immediately, and then as I swallow the tea I feel the bite of the peppercorn. I do like the peppercorns in DavidsTea chai. The first sip you definitely feel the bite of them (not like an atomic firebomb… it’s a nice bite) — it’s very warming. Also cloves… I pick up clove immediately only because I am partial to the scent and flavor. This is great… nothing TOO unique, but I’m glad I received the sample of this. I always get chai samples though…. Sigh.

I was a little worry about trying this tea at first because I was afraid it would be to light and weak. I’m a big fan of strong and robust chai’s that wake you up.

To prevent it from being weak, I crush the spices with the back of my spoon before steeping it. It opened the cardamom pods and really woke up the flavour.

By crushing the spices, The tea became really flavourful. The cinnamon and cardamon are the first things you smelt and it had spicy floral note while you drink it. I definably recommend drinking it with some evaporated milk to round out the flavour.

Often I cut up pieces of ginger and add a stick of cinnamon to a mug

This is a sample I got… probably almost a year ago, but have yet to try. I got it with one of my online orders I believe.

The smell of this one is quite strong of cinnamon and cardamon.
Taste-wise I found this one to be kinda weak also. I expected a punch of flavours, but they weren’t as strong as I expected. But it does a nice chai taste despite it. The cinnamon and cardamon are probably the strongest tastes within this tea.

Wow – this tea is so amazing! I save it for after lunch, at a time I call “the best part of the day”. It really takes me through that tired bit in the afternoon when it is hard to stay motivated. You can really taste the strong cinnamon, but it is tempered by a richness that makes this a real treat. If this tea were a wine, it would be a Shiraz. Very full and “fat” as the Aussies would say. I put in milk and more sugar than I usually put in tea so it tastes like a proper Chai.

This is my go to chai tea at the moment. I usually drink this with milk and honey. I love cinnamon so Saigon Chai was perfect. It has a very prominent and natural cinnamon flavor with clove following close behind. There’s a wide blend of spices in this and when brewed the spices work very well together to make a very yummy cup of tea.

The secret to this tea is in the preparation. It is best when made on the stove top in a pot. OH me oh my. It is like drinking an Indian food dish, drenched in the most fabulous hot sauce. The spiciness of the peppercorn is positively mind blowing, and adds such a robust, lingering flavour to this tea. Such a great wake up tea. I love watching the leaves roll as they boil. Normally I like chai with a bit of milk and sugar – but both ruin this one. Maybe I just like my tea hot n’ spicy. Anyway, it’s great, and if you haven’t made it on the stove top yet, please do!

To say I’m a fan of chai is to say that Picasso was just an okay painter. So when I say this is the best I’ve ever had, it’s an impressive feat. The wonderfully potent aroma fills the room in a way only beaten by the flavour hits the palate like a freight train (of tea awesomeness). A wonderfully strong chai with a very noticeable cinnamon. Avoid oversteeping though, it will become too bitter after about 6 minutes.

Highly recommended!

This tea smells spicy and sweet. Still not sure if I really am a fan of chai teas, but this is still tasty.
The cinnamon really comes through whether it’s dry or steeped. That with the other spices gives it a bit of warmth, so it’s definitely a good drink for cold nights. And it’s one of those teas that look pretty, with the red peppercorns and bits of cinnamon and clove.
I put a little honey and milk in mine and let it steep for about 5 minutes, but I think it would be even better in a latte (or iced with sweetened condensed milk like they suggest ;)

Not impressed.

I love chai and being Vietnamese, I love me some Saigon cinnamon. I’ve had this iced, hot with honey, and also almond milk/honey. I do enjoy drinking this tea, but I don’t love it. It’s a nice cinnamon-flavored tea. I prefer my chai to have more of a “punch you in the tastebuds” impact, so unfortunately, this didn’t make the cut. Will not repurchase, but it does smell oh-so-lovely in the bag.

Delicious. Spicy but somehow also has a hint of something fruity. I love that this has cardamom in it unlike the pure chai, which seems to only have cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. This is well-rounded, exotic, and comforting.

I love chai it’s my favorite type of tea and indulgence.

This tea turned out very bitter though I did not over steep it.
The bitterness completely overwhelmed the spice and smokiness I usually really enjoy.
I do not sweeten my chai tea unless I have a particularly strong sweet tooth. and this would need a full pound of sugar to alleviate it’s bitterness.

Such an incredible shame!

A sweet cinnamon tea that smells very strong in the bag but mellows after steeping.

I like the warmth the peppercorns add, but this is a pretty bland chai. Nothing special going on. Not nearly spicy enough.

Nice tea but don’t try it Iced…