Organic Hojicha Chai

Forgot to log this a few days ago…it was chai like and in a bag and not bad actually I liked it just fine. More coming soon…

Thank you LiberTeas for including this in my HoppiTea package!

The bag smells very strongly of star anise. Although it is very strong and I don’t usually like star anise, I am finding this actually quite pleasant. Maybe a little allspice in there also?

Preparing this using stovetop method, as I usually get the best results from chais this way. So, after steeping, I can smell less of the star anise and more of the other spices (cinnamon etc), but I can also smell the tea and chicory is coming through well also.

This is a nice spiced tea, the spices are not very strong but it has an all-round pleasant flavour.

When I opened the package, I could immediately smell the Star Anise… YUM!

This has a pleasant chai flavor. The chicory gives it a nice depth. I love the flavor that the roasted Hojicha and chicory bring to the chai spices. Not overly spicy, just a pleasant spiced tea.

This is a bagged tea that I bought this summer on a lark.

I brewed this according to the manufacturer’s instruction: boiling water, steep for four minutes. Both of which seem reasonable to me.

The tea brews with a pleasant aroma of cinnamon, anise, and that “chai spice” smell that reminds me of ginger and cardamon.

While this is described as a roasted green tea, I couldn’t discern any flavor of green tea, or roasted green tea. I would describe the flavor as being a thin form of the aroma with a hint of mild black tea.

The flavor was enhanced with a small amount of sweetener, but milk (2% in this case) did nothing to hurt or improve the taste.

For a bagged tea with “chai spices” I would say that it was mildly enjoyable, but nothing I would ever crave to buy again. It had a nice Christmas/Thanksgiving flavor, so I might suggest that with a bit of sweetener it would go best with a dessert, say carrot cake or shortbread.