Serene Chai Biodegradable Pyramid Sachets

Thank you Epi Tea for this sample

One of the things I do like about the design of the pyramid sachets is the large amount of room given for leaf expansion. When I placed the sachet in my cup and poured boiling water over it, I could watch the tea slowly grow and fill the bag along with the pink peppercorns, pieces of cardamom and ginger. For 5 minutes while the tea steeped, I played with a small spoon swirling the bag around in the water…watching the ingredients and smelling the aroma of spices curl up in the air around me.

I took a big sip and made an ick face, squishing up my nose.
The dark brew tasted odd. Somewhere the vanilla, spicey black tea tasted like an old pear was thrown in. Chai is better though when sweet, so I added sweetening but that didn’t help either.
I added milk. Chai with sweetening and milk is traditional I told myself, and if anything would make this taste good…this should do the trick.
In went the milk.

Errr…
It still tasted wierd.
It reminded me of benedryl.

For the first time ever, I’m not going to rate a tea. I know other people like this tea and I can’t tell you why, but the flavor hit me like the taste of medicine. It could be a personal thing.

After drinking the tea I could feel a little heat from the pepper and it was just the right amount. Very well placed.

Thank you, Epi Tea for this sample!

This tea has many different flavors and aromas that rise from the cup, that make it a tough one to breakdown. The cinnamon is certainly dominant, coupled with a marsh-mellow creaminess.

The sip is both smooth and thick, leaving a crave to try more. The aftertaste is minty, along with a small amount of dry astringency.

There is something missing, slightly, on delivering an overall impression of a chai tea. I will need to try this tea again with other variables, such as milk and sweeter to get a better grasp on it complete character.

Of the four samples sent to me from EPI Tea this is the only one I would have personally chosen for myself and I really have to be in the mood for Chai. Luckily today was an Autumn like day outside (LOVE IT) so I had to give this a go.
I am not partial to bagged teas as they all tend to be fairly fanning like but at least this had some lovely peppercorns and such.
The first aroma (before steep) that hit me was cinnamon.
I like cinnamon well enough but it takes more than cinnamon to make a good chai.
I will say upon sipping this the peppercorn does come out nicely with a slight bite but not too much. I do love teas with peppercorn in it!
The mouthfeel is very weak, watery, I would like more depth in my chai especially since often I want to make lattes with them or even more ice them or blend them so with this being so light I don’t feel I could do this unless I used two or three times the amount of leaf.
I do pick up a slightly vanilla flavor or more so an aroma than flavor even though the heavily cinnamon aroma.
I would agree though as their statement says – it is a GENTLE Chai and I am sure there is a good market for this!
I just feel it is a bit too heavy on the cinnamon for the ginger to really sparkle here.
Overall not a bad tea whatsoever just a little something missing.
Thank you to EPI Tea for sending me these samples!

This is my first warm cup of tea all week, believe it or not—I’ve really been in the mood for cold drinks but I had a stressful day and hot tea always helps me relax. I hadn’t tried this one yet and chai is one of my go-to “calm down, brain!” teas so into the cup it went.

I’m a bit perplexed by this blend. I like my chais spicy, and this definitely delivers, with that back of the mouth heat you get from whole peppercorns. There’s a bit of a bit from the ginger too, but I think the other spices are a bit lacking. I’m not getting much cardamom/cinnamon, and the vanilla is also very faint. The black base is also a bit underwhelming, with no real strong notes to tie everything together. I prefer malty bases for chais usually, and here I kind of taste that, you know, “tea” flavor but it’s really overwhelmed by the pepper and ginger. So it’s both strong and weak, which is kind of a funny conundrum. I think with a little bit of tweaking this could be a nice blend though, I am loving the addition of whole peppercorns!

This smells spicy and fruity but I’m not seeing any fruity ingredients in the contents list…ummmmm…well…and it smells a little like a holiday/adult beverage but I cannot put my finger on WHICH one! It does smell nice, however.

The taste is pretty intense for a bagged tea…a good amount of spices, and more notably the ginger and vanilla are pairing ‘just right’ in my opinion!

This is a goodie! The Red Peppercorns are pretty slammin’, too! Nice touch!

Yeah! The more I sip on this – the more I’m liking it! Good job Epi!

I’m not sure about this one, its ok nothing wrong with it at all but seemed like something is missing from it, unfortunately I got only one pyramid bag of each of my Epi Tea samples which just wasn’t quite enough to really get a good impression of this one it was just gone too soon and the resteep just wasn’t happening. from what I could tell from one decent cup is that it’s not that bad but I really couldn’t say it was good either, it was different.

Ingredients: Organic Black tea, Organic Cinnamon, Organic Ginger, Organic Cardamom, Organic Red Pepper & Natural Vanilla,Cinnamon and Ginger Flavorings.

I brewed it at boiling temperature and steeped it for approximately five minutes. While pouring my tea, I noticed the aroma of spices, including the red pepper. Honestly, I was a bit hesitant to take a sip and I’m glad I tried it. The liquor was a dark brown/black.
Well I must say that surprisingly, I kind of like this tea. I wouldn’t say that this was a taste that I would normally associate with chai tea but it’s interesting. I would say that the first sip, it tasted weird. The more that I drank the tea, I guess that it grew on me slightly.
I would say that when I looked at the ingredients on the label, I wasn’t sure if this blend would work. I personally think that maybe it should be renamed because I’m not sure that it would be considered to capture the essence of what most people consider to be a “chai tea”. I’m glad that I was able to have a new experience,which I would like to thank Epi Tea once again.

Thanks to Epi Tea for the pre-release sample of this!

Starting off, this was the tea I was least excited to try. I don’t really like adding milk to teas – it’s a bit too heavy for me – but I’m also a wimp when it comes to spice.

I’m surprised at how much I like this. The immediate fragrance from this is apple cinnamon – it’s Christamsy, somehow. Cinnamon, ginger – like cookies.

I taste the black base primarily. The spice is almost an aftertaste. I like the whole peppercorns – adds a bit of kick. It’s smooth in a way I wouldn’t have expected.

I am of the opinion that good chai needs peppercorns but few seem to agree. Epi Tea’s blend included both peppercorns and red pepper in addition to vanilla, with no intrusion of cloves. I picked this first from the samples, obviously. It certainly sounded like a great chai, vanilla, cinnamon, and cardamom present, peppercorns hiding in the back but when I tasted it, it was all vanilla flavoring. I got some cinnamon and an astringent Assam taste, but no peppercorns, pepper, or ginger. Re-examining the tea bag, I couldn’t find a cardamom pod and I could barely smell the peppercorns. I re-steeped in two ounces of warm water for an hour for a mild cinnamon and vanilla sip. Over all the advertised spices weren’t there, although the bag I received seemed full. Maybe a longer steep? I only had one bag to experiment.
Full Review:
http://sabiisphere.teatra.de/?p=60

It’s an okay chai I suppose… I don’t taste any cinnamon though and that my favourite part. I can taste ginger and maybe the red pepper. I’m not getting any vanilla… I prefer the Twinings of London Chai to this.

A chai that doesn’t make me cough when I drink it, yay! I’m a bit sensitive to some of the more spicy teas that have a whole lot of ginger in them. I love the cinnamon in this (I put cinnamon on everything), and it’s nice a soft with just a hint of that chai bite. Yum!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/8126244@N06/7718559360/

I’m finding a lot of Epi Tea’s offerings don’t blow me out the water, but they’re really great for everyday teas. Definitely a good option for wanting loose tea quality conveniently, like at work or when I travel. I’ve only got 2 left to try!

Edit: Upped the rating, as I drink more I like it even more!

Thanks very much to Epi Tea for the pre-release sample of this.

I will start off by saying that I am a chai lover, and I have had many. Traditional and non-tradional ones. I knew looking at the ingredients that this was going to be a non-tradional one since it has vanilla flavoring in it. Which I love, because I like to see what kind of twist they put on it.
When I opened the bag that was the first thing I smelled. Well that and the cardamon. I brewed it according to what was suggested which was 4 minutes. I could smell the vanilla again before anything which did not put me off. Instead It made me think it would a great with a touch of cream. But I wanted to try it straight first.
It has a nice balance of flavors. Although I could make out the vanilla right away I could still make out the other spices. The after taste of it has a slight flatness to it. Not as full-bodied that I would hope for. After drinking it straight had way I decided to add some milk and sugar to it. It really did not need the sugar, but I wanted to drink it as a traditional chai. The cream helped the body, but there was still something lacking that I can not put my finger on.
Either way I am happy that I got to try this before it came out. It is a nice chai, just not not my favorite.

This sample was generously provide to me by Epi Tea. Thank you Kyle and the whole Epi Tea Team.

Dry Leaf: Had some kind of a musty type of aroma with a spicy aroma maybe cardamom.
Wet Leaf: Had a nice spicy cardamom aroma as expected from the dry leaf.
Liquor: Is dark in color.
Taste: Has a smooth and mild taste of cinnamon and cardamom flavor.I was also able to detect a very faint peppery flavor in the after taste.
Overall Opinion: I give this tea a 87 on my ratings. My personal opinion of this tea is one of the better offering from this company. My advise to the company add more assam black tea which I assume they are using to make the base stronger and amp up the spice a notch and lets not forget the beautiful clove that is such a nice spice in chai teas.
Vessel: SAMA DOYO Gongfu/ Kungfu teapot. 1 sachet in 220ml or 7oz. of water in the inner cup.

I tried this chai today. I have been trying to think of the best way to describe it. Sadly, the best word I can come up with is…mediciney. I did not enjoy it. It was not horrible, but I did not like it either. I am thankful for the free sample though.

First off, thank you Epi Tea for the sample!

It was serene, but I didn’t taste any chai. The flavor was a bit on the weak side and reminded me of average bagged black tea. I got a hint of creaminess out of it and keep wondering where all the spice flavor is.

I completely forgot I had this until I opened up one of my sample tins! Well now you all know what I had for breakfast :] Some delicious chai. This tea to me is a classic chai. But it’s a bit lighter with more of a black tea tone to it(which I love). I’m not one for a strong chai unless it’s snowing and I’m cursing the weather. It’s the perfect strength in spice without being TOO strong. Probably my new favorite chai :]
ALSO: Thank you Epi Tea for this wonderful sample :D

I am so the wrong person to review chai. In my mind, it always falls into one of two categories: too spicy to drink, or not too spicy to drink without ample amounts of sugar and milk. If you are as chai-sensitive as I am, this will most likely fall into the latter category for you. And if you’re sitting here going “what is wrong with her, there’s no such thing as too spicy” then you’ll probably be into this, since it’s rather strong for such a small quantity of bagged (sort of) tea.

The last of the Tea samples. I can’t wait till they open so I can buy some!

This made a nice brownish liquor and it smelled like a good chai tea. The bag has a lot of spices and ginger bits mixed in……YAY! The taste is a really smooth, and not overpowering spicy flavors. The ginger was the most pronounced in my opinion; coarse I did steep for a long period. I like the ginger taste though, it tasted kinda like spicy ginger hard candy.

I think out of all the samples, this one and the lavender Earl Grey are my favorites. I diffidently will buy some when they come out.

Overall I would recommend this tea to someone who likes lighter chais or Ginger Chais.

P.S. I mixed this with the Irish breakfast and got another decent steeping out of it.

Loooooove the smell coming off of this! It reminds me of cider or some childhood memory from winter. This is for sure one going on my list of winter teas As the second sample I’m trying from Epi Tea – I have to say this is my favorite so far. I don’t add milk/sugar to my tea and the flavor isn’t too intense.

ok… so me and chai, yeah a few years ago we hit it off really well in a local coffehouse…oh that sweet rustic aroma, cupping my hands in that yellow mug…infused with memories….
now years later, and many teas later… i don’t know if it’s me, or the tea, but i think chai’s have been saying to me , “Chow babe”.

don’t get me wrong, there is always room in a mug for chai…i think perhaps maybe it was the milk ratio, not quite balanced…because it only brought back memories of a long lost chai…and never connected since….

oh yes, the review – to any chai lover, this will do the thing. but to one who has had only former memories of chai, my suggestion, if you let it go, and the chai comes back…it’s true chai ;).