Kashmiri Chai

Dear chai, it has been far too long since we’ve met. Now that our paths have crossed again, I wonder if it will be the same or not.

Steeped with rock sugar, added a splash of milk. It has been way too long since I’ve had a tea with milk! The smell is so wonderful, and so blatantly chai. The cinnamon definitely adds great smell making me even more excited to try this tea.

This definitely has a great chai flavor. It almost is too subtle though, but I’m sure I steeped it the right amount. The cinnamon flavor is great, and just all the spices make this a very flavorful cup. What’s really odd is the aftertaste. It’s almost bitter, but not quite, almost like gunpowder. Oh wait, wikipedia tells me that kashmiri chai uses gunpowder tea as a base—no wonder! I’m still not used to the taste of gunpowder tea, making this cup slightly disappointing.

Aside from the gunpowder-y aftertaste this is really a great cup. I don’ know if I would buy this again, but it definitely reminds me how much I miss having chai around (even though I’ve only drank it out of bags before)

I decided today would be CHAI TASTING DAY. I’m saving a sample from each one that I make and will do them all together at the end – it easier for me to taste subtle differences that way.

There’s a spice in this one that I’m not fond of. I’m not sure what it is, though. Perhaps when the husband gets home (and I do all of the samples together) he can help me identify it.

It’s a good chai, just not as good as Adagio’s Masala.

Not as spicy as some of the chai’s that I’ve had. This is nice and mellow, especially with some creamer and milk added. It’s not a chai for when you’re craving something with a kick. It’s more of a comforting kind of blend. The cardomom is definitely the start. There were two pods in my sample pack, which is quite a lot for the amount of tea in the sample.

I would recommend this. I’m adding it to my shopping list, which is now about 50% teas from Golden Moon.

As many of you know I do NOT put anything in my tea…ever…including my chai (unless it’s added by someone else ie a cafe/restaurant while purchasing). This is the first time I am trying this Chai and I must say I LOVE IT. It’s lite and creamy with a little bit of spice. I have had Chai that are very spicy and over the top and know why people put cream or milk or soy equiv. in it but this doesn’t need anything! It’s a nice calming/relaxing blend that is very Creamy as is.

Let me first say, this tea is delicious…close your eyes and just drink it. But, I’ve got to bust Golden Moon’s chops for relying on “spice oil”. You see, I’ve had this type of Chai from a company (who’s name I dearly wish I could remember) who used the real, whole spices to make it. GM’s attempt is more like camouflage for the “spice oil”. I searched the tea sample and found 1 1/2 cloves, five “bits” of cinnamon, four empty cardamon pods, and one cardamon seed. The cardamon pods are big and noticable, but useless…they’re like putting in corn cobs, all filler and no value. The rest of the spices were real but, in my opinion, were window dressing for the real flavoring, the spice oil.
This made a nice, drinkable tea when steeped as a black tea, and the windows were well dressed ;-)

Yummy, getting flash backs from when I was a kid. I prepared this one in the traditional Indian way. Which means I made it on the stove with milk and sugar or as my mamma does. :-). It is full of body the spices are balanced well. It detected a very tiny amount of pepper taste. Literally a bitty bit. Great when you’re trying to warm up or just need that cozy feeling.

Cardamom pods, whole cloves, and cinnamon bits mingle with gnarly black twisted leaves. Simmered entire sampler package in 1 cup milk for 7 minutes; sweetened with a bit of honey. Smooth, creamy, rich, lightly spicy—in a word, delicious!

I followed the recipe that was floating about on the reviews. I really love that, and will ue it for some other chai tea I have around! For those who been there before, map out an experience for the rest of us. I appreciate that! It really brings out the best of the tea.

Now with the tea, I am very picky about chai tea. I like them STRONG. And this tea did stand up. I even prefer MORE spice and bite, maybe some more ginger. But still nice, and perfect on a California dreaming on such a winter’s day.

I’m kind of disappointed. After hearing/reading rave reviews of proper chai, and going out to actually buy milk (this rarely happens in my house), I expected to be amazed.

I loved the smell. It has that smell of a country farmer’s market. I want to go pumpkin picking now, or something. And it certainly filled the kitchen with its spicy, woodsy fragrance (surely mother won’t be complaining).

I used the “authentic” recipe that teaplz forced upon me [ever so lovingly]. Know what this reminds me of? Why I don’t add anything to my tea.

The first few sips were enjoyable. It’s really rich, probably due to the water/milk ratio (1:1). But toward the end I had to force it down. I’m just not used to thick teas, and it reminded me more of “milk with a tea aftertaste.” How disappointing. Maybe chai isn’t for me after all.

I don’t often crave Chai, but when I do this Golden Moon mixture is very satisfying. You have to be very careful to not over-steep this one as it gets bitter as time goes by. Fantastic aroma is almost better than the taste. :)

Again I had a hard time getting my nose of the package. Leaves smell wonderfully of cinnamon and cloves. Kinda reminds me of mulling spices for apple cider. I love chai so i was looking forward to trying this one.
LOVED THIS TEA. The spices were wonderfully warming on a cold day. The only negative is that there was a strong bitter taste that you get with black teas which i’m not a fan of. Haven’t tried it with cream and honey cause i didn’t have time to fix another cup, but hopefully will try this mixture tomorrow.
And Merry Xmas Everyone XD

I opened the packet of this, and it just smelled amazing! The cinnamon came out on top, combined with a sweetness. Brewed, it smells like cinnamon and clove. It reminds me of pumpkin pie, since those are two of the main spices. (Then again, chai has always reminded me of pumpkin pie! :P But I think this one does more so because of the sweetness I smell.)

I brewed this just like a normal tea, but I would really love to try doing the simmering-with-milk thing. Perhaps I’ll have to buy it just to do so. :P

The taste is definitely strongly cinnamon. Mmm. Tastes kind of bakey too. After a few sips, I decided to add some sugar, and I NEVER add sugar to my hot tea. But sugar in this just tastes incredible!!! I’m getting a warm and spicy taste with the tea, and an aftertaste of sweetness from the sugar, with bakey. The lingering taste is like the last bite of pumpkin pie crust. It really just leaves me wanting more!

I really may need to own this… ♥

This is one of my favorite chai tea blends, mostly because it doesn’t contain pepper. It’s mellow and lovely and I need to buy more!

By far my new favorite Chai. I’ve made it straight and as a latte.

Sample. Simmered 6 minutes in 8oz of whole milk. I love chai, but I did not like this at all. Thought it was weak, and didn’t enjoy the spice combo.

Very nice. Not bitter, don’t need to use sugar or milk with it (haven’t tried yet, though). Smells extremely spicy, which I like, but I don’t taste the spices too strongly in the cup.

Mmmmm Chai.

This stuff was just tasty. Made it using the usual stove top method. brought 1 cup of water and 1 T. of sugar to a high boil then added my tea, Reduced the heat to medium and let simmer for about 10 minutes after that I poured some of the tea into 1 cup of milk and stirred it around to raise the temperature a bit so it wouldn’t coagulate on contact with the hot tea. Then I poured the milk into the tea and kept it on medium heat, constantly stirring it to prevent coagulation until it reached a steady low boil. Then I strained it into a warmed teapot. The infusion smelled amazing. Mostly cinnamon smelling with hints of other spices as well. The taste was just as amazing. A nice spiced flavor to it but with hints of the flavor from the tea as well. it’s very equally balanced and very pleasant. Defiantly something I will be getting more of.

I’ve wanted to try a loose leaf chai for awhile. I admit, I took the shortcut for preparing it and brewed it as I normally do steeping for 4.5 minutes this time. I tasted first with no milk or honey (I very rarely add anything to my teas). I expected I’d probably want to add something but I figured I’d taste it straight anyway. Not bad, the spices are quite strong straight. It made my tongue feel weird. So, I added some milk and honey.

The taste is amazing. Just the right balance of spice and tea. It’s almost meditation inducing. Too bad I didn’t measure the milk and honey so I could reproduce this. The scent is intoxicating.

I’m really enjoying this tea.
Oops, as it cools I realized I think I put too much honey in. It’s getting a bit sweet.