Tulsi Basil Masala Chai Organic

I have so many Golden Tips samples that I still need to try. :) I actually chose this one thinking it’s a herbal chai (since it’s close to bedtime and all) but now I see that it actually does have black tea in it. Gotta say, the tulsi and spices really do drown out the actual tea, but not in a bad way. I actually really like the combination of minty/herbal from the tulsi and warm/spicy from the rest of the spice blend. It’s well-balanced, so no one flavour is really standing out over all the rest. I’ve been drinking it steeped fairly light (2.5g in 8oz for 3min) and without any additives, but I’m curious to try stovetop-boiling with milk and sugar for a more traditional chai preparation. This is good. It’s weird, because I used to be a big fan of masala chai (back before I got seriously into tea), and I’ve lost interest in it recently, but I’m looking forward to trying some of these Golden Tips blend.

I liked this chai better than the India’s Original version.

With the tulsi basil and nutmeg in this chai, I found it tasting very dimensional, sophisticated and with a great depth. I just wish I had a stove at the shop, so that I could get more “tea” taste out of the BOP Assam base.

My colleague found the tea base too weak. I liked the many spices in this.

I think this is a very good masala chai.

Brew note: 2g masala chai tea leaves steeping in 120ml boiling water for 5min. Added 120ml steamed warm milk and 1 teaspoon of white sugar.

This is interesting – I am a huge chai fan, and not disappointed. I appreciate variations on traditional chai. With the tulsi, this is a bit greener. I find tulsi to be a bit spicy in its own right sometimes, so the blend works well here. I added honey like usual, sipped it, and decided to go ahead and still add a tiny splash of milk. Chai to me just isn’t chai without it I guess. I definitely like this and will drink the rest happily.

I got my Golden Tips sub box today! I am wayy behind on posting tasting notes for these teas, but I wanted to taste this one first! The name itself is intriguing.

Tulsi, or “Holy Basil” is a interesting tisane, which I’ve only tried once before. I can’t remember if I liked it either. I’m not particularly sure then if the Basil part of the name is redundant or if there’s also Basil in there. Chai isn’t something I reach more usually unless someone else is making it in milk for me.

I swear this dry leaf smells like Dr. Pepper soda. It also looks like confetti, or glitter. The leaves are super small. If it were any other tea, I would call it fannings.

The liquor still smells like Dr. Pepper but a bit spicer. I’m a cola addict btw. I’ve been trying to kick the habit with tea, but I still get relapses, this is giving me cravings. The tea itself doesn’t have much by way of taste though. It’s got a bit of a nose feel that’s really warm and full. (By nose feel, you know when you have a bite of wasabi and it’s all spicy up your nose feeling? That general area. It’s really weird, but cool.) I guess this is what Tulsi tastes like? This is categorized as a black tea though, so that’s confusing.

I’m not sure what I feel about this tea. On one hand it’s Dr Pepper! Awesome! On the other hand, it has some olfactory sensation, but doesn’t really lend much to the experience otherwise, mostly just warm water. Yup.