Bombay Chai

There’s a particular spice that I can’t put my finger on that really stands out. I’m not sure how I feel about it yet – I’ll have to ask my friend to “acquire” more of it at his workplace for further tasting.

Back log…

Ummm, not overly notable, wondering if the water is not hot enough to steep this in? I had this to-go with cream, and it was okay, I tasted a floral note, but smelled spices more than tasted… until the end when I got an increadibly spicy yet bitter mouthful of spices and debris that escaped the bag.

I will not be deterred, it is worth trying again.

Eh. Maybe I’m not a HUGE fan of Chai teas. This black, while flavorful didn’t give any indication of moving on from ordinary to extraordinary. Probably a lot of people’s “staple” chai who enjoy Mighty Leaf. Didn’t blow me away.

I had this yesterday on the ski slope at the lodge at lunch. It was orangey and cinnamony. I didn’t taste much else in it until I got to the bottom of the cup and then I suddenly started getting a spicier kick, but this was not a good thing as it was like it had cayenne pepper in it. I didn’t like it very much.

The boyfriend was a sweetheart and took me out for breakfast and I had a pot of this with my food. The water was a bit too cold to get all the flavour out of the tea IMO, but it was decent especially with a bit of milk. The most prominent notes were of cloves with what tasted like anise a close second. There was also some cardamom and the pepper gave the tea a bit of a bite. It’s too harsh to drink without milk I think, but it’s a nice blend with something to take the edge off.

Dad picked me up this bag of Bombay Chai – Black Tea from spicemerchants.biz in traverse city, MI. Definitely a different taste of chai. The first sip was a melange of spicy notes conjurs the steamy , aromatic delights of an Indian street market. After taste of cinnamon and almost an orange-ginger taste. Very different. Props to dad for picking it out.

I tried this tea while at Nordstrom Cafe and liked it enough to buy 100 foil packs (on sale!) from Mighty Leaf’s website. This is the best bagged chai tea I’ve had to date. It actually tastes spicy without having to simmer it with additional spices! Drinking it right now with milk and pepper honey. Prominent spice seems to be anise, so if you are adverse to that, sample before you buy. I can’t wait to steep this tea with fresh ginger, cardamom, cinnamon sticks, and peppercorns!

My cold suddenly got a lot worse overnight, so this morning I went rooting desparately through my stash looking for some chai. I came up with this one first, and I’ve had two cups so far today. There’s something about chai that I find soothing when I’m ill, especially when brewed at a latte. The spiciness is nice for a sore throat, and the milkiness makes me feel comforted, somehow.

This isn’t the most outstanding chai I’ve tried, but it’s passable. Certainly it’s made me feel better today, and that’s what’s important right now. I got a very strong floral note from this initally, but that seemed to fade as I took more sips. The two main flavours here, surprisingly, were pepper and orange, followed closely by cinnamon. The cardamon and clove were pretty lost, although I know my taste buds aren’t up to much at the moment. It was a pleasant change to taste a chai with a strong hit of fruit as one of the main flavours, though. That’s not something I’ve come across very often before. This probably isn’t one I’d stock all the time, but it’ll probably flit through my cupboard occasionally. A pleasant chai blend.

I enjoy this when I find it at Marshalls in bags that are easy for travel. I prefer my chai to have more cinnamon flavor than this has, but with a bit of agave and milk it is plenty tasty!

Wow! Didn’t realise such a good chai could come out of a bag. It’s just spicy enough, plenty of tea, brilliant! Also expensive :-(