Chai Tea

Realized that of all the teas I have, this is the only chai. There is one that is similar to a chai, but not the real deal. Was in the mood for something spicy, so I thought I would give this a go. I am at work so it wasn’t prepared “properly,” but it’s hot so what more can I ask for?

I used my standard “hot” water source and threw in a splash of (cold) milk as there wasn’t any option to heat it. Left the teabag in a few minutes as it was looking pretty watery, et voila!

To be fair, this is a very cheap tea. Chai in a teabag is a bit weird anyway since all the components were smushed down to powder long ago, but still. This is extremely mild. The sort of chai the beau might be willing to drink. One of the spices is kicking up at the end of the sip, but in general it’s pretty smooth. It’s generic, but a nice standard and I will certainly use the rest. It’s nice to have easy bags to pop in the mug while at work. Maybe 2 bags to 1 cup would work better..

I really need to get myself a good and proper chai. I love chai, I think. But I haven’t found THE one for me yet. Ah well, there are still 3 or 4 more to try from Sawadee, and I love searching!

Anyway, rounding off my day with a few hours at switchboard, so I went for the easy to use chai teabag, so I can just pop it in and forget about it. The smell is quite horrendous, I’ve realized, with a mix of wood and soap, but the taste is satisfying enough. Nothing in your face, but not terrible either. Maybe I’ll try another stovetop chai tonight, because this is leaving a weird taste in my mouth.

Satisfied my desire for tea, albeit not my desire for chai. I think I want a good strong proper stovetop chai. Still nice, though thin.

In my usual OCD manner, I’ve gone overboard. Since “realizing” I had no chai, I’ve bought 1 chai-like tea, another that is def. chai and found my lovely apple vanilla white chai in the back of my cupboard, as well as these bags. Nonetheless, I still keep wanting to buy more chais. This tea buying ban is not going to go so well.

Anyway, I’ve decided to officially stick with black teas for the day, so I pulled my last chai teabag from my drawer. I’ve got more at home, so I will have to re-stock. I bought these for mulling cider, but they’re not terrible to drink either. On the lighter side of chai, though I would be interested to see if they are more spicy when prepared on stovetop with milk.

It is an impressive chai that can taste watery after an (accidental!) 11 minute steep. This would be the one to do so though. gah, I want my gingerbread chai!