Masala Chai

yummm. there is not too much more I can say. For me, personally it is the best chai I have been able to make at home and is the perfect balance of tea, with mostly cinnamon and cardamom flavors with a bit of black pepper and clove. It is sweet and yummy and the cinnamon/cardamom flavors really stand out but I also really like them both. The black tea here is not very pronounced and blends in with the other spices. I highly recommend you try cooking this the traditional way on the stove but is also excellent just brewed plain with milk or soymilk added. My perfect winter tea. Try a bit of brandy too, that is heavenly on a cold winter night.

Some of the reviews here seem to be for the concentrated Rishi masala chai concentrate you make and add milk to, I would NOT recommend this, you need to get the real tea and make it yourself!

Mmm! I woke up with a horrible headache this morning so some strong black tea is in order. I brewed this up using the Samovar instructions and it is delicious!
2 cups of water and 1 TB dark brown sugar brought to a boil, added 1.5 TB chai and about 1 TB Rishi Golden Yunnan – boil for about 5-6 minutes. Then I added 2 cups of milk, removed the pan from heat, and covered it for about 10 minutes.
Not only does my house now smell delicious, I am drinking a thick, chewy, caramel-spicy mug of chai.

Made this using the stovetop method. This is the first time I’ve made more than a sample size of any chai using that method, and I learned something pretty major.

This time, since I put in two cups of water, the water didn’t boil away in the first ten minutes of boiling. I actually think it tastes better when the water does boil away, so next time I’ll either boil until it’s mostly gone or I’ll make it in smaller batches. On the other hand, having two cups of milk go into the mix allowed me to boil for five minutes after adding the milk. I expected this to take the excess water out, but I don’t think it quite did the trick. The flavor is delicious, but the consistency isn’t as creamy and chewy as it was when I made the Samovar and the Golden Moon. My guess is there was about a fourth of a cup of water left in the mix and that this was enough to dilute the creaminess.

I used two tablespoons of chai, which frankly seems the right amount — I can imagine maybe using 1.5 instead, but not much less than that for this amount of water/milk. Tasting it now, it’s strong, spicy and has a kick, but it’s really yummy.

Note to self: Next time try less water, maybe 1 or 1.5 cups, and maybe a tiny bit less chai, maybe 1.5 tablespoons, boil 10 minutes, then add 2 cups milk and boil 5 minutes.

As for the flavor, there’s a lot of cardamom and a lot of pepper. It’s less gingerbready than the others I’ve tried, which I think has something to do with the consistency as well as the spices. Although I’ve never had authentic Indian chai, I have had authentic Indian food. It’s a somewhat intangible thing, but the feel of the spices in this is similar to the feel of the spiciness of the food — without necessarily being the same spices, if that makes sense.

Not sure where this will ultimately fall in my chai pantheon, but for now it’s getting a fairly high mark.

It’s cold and raw in New York, but the Yankees are kicking butt and I’ve got a cup of some award-winning Rishi Masala Chai.

Yeah, this is pretty much to tea what mashed potatoes or scrambled eggs are to food, pure comfort. The best traditional Masala chai out there. And not only great-tasting, but since I don’t own stock in Monsanto I appreciate that it’s organic and I’m not getting a side of pesticide residue with my beverage.

Some tea snobs turn their noses up at chai. (“It’s not really a fine tea, old boy.”) But when you’re craving something rich, a cup of Darjeeling ain’t going to scratch the itch — not even the FTGFOP variety.

While it’s great if you make it the way you’d make your regular tea (use a five-minute steep), it’s even better if you make it the traditional Indian way. Forget the teapot and just use a saucepan. Two teaspoons of chai, one-and-a-half cups of water, half-cup of milk (or, in my case, vanilla Rice Dream), bring it to a boil and then let it simmer for five minutes. Add sugar, honey or agave syrup. Strain and serve and watch Mariano Rivera shut down the Angels for game number one. Strange. It doesn’t feel that cold in here any more.

mid afternoon mini monsoon calls for a nice milky, warm blend of masala chai! sure summer isn’t the typical time people think of undertones of cinni, cloves, carda… but then again my tea cravings are far from typical. so hah.

lovely with a steep brew and whole milk. and of course brown sugar!

yes, summer rain is now movie worthy! :)

AWESOME! When I smelled this tea…..It is the best smelling Chai! Cardamon and clove are up front with the black pepper and ginger following in toe. A perfect mixture to stir the senses. It looks delicious too. The wet leaves smell phenomenal!! That’s all I can say….sensory overload…in a good way. :))

In the cup I get mainly cardamon and clove, but the black pepper is quite noticeable….the ginger less so. The base tea was noticeable, which I like, even in a Chai, with the other flavors not completely overwhelming the tea. Delicious! I love the way the flavors dance on my tongue, and let me know they’ve been there even after the tea is gone. Three solid cups, just at or below boiling-for 3.5, 3.5 and 5 minutes. My last cup had the most cinnamon aroma and flavor, as it migrated to the bottom of the sample bag.

Overall, this is my favorite Chai, with a good balance of tea, aroma, and taste. A little more black pepper in the cup, and I’d have given it a perfect score. Many thanks Amy! :))

Cupped:Tue/Wed, 12-06 & 07, 2011. Reviewed: Wednesday, December 7, 2011.

THANK YOU TO RISHI TEA FOR THIS SAMPLE!
I have this as a concentrate – I will admit. I poured it over vanilla ice cream in my blender and made the BEST shake EVAR. The best way to describe this is, it tastes like christmas morning.

:D I love spicy!

Haven’t had this in a month or two-been opting for caffeine-free after dinner options most often lately.

This is a good and reliable masala. It has a bit more cardamon than I would like, but I can deal with it as long as I don’t inhale the dry blend too much. The cinnamon is very pronounced-to the point of having a bit of a spicy kick to it.

Brewed in mug and almond milk added after brewing. It’s better to brew together on the stove, but usually I just go with my tea boiler.

I made this chai with boiling water and intentionally oversteeped it a bit before adding some 2% milk and honey. I have to say, I was a little disappointed. I brewed quite a bit, hoping for a strong batch, and found the chai couldn’t hold up very well in the flavor department.

The second time around, I heated the milk and chai in a pan, rather than brewing it in a pot. This improved the flavor, but still, i don’t think it is worth the price

In the future, i will probably just blend my own from loose spices, rather than buying this Rishi blend.

Oh I LIKE it!
Robust flavour which really gives me that chai masala feeling alot of other ‘chai teas’ miss! Lots of spices.
I’ve tried it on its own and also mixed it with other ’chai’s’ and it’s ALL good :D

50% fresh water 50% oatmilk, some tea, brew for bout 5min, add honey and BOOM! It’s good to go!

Best looseleaf chai masala I’ve tasted I reckon.

I make this during Christmas, or just when it’s too cold out!

This was my first experience in making Chai, and I wanted to try a pre-made Chai blend before eventually making my own from scratch.

I followed the instructions that came with it. Set it all up on the stove top back at home. Two very generously heaping tablespoons of the stuff. Added the water, added WHOLE MILK (organic :P) and brought to boil while stirring. I decided to add two table spoons of turbinado sugar for authenticity. Let it cook out for five minutes before straining.

This chai comes out very gingery. I somewhat want it to be more bold in the tea flavour. Which is something I will consider while I try to assemble my own chai recipe. It is still very enjoyable, and rich, but maybe it’s because of the whole milk. I tried adding another heaping tablespoon of the mix, but it’s still too gingery for me.

I love using different sweeteners. Darker honeys work well with this. Orange Blossom makes a super-yum cup. Sourwood creates a crazy rich OMFG cup! But heaping in two tablespoons of expensive honey leaves me in regrets.

I’ve only tried Zhi Tea’s Masala, and Coconut Chai, but I have to whip those back out again to make a comparison. Overall, a bit on the gingery side, but still enjoyable, satisfying my Masala Chai cravings.

Huh, after reading some other reviews, I may have brewed this…in an odd fashion?

I brought 12 oz water (1.5 c) to a boil then poured the water into a tea press. I added 2 tbsp of chai to the tea press and steeped for about 4 minutes. I poured the steeped chai into two cups and added 1oz 2% milk to one cup and 2oz milk to the other – just to compare. Obviously the milk cooled the chai way down by that point.

I think next time I will bring the water, milk, and chai to a slow boil all together and see what that tastes like?

Otherwise, I still really enjoyed this Chai. I’ve only drank one other chai, so I can’t really compare. I’m not sure what real chai from India tastes like, and I don’t think the sweet frothy chai with cinnamon sprinkles from starbucks counts 0_o.

It leaves a wonderful after taste and I look forward the next cup!

Nothing I write about this chai right now will be anything approaching objective, since I’m overwhelmed with both guilt and pleasure. I’m breaking my no-black-tea rule this morning.

THIS IS SO DELICIOUS! So yummy that right now I don’t even care that I and my nursling will be paying the price for the caffeine I’m consuming.

I am going to re-steep this until there’s nothing left.

This is the first time I’ve had Rishi’s Masala Chai tea. Upon opening the canister, I was hit by the yummy spicy smell and the lovely assortment of spices. There seemed to be more of spices than actually black tea. I’ll begin by saying that it was indeed a yummy tea but my preparation of it needs to be tinkered with. I brewed it by the “cafe style tea” instructions on the canister. The amount of tea seemed like a lot to me but I thought I’d try it. I can safely say I’ll be using at least half of that amount next time I brew it. The tea came out strong and I had to put in more milk and sugar than I’ve have liked to use. I think my rating will go up a bit once I figure out the optimal brewing method for me.

Large, round, light blue-glazed pottery mug. 2 tbsp. 3/4 water, 1/4 milk.

Found this in my parents’ fridge; who knew Rishi sold bottles of pre-steeped chai?! Not I. Really enjoyed this even though it is cold outside, and surely having it iced doesn’t help. But it is so sweet, almost like chocolate (the ginger is strong with this one), and very fully flavored! That being said, it is not in any way a spicy chai, and I didn’t particularly taste peppercorn or cinnamon. May buy the loose leaf, now…

I was gifted this tea by a friend and fellow tea enthusiast for my birthday. I mostly followed the stove top recipe on the back of the tin except I stirred in 3 tablespoons of honey instead of sugar. I also found to be better tasting when I tried the recipe with all (reduced fat lactose free) milk instead of 1 cup water and 1 cup milk. When I tried the cafe method and I found it to be not nearly as robust and delicious as the stove top method.

This chai is quite strong, with the cardamom packing quite a punch! Try making some tapioca boba and putting it in the tea – I found that it helped balance the strong, spicy flavors.

I probably will not buy more of this tea when I run out because I found it a little too time consuming to prepare on the stove top with boba and I don’t like the fact the tea cannot be infused multiple times.

My Rishi chai sampler came in today, and this is the first one I’ve tried. Quite delicious! I added some sweetener and milk after brewing, and it has a perfect balance of sweet and spicy. Smooth on the sip, but going down has just the right kick from the ginger and pepper. I’m definitely going to have to order more of this, I can see the sampler pack being gone before the end of the week… unless one of the other 3 samplers can beat this one. I hope they give it a good try!

Pretty ordinary masala chai. Clear notes of pepper and citrus. Maybe a little more spicy than I like my chai—maybe from the cadamom?.

I tinkered with different times and temps and I found this one got really bitter and spicy if oversteeped. Better than grocery-store chai, but I’ve had better.

I have to admit that had pretty decent results sweetening it up with a bunch of honey and adding vanilla almond milk and ice on a hot stuffy afternoon.

Very well made, high quality ingredients and a good comfortable taste. Nothing too original or out of the ordinary, but a very good Masala to return to at any time. Compared to Samovar’s? Not as good. Still recommended however.

I made this for my dad and myself after he dropped me off at my apartment and was so kind as to purchase the stuff for me. Back to school soon, blagh. Having this straight up because, I don’t have any milk right now so the traditional preparation is out. This is nice, it’s spiced, but not too spicy. I was a bit worried that it might be overwhelming but it really isn’t. It seems to be getting sweeter as it cools off too. It seems to have a sort of stick-to-your-ribs vibe about it. Like it’s filling. I’m sure it would seem even more filling with milk and sugar in it as well.