West Cape Chai

I feel like I am doing something very wrong with this tea unfortunately. When I opened the tin I let out a little gasp of glee—it was so… chunky! I love when chai blends are chunky and you can see all the whole spices. No flavoring or ground-up nonsense here! So I though there would be a big POW of flavor. The first steep was with just under boiling water for 5 minutes, 2 teaspoons for 12 ounces of water. Added milk & sugar as per usual with chai and it was… just okay. You could taste the “chai” part but it was SO weak. Like, it tasted rather similar to lightly spiced milk. Eurgh.

Tried again, 2 teaspoons for only 8 ounces of water and 8 minutes of steep time—I decided to treat it like a rooibos rather than a regular chai (I was afraid the first time 8 would be too long for such strong spices, and my other rooibos chai I do for ~5). I don’t have any experience with green rooibos so perhaps it needs some sort of extra-special treatment? I didn’t really taste the flavor of it in either steep though there was almost an herby background in the second one.

Well, the second cup was just as weak as the first! Actually it was both stronger and weaker in a weird way—a more watered-down flavor but I could actually taste the layers of spice. Cardamom, cloves, and anise mainly. I’m wondering if I got a bad batch because it seems to get rave reviews here… maybe my tin was just weaker overall? A disappointment to say the least—I love love love chai and this is just not cutting it.

EDIT: My email from them lied to me and this isn’t green rooibos. Makes my experience with it a little stranger!

My, my, this is quite a tasty tea. You should know that I actually hate red rooibos which is in this blend, so I’m even more surprised that I like it. The predominant notes here are the yummy spices, cinnamon, star anise and cardamom especially. They overpower the rooibos – I’m excited! I did use a lot of tea per water here, probably about 2 tablespoons. That makes it a bit pricey for the sampler but it is so worth it. A fabulous dessert tea. I added soymilk and a pinch of sugar to mine. I’ll be getting more of this to keep me toasty in the San Francisco rainy season… :)

The main way I’d describe this tea is very smooth, with different flavors coming out of each cup (sometimes more clove, sometimes more black pepper, or mint, etc.). I liked it a lot. I will have to see how it resteeps.

The best chai I’ve ever had was kashmiri chai that I bought from Benny’s Tee Laden in Loerrach, Germany. I haven’t had a lot of other chais, but so far none have compared.

This morning was just first try so I can’t really compare it to that yet. My first impression is that it is delicious. All the better because of being caffeine free. I had it straight, but will have to try with sugar, and maybe milk at some point too.

I think Rishi’s brewing suggestions (on the bag itself) might be off though — they are suggesting 2 TBSP per 12oz water. 2 TBSP is equal to ~10 grams, which is over half the bag. It’s $3.50/oz and with those instructions, you get to brew the tea just over two times? It wouldn’t seem incorrect if they sold larger sizes (say 4-6oz) for a lower price, but using that much leaf would be too expensive. I think they may mean 2 tsp, which seems to go more along with standard brewing parameters. Has anyone else noticed this?

I brewed a 36oz pot or so using just over 4 tsp. Maybe that wasn’t enough leaf, but it tasted fine to me.

My last cup of this (from the Rishi rooibos sampler). Loved it from start to finish. Such a strange combination of spices. Peppermint? Black pepper? Fennel? Ginger? What!? I taste different flavors each time and its great with soy milk & sugar. I’ve enjoyed this on its own, with sweet breakfast foods, and with last night’s curry. Yum all around. Because I’m so sensitive to caffeine, I really appreciate having a good rooibos based, caffeine-free chai. I’m debating ordering more.

Tried this in a local bookstore/coffee shop and was pleasantly surprised. I love rooibus, but had never had it with masala spices. Sweet, with not overwhelming spice. Was able to re-steep the DIY teabag 3 times with no loss of flavor.

Before I tried this Chai, I was pretty burned out on Chai in general. But this particular one sounded interesting so I ordered it from Rishi. I LOVE it. It is my new Autumn tea. I used a tablespoon per 8 oz water and once it steeped, I added Vanilla Almond Milk and Agave Nectar – will have to get back to you on exact amounts of the almond milk and agave when I make it again. But it is very nice. I like that it is caffeine-free. The flavor is robust, spicy, warming and ends on a light refreshing note (because of the peppermint in the Chai). I’m pretty excited to have found a Chai I like again. Will definitely be ordering more of this from Rishi.

Very yummy, May be my favorite chai.

Another phenomenal chai from Rishi. Spicy, sweet just plain delicious. Great for a night cap seeing as how it doesn’t have tea in it using Rooibos and Honeybush instead.

Made this for my friends tonight! Made it over the stovetop! So good! The tea tasted spicier than the mix I usually make on my own, so I had to add copious amounts of milk to smooth it out.