Masala Chai

I am sampling this Masala Chai thanks to the benevolence of LORI. I agree with her note that this is a smooth Chai with no one spice predominating. I think it is very well crafted and spicy.

If it were earlier in the day, I would be adding some black tea as one tasting note recommended. Overall, the is the richest and most robust Chai I’ve had. I’m not really tempted to embrace Chai as a way of life but if I ever feel compelled to keep it in stock (and I’m a very easily compelled woman) I may select this blend. Right now I’m marinating my own blend with a good strong Keemun base and several of the usual spicy culprits and some real vanilla beans (JacquelineM got me started on the vanilla bean thing). I’ll wait to see how that emerges.

With milk brought almost to a boil and some sugar this tea is a veritable meal in itself!

I stuck some of this in the fridge the other day and I’m drinking it now.

I’ve said that I don’t what I did before I found tea. That’s made even more true when I factor in chai.

Smooth and creamy, when it first hits my tongue it almost tastes like chocolate milk. Then the spices make themselves present and it switches gears from “ahhhhh,” to “ooooooh!” Add to that the satisfaction of having made it yourself, and you’ve got yourself a nice cup of Masala Crack.

This is still one strong chai. I still have yet to make a chai w/the traditional water/milk/boiling technique. And this is one blend that would be perfect for that. No one flavor predominates but as it is strong! strong! – I need lots of milk/sugar to smooth it out.

Half milk, half water, some sugar, some tea. Not quite boiling. As it first started warming up, it smelled like a cross between Chinese food and some unknown holiday dessert that I can’t place. As it gets closer to boiling I’m getting more dessert and less Chinese food (which is probably good but the former was intriguing). I also think I dropped something on the stove because I also smell a little burning. Oops. Hmm, I think that dessert-like taste is like a Christmas cookie. Cinnamon-y and sugar-cookie-bake-y.

Doesn’t taste cookie-like though. Or if it does, I want some of those cookies. I wish I could pick out all the tastes, but I can’t. But it’s warm and spicy and sweet from something that isn’t just my added sugar. And I can’t stop drinking it. This is insanely addictive.

I have limited Samovar experiences. (HINT HINT…if anyone has some extra Samovar Blends I would LOVE to do a swap…)

Anyhow…because the spicy chai aroma was so VERY intense when I first open the package I decided to do a little less loose leaf that I usually do. It was about a half to 3/4 T worth in a 12-ounce cup – usually I do about twice that…I like my stuff strong…but chais are often UNpredictable so I have decided to play with them a bit.

The color is a pale medium brown. A little cloudy but it doesn’t have a texture or murkiness to it.

Eventho the scent of the cuppa is FULL OF SPICE the taste isn’t as intense and I am grateful. Most of the ingredients hold hands nice but I can taste the cardamom a little bit more out in front than the rest.

This is ok. I’m glad I infused the amount I did. It worked out well.

After today’s lovely pu erh experience, I decided I needed something sweet and chewy, and I thought for a minute about having some Tazo decaf chai. Then I thought since it was a relatively slow Friday, why not have something that was likely to be better when I had some time to make it.

So I broke out my sample of this.

OMG. OMG. OMG. This flavor. I can’t believe I even considered the Tazo decaf. I must have been temporarily insane.

First, let me say that I didn’t even follow the instructions very well and I used ingredients that would likely make purists wince. I used splenda instead of sugar (hey, I’m a middle aged mom and I have to watch those calories!), I used 1% milk instead of whole milk (same) and I used the only loose leaf “black” tea within easy reach and not flavored, and that was the Mariage Freres Princeton Darjeeling.

Second, there was a scary moment when all the water boiled away and I feared I would end up stir frying the leaves. I remember thinking when I dumped the leaves into the pot that 1 cup of water boiling for 10 minutes was likely to completely boil away and what then? The “what then” turned out to be that almost exactly at the moment the water disappeared, it was time to put the milk in. Whoa.

Third, I am the first to admit that I have only recently been deflowered when it comes to chai, and the chai I’ve had has been Tazo/Starbucks. So whether this is good on the scale of chais is something I can’t say.

But whether it is good in an absolute sense, I can. It’s like drinking freshly baked gingerbread. Even with 1% milk, it’s rich, thick, creamy. It is so yum, there ought to be a law.

And of course, I went to add it to my order and they’re out of it. Sigh.

Instructions tell you to add one teaspoon of your favorite black tea for more caffeine. I think that would have been wise. I didn’t follow the instructions exactly and did my version of a latte which is 2/3 of tea and a third of milk, then I use my areolatte magic wand thing and form some nice bubbles with some Starbucks classic syrup. Hmmm, it’s delicious and different from any chai I’ve tasted before. Even from the dry leaves I noticed a difference. There was something sweet about this chai. I just read the description and it said there’s a secret ingredient. Oh Samovar, you tease. Anyways, not really much to say other than that it’s what you would expect to get from a chai tea. The general spices smell, the general cinnamon and clove smell, but oh wait, what’s this? Something else. I wasn’t really sure what it was, but it’s sweet and it weakens some of that chai scariness. You know, before I dove into the chai world, this would have been a great one to start with. The sweetness in it really helps ward off any fears you might have. Needs more caffeine. Time for another Samovar tea. How would I consider this to Golden Moon’s Chai? Both are too unique to compare. I mean they are both chai, but Golden Moon’s packs more of a punch, where as this one is more subtle. I think this would actually taste amazing with some Soy milk. Hmmmmm!

This was very creamy, smooth, and yummy. I have to admit, it had more of a peppery or spicy bite than I was expecting, and I almost didn’t like it as first, but it grew on me.

I had samples of this, so I don’t know if it says this on the larger package but my sample mentioned that I should add another tbsp of black tea to the package. And honestly, I found this a little disapointing of them. Samovar charges some of the higher prices out there for their sample sizes, and to have them provide a sample that you then are supposed to add more tea to yourself? It felt a little cheap. If they want to offer the possibility for higher or lower caffiene, I’d personally prefer that they just offer two different blends. But that’s me.

But in general, this was pretty darned yummy.

Whoa whoa whoa. I am blown away by this! This tastes VERY oily and salty, with a bit of pepper. It reminds me of eating duck in Paris. I only drank this tonight because I’m out of almost everything else and I’m drinking it like most other teas. Not the traditional preparation with milk (which now I know I’ll love even more). Gotta make this the real way tomorrow…

This is a stunning masala chai blend. I can taste peppermint in it, as well as the usual suspects (cinnamon, ginger, pepper). I also caught hints of liquorice, and pretty much any tea that has that in it wins my love. Not sure what their steep time/boiling temp/milk or sugar ratios were, but it was a.m.a.z.i.n.g! At this point, the best masala chai I’ve ever had.

Cooking this up now. Makes the house smell amazing! I’ll be sure to edit this after I’ve tried tasting it. I predict it’s going to taste just as wonderful, if not better, than it smells.

Finishing up the pitcher of masala chai in the fridge so I can use the pitcher for my Alice in Wonderland Tea Party tonight!

My second pot (thankfully I started small) was much better today. The second was lighter on the black tea (1 tbsp instead of two) and white agave instead of sugar. I much prefer the agave instead of sugar or honey.

Best chai I’ve ever had, a must try!

Combined this with specialtead East Friesan Broken blend, and prepared it in my new Breville one touch. I decided to follow the recipe and put the milk in the tea and reboil. It was a little scary putting milk in my new kettle but it handled it just fine.

This tea was simply amazing. Spicy, sweet, smelling of cloves and cardamon. Definately going to infuse this a few more times.

Prepped on stove top. Very good – slight dry notes at the end that take away from it, otherwise excellent.