Chai green tea sounded very intriguing when I first heard of it. It is definitely not something that is very common, at least in my area. I like chai pretty well, so I figured this was worth a shot. The box says to steep one teabag in nearly-boiling water for 4-5 minutes. Hmm, that does not sound like normal green tea to me. This is exciting! I love that the side of the box gives all sorts of suggestions for how to add zest to this tea: agave, other sweeteners, pumpkin pie spice, using half water and half milk, etc. I choose to go with just water to begin, and I steep the single teabag for four minutes in eight ounces of water that might not have been “nearly boiling,” but was definitely of the right temperature for green tea.
So much spicy aroma wafts up from the cup. It smells delicious, almost reminding me more of a traditional American Thanksgiving more than another chai. The scent is definitely less heavy than a chai with black tea. The first sip reminds me of pumpkin pie…and not much else. I get a lot of spicy flavors, which are delectable…but no tea. It is a decent drink, but it seems to be lacking some major components in the taste department. I think I will try steeping it longer and adding some sugar.
The second time, I steeped the tea a few minutes longer and then added in a bit of honey before quaffing the cup. The addition of honey just stacked the mild flavor of honey on top of the blandness. This was really disappointing. I might continue to use this tea as a mixer with other green tea, just to add in some spiciness, but it is hardly worth drinking on its own. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give this tea a 47/100.
