Holiday Chai

This may be unfair to rate since someone from a perfume forum sent this to me a few years ago and I just found it in my mom’s cupboard. It’s old so of course you can’t expect much.

Sure enough it tastes like watery cinnamon water with some weird, almost astringent clove. I’m sure it would have been much better had I enjoyed it when I got it.

A while ago, my mom said, “I don’t want it that way” so now I have the Backstreet Boys in my head.

Tell me why
Bagged tea makes my taste buds weep
Holiday Chai
It’s not worth more than one steep
Tell me why
Stale tea is so passé
Get off my tea tray

I just needed to pretend it was autumn, I guess, so I grabbed this for my lunch dessert. Very cookie-y, especially with French vanilla creamer. Cardamom isn’t my favorite chai spice, and there isn’t much in this one, so that’s a plus.

I think this was a goodie-box tuck in from one of you wonderful people, but I can’t remember whom, so … thank you, whomever!

I think that KeenTeaThyme send me a bag of this tea … THANKS!

this is not a bad chai … although I’ve definitely had better. Very clove-y. I’m enjoying it. The black tea is fairly mellow, the spices are very pleasant and warm.

First off, I have the bagged variety. I think this was left over from last year? Maybe that’s the reason for the lessened taste… anyhoo, this was decent, but not one I’d actively pursue going after again. There is a taste of gingerbread, cinnamon, nutmeg and other holiday favorites but it just doesn’t Wow me. (I’m thinking of Darrell, from Storage Wars, from my hometown of San Diego, saying, “This is the Wow factor!”) It’s not gross or indecent, just not exactly stellar.

One week ago I began drinking this tea, as I have done for several years after Thanksgiving. I do have the teabag version, and occasionally I order teabags for their simplicity and convenience.

This is a delicious Holiday blend, even though I can’t taste the black tea. Normally I would mind, but I consider this an exception and a good dessert tea. Predominant aromas and flavors are cinnamon, allspice, clove, and nutmeg. I don’t really smell or taste the ginger root or the rum flavoring, but that doesn’t mean the don’t have an influence in the aroma and flavor. I just can’t detect them and rather than over focussing on details, the enjoyment of tea is important.

Drinking this tea is like drinking pumpkin pie gingerbread cookies. Good, solid tastes on the tongue that linger. I like to add a drop of skim milk once in a while, just to mix it up a little…….sounds dangerous huh?! :)) Anywho, there you have it…oh, I brew it 5 to 8+ minutes. A very satisfying Holiday Chai.

Cupped & reviewed Monday, December 5, 2011.

I tried this one last night, with a tbs. of honey. Stash sent it free with purchase, and I must say that I wouldn’t have bought it by choice. Why? Because of the list of ingredients. Rum and I aren’t friends…and I don’t like gingerbread flavors.

Ingredients: blended black teas, cinnamon, ginger root, natural gingerbread flavor, clove, natural jamaican rum flavor, natural nutmeg flavor

This is the bagged version. I found it to be weak overall. And as expected, I didn’t like the flavorings. I’m not going to downgrade it based on personal taste, but overall it was a very weak brew.

Study study study! This class is keeping me busy and tea is keeping me going. I have a couple of bags of this that I haven’t tried, and I was looking for something to brew up quick so I could get back to studying. I added some milk to it, and I really liked it! A nice spicy chai. Probably one of my more favorite of the bagged chais that I have tried. Even better than some weak loose leaf chais honestly.

love this tea on a cold winter day. just enough spice in the chai to make it interesting. vanilla notes and or butter rum also. not bitter just do not over steep i think a 60 secs. or so will give you a good cuppa.

One of my holiday favorites. Actually, I sort of wish I had some right now. This is one of the better flavored black teas that I’ve had – both the spices and the rum flavor come through nicely. I usually brewed two bags in about 10 oz of water, then added a bit of sugar and milk. I’m not sure I ever had it without milk, but I can say that you need a fair amount of sugar to bring out the flavors (as I’ve found to be the case with most chais). My attempts to reduce the sugar in order to be healthier were generally met with disappointment.

This is one of those teas I would drink for several days in a row, then start to feel a bit tired of it. Definitely a nice comforting tea to have around for wintertime, but I almost wish it were a year-round flavor. Maybe next winter I’ll stock up.

I haven’t had teabag tea in quite a while, but since I did I am glad it was this one! I have been longing for something flavorful and this fit the bill. Sweet, spicy but not too spicy, this has mostly clove flavor to me but that hint of rum flavor comes through. A very nice tea, and this is my first ever Stash tea.

So continues my “I’m too sick to make loose leaf so I’ll use up the bagged tea that I have” day. Unfortunately that means a lot of 1st infusions (I don’t resteep bags). So I may not sleep tonite… and I had to edit that because I typed “steep” lol.:)

Observations: Bagged -, convenience for 1st steep +, convenience for additonal steeps -, no licorice, anise, or fennel +x3, rum +.

Inspite of this being bagged, I’m REALLY excited to try this because I’ve never had a prepackaged chai w/ rum in it before.

Serving: 1 bag/6oz water… dang, forgot to weigh this. Hot and clean.

The aroma is light and a little sweet from the rum and so is the taste. I’m not sure this would stand up to milk. The only 3 improvements I’d suggest is adding a pinch of chili flake and vanilla bean, and making it loose leaf.

Conclusions: VERY good for a bagged chai, but since it is that contributed to a lower rating. Not sure if it’d stand up to milk, which also contributed to a rate reduction. VERY good if you’re looking for a unique bagged chai that you don’t neccessarily want to add milk to (deserves a 100 for that). If I find a loose version I may want to try it w/ a tiny bit of brown sugar.

My Stash order arrived last night. This was part of the holiday sampler.

Yum, this is good. Taken with a bit of splenda.

I wasn’t terribly impressed with the packaging (cheap paper bag), but I was curious since one of the flavors listed is “Jamaican rum flavor”.

I know Chais are supposed to have milk, but I’m not much of a milk drinker, and I like this one pretty well even without it. Perhaps I’ll try it though with the other bag that was in the sampler.

I like it because it’s a smooth chai. It doesn’t beat you up with its spices, but the spices are still there.

2 bags for a 500mL teapot, no milk or sweetener.

A very pleasant aroma of rum, nutmeg and, faintly, ginger, but the overall brew is weak and thin. Faintly spiced rum aftertaste but with an oily mouthfeel. No tea taste whatsoever. I remember Holiday Chai being much, much better. Rats.

Tied with Stash’s Vanilla Nut Creme as my favorite supermarket bagged tea of choice for a quick sweet treat (this one has caffeine though). I always add milk and a tiny pinch of raw sugar.

Bagged
Aroma when Dry: sweet, clove, ginger, vanilla notes
After water is first poured: generic ginger cake
At end of steep: Soured ginger
Tea liquor:
first color: light dusty
At end of steep: med brown
Staple? No.
Time of day preferred: any
Taste:
first notes: rum, vanilla weak cinnamon and clove hint of cardamum. (without sugar and milk)
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? Not at first, added a sprinkling of raw sugar and splash of milk after it started to cool. With milk and sugar it soured further, and only the notes of the black tea, cardamum, clove and rum are noticeable.
Lingers? Yes, sour, woody.

I didn’t think I liked chai (or Stash teas). I think I have more to learn. This one tastes a lot like pumpkin pie to me. One packet raw sugar and some milk added.

This was the last ‘Holiday Chai’ from my Stash holiday collection. I don’t like it. I usually love chai. The flavors mix together very weird here. I’m not sure why.

While the list of spices on the ingredients is impressive, it isn’t spicy enough for my taste; just a very subtle gingerbread-nutmeg. I can appreciate their stab at non-traditional chai, but it just didn’t cut it for my taste.

http://www.thatpourgirltea.com/2011/01/welcoming-winter-stashs-holiday-chai.html

Brewed by the cup, with plenty of milk and sugar.

Has an interesting gingerbread flavor – a nice change from regular chai.

Disappointed with this one.
Very weak even in a smaller teacup (admit I made the first one in a big cup —watery!!)
and with the bag left in. Got to add milk to make it anything drinkable but still a let down. Gave the rest away. :P