Bombay Chai

I can’t really get past the black pepper in this…It’s like at the beginning of the sip it’s intent is to be a sweet yet spicy chai but then the idea gets thrown out the window into being all about the black pepper. It’s extremely dark in color and it’s a little artificial tasting in every other way but the black pepper. It’s weird – I can finish the cup but I can’t say as I like it much.

I was surprised to read the tasting notes on this chai, because I am actually quite enjoying it. Perhaps I like it for the reasons others don’t – the black pepper. I like the way it really perks up this chai.

I am not really a chai person but like the black pepper in this. Otherwise it is pretty unremarkable. If you do not like peppery teas this would not be for you. I can’t really taste any other individual notes.

Meh. It’s a bit of a boring chai.

I shouldn’t have tried this on a day when I have a bad cold. It smells good, and I thought the spiciness was going to come bursting through the stuffiness and let me taste the tea, but alas! It was not to be! I can smell the cardamom and clove, and they smell so bracing and bright, but I can’t taste them much and that is probably the fault of my cold and not the tea. Because my tasting ability is off, readers should probably disregard this review if you want an accurate picture of how this tea tastes! I can’t even taste the black pepper that two others mentioned! Do I detect a citrus scent, or is that just the spice?

A friend from India gave me chai once and her recipe was very close to this one, but another Indian acquaintance was horrified at the thought of including black pepper in chai, so I guess the recipe varies widely by region. It smells really nice with this cold, so while I am not planning to drink it I do plan top cuddle the cup and sniff it!

Brewed 5 min. 1 Tsp raw Sugar. Hot.
The pepper in the mix I feel is misplaced. The rest of the blend is very complimentary but there is a bitter under current that takes me out of the pleasurable experience.
Chai shouldn’t have black pepper in it.

Well that was disappointing. The leaf quality seemed much lower than other Tea Forte teas, and as others have said the black pepper unpleasantly dominates. It reminds me of the Tazo Chai tea, so if you like that maybe you would enjoy this.

From Saturday. Another packet of crumbles and dust, where the picture implied otherwise…. I must have done something wrong, since I could taste next to nothing here. Black pepper might have agreed with me. Instead, my cup tasted like milky water with a little chair flavoring…. This was despite giving it a full 5 min to brew. Guess it might need even longer?

This was actually not bad. Especially with milk. I think milk drowns out the black pepper.