Cha Yen Thai

FOREWARNING: I just finished writing this, and it’s VERY long. So please don’t feel like you have to suffer through it. Blame it on my hankering to avoid my homework and not writing a review for a couple of days!

Did I make this tea while I was literally on my way out the door to get to my school’s girl’s hockey championship game (they won)? Yes, I did. Did I forget about it the whole car ride and when I got there I was already late so an almost full cup sat in my car for two hours? Yes. Did I drink it two hours later anyways? Yes. Did I also unintentionally leave the tea leaves out all night? Yes. Did I ignore this fact and continue to resteep them almost 24 hours later? Yes. Did I forget that my timer went off so the tea steeped for about 15 minutes? Yes.

SO MANY BAD HABITS THAT IAN IGNORED IN ONE TEA!

Anyways, this is a tea that I received in my swap with The DJBooth. Thanks for sending this along!

This is actually really yummy! Generally, I’m not a fan of Teavana for these reasons:
1.) Their blends are like…. all blend no tea. This one actually isn’t an exception… I can hardly see any tea in all of these spices, but it is still very good.
2.) I HATE their website. I can’t stand it. I can’t pinpoint exactly why, but it has to do with the colors/design choices and the fact that it doesn’t flow.
3.) I’ve only been to their retail locations like twice (there aren’t any in Vermont) and the sales people were annoying.
4.) I’m scared to order online because of what I’ve heard from the discussion thread here….
5.) Along with their salespeople, they. know. almost. nothing. about. tea. This is not true with everyone, I’m POSITIVE about that, but the few that I’ve met in person knew nothing. They couldn’t answer my questions and they thought Teavana was all that (quote on quote: “I’ve tried a different version of this tea from a different company and I love it, so I don’t want to try this. Thank you though!” [me] “That’s impossible! Teavana makes the highest quality teas in the US. You won’t find better than this” [sales person]. In fact that tea was one of the lowest rated teas by them here on Steepster).
However, I won’t say that I’m unwilling to try their teas. Personally I don’t like the company and the environment they put off. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t enjoy some of their teas.

Anyways, on from my rant.

This tea is very good. It’s pretty bold and has almost a chai-y type flavor to it. Next time I brew this up I think I’m going to make a latte! I think that would be SO good, and it would be sort of reminiscent of Thai tea.

Pretty good! I wouldn’t repurchase it, but this is very nice. Thank you again, The DJBooth for letting me try some of this!

Oh yeah, PS: The brewing parameters are for the first steep!

I love Thai iced tea. It’s one of the reasons I am always convincing people to go get Thai food with me. Well… that and the food, which I adore. Massaman curry, oh yeah! I’ve always wanted to recreate a nice Thai iced tea, so when this was on sale for ~$1.50 for 2 ounces of course I had to grab some! Now I wish I’d gotten 4 ounces… or maybe even 8. It’s so good! Seriously, I’d be happy with a pound so I could cold brew big pitchers and sip it all day long. But alas, I didn’t think I would like it this much!

The black base is quite strong and does stand up to the flavors, which seems to be an issue with Teavana’s white & green blends which are totally overpowered by the additions. Here it’s nice and malty and brisk like a good Thai iced tea should be, with bright pops of star anise, cardamom and almond. It’s got a wonderfully exotic feel—I made it both iced and hot, and it’s perfection. And this is with 2% milk, not even condensed milk like it should be! It’s very creamy and thankfully even though it’s heavily spiced I don’t feel like I am drinking a chai blend. I mean I love chais, but that’s not really what I want in a Thai tea!

All I can say is Wow. Love this one and it will have to be a STAPLE in my cupboard for all Time. I’m literally blow away by this one. I’m not a big spice person so the light hints of spice in it are perfect. Just delish. Perfect on a bitter-bitter cold day.

I played a wedding over in Illinois today. Tony wanted me to try out his GPS, which I’ve been avoiding. I love technology, but I have gotten lost more than once in IL (it’s so easy), & just wasn’t sure that I could trust the GPS to get me where I was going. Needless to say, it was awesome. When the wedding (which was beautiful except for the baby that screamed the entire time) ended, I checked my starbucks app for a nearby location, entered it’s address into the GPS, & went & got myself a Chai. I also got a new car mug, which I already love! It’s stainless steel on the outside & ceramic on the inside. I love it!
http://www.starbucksstore.com/starbucks-stainless-and-ceramic-tumbler-12-fl-oz/011023718,default,pd.html?cgid=tumblers-and-travel-mugs

When I got home I brewed a cup of this Cha Yen in my new mug, which is basically a coconut chai, more or less. It’s one of the only Teavana teas that I actually like, & is especially nice with stevia & coconut creamer.

Huh.

It smells sort of like a chai. I don’t have much experience with these spiced black blends. It smells like cinnamon and cookies. Spooning it into my teapot, I catch a glimpse of a perfect star of anise sitting on my spoon.

I knew this was going to need sugar, so I put some rock sugar in the basket as it steeped. I poured it over ice and added a bit of milk.

It’s a lot better than I expected. I taste the anise, I taste cinnamon, I taste almonds… it’s not really my favorite kind of tea, but it’s a good cup.

Hello Steepster! I hope everyone has been doing well. I am finally back after a break. No tea was had for the past few weeks b/c I was sick and overwhelmed. If there was anyone I got behind on talking to I humbly apologize.
A friend from a class works at my local Teavana and I got this from her the other day. I wanted to get tea bags but I couldn’t resist!
The dry leaf and the liquor of this are very, very similar to the zingiber rooibos. The main difference I can tell without that tea here is the black base along with an almost anise flavor. This blend also seems to have more vanilla flavor to me. Other than that I think that I would never stock both of those teas at the same time and ultimately I would purchase depending on price comparison and if I was going to be drinking it at night.
Rating it on its own though it is very nice. Somehow I’m getting lots of sweetness that I wasn’t expecting. I think that I may blend this with a heavier base to make it have a more solid base instead of just sweet. It is trying to do a lot in one glass and has notes of nuts, light spice, coconut, vanilla and overall it can be a nice wake up cup.

I like this tea alot better than Teavana’s previous Thai tea! This taste great hot or iced. Nice vanilla, almond, hint of spice tones…kind of reminds me of their toasted nut brulee oolong taste but better.

This is one of those blends that I open the tin every once in a while to smell the dry leaf, it smells that good to me. This is a tasty blend. I like it a lot, despite the fact that the predominant flavour to me is the star anise, followed by a nutty flavour(presumably coconut as that is on the ingredient list) and finally a hint of cinnamon. I see the cardamom pods in the blend, but not sure if I actually taste it. Same with the fruit pieces – I see them, but they don’t stand out.
Brewed to near boiling with added sweetener and milk – delicious.
I tried cold brewing this one, but that didn’t work out, and I had to get rid of it. Maybe a hot brew and then iced with added coconut rum will work out better.
This one I will be keeping in my cupboard.

I am in love with this tea! Why, oh why didn’t I buy more of this when it was $6.80/lb?!?! I can drink crappy tea for $6.80/lb… and this is an incredibly delicious tea. Of all the Teavana teas I’ve tried, this is the only one that I would consider a staple in my cabinet.

This tea is such a pretty blend. I can see plenty of pink peppercorns, cardamom pods, whole star anise, coconut shavings, almond slivers… and tea too of course. ;)

When opening the tin, I get an immediate whiff of almond. The most prominent flavors in the tea are the almond and coconut with a hint of pineapple. The cinnamon and cloves are definitely in the background and complement the flavor nicely.

Like many other reviewers have said, I don’t think that it’s possible to mess up this tea. I’ve made it in less than ideal situations (for example, with water heated up by hotel coffee pots) and have steeped it for way too long, and not long enough and it’s always delicious.

I generally get two really good steeps out of this tea.

I love this tea… I enjoy chai and this is a nice sweet and just a bit of spice. It is very smooth and wonderful for a marning wakeup. It is delicous try it you won’t be sorry!

This is my fourth time drinking this tea, but my first time having it as a latte. Previously, i felt this tea was too sweet. As a latte, it’s sweet almondy goodness is much better. Also tasting cinnamon and vanilla. Maybe some cardamon too?

The smell of the dry leaf and the aroma once brewed are very similar. I get kind of an almond cherry combination – it’s very pleasant.
The taste, freshly brewed and hot, is actually very similar to the aroma, with the added bite of some spices at the beginning of the sip.
As it cools I lose that cherry flavor (which, I’m not sure where it was coming from anyway….) and the coconut comes into the foreground. So far, I have not been itching to add sugar or milk, which is amazing to me, as this is a black tea and I am notoriously unable to resist that.
I think I am going to try this iced – it seems like it would be amazing. But overall, I am really really impressed with this tea hot. I think it is one of the better Teavana blends I’ve tried so far!

This is a really yummy chai. I enjoyed it with some milk and honey.

A big thanks to Rachel for this one. :)

I have owned this tea for several months now, and I have not been able to do anything to it to make it taste bad (even oversteeping!). The rooibos in it expertly balances out the black tea, and the spices, like cinnamon and cloves, are balanced out by the creamy smooth coconut. It has such a delightful finish, and hardly needs very much sweetening. I drink it both hot and cold, with and without milk, and with and without sweetener.

Oh… Oh my. Color me pleasantly surprised. Looking at the ingredients list I had been all prepared for another snarky “Oh look, it’s another Teavana candy-tea” review. And as most Teavana teas are, it is very sweet. Open the package and the scent of an almond cookie wafts right out.

But the ingredients are intruiging: pink peppercorns, entire star anise, slivered almonds. Brewed up to a lovely deep amber, it’s like sipping on a delicious almond spice cookie, and I love it. I can see the chai, kind of, and I can see the thai, kind of, but really let’s call a spade a spade. This is a cookie tea, and a tasty, complex and drinkable cookie tea. It’s plenty sweet with no extra sugar needed. I’m enjoying the combination of red and black tea. It makes for very good sipping.

You’ve done right on this one, Teavana. Let’s hope you can make more like this.

I’ve had this twice now, first steep yesterday, second steep today. I was feeling adventurous yesterday and decided to break my Matevana morning routine and try this. TeaGIF to me! Absolutely delish with a little brown sugar splenda blend.

I was looking forward to a second steep today but went by the 150% brew time increase that my local tea house recommends and it came out a little bitter. We just bought a milk frother so added some sugar and frothed milk and turned it into a tea latte and it’s pretty yum, but still not as good as yesterday.

Dare I try a third steep or just move on to Earl Grey Creme?

I had Thai tea the other day at a pho restaurant, and I NEEDED more afterwards! I bought this the next day at Teavana, and have really enjoyed it so far. I think I should add more tea next time when I brew it to make it more flavorful, and buy some condensed milk… I enjoyed it best as an iced tea.

I really like this tea. I’m not sure how to describe it. It’s black tea with spices. Different from chai, but still warm and spicy. This is not something that I would drink everyday, but it is still a really nice treat.

kinda like a lite chai.

I like this tea straight or in my homemade Malaysian latte. I love Chai lattes and this one is no exception. This is the tea that got me drinking black tea again. I hadn’t realized that all black teas did not taste like Lipton bagged tea.

I know many don’t like Teavana teas, but they are what got me into the whole tea thing.