Taj Masala Chai Black Tea

Winter is finally showing itself here tonight, with the winds picking up and temp dropping. Fully expect to wake up to see snow in the a.m…. not much I hope. But hearing the wind outside caused me to reach for a chai to test.

For the record, I love their popular chai/chai blend (haven’t had a chance to add review to site yet). And I added a tbsp of honey while brewing.

This chai is tamer to me than the blend. It’s missing that slight “red hot” element that makes it unique. But as soon as I said tamer, I realize that it really isn’t tame per se…just different. The spices are in the “medium” spicy category (preferred) and you can tell it’s a black tea background (not a favorite, but this one pulls it off). Not dominated by cinnamon, the other spices meld nicely. Enjoying this cup and warming up already : )

Some blenders throw in a handful of cinnamon and call it “chai.” This one is a powerful blend of traditional chai spices with a heavy hand given to the ginger and cardamom. Visually, the tea appeared to be less than 20% of the mix.

I was surprised by how well the assam presented itself after steeping. The tea made a considerable contribution to both fragrance and taste, speaking well for the quality of the black tea used.

The gingery heat has some staying power making this a great choice for a cold night.

Made this up for my mom and I yesterday and we both enjoyed it. She really enjoys black tea and I thought this would be a nice way to mix up the gasp bagged black tea she usually drinks and to share a cup. Something she and I have never done! There’s a nice touch of spice to this chai. But it isn’t overpowering which I haven’t enjoyed with some other chai I’ve tried. We added a little milk and sugar to the chai and that seemed to bring out the spice a little more and added to the overall yummy flavor of the tea. I’m glad I picked this up on a whim the other day.

I love this tea! My favorite of all time, and I am so sad that Teavana discontinued it :(

IMHO, masala chai should be both bold and strong. This tea is made with assam, and I love that about this tea. It’s become popular her in the U.S. to use other teas to make masala chai, such as darjeeling, oolongs, and even green and white teas, because assam has a reputation for being bitter and astringent. Darjeelings aren’t quite bold enough, oolongs don’t cut it, and green and whites get completely over powered by the spices. Assam is used in India to make masala, and the power of it really stands up the boldness of the spices, so it’s certainly preferable to any tea . While I enjoyed the blend of spices in this one, I found it to be too heavy on the cinnamon. Overall though I am happy with this one, even though it’s too expensive.

Cinnamon is strong with this one which is fine by me. Just what I was looking for on this chilly evening in January. Added a splash of milk and sweetened with honey.

I like to think that I’ve tried enough chai teas to spot a good one. This is a good one!

As compared to Teavana’s plain Masala Chai (which has been discontinued) this tea’s flavor is much more robust and complex than other chai teas I have tried. I like the balance of spices in this one, as the cinnamon is not overpowering (like Teavana’s Maharaja Chai). However, the cardamom and ginger taste may be quite off-putting to some. If you’re looking for a chai that you can’t help but contemplate while sipping it, I suggest this one. Just don’t oversteep and add enough sugar to make it sweet (2 tsp rock sugar/16oz). I also use about 3-4 tsp of tea/16oz water to beef it up. A splash of milk helps mellow it out and get rid of some bitter undertones as well.

Not my favorite chai by far. Too much cinnamon overwhelms any other flavor present. Also makes me sneeze when I take it out of the bag.

A very soft yet bold chai blend, it is less about the spices and more about the strong black and cardamon.

I believe the ginger softens this with a tinge of sweetness, bringing out the teaspoon of rock sugar, to lessen the bold taste of cardamon; very complex, very interesting.

I’ve had many chai blends that tend to go a little overboard on the cardamon, but this works with it and then some, delicious.

Did not like it one bit it was not spicy at all nor sweet or anything just a strong nasty flavor I can’t describe although adding a splash of almond milk made it somewhat bearable.