Maharaja Chai/Samurai Chai Tea Blend

Let’s play good news, bad news.

Good news: I ordered something from Teavana recently and saw that it included 1 oz. sample of this blend. That’s a lot of tea. Thanks, Teavana, you are so generous.

Bad news: 85% of the 1 oz sample is German Rock Sugar, which is waaaaaaay too much sugar for me. So it’s not really a 1 oz. sample of pure tea. It’s really only for 2 cups of tea.

Good news: That’s okay. I can just open the bag and pick out the pieces of rock sugar. This should be easy, right? They’re just really large pieces, and I can tell the difference between tea leaves and chunks of crystal.

Bad news: Yeah… no. There’s way too much stuff in these tea to even tell what’s rock sugar and what’s a candied fruit.

Good news: I pick out whatever I can to best of my ability. I’m getting a good chunk of sugar out, I’m sure.

Bad news: I steep it, go to drink it… and it’s still deathly sweet. All I taste is sweetener and cinnamon. Is there anything else in this tea, because I sure can’t taste it. I can’t even taste the ginger, which is supposedly one of the main ingredients.

Teavana, I get that you love your German Rock Sugar but PLEASE think about us folks that maybe don’t want our tea sweetened to death. Would it have been THAT hard to include just the tea? And if people really needed to, you could include the rock sugar in a separate package for people to add in with the tea. That way both parties are happy and everybody wins.

It’s hard to beat the original chai blend from Teavana (White Ayurvedic Chai/Samurai Chat Mate), and I know chais! I’ve hunted for the best one for years, and still think that is the best. I love a deep flavor and the spicy sass of that blend.

This one comes close, but it’s just not there. I can’t figure out why. The oolong adds an interesting edge to the samurai chai, makes it sharper, more pronounced. I can taste the tea leaves more in this version than in the other, which also tastes more like an autumn tea, and this is more winter-y. It’s probably the nutmeg, which I love, but associate with Christmas and calories.

The dry leaves smell wonderful and while steeping the aroma is knee-weakening.

OK, further into the cuppa, I found more of that chai flavor I love. Maybe this one will grow more on me.

I can also steep the other blend for the length of the cuppa so the final drops are fragrant and spicy and awesome. Can’t really do that with an oolong, unless you like bitter teas. ;)

But paying almost $20 for four ounces isn’t always in my budget.

I think a lot of people have one ingredient that can ruin chai for them. With so many powerful spices in the mix, it’s no surprise! For some it’s ginger, or black pepper. For me, it’s cinnamon. It’s a spice I am very sensitive to if it’s not cinnamon bark—cinnamon flavoring reminds me of Big Red gum, and I find it way too overwhelming. In fact, it makes me a little nauseous.

Sadly, this blend has a LOT of cinnamon. Funny, because their other chai/chai blend (samurai mate and white whatever) smells much more cinnamon-y but is lighter in flavor. I placed an order at Teavana for just those chais when they were about 40% off and got an ounce of this blend as well. Of course I ended up adoring the other chai/chai and placed a second order for more (and like 7 other teas) during their Heavenly sale and got ANOTHER one ounce sample of this. Meaning I now have 2 ounces pretty much, funny that they are so generous with the samples. I was kind of hoping I’d love this one too, but alas.

At first sip it’s really nice: clove and nutmeg. There’s almost no ginger or cardamom though, which are my favorite chai spices. And while it says there is pineapple in the blend, it’s not really fruity at all like the samurai/white blend which had double fruit. It’s just… a kind of regular chai with too much cinnamon. The oolong/mate mix does add something extra, like a layer of richness, but honestly I can’t get past the cinnamon abuse. It’s drinkable, but I doubt I am ever going to think “man I could go for a cup of this tea.” This one just isn’t for me—which is fine, because I have 8 ounces of the other (better) one to tide me over until the next sale!

Big suprise I know I received this sample with my Christmas order from the big T. I too am one that loved the white tea and Samurai mix. The Samurai is still one of my favorite Mate blends. It gives me warrior like cunningness(ok maybe a little bit of an exageration). This is my after lunch brew at work. For some reason lately I’ve been obsessed with cardamon after having arabic coffee at a middle eastern restaurant. I love the lemony goodness of it. There is plenty in here. This is seriously hitting the spot today! The base oolong looks to be a Ti Kuan Yin…exciting! I wasn’t thrilled about the rock sugar but it’s a welcome change. I get the change in the combo since the the temps for oolong and mate are closer than white and mate. However in sipping I found that I had a phantom apple taste on my palate. Yes, I think this would be perfect for mulled cider!

Teavana was nice enough to include a 1 oz sample of their blend: Maharaha Chai Ooolong/Samurai Chai Tea Blend. I’m still learning what sort of teas that I like, and apparently I love chais. This was delicious. I didn’t even have to add milk, just a little bit of sugar to bring out the spices and its a nice delicious winter blend. Out of all the teas I have tried yet, this one is by far my favorite and I never would have even thought to order it!

Like many people, it seems, I got a free sample of this in my recent order from Teavana. Given that the first ingredient listed was German rock sugar, I spent some time pulling out pieces before steeping this so it wouldn’t be crazy sweet. They were pretty easy to take out since they are very large, and I purposely left in some of the smaller chunks because I was planning on brewing this with milk.

I guess I didn’t think about the fact that oolong an mate would not make a dark brew, but it still was surprising to see a very light colored chai when I poured it out. I may have used a bit too much milk to brew it with because it seems like a lot of the flavors are muted. Mostly I just get a ton of cinnamon, and maybe a hint of clove. I’ve never tried the green version of Harney’s Hot Cinnamon Spice, but this seems like what it would taste like (with milk in it). In any case I will likely brew this one without milk first next time, then add a splash of milk after I try it to see if I can coax any other flavors out of it.

So this is a sample which I received with a more recent Teavana order. I read through some of the reviews and decided to pull out all the sugar I could find before brewing some. I found 3tsp. of sugar in my 1oz baggie. It seems like a ton to someone like me who never adds sugar to their teas. The amount of oolong in the blend is crushingly low. My blend was about 1/3 sugar, 1/3 mate, and 1/3 everything else. I used 3tsp. of leaf to make 16oz.
Dry and steeping this smelled mainly of cinnamon. Not exactly the same type of cinnamon in the Ayurvedic Chai, which is kind of a sweet cinnamon. Rather, this is a hot cinnamon. There were also so peppery, nutty, and citrus notes as well.
Wow! I left the room and came back and the smell permeated the whole room. It really does smell nice, but very strong. If I was just a bit more sensitive it would probably annoy me. I think I really like this one. It still somehow tastes sweetened. Maybe a few little crystals got in there. If someone blind tasted this with me I’d guess there was only herbs in this and maybe a black base. I really cannot discern the teas because the spices are so overwhelming; but I like my chai that way! I am a huge fan of overtly spicy chai teas and this one is really good. I still think the older samurai/Ayurvedic chai is better.

This is a chai for people who don’t like traditional chais, or at least that’s my impression. The blend of spices is quite different from what I’m used to in chai and much more pleasing to my taste buds than I expected, and I am quite fond of the type and amount of sugar that Teavana has placed in the sample packet (although I do understand why it is irritating to some people). Very nice; it’s times like this that I wish Teavana was cheaper, because I can easily see this becoming a comfort tea.

Received this as a sample with my Heavenly Sale order. The little card said to dump the entire 1oz sample into a PerfectTea Maker. I don’t have one of those.

The last sample I got from them was so strong that I was able to use just a teaspoon for an 8oz cup. Figuring this would be a similar case, I used two teaspoons for my large penguin mug. No milk, no sugar. This resulted in a weak tea that was full of cinnamon flavor, with a bite of spice at the end.

I realized just now it says 1oz tea to 16oz of water. That’s a LOT of tea. While I like this, I don’t see myself shelling out that kind of money for a cup of tea. I couldn’t even do that for my favorite teas, and this wouldn’t be one of them. I realize that half of this sample pouch is full of sugar, but still.

Btw, Teavana, can I get a sample that is not sugared someday? I mean, I REALLY appreciate the free tea, but coming from a family of diabetics, I try to watch how much sugar I take in. Your samples do not allow me to try your teas unsweetened, or with honey, ect. Marketing something as “Healthy!!! OMG!!!” and then dumping a whole bunch of rock sugar into it is silly. This one was REALLY sweet. I honestly think I would have liked it better if I could have added my own sugar, or had it plain.

This tastes almost exactly like Good Earth tea. So much so that I am struggling to find any other way to describe it. Super cinnamony with ginger and other spicy goodness. If you’ve had Good Earth tea, this tastes the same to me.

Hmm….When Teavana changed the blend they promote in store from the White Ayurvedic to this, I was skeptical. Why change a good thing? But I’ve come to love this equally as much as the old blend, and drink both now. This is much more spicy, very robust cinnamon flavor.

Yeah, no…

I don’t know if it is because I’ve been on a white tea binge for the last couple of days or what, but seriously I’m drinking a Christmas candle. Not in a good way (if it can ever be good).

Cinnamon is amped up on this tea, but it’s so jam packed with strong, conflicting flavors it’s almost confusing. I can hardly pick any of them out. It’s complex, but I say that to mean that this tea doesn’t seem to know if it’s an Oolong, Mate, Chai (in increasing order of likeness) or something in between. Chai comes out on top if I concentrate, but it’s not spicy like a traditional Chai (cinnamon, being the perpetrator, I presume), and thus, resembles the artificial scent of a Glade Plugin. I taste no Oolong or even any Mate, save for maybe the fruit in the Samurai Blend.

Also, as other people have already ranted on, the sample comes pre-packed with their rock sugar. Hey, Teavana, what if I prefer honey? What then? The sugar left a really odd aftertaste too… very chemical tasting, it was like Splenda. If I wanted that aftertaste I would drink a diet soda. I’m not. I’m drinking tea.

I feel defiled.

Also, also:
To add insult to injury, I guess Teavana was trying to get rid of these sample packets because I got two of them… I’ll make a nice potpourri with the other, I suppose.

Fantastic blend of teas. I usually have my reservations about Chai because it’s usually to “spicy”. This one was an unbelievably pleasant surprise when I tried it in Teavana for the first time. I bought their german rock sugar just to ensure I’d get the exact same taste. I was impressed…

The spices and sugar are over-powerful. I grimaced each time I took a sip. There might as well be no oolong, mate, or roobois in here.

Oh teavana. Why must you put more sugar than tea in the samples you include in your online orders??

It was so sickeningly sweet, it overpowered everything else. Except the overpowering cinnamon. I’d like to try this without all the needless sugar.

Quite a while ago, I purchased some Maharaja Chai Oolong. I took one sip and knew that my mom would love this tea, as she is always craving hot tamales and big red gum (I hate big red gum), so I gave it to her.

But alas, I received this sample and had to give it another go. For me, the sweetness helps me tolerate the overwhelming cinnamon taste. But like other reviewers, I feel this is the tea’s downfall. I don’t understand why they used the balance of spices they did, but then again I feel that that is mainly the Maharaja Chai that is overpowering. I’ve never tried the Samurai Chai alone, although I have heard a lot of positive things about the Samurai/Ayurvedic chai blend. Try that one if you’re looking for a good chai blend. Otherwise, if you love Big Red gum, you will love this.

This tea blend was a sample sent from Teavana with my order, and the first Teavana tea I’ve tried. I was shocked to see that they expected you to use the entire 1oz sample for 16oz tea – I’m used to 1oz sizes being good for at least 5 cups, if not more! I suppose the rock sugar is why, but I decided to split this tea the same I do with my others – 1.5-2 Perfect Tea Spoons for 16oz tea. The tea brewed somewhat dark that way, but not too strong – like a nice, sweet chai. The spices are present, but not overwhelming, and brewed this way, the sugar isn’t either! The tea tastes somewhat like a mixture of Big Red gum and plain pink Bubblegum… Surprisingly good!

I got this in the mail as a free sample with my order, and I love it!!! I love how pronounced the cinnamon and cloves are. I don’t taste any of the candid fruits, but that’s alright. I normally don’t like chai teas, but this one is amazing. I like it hot, with a bit of sugar added. I haven’t tried it cold yet.

I recently received this tea in the mail as a sample…and I love it. I would say this is possibly my favorite tea. I was quite surprised to see the rock sugar in there, but I liked it. I sweeten all of my teas, so it was nice the sweetener was already mixed in. It was also nice because I pulled out a piece of the rock sugar and tasted it, and it had really soaked in that cinnamon taste. Very good job on this one Teavana. I will be purchasing this with my next order.

I had this tea with soy milk and steeped it on the stove; I mixed in various spices and added a bit of sweetner. This tea is absolutely amazing to have and make a home-made latte with; it’s spicy and exotic and everything about it transports me to a different world all together. Such a wonderful tea.