French Vanilla Chai

My sister loves this one, and convinced me to add a bit of caramel (as in, dessert topping!) to it to “bring out the vanilla.” I was skeptical, but she was right, it really does!

Ever since I saw this in the store I have been curious about a vanilla chai. I like the spiciness of chai and I love vanilla. What could go wrong?

Apparently the other reviews were right. The black tea isn’t bold enough and the vanilla tastes more artificial than artificial vanilla extract. And there was no flavor before you added the milk. There was a delicious vanilla smell, but no flavor. So this is a chai you have to drink with milk. The one thing that is going for it is that it is sweet. Very sweet.

I won’t be buying this chai again but I will be drinking the box.

Twinings order 3/27

Not gross… but weird… I can’t even discribe it. Artificial? Yeah… that’s it… Fakey Fakerton from… ok yeah I’m gonna stop now. But it’s so weird. Almost like it was made from a weird extract or syrup (w/ no sweetness).

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag
Water: 160°F hot spigot water
Steep Time: a little over 3 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: sweet, cinnamon, vanilla, clove, and something else I can not quite figure out
Steeped Tea Smell: vanilla, cinnamon, sweet, cardamom
Flavor: mild black tea, vanilla, cinnamon
Body: Medium
Aftertaste:
Liquor: Translucent green-brown

Gift from a co-worker who loves strong black teas.

I am shocked by the mild nature of the black tea in this blend. It relaly takes a back seat to the cinnamon and vanilla.

Post-Steep Additives: one honey stick. Now the flavor is a nice mellow sweet cinnamon, with hints of vanila.

Just too mild for me. It was a nice sipping tea, but I want my spiced black teas to have a kick.

Images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/11/twinings-of-london-teabag-black-tea.html

I thought this was too sweet (even though I like my chai sweet) and not very vanilla tasting. There is something artificial about it, but it doesn’t even taste like artificial vanilla flavor. I managed to finish the whole box, but I prefer the regular chai flavor instead.

Not terrible, not great. Tastes like french vanilla non-dairy creamer.

A friend at college gave me a bag to try. It’s not bad, but it’s not my beloved Ultra Spice Chai. I’ve always liked vanilla, but it doesn’t need to be in chai tea. That said, I did enjoy it, though, probably not enough to go out of my way to purchase a box of it for myself.

Colour: Deeply Brown
Smell: Sweetly vanilla with a cinnamon spice undertone.

I dislike the artificial vanilla flavour, it’s much too sweet for a chai and tastes more like ice cream vanilla rather than real vanilla which is much more earthy. The vanilla is so sweet that it blocks most of the chai flavour so the cinnamon and ginger are not as noticeable as they should be.
Also I can taste the difference between French Vanilla and Vanilla and if anything this is more like standard Vanilla (even if somewhat artificial).

This was a complete let down and I have no idea what Twinings were thinking when they made this. Let me explain, as you take a sip your tongue says ‘boy that vanilla is very sweet’ and before you know it a strong ginger takes over which makes you almost choke from the previous sweetness and as you get your breath back you detect cinnamon before the sweetness kicks back in.

I’m usually unimpressed with Twinings. This may be the favorite I’ve tried from Twinings but ONLY because it is a chai tea. But the black tea here is weak. The cinnamon is stronger, but it doesn’t even seem like a real cinnamon. And the ingredients even list an ‘artificial vanilla’. What does that mean? There isn’t much vanilla here anyway. And it leaves sort of a starchy filmy taste in my mouth! There is another odd flavor too.

Blech. Super artificial tasting. Gross.

I was so excited to try this but I’m pretty much disappointed in the taste of the “fake” vanilla as many here have noted…it smells pretty awesome, smells of sweet vanilla mixed with chai but when you drink it it’s just not the same. The spices is alright but the “vanilla” taste is just weird

decent tasting tea. nothing special but it is enjoyable

reminds me of yogi teas, which i dont like

no french vanilla at all

To be fair, I normally don’t like chai teas. I love this one, though, so if you prefer a traditional chai, you may hate this tea. It is light and slightly sweet with just enough spice. Great for the holidays!