Doehi Tea Company

Backlog:

I’m back and I need to get busy on getting caught up! I had a very stressful couple of weeks and wasn’t able to do much except deal with the issues at hand. Now that things have settled down somewhat, I can focus on getting my tea notes caught up on Steepster!

This tea smells delightful. Warm and cinnamon-y, with notes of pumpkin. It is also a very visually appealing tea with it’s cute little pumpkin shaped candies sprinkled throughout the blend. Normally, I’m not a big advocate on the candy sprinkles because they don’t really add anything to the blend, the sweetness they add is barely noticeable (if at all). Their only real purpose in a blend is to make the blend visually appealing and here, these candy sprinkles are doing their job. It is whimsical and cute but really unnecessary. Even so, they did bring a smile to my face because they’re so darned cute.

The cinnamon is not overpowering in this blend, and it shouldn’t be. And I can actually taste pumpkin! The black tea is a mellow tasting black – I suspect a Ceylon – but it isn’t so mellow that it hides behind the flavors of cinnamon and spice and pumpkin.

Definitely an autumnal tea, but it was nice to indulge in a cup of pumpkin pie in May too. It’s a good blend and I’d be happy to drink it again.

Backlog:

This tea is labeled as a “chai” even though it is more like one of those holiday orange spice blends than what you might expect with a typical chai. It’s more like one of those red-hot cinnamon type of teas.

Which I don’t mind at all, because I love those. It has a prominent cinnamon flavor with a backdrop of cloves, and the orange is very subtle. Mostly what I tasted from the orange is a bright, citrus-y note but nothing really distinct that says ORANGE.

The black tea isn’t completely overpowered by the spices here, and I like that. This is a good tea for chilly mornings – I know we probably aren’t getting a whole lot of those lately, but every once in a while here in the pacific northwest the day starts out cold and overcast. This is the kind of tea that helps me mentally cut through those clouds.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/04/17/chai-americaine-blend-doehi/