I’m still plowing through the accumulation of samples from my recent purchases. For some reason, the folks at Harney & Sons always seem to send me samples of herbal teas when I order from them. Unfortunately, I don’t tend to drink too many herbal teas these days, so they tend to sit around for awhile.
I prepared this tea using a one step Western infusion. I steeped 1 sachet (again, I’m guessing that there is around a teaspoon inside) in 8 ounces of 212 F water for 5 minutes. Obviously, I did not attempt additional infusions.
After infusion, the liquor showed a dark amber in the cup. I detected fairly balanced aromas of spices and rooibos. In the mouth, I immediately noted a contest between the toasty, malty, herbal notes of rooibos and the intense spicy notes of cinnamon and clove. The aftertaste was both spicy and medicinal, with muddled traces of herbal, toasty rooibos on the back of the throat.
First things first-I tend to absolutely hate chai. I simply cannot stand it. Understand that this tea was going to be a tough sell for me from the start. Second, I really don’t like the layering of flavors here. The rooibos and the spices seem to fight one another, creating a muddiness in the mouth that is really unpleasant. Of course, I have also yet to mention the aftertaste, which was medicinal, as well as a bit bitter and harsh. I have no clue what the teamaker was thinking with this one. I’ll definitely avoid it in the future.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Clove, Herbs, Malt, Medicinal, Spicy, Toast
