I found some bags of this Tazo Organic Chai and decided that since I was severely decaffeinated and the weather was cool and drizzly this would be a perfect opportunity to brew up a large Bodum. I have consumed a lot of this tea in the past, but I’ve been less into chai lately for some reason. It was probably one of those fads which carries us away until we get our wits about us once again.
Anyway, I’ve tried my share of chai blends, and many are “spice cabinet” chais, with much more spice than tea, which always annoys me a little. I mean the word chai means “tea”, does it not???? I mention this today because I checked out the ingredients list for the new Oprah Chai chez Starbucks (which appears to be replacing the Tazo), and the first ingredient listed is cinnamon. Well, I certainly like cinnamon, but as the top ingredient in a chai? No, thank you.
Tazo Organic Chai boasts black tea as its first ingredient, followed by ginger and then cinnamon. Clove is rather far down the list, although I recall that in the loose-leaf, non-organic Tazo Chai, whole cloves figure rather prominently, necessitating the addition of a hefty dose of Assam (usually CTC), if I am to imbibe that blend.
This one, the organic version, is perfectly dosed, with enough black tea to make this seem like a flavored tea, not a tea-tinged infusion of spices. I usually do not sweeten tea, but chai is the exception to the rule. Today I used my all-time favorite chai adulterant: sweetened condensed milk, which adds both the milk and the sweetness all in a few large glob-like spoons (or are they dollops?) of caramel-esque wonderfulness. Needless to say, this beverage is of the meal replacement variety. I was hungry and tired; now I am neither!
