Winter Cabin Chai

On the Sixth Day of Christmas my true love gave to me… Winter Cabin Chai!

Wow, we’re halfway through the countdown already? It’s hard to think that in less than a week it’ll be Christmas. Wasn’t Thanksgiving a week ago? My how time flies.

I was pretty stoked to see the name of the tea reveal itself underneath that scratch off foil. I saw the words, ‘winter cabin’ and ‘chai’ together and got a little thrill. I love chai in the wintertime, it is such a soothing, warming collection of spices. You And the words winter cabin immediately put in my head visions of a smoking chimney and comforting warmth. You can’t have a smoking chimney without a little Lapsang.

Upon opening the package, I was not disappointed. The menagerie of spices mingled with a strong note of spice made all more enticing to my nose. I scooped out some tea to toss into my teapot and was pleasantly surprised to find that the cardamom pods in the blend had already been popped open. Usually, whenever I make myself a cup of chai, regardless of preparation, I always use my stone grinder to slightly crush the cardamom pods. That way, all the goodness and flavor will become more prominent in my cup. I do notice that the blend itself is very fine. I take note of this and reducing my usual black tea brewing time to just 2 1/2 minutes.

Y’know, I was actually excited about this tea. It was a crisp 26 degrees this morning, and I was really looking forward to trying this tea. I’d accidentally scratched off the hologram sticker for day 6 yesterday before realizing yesterday was actually day 5. I don’t mind chai blends. I tend to steep them in milk to temper the spiciness, but the “cabin” bit should’ve tipped me off. That said, I’m from south Texas where winter isn’t really a thing and very few people actually have fireplaces. I don’t think I’ve ever even been to a cabin. But, I digress, I reluctantly took one sip of this tea and immediately offered up the remains of my cuppa to several family members who took one whiff and passed.

Sadly, the smokiness of the lapsang souchong makes this tea undrinkable for me. Had it just been one of the lovely black tea bases that I adore from 52teas, I probably would’ve made a few lattes and easily finished the sample bag.

So far I’m 4 for 6 with the 52teas 12 days of Christmas tea sampler. I guess that ain’t too bad.

Unfortunately I didn’t realize this was a smokey tea. I very much dislike smokey teas, even if it is just a tiny bit of smoke. I know most people like smokey teas, so I’m not going to give this a number rating because it would be unfairly low.

I like the black base, but the smoke really over powers any subtle flavours that could have been more evident. The pepper is spicy, which I really like, but I didn’t enjoy the proportions of the other spices. It might just be the smoke messing with me, it makes everything taste savoury, so it can be difficult to think of it as being right as a sweet/dessert blend at the same time.

I think this tea would be excellent for most people, just not for me.

On the 6th Day of Christmas – This tea is also our Tea of the Week!

I decided to go latte with this cuppa and I’m oh-so-happy that I did. It’s so good. I’ve made a few chai blends since I’ve been doing the 52Teas thing, and I’m thinking that this one might be my favorite thus far.

As I’ve said in my tasting notes on my blog – http://52teas.com/blog/on-the-6th-day-of-christmas-and-our-tea-of-the-week/ – my inspiration behind this blend is a holiday card photo – you know the one – it’s a woodsy area covered in snow and in the middle of the scene is a little cabin with smoke wafting out of the chimney. What kind of tea would I want if I were tucked inside that cabin? Chai of course! And as I’m snuggled up by the warmth of the fire, I might roast a marshmallow or two (or three or four!)

So this tea is created around that idea – a chai tea with the flavor of toasted marshmallow mingling amid the warm ginger, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, cardamom and black pepper. There’s some (just a pinch!) of Lapsang Souchong to represent the smell of smoky pine and the charred taste from the roasted marshmallows.

This is really good straight up – I recommend adding a little bit of sugar (I prefer raw sugar) or honey to bring out the flavor of the spices. A splash of milk to make it a latte will add an irresistible creaminess to the cup.