Organic Masala Chai Black Tea

Tea type
Black Chai Blend
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Not available
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Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
Boiling 5 min, 30 sec 8 oz / 236 ml

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16 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Holy spices! This has to be one of the most potent smelling chais I have come across! VERY SPICY! VERY! Now…most of you know I never add anything to my teas – even chai…but…you know what they...” Read full tasting note
    89
  • “Steep Information: Amount: 1 tsp Water: boiling, 12oz Tool: kati loose tea system Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes (http://steep.it) Served: Hot Tasting Notes: Dry Leaf Smell: Cardamom, clove,...” Read full tasting note
    85
  • “Finishing up the last little bit of this chai that I had left, and having it as a latte this evening – peaceful and calming and absolutely wonderful. Here is my full length review of this chai: ...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “After reading the reviews for this tea, I was very excited about it. I love spicy chai and it sounded like this would be excellent. I made some last night, then tried it again this morning just to...” Read full tasting note
    65

From Arbor Teas

This organic, Fair Trade Certified Masala Chai Black Tea blend has a medium-body with exceptionally spicy flavor and aroma. This formula is based on traditional South Indian blending methods and ingredients, using a CTC leaf grade (i.e. very small), as well as green cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and black pepper. Despite the CTC grade leaf, this tea has surprisingly little astringency. The clove and ginger really come through, with a wonderful cardamom finish. We recommend steeping a triple-strength cup of our Masala Chai Black Tea and serving it with honey and steamed milk.

Sustainability is a cornerstone of Arbor Teas’ business philosophy. In addition to offering an exclusively organic selection of teas, they recently became the first tea company to offer their whole catalog in 100% backyard compostable packaging. They’ve also carbon-offset the entire supply chain of their products, from origin to the customer, making Arbor Teas the greenest option for Earth-conscious tea drinkers, and one of few tea companies recognized by Green America.

About Arbor Teas View company

We’re tea enthusiasts with a lot of passion. Passion for top quality tea, the environment, fair trade, and our community. We started Arbor Teas in Ann Arbor, Michigan, intent on creating a tea company as passionate as we are. Our passion is reflected in every aspect of Arbor Teas. You’ll certainly notice it in the exceptional collection of teas we offer - one of the largest catalogs of USDA certified organic teas around, nearly three-quarters of which are Fair Trade Certified®.

16 Tasting Notes

89
6768 tasting notes

Holy spices! This has to be one of the most potent smelling chais I have come across! VERY SPICY! VERY!

Now…most of you know I never add anything to my teas – even chai…but…you know what they say…never say never, eh!?

Here’s a first – Mark it on your calendars!

I added chocolate milk to this today…just a little…

I was actually looking for my peppermint stick soy milk – it’s seasonal – but I couldn’t find it at my local herb store…bummer…

Even with the chocolate milk this is pretty spicy but it’s also nice this time of year, I suppose. I really can’t add milk to regular tea…it grosses me out…but this worked. I’m not saying I will do it often but I did it today.

Stand alone this was very spicy – mostly pepper, cardamom, and ginger. With adding milk it was nice a smooth with a nice amount of spice…it was hard to pick out the chocolate in the actually chocolate milk part but I suppose it helped sweeten and even it out a bit and it all worked out in the end. This is alright!

CaraTobe

Never thought of adding chocolate milk to tea! Might have to try that someday…

gmathis

Ooh…a cocoa/tea hybrid…I smell an experiment coming on!

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85
788 tasting notes

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 tsp
Water: boiling, 12oz
Tool: kati loose tea system
Steep Time: a little over 2 minutes (http://steep.it)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Cardamom, clove, POW!
Steeped Tea Smell: cinnamon, peppercorn
Flavor: bake-y, cinnamon, cardamom
Body: Full
Aftertaste: ginger
Liquor: barely translucent dark brown

+ honey stick

You can see all the spices, whole cardamom pods, whole cloves, it looks lovely.

Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/12/arbor-teas-loose-leaf-black-tea-masala.html

1 tsp is as good as 2 tsp, delicious!

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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90
4843 tasting notes

Finishing up the last little bit of this chai that I had left, and having it as a latte this evening – peaceful and calming and absolutely wonderful.

Here is my full length review of this chai: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/02/04/organic-masala-chai-from-arbor-teas/

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65
254 tasting notes

After reading the reviews for this tea, I was very excited about it. I love spicy chai and it sounded like this would be excellent. I made some last night, then tried it again this morning just to be sure. As much as I wanted to love this chai, I simply don’t.

I used about 2 tbsp in my 3-cup teapot the first time and steeped it for five minutes as directed. It was so weak that my husband and I actually ended up dumping most of it.

This morning I used the other half of the packet (it was a little more than 2 tbsp) and steeped it for more than twice the time. It’s slightly stronger, but I really feel like I had to push it to get it this strong. It’s still pretty weak. I can taste the spices, and the promise of them, but they’re still feeble.

This is the end of the sample, and I don’t know if maybe I got a bad or older mix, but for me this just doesn’t live up to the hype. I’m disappointed. Of the four teas I got from Arbor, the only winner was my husband’s Mini Tree Pu-erh – the one I won’t touch!

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more
Shelley_Lorraine

I think I remember that you had a bad experience with a DavidsTea pu-erh (or maybe I’ve mixed you up with someone else. . .). If that is your only pu-erh experience, don’t stop there! DavidsTea pu-erh blends are mostly quite nasty.

wheezybee

That was me – I have tried DAVIDsTEA The Skinny, Arbor Teas Wild Tree Mini Tuo Cha, and a tin of something we picked up at an Asian food market. They’ve just been a bit earthy for me. I’m willing to try something else, and if I don’t like it I know Jake would probably be delighted to add to his stash. Do you have any recommendations?

Tealizzy

Try cinnamon swirl bread tea by sTEApshoppe. It’s a puerh blend and it’s delicious!!

wheezybee

Okay – I’ve added it to my shopping list and will check it out next payday. Thanks!

Shelley_Lorraine

DELETEless than a minute ago
Chocolate chai pu-erh from Della Terra is pretty good if you’re looking for a blend that really masks the earthy aspects of pu-erh. It tastes almost exactly like the original dentyne gum to me. I happen to really like pu-erh though, so I go mostly for the unflavored varieties, but it’s not for everyone. My husband won’t go near it unless it’s heavily flavored. :) Bana Tea company has some of my favorite straight pu-erhs. They offer various sampler sets. Also, maybe you just don’t like cooked pu-erh? Raw pu-erh tastes quite different. Okay, I think I’ve rambled on enough now (^^)

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98
735 tasting notes

Oh. I think I’m in love.

This is my first hardcore, loose leaf chai. I’ve only had it in matcha form or bagged up until now. I am most definitely going to buy this! I think I should maybe brew it for a minute longer, but it’s just… it’s a symphony of spices. The mixture looks so cool while it steeps… like a mix of bark, crushed leaves, and seeds.

I did it in half 2% milk, half water and added sugar. I wish I had half and half, as that would make this epic. Someone stop me from buying the pound, please. <3

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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90
176 tasting notes

Made a huge mug of this with soymilk and vanilla sugar this morning. There is a very noticeable spice left in my mouth after every sip, which I absolutely adore. The spicier, the better.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec

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92
48 tasting notes

It’s amazing! Great taste, fresh spices, the balance between the spices are excellent. Used 2 tsp, steeped in half water, added the other half of boiled whole milk {served lifting the milk way up while serving it in an attempt to froth the milk as a latte} & added honey. Such a treat, made my day. I sometimes worry about the strength of the clove & peppercorns but they blend perfectly.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 30 sec

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97
1 tasting notes

This is one of the best, if not the best Masala Chai Teas I have ever tasted, though I wouldn’t have said that after the first sip.

It started out VERY subtle. As this is my first tea to have tasted from Arbor… I sighed, and resigned myself to a weak cup of tea. Boy was I wrong!

Each sip compounded the flavor of the tea, and I started to taste notes the cinnamon, cardamom, and ginger. What really makes this blend brilliant however is the addition and perfect quality of black pepper added to the tea blend. As I was drinking I started to notice the slight spicy after taste. At first I thought it was the ginger, but that ginger is SO beautifully subtle, it couldn’t add that sort of flavor by itself.

Checked the packaging: Black pepper. Brilliant. Not only is this tea fantastic straight out of the package, it is great with a little milk (used whole milk, and then tried some coconut milk. Both were fantastic) As well as with a little added stevia for sweetness or vanilla to give it a very latte like taste.

I imagine this would be very good mixed with a little bit of apple cider, as it already conjures apple notes (despite not having any apple in it).

Overall a great, rich tea. Lots of flavor, and a lot of adaptability and great usage for all sorts of spiced tea drinks. Loved it.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 30 sec

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88
3 tasting notes

Wow! The flavors of the spices really come through on this tea. So much better than the pre-prepared powder.

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95
4 tasting notes

Good for dessert. Cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, black pepper. All of the flavors come through, but I wish it were a little stronger. I could fix that by using more scoops, but then it would have more caffeine than I want; I can tell that the finely chopped black tea yields a high caffeine brew. The spice and caffeine means it’s a good way to wake up in the afternoon. When soy milk and agave are added, it’s pretty substantial and works on its own instead of having tea plus a snack. I’m going to shop around to see if I can find something a little stronger, but I still give this a very high rating.

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more 2 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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