Kashmiri Chai

This one is a bust. Glad that I did not purchase a whole tin- and started with the sample first. Phew! This has been a popular tea on this website, but, in my opinion, the cinnamon flavor overpowered the typical chai medley of flavors.

Chai remains one of the most delicious parts of my morning routine. I had wanted to save the chai that came in my sampler order for a moment when I wouldn’t just be relying on it to function properly, but I’m still wrestling with my sleep schedule, and a premature waking-up at 3am this morning necessitated breaking from that plan for the sake of something soothing and bracing at the same time.

Cardamom is the star in this blend. Opening the packet to take a sniff it was the first spice that coasted out to meet my nose, and a glance inside explained why: there were two fat cardamom pods sitting right on the top. Paired with milk and made into a latte, it immediately put me in mind of various Indian desserts. Cloves are the second note, with cinnamon trailing a distant third. The tea, needless to say, is little more than a backdrop for so many forceful flavors…which is alright, in a latte. I’m not certain I would enjoy this as a straight tea, but then I’m not certain about that when it comes to virtually any chai.

It’s good. Basic. Probably very forgiving of being blended with other things. Cozy. It’s doing what I needed it to do this morning.

Smells wonderful.
I put in milk and sugar. I’m expecting tasty tea judging by the smell of it. Whole office smells indian :)
Yep not bad. Should be steeped longer than 4-5 minutes tho. Quite tasty.

Dear chai, it has been far too long since we’ve met. Now that our paths have crossed again, I wonder if it will be the same or not.

Steeped with rock sugar, added a splash of milk. It has been way too long since I’ve had a tea with milk! The smell is so wonderful, and so blatantly chai. The cinnamon definitely adds great smell making me even more excited to try this tea.

This definitely has a great chai flavor. It almost is too subtle though, but I’m sure I steeped it the right amount. The cinnamon flavor is great, and just all the spices make this a very flavorful cup. What’s really odd is the aftertaste. It’s almost bitter, but not quite, almost like gunpowder. Oh wait, wikipedia tells me that kashmiri chai uses gunpowder tea as a base—no wonder! I’m still not used to the taste of gunpowder tea, making this cup slightly disappointing.

Aside from the gunpowder-y aftertaste this is really a great cup. I don’ know if I would buy this again, but it definitely reminds me how much I miss having chai around (even though I’ve only drank it out of bags before)

I decided today would be CHAI TASTING DAY. I’m saving a sample from each one that I make and will do them all together at the end – it easier for me to taste subtle differences that way.

There’s a spice in this one that I’m not fond of. I’m not sure what it is, though. Perhaps when the husband gets home (and I do all of the samples together) he can help me identify it.

It’s a good chai, just not as good as Adagio’s Masala.

Not as spicy as some of the chai’s that I’ve had. This is nice and mellow, especially with some creamer and milk added. It’s not a chai for when you’re craving something with a kick. It’s more of a comforting kind of blend. The cardomom is definitely the start. There were two pods in my sample pack, which is quite a lot for the amount of tea in the sample.

I would recommend this. I’m adding it to my shopping list, which is now about 50% teas from Golden Moon.

Let me first say, this tea is delicious…close your eyes and just drink it. But, I’ve got to bust Golden Moon’s chops for relying on “spice oil”. You see, I’ve had this type of Chai from a company (who’s name I dearly wish I could remember) who used the real, whole spices to make it. GM’s attempt is more like camouflage for the “spice oil”. I searched the tea sample and found 1 1/2 cloves, five “bits” of cinnamon, four empty cardamon pods, and one cardamon seed. The cardamon pods are big and noticable, but useless…they’re like putting in corn cobs, all filler and no value. The rest of the spices were real but, in my opinion, were window dressing for the real flavoring, the spice oil.
This made a nice, drinkable tea when steeped as a black tea, and the windows were well dressed ;-)

Cardamom pods, whole cloves, and cinnamon bits mingle with gnarly black twisted leaves. Simmered entire sampler package in 1 cup milk for 7 minutes; sweetened with a bit of honey. Smooth, creamy, rich, lightly spicy—in a word, delicious!

Hooray! This finally came in the mail yesterday! (I say “finally,” but it really didn’t take long to get here at all, haha. I’ve just been craving this tea since I had the sample that it seemed like a long time. :P) I even get to try out my new steeper mug to brew it! Yaaay!

It’s just as delicious as the last time! :D I could’ve done with less sugar this time, though. :P

I followed the recipe that was floating about on the reviews. I really love that, and will ue it for some other chai tea I have around! For those who been there before, map out an experience for the rest of us. I appreciate that! It really brings out the best of the tea.

Now with the tea, I am very picky about chai tea. I like them STRONG. And this tea did stand up. I even prefer MORE spice and bite, maybe some more ginger. But still nice, and perfect on a California dreaming on such a winter’s day.