Chilly Willy Chai

Thanks to tea-sipper for this sample! The flavors aren’t unique or very interesting, but it’s a decently hearty chai. I think the problem for me might be that it’s not super balanced. It mostly just focuses on one spice…though my tastes aren’t sophisticated enough for me to know which one. Maybe it’s ginger, though you’d think I’d recognize ginger. I don’t know. It’s not wimpy on the spice front, which I appreciate. I just wish for a little more complexity.

Slurping this one quickly to warm my toes.

The black tea is quite weak and watery, creating a dull base for this surprisingly spicy tea. I added milk, so it’s a little creamy with notes of caramel and cayenne pepper that’s sticking in my throat. Not much else to say about this one.

Pleasant, but not ground-breaking. I will finish the cup but won’t search this one out to buy more.

Also, as a side note, it’s really nice when your tea advent calendar matches the mood of the day. “Chilly Willy” is an excellent tea name when the Prime Minister of your country, who also happens to be cold-hearted dick, cancels Christmas for millions (including my family). Wasn’t it just a few days ago that he claimed it would be “inhumane” to do this?

First world problems, COVID Christmas edition: we should have bought a smaller turkey.

2024 Holiday tea #3
Ashmanra’s sipdown challenge – December 2024 Tea #2 – A tea you don’t drink in summer 

As much as I LOVEEE chai, I tend to not drink it in summer… at least as much?  This one seems especially good today on this brisk, blustery day.  I battened up on the chai today for just that reason.  This chai seems more peppery in particular and the black tea is strong stuff enough!

Tea Revv Advent Calendar – Day 19

(originally written November 19th)

Ugh, I am severely grumpy today…

To make a long story short, there’s an online retailer that’s been having a sale over the past week. Today is the last day. I am also in a social group that revolves around this particular company. They always follow the same pattern with their sales this time of year, with the weeklong sale starting the week before Thanksgiving week and ending on the Monday before Thanksgiving. Then they also have a sitewide percentage off code for Black Friday / Cyber Monday weekend. These two sales do not overlap.

We all know this schedule. But this year they seem to have accidentally activated the percentage off code early, and of course someone managed to guess what it was based on the code from last year. The retailer did not release this code, and it was obviously meant for Black Friday weekend based on the name and past precedent. For me, that’s enough to not use it for ethical reasons. I alerted the retailer of the issue and did not us the code. But of course, other people don’t seem to have the same ethical standard when money is involved. So many people placed orders using the code, and got the combined discount of both sales at once.

The retailer has now disabled the code. But there is no mention of any of the orders using it being cancelled, or being updated to remove the code. And this really bothers me. Add to that that there’s a limited edition item (that was not discounted in the weeklong sale) now showing low stock, so most likely it will be sold out before the percentage-off sale, so only the people who used the code early knowing it was a mistake will have gotten a discount…

I’ve run into the same issue in online games. Often when there’s some form of exploit and people use it to cheat, there are no consequences. The company will simply fix the bug and that’s the end of it. Sometimes they will attempt to remove the advantage gained from the exploit, but most often not. And punishment? Forget about it.

Maybe I care too much about things being fair, but it really just makes me think, “nice guys finish last”… And that just makes me lose a little more faith in humanity.

Anyway, sorry for the tangent. I’m just really in a mood today.

This is another generic spice tea. Strong clove, some ginger, maybe a hint of cinnamon. It’s supposed to be white chocolate (I think), but I don’t get that at all. Tea Revv has definitely not been impressing me with their chai selections.

Sipdown (269)

The pepper and ginger is strong here. Like VERY strong. Like TOO STRONG. I know I also say I want a burn with my ginger but this basically burned my lips and throat and made for a bitter tea. The burn I am thinking of is the one that comes from the ginger crystals but something about the pepper and ginger here is just way too much. Not a fan at all!

Almost but not quite. The spice blend is nice but just not quite enough oomph, and the tea is a little bitter. As usual with Tea Revv, the fragrance seems to promise something that the brew doesn’t quite deliver. It’s good, but not great.