White Ayurvedic Chai

So, today was a good day for tea. My friend gave me a big bag full of teas she didn’t have space for anymore. This was one of them! I hadn’t tried this one yet, and it smelled really good. Tasting it now, it is good! Lovely cinnamon and other spices right up there to make a wonderful chai! I do see why others have compared it to cinnamon hearts. Kind of like Hot Lips tea, but not a green tea. Which is really great actually! I don’t really taste the coconut much, but I think all the ingredients blend together well. I did add some sugar, which I believe brings out the flavours even more so. I really love this one!

I tried this for the first time this morning. It was from a very old sample (a few years?) that was still totally sealed in the back of my cupboard, but I still wonder if the age effected the taste. I do not taste even one bit of pineapple or coconut. All I’m getting is chai and a bit of the underlying white tea. The cinnamon and cardamom kind of overpower everything else. Luckily I like those flavors, so it was still drinkable. But I could see this being really delicious if the pineapple and coconut notes were there. Will have to try again with maybe more tea or a slightly longer brew time to see if that makes a difference.

Combined this with Teavana Maharaja Oolong/Samurai Mate blend because the White is old and has a cardboard-ness to it – probably bad coconut. I remember liking it a lot more when it was fresh so that sort of influenced my score. It’s more of a sweet cinnamon than the Maharaja/Samurai which is more of a red hot cinnamon. With the blend this one’s a 68, on its own now is a 50, on its own fresh was more of a 76.

Tastes very weak and only one good steep out of it. It mostly tastes like murky cinnamon water. Not a fan at all.

This tea is a personal favorite of mine and was a much needed brew on what has been a rough night. I’m in a flare with my illnesses so even my strongest pain and nausea medicines are falling short of controlling my symptoms and so I seek comfort wherever I can find it, and tonight it was in a cup of this tea. This is my favorite of all the chai teas I have tried, and I think its because it balances the spices with a lighter woodsy note that keeps you from tasting nothing but spice. Not to say I don’t enjoy that sometimes, but I like that this chai remains less heavy without losing the deep notes of spice and warmth a good chai tea should have. The lemongrass and pineapple give it natural sweetness that is good both with or without rock sugar added, and the black pepper and cardamom work nicely with the tea to give a solid, smooth base to the flavor of this brew. I like this tea brewed medium to dark, but I have also found it steeps well up to 5 or 6 times, depending on the length of each brew. This gives this already well-priced tea more bang for your buck, though this is one I keep around in large quantities – right now its the only tea I have in a 1lb tin. Like I said, this tea is a personal favorite and the overall flavor and notes of ginger are calming to my jerk of a stomach.

This is probably one of my all-time favorite teas, gifted to me by a friend. I tend to save it for when I feel like I really need a little pick-me-up. And I need one tonight. The most prominent flavor I get from this is coconut, with the other spices backing it up nicely. It’s like they’re blanketed in a soft coconut layer.

I let this steep too long so it’s a little bitter today. As usual, the taste and smell is all cinnamon candies, all the time.

Chai teas are new to me, so I was curious to taste this one in-store. Its surprisingly good, I like the spice used, feels warm and cozy, perfect for warming up on winter afternoon/evenings.

I might be tempted to buy some if I can split this with a tea-loving colleague.

This is my favorite white chai. It is naturally pretty sweet, and definitely spicy. I can definitely taste the fruity flavor too. This was actually the first loose leaf tea I ever purchased, along with the youthberry one which I ended up not liking much. It is one of a few Teavana teas I love, and will continue to repurchase. When it is on sale, of course.

Great when blended with Maharajah Chai Oolong. Tastes a little like Big Red gum on its own.