Tea type
Black Chai Blend
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Dirt, Spices, Cinnamon, Honey, Nutmeg, Peppercorn
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Sil
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 15 sec 8 g 12 oz / 367 ml

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55 Tasting Notes View all

From Verdant Tea (Special)

Ingredients: Yu Lu Yan Cha Black tea, Cinnamon, Ginger, Cardamom, Coriander, Burdock, Elderberry, Goji Berry, Tulsi, Peppercorn, Fennel, Galangal, Vanilla Bean, Saffron, Chicory, Fo Ti Root.

Use 5g in an 8oz cup. Steep with boiling water for 2 minutes or cold steep overnight in the refrigerator and strain. Also excellent simmered for 5 minutes on the stove and mixed with 2 tsp of honey and 1/3 cup milk for more traditional chai.

About Verdant Tea (Special) View company

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55 Tasting Notes

98
1501 tasting notes

Fourth steep: The chai flavors are back, however there’s something granular in the mix now that I’m really finding icky. It’s tickling the back of my throat and saying, “Dump this, even though it’s delicious”. I think I like the chai flavor this time around the best – cardamom, cinnamon, honey, still the base tea peaking through – it’s just this darn granularity that’s ruining it for me. Perhaps the tea bag? This has been three days of keeping it off to the side to re-steep over and over.

1.5 tsp in 12oz.

Flavors: Cinnamon, Honey, Nutmeg

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 7 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
CelebriTEA

I had a little bit of that as well,but it was just at the end of the cup,
And I really liked the tea…so,it was worth it.

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81
15293 tasting notes

i totally had a cup of this in the afternoon and it complete got away from me. just that kind of day.

still in search of a way to get the O dor in canada or the US….

Fjellrev

Do you find the coriander in this very strong?

Sil

not entirely..but i think i prefer some of the other chais verdants done a bit better. but i also love coriander heh

Fjellrev

Ah ok, cool. Yeah, I love their Village Chai.

JustJames

you mean as opposed to shipping through france? sorry…. walking in on a conversation.

Sil

yeah james… from their website it’s 25euro + 6 euro in taxes… which is a little steep for me just to mail stuff this way. esp when i picked up DF teas for 8 euro shipping

JustJames

okay….. ask about ‘alternate modes’ of shipping. yeah, that’s the technical term. if they refuse (which they may) let me try a group order approach tomorrow after my presentation, k? i’ve been looking for an excuse…. =0) that way we split it.

Sil

i was looking at an older thread where they did a giant group order from MF… haha

Bonnie

Get someone from the USA to send it to you. I think it’s way cheaper from here to there than visa versa. Verdant uses boxes but individuals can use bubble envelopes. Find someone close to the border and swing a deal.

MissB

Heh. I think we found our way, a year or so later… ;)

Sil

hahahaha yeah we did

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97
1186 tasting notes

Mmmmm, first cup of the day. So tasty, I used a bit less leaf and it’s not quite as strong today, steeped 2 minutes in my giant mug. Warming, cozy, awesome. I just love this tea. I don’t drink it too often as there is quite a caffeine punch I find lol. Almost finished up my BOMC bag, and will soon start on my 2 oz bag haha :D Happy Sunday! See previous notes on this tea!

Autistic Goblin

Yep definitely helps to wake you up! And it’s a nice change in my chai lineup :D

mrs.stenhouse12

It’s my favorite chai, and one of the few actual chais I have in my cupboard right now lol

Autistic Goblin

If it isn’t permanent, I think there will be a petition to make it so. I really love it.

mrs.stenhouse12

It might be a seasonal one, like Eight Treasures, which I can probably live with as long as I stock up before it leaves haha, but permanent would be ideal :)

Autistic Goblin

I didn’t buy much as I was just trying it… and now I don’t think I can live without it. Damn Verdant Tea and their yumminess!

mrs.stenhouse12

Haha that happens quite often with their teas I find :P well it looks like it’s in stock for you to order more at least :D

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62
2201 tasting notes

Hmmm, looks like I’m going to be the lone dissenter on this one so far. So I’ve never actually had the base Yu Lu Yan Cha, and I believe that is wholly the reason for my lack of enthusiasm about this blend.

I brewed as instructed, knowing that I would probably want to add milk and honey, but I took a sip first. People say the base tea shines in this one, and I would have to concur. The spices were mild but nicely balanced, with no one spice coming over the top. I could smell the fennel (bleh) in the dry blend but it doesn’t stick out in the brewed tea.

However, the main flavor in this was the black tea. I did taste the chocolate notes, but there was a bitter harsh note that was almost like smoke but not quite. I thought maybe I was losing my mind (based on descriptions by others) until I read Terri’s note about how she gets a burnt note from it when western brewed, which is obviously how this blend was prepared. Yeah, that’s it… like something that has been burnt, but not the smoke itself. Which is definitely a major turn-off for me. Perhaps I should only brew Yu Lu Yan Cha gongfu, as Terri does.

So anyway I added milk and honey. At first I was still unsure whether I wanted to drink it but the milk smoothed over the burnt note and the honey brought out the chocolate. I will likely be able to drik the rest of this one, although it may go into a swap box for someone who loves it more.

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

I love this..and Yu Lu Yan never tastes burnt to me. This blend does have pepper though. Maybe that’s what you taste as burnt. The base is potato cocoa (not sweet potato). I’ve shared it with a dozen tea people at once who all thought it was french fries dipped in a chocolate milk shake flavor. Weird how our taste buds can single out an ingredient and find it to be burned. Interestingly so.

Dinosara

Yes, taste buds are funny things! Although I’m not the only one to taste a smoky-burnt taste in Yu Lu Yan Cha, I definitely can’t rule out one of the spices to be the culprit here.

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93
2291 tasting notes

I steeped leftover leaves for 5 minutes in hot almond milk and water, then added a bit of sugar.

So good.

Really, really good.

I’m getting a lot more cinnamon and delicious sweet thick tea. But even though I’m getting more cinnamon, it’s pretty balanced.

Yum.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Me likes honey too…. yum….

OMGsrsly

I love honey in teas, especially teas with honey notes. :)

Bonnie

I usually only add it to chai…but it brought out the pepper really well in this one.

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100
676 tasting notes

Before it was gone, I had to have my favorite Chai one more time and ordered 4 oz.

Most of you are buried in snow (unless you’re in the Southern Hemisphere or West Coast of the USA). It’s -6 without windchill factored in today.
I looked at my email and it said (my email has a voice) “Your Verdant Tea has been delivered.”
“Oh Boy!, I answered, I get to put on all my Winter gear and march out to the mailbox
hub to get my Yu Lu Yan Chai, but it’s worth it!”
Most of you know the drill: Socks over tights (women do this), jeans…shirt and wool vest. Coat, ear muffs, gloves and boots. Scarf and my cane.
The sky was bright enough and we haven’t had tons of snow. We’re high and dry. About 8 inches or so in the last week is the most all year so far.

I scurried out and back, giggling at the feeling of my nose hairs turning into ice crystals. (The last time I felt that feeling was Winter -20 in Fairbanks Alaska).

What a perfect time for Chai! I’ve been indoors for a week!

So I forgot what I was doing after I poured water over the leaves in my brew basket.

Yep.

I always cover my teapot with a tea cozy to keep the tea warm and forgot what I was doing. Tic tic tic…for at least 6 minutes.

The liquor was dark… and very peppery and DELICIOUS!

I LOVE THIS CHAI!

I would have bought all the Chai if I could…just for that great peppery cocoa/potato
flavor.

Hope to see this again…but if not. I’ve had a wonderful taste experience.

Flavors: Peppercorn

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 6 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 20 OZ / 591 ML
Ysaurella

we miss your notes Bonnie :) hope to see you around soon

CharlotteZero

I also miss reading your notes. Been checking your page to see if you had posted anything new…

Kaylee

I miss you too! Hopefully everything is ok and you’re just off on some exciting travels.

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100
806 tasting notes

Steeping a cup right now. I broke down and bought more. 16oz more

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec
Bonnie

Lucky you!

Sil

sixteen ounces… holy crap lady!

Autistic Goblin

well 2 packs of 8oz because I really like it and if it goes away I have to stock up.

Bonnie

I get scared tea will go away too.

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90
359 tasting notes

Thanks to Dexter3657, I now have a VAST collection of chai to choose from!!

Hey, I know a good morning in a cup when I see one. This screams «good morning, you can’t ignore me so wake up sleepy head!!»

Although there are no chocolate in this blend, it sure feels like a chocolate chai to me. The base must be spectacular on its own.
I really like the depth that peppercorn adds in this tea, in makes all the other flavours pop and tingle like Pop Rock candies!

Once you swallow, you get a warming heat feeling from the ginger. I like that it is not overly spicy, cinnamon, cardamom, fennel, they don’t fight with one another, it’s pure harmony in Yu Lu Yan Wonderland :-)

I could definitely see myself ordering this…but I wont, cause it would mean I have to place an order with Verdant, and if I’d place an order with them, it would also mean increasing my stash significantly which I’m suppose to bring down instead!!

Thanks you Dexter for another hit! Love!!

Dexter

Glad you liked it. :)) (just for the record – I only sent you 6 chai – that’s hardly a “vast” – when you get through these I can send you more…LOL)

TheTeaFairy

Well, I think I had only two, now I have eight total…from rags to riches, haha!!

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72
6107 tasting notes

Hmmm. Not sure what I think about this one. I’m getting quite a bit of pepperiness over a very dark, almost burnt-tasting base black. There are hints of chai-y flavours reminiscent of Chocolate Phoenix Oolong Chai (? that’s not right…), particularly in the aroma, which smells like gingerbread, but at least straight, it’s a bit too heavy on the black tea/peppery flavours for me. I’ll try it with milk/honey at some point, and I’m sure it will be divine, but at this point, it’s nothing special beyond Verdant blends I’ve already tried. (That said, it’s tasty. Just not overly different/special IMO.)

Preparation
Boiling 2 min, 0 sec

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3294 tasting notes

I suddenly found myself in the mood for a chai.
I’d like to publicly thank the Devotea for setting me straight on chai making.
I poured some vanilla almond milk into a pot, turned in on low, added probably way more tea than would be recommended (basically, the rest of the contents of the envelope), & just let it sit there for awhile, checking to stir occasionally. You can disregard any lame reviews I’ve written about this chai in the past, because what I’m drinking now is f*@}!&g awesome!
And it’s a sipdown…uh…326, I think.

TeaTiff

So what is the “correct” way to make chai? I was always told to make it with water and add about 2 oz of milk to a 10oz of strongly brewed tea….

Sil

now you’re making me want to pick up a sample of this to try it again terri…

Terri HarpLady

I put 16 oz of vanilla almond milk in a pan on low, added a bunch of chai (like 4T, LOL), & just left it there for about 30 minute, stirring occasionally. Near the end I raised the heat a little until it was nice & hot, but not boiling. The only problem with using almond milk (or possibly other milks) is you can’t pour it through a finnum, it takes too long. I have a looser strainer that I poured it through instead, but it filtered it good enough.

Terri HarpLady

Oh, & maybe add some sweetener at the end.

Now part of me wants to try using this method with campfire blend & also laoshan chocolate genmaicha…just to see how they come out…

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