Chocolate Chai

Mmmmm! Chocolate and cinnamon. It tastes like a fresh-baked cookie. I can’t get enough of the Zhena chais lately. This one is my favorite rooibos blend. Chocolate and vanilla both work well with rooibos. I don’t get much ginger, which is a little sad, but it’s still tasty. I double-bagged it for good measure.

I want to try their hazelnut chai next.

I’m not a chai person, but I will have one on occasion. It either needs to be really milky or very light on the spices for me to enjoy it. I found that Zhena’s gypsy chai teas with the red base + a short steep time are best for my tastebuds in the chai world.

The scent is very sweet and deep, with lots of layers. I smell the chocolate first, followed by the rooibos and a hint of cinnamon and cloves. It really does smell like a fancy, spicy hot chocolate.

Sipping… hm, this is nice. I taste a watery sort of chocolate (not really all that dark-tasting.. I’m getting more of a milk chocolate note) with a heavy mouthfeel. The spices come out at the end of the sip and they’re actually not too bad. They’re on the sweeter side and aren’t all that spicy. I also think that the sweet spices bring out some of the chocolate as well. The rooibos sort of hides behind everything and is most strong when the spices fade away.

Overall, I am actually quite pleased with this chai. I think it might be even more delicious with the addition of milk.

The second one out of the four-pack that I decided to try. Not without misgivings; rooibos isn’t something I normally enjoy. It certainly smelled nice, I’ll give it that. I let it steep for roughly eight minutes and added sugar. While waiting for my cup to finish steeping, I pondered what exactly the “shortbread flavoring” listed on the can could be.

The first sip I took? UGH. There was something sharp and almost medicinal about it. I thought about dumping it down the drain for a moment, but I figured I’d let it cool a little and try again. The taste definitely improved when I did, making it mainly chocolate and cinnamon. A tiny hint of rooibos, but not anything I couldn’t ignore.

Not really the spiciest of chais, but still a tasty tea. And getting me to willingly drink rooibos is certainly a plus.

Last night I was looking for something w/o a caffeine base, but wanted something easy as we had had a long day. I had picked this up earlier in the week when Hubby and I made a trip out of town for a little shopping. Unfortunately, we weren’t near any tea shops, but we did make it into a HomeGoods so I checked out their tea section and found a stackable set of Zhena’s Chai teas and picked up a Zhena’s Raspberry mint as well. MissB had sent me some of the coconut chai recently, and although I hadn’t tried it before this trip, I had read the reviews and was expecting a good experience with their chais. Knowing I have little opportunity to pick up great teas locally, I grabbed at the chance.

Cinnamon and chocolate are not a favorite mix of mine if you are talking dessert. My mom makes a cake that is rich & chocolatey… I’ve had others versions of the same cake with the addition of cinnamon and I’d rather just pass on them. Somehow though, it seems to work for me in tea.

I found this blend to be rich and inviting as I had wanted for something warm when we came in from the cold. We have had a couple of nice days where you just need a jacket or a sweatshirt, but last night.. cold again, Ugh! The rich chocolate paired with the spice, although not overly so, of the chai made for a nice heartwarming cup… I can see why MissB has been a fan of chocolate chai as of lately. This was a nice blend of the two and with little to no caffeine (not sure if the cocoa they use has caffeine). Glad I picked this one up.

Sipdown!

Although, not very impressive, since I only got the sampler with 4 bags each of various chais. This one was pretty good, not very chocolatey though. This round, I combined it with a sachet of the caramel chai and it was actually better as the caramel toned down the spices in the chocolate chai. Not sure I’d repurchase, but a little bit of spice always helps when things that my body doesn’t like are blooming outside!

You know, this doesn’t really do much for me in the chocolate department. I mostly get rooibos from it. Not even really great rooibos. I’ve tried steeping it for many different lengths of time, and the spices of the chai don’t even come through very strongly. There might be a faint sort of gingery tang, but I’m really trying to perceive this. Mostly I’d say the flavoring is quite weak.

Pausing to sip and think some more ****

Maybe a touch of sweetness in addition to the rooibos? But I’m definitely trying to taste it. Maybe this tea has gotten a bit stale, but I wasn’t very impressed with it when I first opened the tin either.

Maybe I’m not brewing this tea correctly, but I found it awfully bland on its own. I prefer to use it with Stash’s Chai Spice and some creamer.

Smells like chocolate when dry and steeped. However, the cacao power is a bit too strong for me so the taste is not quite what I thought it would be. Not bad, just not that great. It seems that most chais that have rooibos are weaker than black chais.

My first experience with this tea did not go well. Something about all the different flavors made me put it down. I’m going to try it again soon, maybe with some almond milk. I want to like it!

Upped the steep time from 5 minutes to 8, still tasting a lot of great spice but not as much of the chocolate. Not sure if it needs more steeping, or if the chocolate is just more in the aroma than the taste of the tea itself.