Jul 24
Vanessa’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "A decent cup of chai... but there isn't much to distinguish this from other mass-produced, supermarket-quality blends."
| ||||||||
Chai has become increasingly popular lately, and thus it is no surprise that more and more companies specializing in the spicy blend are emerging. The Slo Chai brand, which was completely new to me, is a fair trade company based in California. They offer a variety of tea types and products, including teabags, loose tea, already-brewed liquids, and a chai cream ales. My sample of their "Black Tea and Spices" was in teabag form. The teabag looks pretty typical, like any standard teabag. The tea smells pretty typical, like any standard chai. The tea tastes pretty typical, like any standard chai. There seems to be a trend here. In all, this was just a typical, average, standard chai, but still an enjoyable enough cup of tea. There is just really no stand-out qualities in this blend. The Slo Chai website mentions that their Black Tea and Spices blend contains the usual suspects in a chai spice line-up (cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, clove, black pepper), as well as orange peel. Like the tea leaves itself, all of the spice ingredients are organic. I thought that the orange peel would add a really interesting twist to this otherwise average blend, but disappointingly, I could barely detect any citrus flavor.Chai is typically prepared with ample amounts of milk and sugar. However, I found that the addition of even a little bit of milk diluted the brew to a watery liquid with very little spicy flavor. Overall, while this tea was decent and certainly drinkable, it isn't a tea I would recommend for die-hard chai afficionados that really like to savor a strongly-flavored and hearty chai. This one lends itself to mindless sipping, not contemplative savoring. Even though it is a product whose flavor and quality are comparable to readily available supermarket brands (e.g. Celestial Seasonings), Slo Chai Black Tea and Spices could be worth considering for those who don't mind paying a bit more ($5.99 for 16 bags) to support fair trade companies.
— To purchase Slo Chai Black Tea with Spices, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.
 |
Vanessa Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Vanessa's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Vanessa. |
July 27th, 2008 at 6:15 am
I completely disagree that, “the addition of even a little bit of milk diluted the brew to a watery liquid with very little spicy flavor.” I bought the already brewed liquid and I had to use less of it than recommended because the flavor was so strong. That was okay for me though because it meant I had enough liquid to make more cups of this tea that I found delicious. Another option for those who don’t mind a little more time in the kitchen is buying the loose leaf that you brew yourself. I was too lazy to buy it but it might be even better than the kind I had.
My Rating:
9/10