Aug 05
Review: Yogic Chai Mint Masala Chai
Assam Tea, Cardamom Tea, Chai Tea, Cinnamon Tea, Clove Tea, Ginger Tea, Peppermint tea, Yogic Chai Add commentsDan’s Teaview Snapshot
 | "Overall, a rather un-impressive tea - dried or brewed. A shame, as top-quality ingredients would probably make every bit of difference."
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Yogic Chai is a New jersey outfit that specializes in providing loose leaf chai blends with 100% organic ingredients. It is, essentially, a husband and wife duo who have recently come into tea love and knowledge (via their travels in India and their experiences with Indian folk in the US), and their story is honest and true, and just the kind of company I wholeheartedly like to support. But I also like to support organizations who provide a quality product. This is where I am torn...The Mint Masala Chai blend sounded intriguing to me, and I was really looking forward to it. The blend consists of the usual suspects found in a Masala chai -- Assam tea, cardamom, cinnamon, cloves and ginger -- but with the addition of peppermint. I love a good Masala chai, and I am very fond of peppermint teas, so I dug in with great anticipation...
The aroma of the dried blend is, to put it plainly, just non-existent. This was a huge disappointment. There have been many Masala Chais that have been HUGE on aroma, but left zilch in the flavor department. I was hoping this would be the reverse effect, and to some extent it was, albeit in lesser extents. Upon closer inspection, the blend was even more disappointing: The Assam leaves appeared to be more broken and dusty than typical masala chai blends, with tiny shards. The spices looked OK at best: the cardamom pods were essentially reduced to husk-like shavings with very pew pods or pod pieces; the cinnamon was plentiful enough but not very aromatic; I had difficulty finding any clove pieces and suspect they used ground cloves instead of whole clove pieces - bad move; the ginger appeared as good as any other blend; and the peppermint was also abundant, but also very lacking in aroma - almost as if it were stale.
Once brewed, the underwhelmingness fades a bit, as am aroma starts to come through, and the taste is not nearly as bland as one might expect from the sad dried mix. However, the flavor is not big and bold as a Masala Chai should be. It seemed quite watered down. I played with the brewing time - anywhere from 3 to 5 minutes, and it had fairly equal results. The peppermint flavor was much too mild, and the quality is just not there in the flavor either. I steeped the leaves twice -- adding a few extra minutes in the second steeping -- and the results were about the same. It didn't produce a BAD cup, mind you. On the contrary, it was much better than I had anticipated after experiencing the dried mix. But it wasn't great either. Not really even close.
After 4 cups, I dug in deeper on the Yogic Chai site and realized that maybe the problem was that I was not brewing it correctly. Their recommendation is to add the tea to the water (with milk) and THEN bring it to a boil and simmer for a few minutes. Well, since I drink most all of my tea at work, I'm relegated to a microwave. I popped my ingenuiTEA in there with the water and the tea and let it boil for 2 minutes. Well my friends, let me caution you now. Do NOT do this. Let's just say you won't have much tea at the end, and you'll be left with one big mess to clean up. Perhaps the stovetop method works wonders and this tea will really shine through. But that seems besides the point. I have brewed countless chai blends the same way I prepared my 4 cups here, and they have virtually all been more impressive.
Sorry Ricardo & Angela - I really wanted to love this, but it just didn't do it for me. In all, this was quite a disappointing blend. As the company was founded essentially on the idea of the Original Masala Chai, I am looking forward to trying that in the future, particularly due to its high marks received by fellow Teaviewers.
— To purchase Yogic Chai Mint Masala Chai, 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.
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Dan Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Dan's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Dan. |
August 5th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
Hello Dan, Wow!
I am quite disappointed on how disappointed you are with our Mint Masala Chai.
I am wondering if the reason why you found the blend to be kind of bland is because the amount of time that it took you to received the sample.
We sent TEAVIEWS about 15 different samples in the beginning of June and we are starting to see reviews by some of you guys now in August.
As an herbalist, I can tell you that 2 months is a long time for freshly ground herbs to hold their flavor & aroma without adding flavorings.
I know TEAVIEWS must be very busy, receiving and sending many samples to all of you, so I don’t know how you could find the balance.
I do want to say that we are known for having the freshest chai blends out there and that is only because we grind the ingredients right before we ship the order.
Here is a link to another review of the same blend:
http://www.teareviewblog.com/?p=4139
If you like, we would love to send you a sample direct to you and perhaps you could revise the review.
Let me know if you are interested and sorry for your disappointment.
Ricardo Dacosta
Co Founder of Yogic Chai