Photo: Teapigs |
Country of Origin: India
Leaf Appearance: small, dark with lots of visible spices
Ingredients: black tea, cinnamon, ginger, clove, cassia, natural flavor
Steep time: 5 minutes
Water Temperature: 212 degrees
Preparation Method: ceramic teacup
Liquor: dark brown
Running into Nick from Teapigs at the Fancy Food Show was a blast from my tea drinking past. Before I started this blog, I used to stock up on their tea bags regularly while grocery shopping at Whole Foods. My allergies have been bothering me quite a bit and chai always seems to do the trick when it comes to opening up my sinuses. This was one was relatively mild but it still packed plenty of punch. The base black tea was earthy with just the right amount of refreshing astringency. Clove was definitely the dominant spice but I was able to taste the cinnamon and ginger quite clearly. The natural flavor was listed as vanilla on the wrapper of my sample sachet. This provided a pleasantly sweet and almost creamy taste. If you are looking for an authentic masala chai, this one isn’t quite what you are looking for but it would be excellent choice for every day drinking. I think that I’ll be picking up a box to keep at the office soon.
You can find out more about this tea here.