I shouldn’t have tried this on a day when I have a bad cold. It smells good, and I thought the spiciness was going to come bursting through the stuffiness and let me taste the tea, but alas! It was not to be! I can smell the cardamom and clove, and they smell so bracing and bright, but I can’t taste them much and that is probably the fault of my cold and not the tea. Because my tasting ability is off, readers should probably disregard this review if you want an accurate picture of how this tea tastes! I can’t even taste the black pepper that two others mentioned! Do I detect a citrus scent, or is that just the spice?
A friend from India gave me chai once and her recipe was very close to this one, but another Indian acquaintance was horrified at the thought of including black pepper in chai, so I guess the recipe varies widely by region. It smells really nice with this cold, so while I am not planning to drink it I do plan top cuddle the cup and sniff it!
