This chai has masala spices, but it’s rooibos so there’s no caffeine. That is very appealing to me, because I’ve always associated masala chai with nighttime (perhaps because I’ve had it at dinner at Indian restaurants). It’d be nice to be able to consume it in the evening without worrying about caffeine.
I made this with a little rock sugar and half-and-half. The good news is that the masala spices are perfect. The bad news is that it tastes like there’s no tea underneath the spices. I only steeped this for about 4.5 minutes, so my next step is to try steeping it longer. If that doesn’t bring out a tea flavor, then perhaps this blending it with another tea will. (Maybe with a black tea? It will defeat the caffeine-free appeal of this, but the spices are excellent so I wouldn’t mind trading caffeine for a version with more flavor.)
