Kleff Tea

Sipdown (312)

I wanted a latte and a chai seemed like it would work well for that. I grabbed this, opened the package and (1) remembered it was a chai w/a lot of non-latte friendly flavors and (2) that I merely had one perfect spoonful left. So…no latte, but a sipdown of older blends is always welcome. This particular tea is from May 2018.

As I bring the cup up to my face, I get a lot of the smell from the chai spices. Cinnamon was most clear in scent but as the cup got to my mouth, the lemongrass and coconut smell popped up as well. The lemongrass is particularly strong in flavor while the coconut is going rancid and thus lotiony. There is ginger as well though the cardamom is quite gentle. It’s not my favorite blend since really I mostly like chais as lattes and the lemongrass in this stops me from using that prep method.

I cold brewed this in tangerine lemonade and this tastes like tangerine lemonade. I guess that’s the risk of putting tea in an already flavored beverage.

Sipdown (636)!

So, I missed my bus tonight at work by like four minutes. Next one isn’t for an hour. It’s times like these, since I feel too cheap to call a cab, that I’m thankful I have a mall security badge/access card and was able to just buzz myself into the mall, walk back up to the store and am now hanging out on the till/computer writing tasting notes.

This one was a VariaTEA share and it was my last tea at work today. We’re gearing up for ‘Chai Season’ and I have to admit that I find myself, only a little reluctantly, also getting pretty excited for it. Hence drinking Chai blends. This one smells nice enough; has a sweetness to it from the coconut in the blend. That actually got me pretty excited for it! In practice, I find that I’m shocked to say that it actually tastes weak to me! I can’t even remember the last time I said that about a chai!

I do get coconut, but it’s not especially sweet or buttery/creamy. Apart from that I’d say there dominant spice notes are cinnamon/ginger. Fairly chai-typical. It’s also a little lemony!? Not bad, not great. Just a little lacking in terms of “oomph”.

Thanks for the share though, VariaTEA!

Sample from VariaTEA – this one smelled “creamy” as i poured it out of the bag. This is a rather interesting cup brewed…it’s got a tiny bit of kick..though i hate to use that word since it implies it’s spicy – it’s not. not too sure how to describe it…it’s not super “chai” like but it is tasty. the coconut is more creamy than coconut, and the lemongrass doesn’t take over the brew. Not too shabby