Love Chai

Sipdown (265)!

Thank you MissB for the sample! I think this is a new company for me, so I was curious to try out their Assam…

I took this one with a bit of milk and sugar, since Assam accommodates those two ingredients so well. I did try a few sips of it plain first though. Nothing about this one jumps out as exquisite to me, but it’s not a bad tea by any stretch. I think it’s more than fair to sort of just describe it as your typical, no frills, ‘trademark’ assam. It’s sweet, and malty with some cocoa and baked breads notes to it. Perhaps a little sweeter than other Assams I’ve had as of late? Really smooth – both with and without the milk and sugar.

I’ve very happily drink this again because it was really good; however since it doesn’t have any quality that really distinguishes it I likely wouldn’t order it for myself/spend money on it.

This is freakishly yummy.

First, opening the bag delighted me – huge, long, unbroken tea leaves. Yay! My favorite. I don’t know why, other than maybe it’s fun to watch (and I find, delicious to drink).

Then, I had a sip. And another. And another…. you get the point. I gobbled this up like salted chocolate. (Put that in front of me and I inhale it).

Less malty than the Premium Assam Love Chai sent me, more chocolaty and rich, a touch thicker, sweet on its own but better with a touch of sweetener.

I could easily carry this around with me all over the world, it’s that good.

Bag suggested 3g of tea in 200mL, no temperature suggestion, for 3-5 minutes. I used a “perfect teaspoon” from DAVIDs Tea in 16oz of water, 200F, for 4 minutes.

Price: 3.99 pounds for 40g (approx $5 USD at the time of this review). Worth EVERY penny – I’ve paid way more for far less.

[Note: I was gifted this tea in exchange for an honest review].

Day Two of testing teas from Love Chai, and I decided to make another cuppa this. Today, I’m enjoying it more, but it’s still not my favorite chai.

Some things I noticed today that I completely missed yesterday:

- it’s made with the Queen of Assam tea from Love Chai, which I LOVE (just tried that on its own);

- the cinnamon is so present because there are huge chunks of cinnamon bark in it (straight cinnamon bark, too, which was odd yet lovely)

- everything in this tea is BIG. Meaning, no small, dry, brittle pieces of anything. It all seemed luscious, fresh, high-quality.

- It smells amazing as it steeps, and it’s really pretty to watch as the huge tea leaves unfurl.

Still, having said all that, it’s not my favorite. I’m not sure if it’s the big spice pieces. I find I enjoy the flavor of a chai more when the spices get muddled somehow, ie the oils of the spices get into the tea leaves prior to steeping.

Again, might just be a personal preference for flavor, although I did really like the big chunks of everything.

I wanted to love this – and I do LOVE LOVE LOVE the base tea – but it’s just not signing for me.

Package suggested 3g of tea per 200mL of water, no temperature suggestion other than “hot water”, andsteep for 3-5 minutes. I used a DAVIDs Tea “perfect teaspoon” (2.5 tsp at the time I bought it) in 16 oz of water, heated to 200F, steeped for 4 minutes.

[Note: I was gifted this tea in exchange for an honest review].

I understand why it’s called Sweet Chai – the fennel – but I’d say this is more cinnamon than anything else. I do get the smoothness from the cardamom (which I love), and the tea is strong and malty. Still, there’s something about the fennel… I want it less present, more in the background. Even with the strong cinnamon at the forefront of my sip.

I’ll steep this again tomorrow to give it another go, I feel like I didn’t do it justice.

Malty, full-bodied, quite chocolaty with some added sweetener (I use stevia), smells divine – like a rich, warm leathery study complete with freshly baked cookies and a thick beer.

Which, I guess, is what many good Assams smell like, thus the draw.

I’ll admit I’ve drank a lot of Yunnan of late, so I was a bit surprised at how small the tea was. Again though, nothing out of the ordinary… just my foo-foo tea drinking habits.

I was given this tea in exchange for reviewing it, and I have to admit I’ll happily drink it all. There’s nothing that wowed me, but it’s also a really solid brew.

I normally steep all my blacks at 200F / just under boiling, and I find this really brought out the flavors in this (and the other teas I tested today).

The price is what stunned me – it’s inexpensive yet doesn’t taste like it. 3.99 pounds for 90g, or (about) $5 USD plus shipping.