Third Street Chai

I believe this product has changed some as the graphic is different than the one displayed here and is no longer listing white chocolate. Cocoa is still an ingredient, but may be very different than what the other posters rated.
For me this is a ho-hum premix chai. For me many of these mixes are too sweet and honey-like. This one has some sweetness, but it is less than the Oregon brand. This has a lot of nutmeg in it and it is really apparent in the smell. I didn’t notice at first, but this has a very strange undertone. I think I may be the cocoa. It smells and tastes a bit artificial/odd to me. Overall it is pretty nice. I’d suggest this to someone new to chai/tea in general. But for me this has too little kick and too much weird whatever it is I’m tasting.

Here’s another teaser intro to a quick Holiday Pumpkin Chai Soup recipe on my blog that’s so easy www.teaandincense.com enjoy!

The best treats are sometimes the ones we create by accident when we’re craving a certain flavor but there’s nothing in the cupboard or frig to satisfy the urge.

A few weeks ago, on the only snowy Saturday morning we’ve had this warm Autumn, I was craving Pumpkin Chai.
I didn’t have any on hand. I had some boxed Organic Pumpkin Squash Soup in the cupboard and a bottle of Third Street Chai in the frig.

Take a look!

Let it snow let it snow let it snow!

All the people in California, Washington and Oregon who were dripping wet a few days ago from horrid rain storms, Thank you! It turned into pretty white flakes of Snow when it hit the Rocky Mountains!

Yesterday, I went to the grocery store to stock up on good stuff for watching snow from the warmth of my couch. I put gas in the car, went to Sprouts (grocery store), then Happy Lucky’s for a blend of Keemun/Assam Tea with a side of ginger cookie. Hurrying home to unload and I was off again to ‘Open House’ at the grandson’s Charter School.
When I arrived at the ‘Open House’, my little guys were dressed as Greek and Roman citizens, ready to display their knowledge of art, architecture,WEAPONS and literature to grandma Bonnie.

When the event was over and we walked outside of the building, it had begun to snow lightly. I was thrilled. As I drove home in the dark, I was careful on the icy roads. I couldn’t wait for morning and the first look out the window. What would I see?

This morning…
There was only about an inch of snow on the ground, with steady light flakes falling.
I found my warm robe and fluffy socks, pulled this Spicy Ginger Chai from the frig and put 8oz of 2% milk on the stove to slowly warm.
Part way through warming, I added 4oz Third St. Chai and 1TB honey.

(I had learned from previous experiments with the vanilla flavor Third St. Chai that a 50% Chai to 50% milk ratio wasn’t to my taste. I liked about 1/4-1/3 Chai to milk better.)

When heated, the flavor was wonderfully spicy with a bite but not bitter. It was very fresh and gingery! I loved it!

One thing I’ve discovered about this brand is the versatility of liquid Chai. I can add it to other tea’s so easily, or to sauces if I want to. One day, I made a tea that was a little weak and I added a little of this mix and perked up the flavor. I’ve added a little to a stir fry base and it gave a sudden zing to chicken cooked with sesame oil and a little soy sauce.
I have some squash soup and I’m going to add a little to the soup at lunch!

Today, I sat like a lump on the couch in my robe with my fluffy socks and a big mug of real Ginger Chai, sipping and looking out my patio window at the snow. In my mind, I wanted it to snow some more and I wanted to play in it. I’ll always be a kid at heart, but I’ll have to be content to play with my tea and enjoy the view!

Announcement
The wheels are in motion for the adoption of one of the Foster toddlers! Court was yesterday and the decision was made that makes this possible! We are all thrilled! He has really bonded with my son-in-law, my daughter and especially grandson Micah.
I couldn’t be happier for him and for us! When it’s legal to do so I’ll post a picture! He’s SOOOO cute!

One of the things I love about meandering in my local Whole Foods
at dinner time is that no one is there!
At my store, they just moved the tea section to a larger and more visible spot.
Unless I go to Happy Lucky’s Tea House, there isn’t any other place in town with a big variety of loose leaf tea.
A good number of the tea’s are from Colorado which is another feature that I love. The Tea Spot from Boulder is represented, and at least 6 or more companies as well as large bins of loose tea and lots of better National brands (including Matcha).

I was looking around and noticed this Chai Concentrate.
For just under $4.00 I could make 64 ounces of Chai…which I thought was pretty good considering all the ingredients were high quality. All I needed to add was milk. There were several flavors available but I picked Vanilla Chai.

First I tried unflavored vanilla almond milk and mixed half Chai, half milk.
I heated a cup in the microwave and …uh…it didn’t turn out well. The flavor was sour and the milk looked curdled.

I scratched my head trying to figure out what went wrong.
Too much Chai perhaps, or wrong milk?

Next I tried less Chai, more milk and the two still didn’t mix well.
I’m not a chemist so I have no idea why this didn’t work out.
I said, “Forget the almond milk.”

I switched to cow’s milk, heated it up (not overly hot per the label instructions) then added 1/3 Chai to 2/3 milk (not half and half)
which worked out tasting the BEST. NO curdling!

The spices do overpower the vanilla taste.
(it’s the clove that’s the culprit and I’d tone it down or take
it out if I was the tea master).

The taste reminds me of Christmas-time with the scent of a clove
studded potpourri and vanilla frosted gingerbread men.

This is another tea that would be fun to play with in recipes.
A little added to pumpkin puree? Now I want to try the other
flavors too!

I’ll keep hunting for these Colorado tea companies. They seem
to be brewing up around Boulder. I hope the trend continues.

In the meantime. I’ll keep hunting for more local brews.

Very good.

Backlogging 2 large glasses from last night :)

I’ve been forgetting to review this one! I’ve already kicked back over a gallon of this by myself! It’s a great iced tea with subtle mint! Completely refreshing! Handy as it’s from concentrate! I made up another gallon last night! Very tasty stand-alone or with meals. What a way to beat the summer heat

Well, I was trying to “save” this one, as it is the last of the Third Street Chai teas that I have, and I love them so much that I wanted to hang on to it, but I don’t want it to expire in the meantime. So, I decided to go for broke and try it today.

This is really good. I can’t really compare it to the other Third Street Chai teas I’ve had, because it’s been a while, but, I really like this one. The honey really stands out. The vanilla is a soft note and might even be a tad overwhelmed by the milk that is added.

The spices are warm and delicious without being too hot or spicy. It is a very smooth, rich, delicious treat.

I drank a whole half gallon of this tea today. It was so refreshing – especially after the delicious bbq lunch we had earlier. I only have enough of this for one more half gallon… and I will miss it when it’s gone!

Over the last couple of days, I’ve mixed and consumed a gallon of this stuff. It is SO good. A little on the sweet side, yeah, but I don’t really mind it. I get more tea and pomegranate flavor from it than I do sweetness, so I’m good with the sweetener in this.

It is very refreshing and since the weather has been so unpredictable – rainy and cold one minute, and then within a half an hour, the sun is shining and it’s quite warm outside – it’s nice to have something delicious and chilled in the refrigerator waiting for me.

I love this stuff. It’s so easy and convenient – and tastes so much better than anything I can get ready to drink.

I finished up the last of this concentrate this evening with dinner. Yummy! Here is my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2011/04/06/product-review-organic-peach-black-tea-concentrate-from-third-street-chai/

YUM! Enjoying this with my late supper. Tasty and refreshing.

I mixed up a half a gallon of this iced tea earlier this evening and it’s already almost gone! It’s very yummy! This is a little sweeter than it would be if I would have sweetened it myself, but, the peach flavor is strong and juicy-sweet! Like a fresh picked peach! YUM! I like that the sweetener doesn’t overpower the black tea. It’s a very pleasant iced tea. Very refreshing!

The first thing you notice when you open this concentrate is a strong ginger snap smell. It’s important to note that this concentrate is much, much less sweet than other concentrates. I had to fiddle with this one a bit to get a brew I really enjoyed. But it was well worth the effort! This is a pretty solid choice for me when I can find it.

I’m almost thru a half bottle of this concentrate. I will be adding more notes to this and a full review at Sororitea Sisters soon! Even tho this is sweeter than I normally go for this does make an excellent Iced Tea! LOVE the peach!!!!

Backlog: I had a latte earlier this evening with dinner… it was so yum! Creamy, rich, and spiced just right. YUM!

Yum yum yum! This is my second cup of this today. I’m starting to realize just how dangerous these concentrates can be – they make having a chai so easy that I drink twice as many!

This one is fairly even-tempered – gently spiced as opposed to the spicy ginger. I personally prefer the spicy ginger because I like my chai on the spicier side, but this one is really good, and reminds me a lot of a coffee house chai latte. (only better because I didn’t have to go to the coffee house to enjoy it!)

I start started playing around with this one today…the honey notes are exceptional. So far – the vanilla really didn’t stand out drastically – but the chai spices are still present. I will be drinking more of this and soon. This is pretty good. I started off drinking it hot and it was good but I think I like it even more cold. I also prefer this one over the authentic one tried. Both are good but I like this one a tad better.

Finishing off the last… this was a good tea. Very refreshing. I don’t drink a lot of iced tea but this was so easy and tastes great.

Enjoying a glass of this tea with dinner, it is so refreshing! The more I drink this, the more I like it.

I made a gallon of this for my husband’s superbowl party and it disappeared. Apparently it was a hit! Fortunately, I still had some of the concentrate left after the party, so I decided I’d like an Iced Tea with my lunch. It’s really easy to mix – just 1 part concentrate to 7 parts water.

It is an unsweetened tea, and I like it just fine like that. It also tastes good with a little agave nectar. Refreshing and delicious without tasting sickeningly sweet the way a RTD iced tea might. Nice!

I brought some of this to work today since it needs to be used up within 3 weeks of opening the concentrate… it’s definitely not as good microwaved as it is when it’s heated slowly on the stovetop. It was a bit heavy for me first thing in the morning (the chocolate did it in as far as that goes). That’s why I usually don’t buy concentrates—I can’t use them up in time and they don’t taste as good when hastily made in the work microwave! I would love it if this came in a smaller container or if I could split it with someone! Still, it was a nice treat for a Thursday.