Uncle Lee's Tea Imperial Organic

Another family gifted me a sampler pack of Uncle Lee’s this Christmas. I haven’t tried all of them but the ones I have, I have enjoyed.
This morning I made a mug of the vanilla rooibus chai in my new mug. The mug was a surprise gift this week from a co -volunteer and made my day. It’s a beautiful red stoneware clay glazed with blues and greens. It fits well in my hand and is a good weight.
The tea bag was steeped for 5 minutes in boiled water. I like the vanilla with the spices. It needs no sweetener because of the stevia but I did add a splash of milk this time. The cinnamon and cloves really come through. I do catch the scent of the cardamon.

This is pretty enjoyable, and I usually find chai to be unpleasantly sharp. But then I don’t sweeten my tea and this one has stevia in it, so that may be part of why this one works for me. Mostly it works because it’s got a smooth balance of flavors. I dislike clove but it is ok here because it’s counter-balanced by the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and vanilla. There’s a hint of a burn from the pepper, as well, which adds lingering interest without being offputting.

The predominant flavors are cinnamon and cardamom, sharpened by the ginger, clove and pepper and softened by the vanilla and stevia, which together nudge it toward a suggestion of caramel. Adding almond milk, this is easily as good as the chais my friends order at coffee/tea chains.

Drizzling boiled water s-l-o-w-l-y into a small stainless steel infuser bowl on top of cup onto the emptied contents of tea bag and add some plain soymilk in cup. Great before bedtime. In the morning I tear open 2 bags of black Irish tea sprinkled on top of used chai leaves. Good for cup and a half morning buzz with a little spice taste. Can re-use same one or two times more a day with little or no bitterness since the leaves haven’t been soaking. Will do the same with Oolong etcetera. Not being a ‘purist’, mixing various teas sometimes is nice.