Coco Chai No. 5

The ferry ride from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay was brutal this evening! I picked an unfortunate time to travel back as there were 100km/h winds expected tonight. Lots of sailing cancellations and a huge foot passenger build up. And to think I used to like wind storms.

So, tea! This is a backlog as I had it eight hours ago. Bluebird Tea Co. provided this as a surprise free sample and it was surprisingly good (I drank it way too quickly). Like Zhena’s smooth and flavorful Coconut Chai I had a few days earlier. Like that bagged tea, I wouldn’t mind drinking this every once in a while either. I wish I had another hot cup available after that ferry trip.

I prepared it one of David’s Perfect Tea Mug- half full of boiling water for a three minute steep, and an additional three minutes after it was topped up with milk.

This is just ok for me. It’s coconut chai, but it’s just ok coconut chai.
It seems to me that they just couldn’t commit to either. It’s not spicy enough to be a chai and there’s just really not that much coconut.

Thank you for this sample Bluebird Tea Co.

Once steeped this smells like spicy cocoa, very peppery and rather dry.

Flavour is similar to the smell, very peppery and dry with hints of cocoa and coconut. It is leaving my mouth rather dry though for some reason which is a shame considering the overall taste is nice.

It tastes very similar to something else but I cannot recall what…one of Yogi’s Chai’s I believe.

Overall this Chai is not one for me. While it tastes nice it misses some Chai elements for me such as the clove should be stronger in my opinion, and also it left my mouth bone dry in between sips. I would drink it again but would not buy it.

This was one of the free samples I recieved in my latest order.

Since they were kind enough to ship to Canada FREE with their last promo (I wasn’t sure if it was UK only), I feel I should make sure I review their teas (honestly of course) here and on their site to help spread the word. They made my day. :)

Anyway this was a tea that I frankly wasn’t too excited about. I like some chai’s but don’t go out of my way to get them (aside from Pumpkin in the fall!). This one was really good! I need to get past my biases or whatever it is as I miss out on teas that I end up enjoying!

There is a nice smooth Assam base that I can taste lurking below the blended flavours. It has the nice chai spices that you would expect, but the coconut steals the show with the strong flavouring and the creamy mouthfeel it provides.

Would I make an order for this? Possibly. It was really well done. I’d recommend it to others too.

I was craving a Coco Chai Roobios latte from DAVIDsTEA but I didn’t have enough of that one left so I went with this instead. It doesn’t hit the spot in the same way as that does, but it’s still pretty tasty. This one is cardamom heavy with a coconut background. Not much of the other chai spices coming through, which I would have preferred. I’ll probably stick to drinking this regular western style in the future.

I received this in my October Tea Club subscription box. It was a tea I’d been eagerly anticipating and had held off ordering, knowing it would be arriving this month. However, it was a bit of a let down. I didn’t taste the coconut whatsoever and, as a Chai, it simply wasn’t spicy enough for me. I adore Bird & Blend’s Guarana Chai, so I had high hopes for this one, but it just lacked that spicy kick I was craving and just felt a bit wishy-washy. I have a fair bit of this left, so I may try mixing it with another Chai and see if I can up the spice!

Work – 3:00 PM

This is one of the blends from the Bird & Blend subscription box this month. I’m not a huge chai fan, but I do enjoy them occasionally.

The base tea here seems fairly brisk, and there is a bit of astringency. The spicing is actually quite mild for a chai, which I like. I can taste cardamom, ginger, and clove (in that order). The coconut is also fairly mild, about in equal measure with the spices, and it’s creamy and sweet. My tongue feels faintly tingly from the ginger, which becomes the strongest note in the aftertaste.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It’s not something I would order, as I’m not a chai drinker. Also, I wish companies wouldn’t put actual coconut in their teas – it goes rancid so quickly and ruins the whole blend. I’ll make sure to drink the rest of this in a timely manner.

Spicy, with a very peppery bite. It was dry and not my favourite. Decent, but nothing I’d seek out again. Glad to have tried it though.

You can smell the different spices that went into this chai clearly, but once steeped, they are not overpowering the base black tea. This resulted in a nice flavor blend and I really enjoyed drinking it.

additional notes: I think I may have just discovered something based on the absolute ANCIENTNESS of some of my coconut teas.  We all know coconut is one of the worst tea agers.  However, I think even if coconut goes rancid quickly, when it gets even older than the slightly-not-fresh, even after the rancid phase, enters a sort of tasteless grace where it doesn’t really taste rancid anymore – the coconut might fade completely, or even taste okay again?  Maybe this is crazy.  But I will definitely keep this in mind for future coconut teas.  This now tastes like mild coconut….the faintest hint, not really old… definitely not rancid.