Coco Chai Rooibos

not really my cup of tea

Another sipdown. We’re really making our way through my tea stash, even though it may not look that way given my gigantic cupboard still full of tins.

This one is the husband’s favourite. He drinks coffee all day long, but likes to wind down with a cup of this before bed every night. I like it a lot too, but usually opt for something less spicy before bed.

We’ll have to stock up again. This isn’t one he’ll be happy to go without.

I’ve always been what I’d call a super casual tea drinker. Always coffee and occasionally if my mood was just right I’d have a chai or an Earl Grey, but it was never anything I really raved about. For Christmas I was given a lovely mug that, incidentally and unknowingly, had an optional steeper built into it. Feeling like treating myself, I purchased a 12 tea sampler from David’s Tea.

That was my “mistake”. Hooooly hell, it was love at first sip with this. I’d always found that I didn’t really love teas I was drinking before, it was more like I loved the idea of a chai and was always let down by grocery store teabags of it. And this just nailed it, what I’d been always hoping for when I had chai before, it’s spicy and smooth and just lovely. I returned and bought a tin of it immediately.

I prepared it with just a slightly heaping teaspoon. I should probably come up with a more consistent method than just “eyeing it”, but I can’t argue with results so far….

Great chai tea! Enough said.

This smells like red hots, or hot tamales, mixed with the insides of a bounty bar when dry.

So unappealing to me right now. But I opened the sample pack, so I’m trying the tea. Steeping only a couple minutes to hopefully tone down the cinnamon-coconut-candy.

Steeped, the other flavours came out in the smell. So I decided to add eggnog. Or, well, Noel Nog. Since the store was actually out of everything except the soy one!

Hey, that’s actually not bad. The spices and the eggnog flavours meld nicely.

So it’s not a tea I’d likely pick up, but it’d be a good one to get as an eggnog latte! And I’m pretty sure I’ll enjoy the rest of the cup. :)

First tasting note. This was a sample. When I tore open the package, the smell reminded me of root beer Bottlecaps, pepper, and slightly of coconut. First sip was straight, afterward I added sugar and cream (improvement). I liked it, but prefer all other chai that I’ve had over this cup. Still, it was smooth and warm in flavor, and something nice to cozy on the couch with after the babe had gone to sleep. Plus it won’t worsen my new-mom-somnia.

Day 6 of “24 Days of Tea.” The best chai tea I’ve had so far. Not being a fan of chai, I’m always nervous when tasting a chai tea for the first time as I always have a preconceived notion that I’m not going to like it. This is one that I do actually like. The chai flavour is mild and not very heavy on the spices which is right up my alley. I find the coconut, cloves, cinnamon flavour to be quite pleasing to my palate. I drank mine with a little milk added to make it a touch creamier. This tea is a nice treat. It’s perfect to warm up with on a cold night!

Well, I hate coconut and I hate rooibos so I was anticipating this tea to be a bomb, total nope, gross. Fortunately, the chai mellows out the flavors I don’t like, and so this tea actually isn’t horrid! Its a very mild flavor, not unique or distinguished – but in this case that is a good thing.

Good mix of spices. Cinnamon is most strong throughout into the aftertaste. A bit dilute-tasting on the finish. Mild coconut flavour and creaminess. I would maybe try to increase the concentration of dry leaf. This would definitely be great as a latte.

pretty yummy, especially with a few drops of stevia to bring out the sweetness. I just don’t know if I need another chai.