Rooibos Chai

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A friend gave me a teabag of this to try. She told me it was her favourite chai tea and I didn’t have the heart to tell her I am not a huge chai fan. Plus it is only one teabag so I figured I could give it a try since she was generous enough to share.

Tbh, as far as chais go, this one is not bad. The clove is strong but not overpowering and there is a nice balance of spices. Also, the rooibos is surprisingly muted for a bagged tea.

I added some milk as well and that toned the cloves and brought out the nutmeg. It is good both ways actually so I am glad I gave it a taste. Would I buy this? Definitely not. Would I turn down a cup? No.

This is the tea bag prairie ink restaurant inside Mcnally Robinson uses for their chai lattes! I had one yesterday to go but when you get it to go they add some kind of syrup to it and that made me quite ill. I’m feeling better now and I know now to make sure they don’t add the syrup next time :D Without the syrup this is a nice spicy chai latte :D

This rooibos chai was okay, but it lacked depth. The rooibos couldn’t stand up to the overpowering spices, especially the cloves. I added some sugar, but this made it cloyingly sweet, though the addition of some cream helped tame the sweetness. I am not a great fan of chais, but I prefer them with black tea to rooibos.

Having a bit with milk

This is by far my favourite bagged tea. I get it every time I go to my local Coffee Culture (as the name would suggest, they sell mostly coffee and thus not loose leaf). I am not a huge chai person normally but this chai blend is excellent, very fragrant and flavourful without being overwhelming. Blended with the roobios makes an excellent combo. I double-steeped the bag and got largely the same flavour on the second steep. If you are looking for a bagged tea, this one is a must try!

Having this as my after-lunch sweet. I put in non-dairy creamer (I’m at work and it’s all I had) and that was a mistake. I would have been better off without. The tea is pleasantly spicy and much of it is lost with the creamer. I think I will avoid milk in the future with chai-spiced rooibos. With chai-spiced black tea, skim milk or hempmilk is perfect.

P.S. It’s been too long, Steepster.

I recently purchased Numi’s Collection, a sampler of bagged organic teas. Of all the teas in this collection, the Rooibos Chai is the one I was most excited about. I only recently tried rooibos for the first time while on vacation. (I am very, very new to the world of tea.) I absolutely loved it—although that might have had something to do with the fact that it was also my first experience with loose leaf tea. So I was eager to see how the sweetness of rooibos paired with the spicy deliciousness of chai.

This tea smells AMAZING. It smells like the perfect lazy morning tea: warm, earthy, and a little exotic. The vanilla note is sweet and subtle (but certainly not lost!) among the blend of spices. Unfortunately, I can’t really taste the vanilla, and I miss that bit of sweetness. The flavor is much like other chais I’ve tried, but a bit more full. It’s rich and bright and spicy, with a very smooth mouthfeel. The spices are a bit tingly, which I like. I’d like to try it with almond milk, to see if that might bring out some more of the vanilla flavor that’s eluding me, but unfortunately I’m out. (Next time, though!)

Overall, this is definitely one of the best bagged teas I’ve tried, and my favorite Numi tea I’ve tried so far. It’s comforting but far from bland, and I imagine it would be equally suitable for late at night as it is for the morning.

Another tea bag from derk, but tea maybe from White Antlers.
Apparantly, they use some new packaging I haven’t seen before and is is wonderful one.

But it is pretty much average tea. I haven’t expected much of flavour profile, but I expected to taste the base at least! I haven’t noticed rooibos, it was quite savoury. And although there should be many different spices, I noticed almost only ginger and allspice. Maybe some cardamom in the background, but none of nutmeg, cloves, or cinnamon. The rooibos was weak as well!

Not for me…

I really love the addition of allspice here. The bag smells strongly of that and clove with the cinnamon, cardamom, ginger and nutmeg lurking underneath, all very fresh. Not only can I smell all the spice ingredients, I can taste them, too, in about the order listed above. A very spicy and very warming cup. Buuut, I can’t taste the rooibos which I’m a little sad about. Its mellow quality is probably just a nice tame base for those fresh and flavorful spices.

I’m always afraid of boxed, bags of Rooibos. It’s such a delicate flavor that ca easily be overwhelming and out of balance. This blend of Rooibos with traditional chai spices is actually pretty good. The flavors work well together, nothing dominates, everything is allowed it’s place in the palate.