Organic Masala Chai

Okay so I have had this in my cupboard for about 2 months and I have had it twice. I honestly haven’t tried many “chai’s” but I keep reading all of the chai reviews on here and some of the sweet concoctions you all come up with had me in an experimental mood and today I am going to do something about it.

One heaping teaspoon of Organic Masala Chai the chai is full of spices and smells mostly peppery so I add it to about 6 ozs of hot water, steeped about 4 minutes tasted it and it’s okay not something delicious like what I imagine when I read some of the other chai reviews so seems this maybe my chance to do my experiment here goes my experiment/sweet concoction.

So yesterday I’m at the grocery store and I pass the creamer section and think hmmm… from time to time I hear my fellow steepsters add some creamer to there tea so I look through the 30 plus creamer flavors and brands and settle on Coffemate’s Vanilla Chai and so I think I AM going to add some creamer to my chai. I know people normally steep chai in milk but I am out of milk as usual (teenager still at home) and so I add a tablespoon and half of creamer and it tastes okay nothing to write home about or anything just okay. Then I think what the heck I’ve already added the creamer what could really sweeten the deal!? I do a quick sweep of the fridge and see that Mrs. Richardson Butterscotch Caramel Topping so I decided to give it a shot. I pop the the bottle of B.C. into the microwave and ding ding it’s soft enough to add a tablespoon to my chai. At worst I’m thinking could be a sugary sweet mess at best I could have created something that should go on a Starbucks menu I’m hoping for the latter but who knows? Well the final result is neither :(

It’s a milky, butterscotchy (butterscotchy? there’s something I never heard myself say) chai mix not something worthy of resale :)) but not something that I really want to pour down the drain either. It is what it is……..whatever that maybe. Definently don’t see myself trying it again.

If anyone else has any tea recipe ideas for me so that I can try to find away to use up my Vanilla Chai creamer I would definently appreciate it.

So, I just got this in the mail (thanks SoccerMom!) and wanted to try some out. I knew I should try it straight first, but could resist tossing a little of Adagio’s Cream into the mix, and they do indeed go very well together. Prepared on the stovetop with equal parts water and whole milk, this I used 2tsp chai and 1tsp Cream for what ended up being ~22oz prepared liquid.

This is a tasty chai drink that I would certainly have again; spicy more than sweet, very peppery, maybe a little too much pepper for my taste, but the milk and Cream tea (which really taste more like maple, but that’s another note) smooth it out nicely. A dash of honey improves it too. Since the spices are so strong, I think I’ll continue adding some extra black tea into this.

One of my Christmas presents from my sister was a box of three tea tins from The Path of Tea, an organic tea house in Houston. In addition to the fact that the blue magnetic-closure box the teas came in is pretty cute, this chai is very good. The website doesn’t list all the ingredients, but I can see green cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon. There is a discernible pepper taste, but it’s not so strong as to be unpleasant to milder chai fans. Mixed with warm soy milk and honey, it tastes very similar to the yogi tea at Sunlight Cafe in Seattle.