Vahdam Tea Advent Calendar: Day 6 - Sweet Cinnamon Spice Masala Chai

 


After Day 2's AMAZING Masala Chai, I was beyond excited to try this blend.

After all, the Masala Chai was stunning and I love a good Cinnamon tea as well.  I anticipated that the combination of the two would be divine.


When I opened to tin to give a sniff of the pre-steeped leaf.... I got my first hint that the combination might not be as magical as I hoped.  While the blend smells lovely and spicy.... there is something.... off balance about the fragrance.  Looking at the leaf I saw the cardamom, and the cinnamon...... and not a hint of clove or pepper.  Hrm....

 


I tasted this straight off the steep expecting that it would need milk, as most good chai does.  Straight off the steep it tasted far more like a pure cinnamon black tea than any sort of blend that I have come to think of as a spiced chai.  I added a bit of it and some milk to a tasting glass.... and still found it lacking.  It felt.... thin, and flat.  I added Italian Sweet cream in a tasting glass and found that the sugar in the sweet cream utterly overpowered the tea to the point where I felt as though I was drinking cinnamon sweet cream.  I added eggnog into another tasting glass and the blend finally had a bit of body.  I think the spices in the eggnog helped.... the nutmeg and such.  However, I nursed that thermos of tea at work for HOURS, and each time I took a sip I was jolted into confusion and dissatisfaction.


The tea wasn't BAD - but I seriously missed the clove and pepper.  It was rather like the tea equivalent of drinking flat soda.  Also, the cinnamon was ALWAYS on the mouth feel, drying out my tongue with every sip, but without the heavy spiciness I associate with having that much cinnamon in my blend. 


Final thoughts:  I'm sure some palates would find it a delicious blend as it is not at all disgusting.  My palate however finds it to be unforgivably bland, flat, and uninspiring.  I would not buy it again.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Fortnum & Mason Tea Advent Calendar - Day 2 Jade Oolong

Image
 Day Two of the advent calendar and what did we get? Jade Oolong!  As good as the assam blend was yesterday, I was excited to taste the quality of today's oolong.  I had high hopes. So, I made myself a cup according to the directions -trusting them on the temperature and the timing. All in all, it's not a BAD quality oolong, but I've had better and it didn't compare at all to yesterday's cuppa.  I think the thing that cut into my enjoyment of the oolong was that this one had a sort of grassy flavor on the end note which persisted a bit into the after taste.  Because of the grassy end note it took me longer to get through the cup - so by the time I was ending the cup it had cooled.  I have to say, I'd really enjoy this as an iced oolong with a bit of added sweetness.
Read more

Tea Review: Vanilla Almond Spiced Chai by Trader Joe's

Image
 This was in the refrigerated section of Trader Joe's, and well, I love me a good chai.  Loving a good chai means that I am eternally on the hunt for good chai blends, which means I pretty much have to try nearly every chai that I come across because you never know when it is that you're going to find THE chai blend that is perfect for YOUR palate.  As such, I picked this up for a taste test. Now, the large print advertises this as a chai - but if you keep reading the bottle, the smaller print bills this as a protein smoothie, and honestly that's far more accurate.  "Protein smoothie with chai tea, almond, coconut cream, and an exotic spice blend" is how the entire label reads.  Texture wise, this is DEFINITLY a protein smoothie.  It's thick in that nearly melted milk shake sort of way, and it has a coarseness to the texture that utterly betrays the presence of the chopped up almonds.  There is also the not quite dissolved powder sensation that you get with an
Read more

Tea Forte Advent Caledar: Day 15 - African Solstice

Image
  Oh joy - a rooibos. Ok, so sometimes rooibos can be tasty.... sometimes - but more often than not I lump it in with honeybush as a sad weak tea substitute that only makes me crave a real cup of tea.  There are some exceptions - I have a lovely rooibos blend in my regular stock called Party in the Jungle which is a delightful cup, and my friend Brian used to stock an absolutely FABULOUS rooibos chai with spicy chili in it that I could not get enough of - but those are the exceptions and not the norm when it comes to rooibos for me.  This name - African Solstice - tells me NOTHING.  Time to look at the write up. Ok... now I'm full concerned.  Rose is such a strong flavor in tea for me.  Rose without a black tea to balance it... I would be tempted to skip this blend entirely except my roomate's girlfriend is down for the weekend and she likes florals.  So, I know if I don't like this, I can pass it on to her and she'll enjoy the hell out of it. The color was mild - about
Read more