Masala Chai - Rishi Tea - Ratings & Reviews

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Masala Chai - Organic - Fair Trade

100
Percentile
3 ratings

Brand:	Rishi Tea
Style:	Chai / Spiced Tea
Caffeine:	Caffeinated
Region:	Blend
Loose/teabag:	Loose
Product page:	Masala Chai

Commercial Description:

A robust and full-flavored black tea blended with our traditional Indian Masala spices. The bold flavor of our select shade-grown black tea presents full notes of cardamom, ginger and clove that is zesty and stimulating. Masala Chai should be brewed strong and served sweet with steamed milk and sugar.

Brewing Instructions: (from Rishi Tea)

Mix 2 tbsp chai, 1 cup water, and 1 cup milk in a saucepan. / Bring to a boil then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in 3 tbsp sugar. / Strain into a mug or pitcher and enjoy!

Ratings & Reviews:

Total: 90/100 : Aroma: 9/10, Flavor: 5/5, Value: 4/5, Overall: 9/10

This is also my favorite chai tea and I have tried many, many varieties. I get my tea from Whole Foods stores and also get a large-to-go while I am shopping. They add some honey and vanilla to the tea and make it with milk. I always make/get my chai with milk In my mind, this is what Indian/Pakistani chai would taste like from a street vendor.

Total: 83/100 : Aroma: 8/10, Flavor: 5/5, Value: 3/5, Overall: 9/10

this is definitely my favorite chai blend.
i've tried several others (searching for a cheaper alternative), including a couple from an indian vendor, and they all fell short of rishi's.

as alex wrote in his review, it is a strong blend with plenty of spice (many other blends fail here). and unlike a lot of other blends, rishi uses whole (not crushed up) cardamom seedpods. i don't really know for sure if that's significant, but i've found that brands using crushed / shucked cardamom lack cardamom power.

i tried making my own chai once (blending some spices and tea at my friend's house), and it was just OK. granted, i didn't put a lot of thought or effort into it, but if i wanted to work on my own blend, i'd emulate rishi's.

2 Comments - View and reply

Total: 87/100 : Aroma: 8/10, Flavor: 5/5, Value: 5/5, Overall: 8/10

This became my favorite pre-blended chai upon the first sip. It's one of the few that I think is on par with the chai I make on my own--possibly because the blend of spices is very close to what I would use myself. I did not sweeten it or use milk; I imagine I'd like it with milk, but I think it's plenty smooth as is and I have no need to sweeten, but if I did, I'd recommend honey.

I've tried brewing this a few different ways, but never quite like Rishi's directions. But I absolutely love the results. Rishi's instructions seem to be on the strong side. This is a very strong blend.

The aroma is very strong and of spice: cardamom is dominant in the aroma (which is exactly how I like it), and the cinnamon and clove are noticeable but take a background. The black pepper is also noticeable, although there's just a hint of it. The ginger I don't notice in the aroma as much as I notice it adds a real kick. However, the ginger presence still falls short of the freshly cut ginger (which is more intensely aromatic, and which I prefer to use). The flavor is sharp initially, but melts into a very smooth finish, with cardamon lingering on the tongue.

I also love how I feel after drinking this. It has a noticeably different effect from black tea alone...it almost makes me feel smoother, similarly to how this tea tastes.

This is an absolutely top-notch blend, and I think it also is a particularly good match for my tastes; it's really the only one I've tried that contends with the way I'd make it myself. The only thing I'd change is to use freshly cut ginger, and possibly to take out the cinnamon and replace it with allspice, and possibly add a dash (not much) of nutmeg and/or mace. But even then I'm not sure I'd get the blend quite as nice--it would just be different, not necessarily better. Well done, Rishi Tea!