Chai Tea
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Ratings & Reviews
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88 Aroma: 9/10 Flavor: 5/5 Value: 4/5Tchuggin' Okie (379 reviews) on Aug. 1st, 2023
I bought this 15-sachet sack for a couple bucks less, at the same suburban Dallas H-E-B store as Chai Diaries' 15-sachet can of Bombay Masala Chai. Teapigs' chai, while still somewhat expensive, is *far* better, each pyramid sachet holding about twice as much content, filling it up when wet, with noticeably higher quality to what's there. Choose wisely.
This is one of the best chais I've had that isn't entirely loose-leaf. They clearly use a good-quality Assam, which is the first and most common ingredient listed, instead of trying to cover up a lower-quality, lower-quantity tea with a heavy dose of spices. Here, the Assam's malty richness balances the spices really well, and the spices balance each other. This yields a coherent flavor profile that has an identity all its own, even as one can pick out ingredients when trying hard. What's the identity? A little more astringent than most chai at first, but within a short time, becoming sweetly creamy, savory and filling. After the tea, the ingredients listed are: cinnamon, ginger, cardamom pods, cardamom seeds, vanilla, and "natural flavors". Cloves isn't listed, but I've found some. The cinnamon used is a smooth, not peppery version, that doesn't overpower the other ingredients; it manifests much stronger in aroma than taste. I've had some really interesting, creative, well-conceived chais in Indian restaurants, and this could be loose-leafed and served at one to rave review, without anybody but the proprietors knowing better. I like having the used sachet, though, because it has a wet-bag aroma of sweet vanilla and smooth cinnamon that is a pleasure to breathe.
One advantages to sachets for chai, compared to bags, is that the typically chunky ingredients for chai are easy to discern, and in the case of cloves and cardamom pods, whole. In a bag, these often are ground up to sandy or powdery consistency, and unidentifiably intermingled. Most sachets in my pack have at least one cardamom pod, often two. As I do with loose-leaf chai, I can bust the dry pod open with my fingers (through the sachet skin, in this case) and let the seeds loose, so the flavor is maximized. As someone who likes that spice a lot, it earns this tea a few extra points on that basis alone. And I won't hold the silly, kitschy "tea temples" pseudonym for sachets against the brand, since the tea itself is so tasty.
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