Since we're careening headfirst into the holidays, and folks are warming up their days with spicy and chai teas, I hope this and my other reviews of them will prove helpful. This is a Safeway store brand—relatively inexpensive as organic bagged teas go. After being resoundingly disappointed by their peppermint offering, I was braced for the worst, but ended up quite pleasantly surprised.

The dry-bag aroma was very pepper-heavy if otherwise mild; it may trigger sneezing in those who, unlike me, are sensitive to such. The taste contained a lot of black pepper also. Although that's the fourth ingredient (after black tea, ginger and cinnamon), it stands out sharply in taste and aftertaste as well, but not so dominant as to give the impression I'm merely drinking steak rub. It leaves a nice warming sensation all around mouth and throat for many minutes, likely in cohorts with the cinnamon. I didn't taste the star anise explicitly, but do like that they included it as an ingredient as well; most chais I've had don't. It probably helps to enrich the overall taste, which was remarkably full-bodied and pleasant for a store-brand flavored tea of any sort.

The aroma of the dark liquid in-cup was smooth, sweet and peppery, whereas the base tea stood out most while breathing through the wet bag. The leaves are chopped fairly finely, and they didn't skimp on quantity; the wet bag almost entirely fills up. Definitely recommended if you are on a tight budget, have access to a grocery store in the Safeway/Albertsons/Tom Thumb family, yet still want a chai to drink.

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