The spices in this chai are a bit milder than some others that I’ve had, and the most dominant note is the cloves, followed by the cardamom. The chai is not overwhelmed by cinnamon, and there’s no ginger in here, either – the omission of these two spices is what makes the taste seem mild, I think. It’s nice, though – not aggressive, and therefore, perhaps, a more tranquil drink for a late evening.
Since the base is rooibos, it’s caffeine-free, another reason to make this a late-night choice. Rooibos has a bit of a natural sweetness to it, but the chai benefits from a bit of added sugar, as most chais do. Because the base is rooibos, I find that it goes much better with a plant milk, such as soy or almond milk, than with dairy milk, which is too strongly milky for the mild spice flavor – and I just don’t like dairy milk with rooibos. Your tastes may vary, of course.
Tea Forté describes this tea as:
Classic spices familiar to chai drinkers evoke the aromas of the holidays in this crimson rooibos herbal. A limited edition holiday tea.
Steeping Guidelines: Steep for 5 minutes, 208°F
For stronger flavor, steep longer.
Ingredients: rooibos, cardamom, cloves, lemongrass
This chai is only available as part of certain gift sets, not by itself:
Available in these gift options: Winter Tea Tree, Winter Solstice Gift Set, and our Lumiere Gift Tower.
The chai comes in Tea Forté’s usual cute pyramid-shaped mesh sachets. One word of warning: if you are one of those people who occasionally takes a shortcut and puts a teabag in water in the microwave, don’t do it with Tea Forté’s sachets; the cute little stem and leaf that are at the top (instead of string and a paper tag) contain metal. Yes, I do this sometimes, and yes, I found out about the metal by some interesting effects on my mug. I experiment so you don’t have to!
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Comment by December 6, 2009 @ 8:58 am
Mike Morton said:
I love Tea Forte Teas! They are so creative and so full of flavour… I will have to look for this one, as I also love chai spicing and rooibos – sounds like a good tea to try!
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