President’s Choice’s Chocolatey Chai

Chocolatey Chai by President’s Choice
Herbal Infusion / Flavoured
$2.97 for 44g (20 tea bags)

First Impressions

I picked up Chocolatey Chai on a whim when I was grocery shopping and there’s a few reasons why this purchase is out of character for me. I haven’t purchased a bagged grocery store tea in a while and I tend not to like chocolate flavoured teas so I bought it, not sure why sometimes – but here we are!

Chocolatey Chai came in a cardstock box, the individually wrapped tea bags come in paper packaging. The aroma of the tisane is quite chocolatey with spices – which definitely make me think that the name is accurate. I ripped the tea bags open to take a look inside. Very tiny pieces all around. Chocolatey Chai consists of: roasted chicory root, carob pod, spices, cocoa shells, natural flavour, ginger root, licorice root, and cocoa.

Preparation

President’s Choice recommends boiling water (100°C/212°F) water, allowing the water to rest for 1 minute, and then steeping Chocolatey Chai for 3 to 5 minutes. I followed the steeping instructions and did a steep for 3 minutes.

First Taste

Chocolatey Chai steeps to a deep brown, with a slight oil slick on top. The flavour is a mix of slightly bitter, sweet, and spicy. I definitely get a ‘chai’ feel from this tisane blend – there was a pleasant warming sensation from the ginger and the other non-described spices. I think there is some cinnamon in there, and perhaps cloves? The image on the packaging seems to suggest this, and I do think I might be tasting that. I didn’t find the taste of the chocolate to be very strong, a heavier hand with the cocoa might be needed to have a strong chocolate flavour.

I did try Chocolatey Chai with some milk and found that it really made it creamier and reminded me more of a spiced hot chocolate.

A Second Cup?

I attempted to resteep Chocolatey Chai and found that the flavour was quite weak compared to the initial steep. I would recommend steeping Chocolatey Chai just the one time.

My Overall Impression

I thought that President’s Choice’s Chocolatey Chai was just okay. I think that the aroma of the dry leaf was more enticing than the steeped tisane. The spices came through nicely, but the taste of chocolate wasn’t strong enough for my liking – and I do like chocolate! I think that the tisane works much better with a bit of milk to make it more of a latte. I do wish the chocolate came through more, because it seemed present in the dry leaf and it’s one of the features of the tisane that I wanted to experience the most.

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