Tag: Rooibos/Honeybush

Chocolate Chai by Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
Rooibos / Flavoured
$8.99 USD for 36g (for the entire sampler)

This is a review of a tea that I received for my birthday in 2015. I won’t be doing too much digging into the costs of the gifts that I’ve received.

First Impressions

Chocolate Chai, the fourth and final of the Chai blends in the Zhena’s Gypsy Tea Chai sampler. The dry rooibos sachets have an odd smell. There’s the spicy notes that I would expect in a Chai, but there’s an odd aroma that I can’t quite place. It reminds me a bit of cough syrup, which is probably one of the least appetizing ways to describe a drink.

Chocolate Chai’s ingredients are: cocao powder, rooibos, cinnamon, chicory root roasted, ginger, chocolate flavouring, licorice root, cardamom, cloves, nutmeg, shortbread flavouring, orange peel, and pepper. As with the other teas in this Chai sampler, Chocolate Chai’s ingredients are labeled as being certified organic.

Preparation

Zhena’s Gypsy Tea recommends steeping the sachet in boiling water for 3 to 5 minutes. I steeped my sachet of Chocolate Chai for about 5 minutes.

First Taste

Chocolate Chai steeps to an almost cloudy orange colour, it smells about the same after steeping as it does in dry sachet form. I can smell some spices, something that reminds me of cough syrup, and not much of anything that would scream chocolate at me. The lack of chocolate fragrance is disappointing, considering the tea consists of cacao powder and chocolate flavouring.

The taste is lacking. Despite steeping to the directions, Chocolate Chai just tastes very watery to me. The spiciness of Chai that I know (and love!) is sorely lacking in my cup. There is no chocolate taste, and there is the flavouring that is reiminscent of cough syrup in the cup. I tried doctoring up the tea, in hopes that it would improve. Unfortunately, Chocolate Chai did not improve with any sweetener.

A Second Cup?

I did not resteep the sachet.

My Overall Impression

I didn’t like Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s Chocolate Chai. Since I love Chai, I really wanted to like this tea, but unfortunately it was lacking in aroma and taste. It was a watery disappointment that reminded me more of cough syrup than it did of anything remotely related to chocolate. That said, this is the fourth (and final!) Chai blend in this tea sampler, which I was pleased to have received as a birthday gift in 2015. It was enjoyable to try the different types of Chai, even if I didn’t like the last one I tried at all. I will not be seeking out Chocolate Chai to keep as a tea stash staple.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.

Caramel Chai by Zhena’s Gypsy Tea
Rooibos Tea / Flavoured
$8.99 USD for 36g (for the entire sampler)

This is a review of a tea that I received for my birthday in 2015. I won’t be doing too much digging into the costs of the gifts that I’ve received.

First Impressions

Caramel Chai smells very spicy and sweet. It’s part of the sampler that Hazelnut Chai came in (my thoughts on the weight per bag vs. total weight of tea in the sampler is proof that math is actually handy in real life) and is the second tea from the bottom. I love the container still, it’s quite handy. The tea bags are the same as for the Hazelnut Chai – nice round bags that don’t come with a string (which I don’t mind too much). Caramel Chai smells heavily of spices and not so much on the ‘caramel’ side of things. It does smell distinctly sweeter than Hazelnut Chai, if that’s any consolation.

Caramel Chai is made up of: organic, fair-trade certified rooibos, cinnamon, ginger root, licorice root, natural flavouring, cloves, cardamom, nutmeg, black pepper, organic vanilla bean. All of the ingredients listed have little asterisk next to it (aside from the “natural flavoring”) to indicate that the ingredients are certified organic. Pretty neat! But that’s an awful lot of ingredients to make it taste like caramel. I’m not a big of fan of licorice candy, so I’m crossing my fingers that the licorice taste doesn’t come out too much (or, if it does, that it mingles well with the other ingredients!).

Preparation

Zhena’s Gypsy Teas recommends steeping the tea bag in water that’s been brought to a rolling boil and to steep for 3 to 5 minutes. I steeped for about 4 minutes.

First Taste

Caramel Chai is pleasant, very spicy – the Chai really overpowers most aspects of this rooibos tea. The sweetness of the caramel isn’t very bold or inviting. The tea itself is a lovely red colour, and it really benefits from having just a little bit of sweetener added to it. I used white sugar, and that helped to brighten up the flavour and it does help to coax out those caramel notes, which are still quite weak in comparison to the spices of the Chai itself. I quite like it though, it’s a very pleasant cup of tea.

A Second Cup?

Resteeping Caramel Chai doesn’t do much in terms of coaxing out more flavour or doing well for a second cup of tea. I don’t think Caramel Chai does well with more than one steeping.

My Overall Impression

I liked Zhena’s Gypsy Tea’s Caramel Chai. It hits all the right spice notes as a Chai should, and while the caramel flavour was a little lost for me, a small amount of sweetener helps to coax out the flavour a bit and having a sweetener helps to brighten up the flavour a lot. I think this tea definitely benefits from having sugar (or a sweetener of your choice) added to it. It has a pleasant aroma and is easy on the palate. I think it’s a lovely Chai and the added bonus of being caffeine free (as it is a rooibos base) makes it nice for having any time of day.

Curious about the cup rating system? Click here to learn more.