We don't know when or if this item will be available.
“Sipdown (807)! Made this one on the weekend; it was a abrasively astringent but the flavour itself wasn’t all that bad – definitely a sweeter chai, and in terms of spices I think the ginger was the...” Read full tasting note
“Sample from variatea….since the furnace is out and my kid appears to want to sleep for 20 hours a day, I have time to drink tea. So I thought I’d try to get through a couple samples. This one...” Read full tasting note
“My sister recently moved to Waterdown, ON which has a large tea house on the main street. That is one of two tea houses. So when I went to visit my sister last weekend, we decided to try one....” Read full tasting note
The drink produces a warm soothing effect and engenders a wonderfully calming effect on the body.
Chai is such an integral part of Indian culture that it is virtually impossible to avoid when traveling through any part of the Indian subcontinent. Even when fresh cold drinking water cannot be found, you will inevitably encounter a chai-wallah, or chai seller, yelling out, “chayee! chayee!”
While riding the rails in India, the call of the chai wallah can be heard at every stop proffering their delicious hot drink. It is not uncommon for a chai-wallah to board a train in the middle of the night and wake up passengers to sell chai. The chai arrives in small clay cups that customers throw from the train windows when finished!
Indian chai is typically made using a rich black tea, usually an Assam, and brewing it in heavy milk with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper. The drink produces a warm soothing effect and engenders a wonderfully calming effect on the body. We’ve taken the soothing aspect of this blend one step further and added a dash of vanilla. This addition of vanilla adds a hint of creaminess to this tea – a fantastic addition. Brew this tea piping hot and add some sugar to help open up the exotic flavor of the spicy blend that makes up this tea. Just try and stop yourself after one cup!
Company description not available.
Sipdown (807)!
Made this one on the weekend; it was a abrasively astringent but the flavour itself wasn’t all that bad – definitely a sweeter chai, and in terms of spices I think the ginger was the most apparent one. I don’t know that it was inherently ‘vanilla’ in any way though??
Thank you to VariaTEA or Kittenna for sharing – I don’t actually remember which of you this one was from…
Sample from variatea….since the furnace is out and my kid appears to want to sleep for 20 hours a day, I have time to drink tea. So I thought I’d try to get through a couple samples. This one isn’t much to write home about. Boring base, some chai like spices but the vanilla appears to be on vacation. Lol. Glad to try it as it’s someting I would totally want to try…but that’s about it.
My sister recently moved to Waterdown, ON which has a large tea house on the main street. That is one of two tea houses. So when I went to visit my sister last weekend, we decided to try one. Honestly, I have never been more proud of my sister and brother-in-law.
My sister and I went and when we sat down, she immediately commented on how the tea was not stored in light-proof jars (the jars were clear glass). Then they brought the tea in tea pots with no way to strain the leaves from the pot. She also noted all the teas were brewed at 195F. I was so proud because she knew that these were all wrong. Then, I bought this tea and another, Maple Cream Cookie, and she watched as they used a tin to measure a small amount of tea and then dumped the tin in a bag and then used the same tin from measuring this tea for measuring the other tea.
When we got back to the house, my brother asked how the tea was. We said it was alright but they made some mistakes and he immediately responded with “did they brew the teas at the wrong temperature?” When we said yes, he then asked “and did they leave the tea bags in the pot too long?” Honestly, the fact that they both knew this stuff was so delightful. Means they are absorbing some of my passion which is nice.
As for this tea, I made it as a latte because it is a vanilla chai and really what other way is there to make this tea?! It’s good but not amazing. It’s sort of the generic muddiness that you sometimes get with chais with just a bit of vanilla flavor. It is creamy and nice but there are much better options out there.
Oh gosh, and this all was at an actual tea house?!? how how how
https://www.yelp.ca/biz/tea-at-the-white-house-waterdown-2?hrid=PCtbYp_KmnnjxPh81-pbQg&utm_campaign=www_review_share_popup&utm_medium=copy_link&utm_source=(direct) My yelp review if you wanted to know more
alright, as a tea person, you seem to be giving them too much of a break. haha. :D
Tea people don’t seem to be their clientele and I feel bad ripping into a little shop in a small town. I think I make it clear to tea people that this isn’t quality while still being nice and fair for those who don’t actually care about the tea part of high tea
Yeah, I wouldn’t want to do that either…
Plus I like to save my 2 stars for places that are bad and my 1 stars for places where the people are assholes lol
AH okay. Seems rational!
The majority of High Teas I’ve gone to actually brew the teas “free floating” (Victorian style) in the pot with a cup strainer, since it is expected you will be adding milk and sugar (British-style) to the cup as it gets bitter/astringent. It isn’t my favorite way of drinking tea either, but it just seems to be a cultural thing of High Tea. Since that isn’t my preferred way of drinking tea, I usually ask if they are serving their tea the “Victorian way” or using bags or some other method that allows me to remove the leaves after steeping, and if they are using Victorian style, then I select an herbal tea, since I know those will taste fine sitting in the pot for a long time.
I went to another high tea today and they used pots with filters that could be removed but the filters were hot and even if we got the filters out, we had no where to put them. I have been to many and most just throw the leaves in the pot which for some reason is more bothersome to me when it’s done at a tea shop which is all about tea as opposed to a hotel. They should know better lol.
