70
drank West Cape Chai by Rishi Tea
470 tasting notes

I feel like I am doing something very wrong with this tea unfortunately. When I opened the tin I let out a little gasp of glee—it was so… chunky! I love when chai blends are chunky and you can see all the whole spices. No flavoring or ground-up nonsense here! So I though there would be a big POW of flavor. The first steep was with just under boiling water for 5 minutes, 2 teaspoons for 12 ounces of water. Added milk & sugar as per usual with chai and it was… just okay. You could taste the “chai” part but it was SO weak. Like, it tasted rather similar to lightly spiced milk. Eurgh.

Tried again, 2 teaspoons for only 8 ounces of water and 8 minutes of steep time—I decided to treat it like a rooibos rather than a regular chai (I was afraid the first time 8 would be too long for such strong spices, and my other rooibos chai I do for ~5). I don’t have any experience with green rooibos so perhaps it needs some sort of extra-special treatment? I didn’t really taste the flavor of it in either steep though there was almost an herby background in the second one.

Well, the second cup was just as weak as the first! Actually it was both stronger and weaker in a weird way—a more watered-down flavor but I could actually taste the layers of spice. Cardamom, cloves, and anise mainly. I’m wondering if I got a bad batch because it seems to get rave reviews here… maybe my tin was just weaker overall? A disappointment to say the least—I love love love chai and this is just not cutting it.

EDIT: My email from them lied to me and this isn’t green rooibos. Makes my experience with it a little stranger!

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more
Scott B

Upton has a good Rooibos Chai. Yogic Chai makes a Rooibos Chai, but I’ve never tried it-their regular Masala Chais are good.

Alphakitty

I am definitely planning a big Yogic Chai order in the future, they have so many flavors I want to try! I think after my disappointment with this blend I am going to add their Vanilla Rooibos Chai to that list~

TeaBrat

Aww. Sorry you did not like this one, it has been a long term fave of mine! I don’t think there’s any green rooibos in though. :-?

Alphakitty

Hmm, you’re right—for some reason in the email confirmation it had it listed as green but the ingredients on the tin are different. I didn’t taste it either way though sadly.

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Scott B

Upton has a good Rooibos Chai. Yogic Chai makes a Rooibos Chai, but I’ve never tried it-their regular Masala Chais are good.

Alphakitty

I am definitely planning a big Yogic Chai order in the future, they have so many flavors I want to try! I think after my disappointment with this blend I am going to add their Vanilla Rooibos Chai to that list~

TeaBrat

Aww. Sorry you did not like this one, it has been a long term fave of mine! I don’t think there’s any green rooibos in though. :-?

Alphakitty

Hmm, you’re right—for some reason in the email confirmation it had it listed as green but the ingredients on the tin are different. I didn’t taste it either way though sadly.

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Bio

Tea has always been a passion of mine, though I got away from it during college. A lack of cupboard space and a constant influx of people into my suite made me pretty much abandon my teas at home. But now that I’m done with school, it’s definitely come back with a vengeance—to the point where I’ve purchased about 65 different kinds in the past 3 months!

I like most kinds of teas—yes, even peach, which I used to think I disliked!. Oolongs are definitely my favorite, and I’m an avid fan of earl grey, floral teas, and chai blends along with anything melon. The only kind of teas on my “no” list are rooibos blends (which gives me headaches) and banana flavored ones since bananas are public enemy #1 in my mind.

The best thing about tea for me is how you can be passionate about it and still have it integrate into all of your other hobbies. I like a lot of things: writing, video games, books, sewing, figure collecting, astronomy… it’s a long list. But whatever I’m doing, I can have a cup of tea in hand!

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http://www.plastikitty.com/

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