If you haven’t heard, there’s a mega SNOWPOCALYPSE going on in NYC. Serious snownage.
It’s the second day of snowing, and they still haven’t plowed my block. It’s a bit depressing, knowing you used vacation days to be trapped inside of your house… but it’s a pretty good excuse to drink up some chai, the old fashioned way!
takgoti sent me this forever-ago. Yes, probably a year ago. I am very behind on these samples. It’s disgusting, I know. But she packaged everything in cute little snap-close Tupperware, so it all stayed fresh!
I made this one on the stovetop, and let it sit for a good ten minutes before the pour. On the nose, this blend is really very spicy. Chewy-spicy, almost. Like spice cookies. There’s lots of cardamom and cinnamon and glove. And the heat of ginger.
This chai steeps up with all of the spice of the dry blend, and then some. The correct word here is heady. It almost threatens to be overly potpourri-like, with the heavy-handed, assertive spicing. And at first sip, it almost doesn’t work. My taste buds were overwhelmed. There’s even a slight burn to this one, a heat that develops slowly on the tongue from the pepper and ginger. It’s a bit overpowering, to say the least. Strong chai coming through!
But it goes down really smooth, and the rawr-worthy spices almost become addictive after a few sips. I was able to finish quickly a mug and a half of this without even batting an eye.
I wish that the stovetop, traditional way of making chai was faster, because the results can be really very satisfying. Especially when you’re buried in 20+ inches of snow. I think I like Golden Moon’s Kasmiri Chai better than Samovar’s – it’s more gentle than the loud blast of flavor in store for you with Samovar. But I can’t help but love this chai-beast as well, for daring to be so flavorful and punchy.
It’s funny… the only way I know is someone said the NY Giants are stuck here. And I don’t even watch football.