Mayan Chocolate Chai

While most chai teas would like to add that extra kick by making the spices stronger, thus intensifying the chai flavor, this tea does it differently.

By keeping the flavor intact, simply adding cayenne pepper seems to give a well balanced chai taste while giving you that extra kick in the mouth.

This tea, while bringing the heat, is bloody delicious as well, definitely igniting a fire of flavor in every sip.

I should start off by saying that chai is my favorite kind of tea. Ever. So when I saw 52teas offering this as part of their end of year top 10, I jumped at the chance to try it. It smells wonderful in the package, but I was a little concerned about the overwhelming amount of cayenne pepper I could see in the bag. Turns out, that concern was well founded. It’s hard to say whether I liked the other flavors of this tea as the cayenne just overpowers the rest of it. It needed more of the cinnamon and chocolate and way less of the cayenne, though the pepper in moderation would add just the right amount of spicy to this blend. All in all, it was okay, but I don’t think I’ll be ordering it again.

I was in the mood for a thick latte this morning, but was feeling indecisive about the tea. I saw this come up in my morning Steepster reading from Kittenna and thought, “That will work.”

I got this pouch in a mystery box and have put it off because a) I am a major spice wuss and saw “cayenne pepper” in the ingredients, and b) let’s be real here, I put off all my tea until it is ancient because I’m a bad tea parent. But perhaps the addition of milk will tame the spiciness? Time to find out!

The dry leaf certainly has a spicy aroma… mostly of cinnamon leaning peppery rather than sweet. Steeped half a packet (7.5g) in 12 oz 205F water for 4 minutes, and added 4 oz of warmed vanilla almond milk. The finished cuppa has a warmth to the aroma, but aside from ginger I’m not making out any other particular spices on the nose. As the cup cools, the cinnamon is starting to come out in the aroma. Actually, the smell I’m getting is gingerbread?! I’m getting the chocolate in the tea and vanilla in the almond milk are adding that sweet edge, and the spices paired with it are creating a strong gingerbread association to my sniffer.

Ooof… My prediction was right, the levels of spice in this go above my spice wuss threshold! There is definitely some burning sensation at the back of my throat after the sip. Without milk, I never would’ve gotten this down; with milk, it is tolerable, but still a bit spicier than my preferences. I do taste a creamy chocolately note to the base tea, but the spice is strong enough that the sweetness doesn’t add much. I do taste the cinnamon, ginger, and pepper.

Likely without the cayenne, I’d be fine with this, but it is making the cup a little too mouth-burny for me. Perhaps I’ll try stronger milk (half water/half milk instead of my typical 3/4 water/1/4 milk) and add some honey when going through the rest of the leaf.

I imagine this would be a hit for spicy food/spicy chai lovers!

Okay, this tea is delicious. It’s the perfect balance between chocolate and chai, which to be honest, aren’t flavors I thought I’d even like together. But I do! The chai is pleasantly warming and spicy, and the chocolate is richer than most chocolate teas. I usually drink black teas pretty slowly, but this cup is gone already! Looking forward to my next cup of this!

Advent Calendar Day 8

Another too-spicy-for me chai, which I’m super bummed about because it also has one of the best chocolate flavorings I’ve ever tasted in tea! Chocolate teas are so often a let-down that I don’t think I’ve actually tried a chocolate blend from 52Teas before and this one is making me want to sample something else that has the chocolate without the spice. This particular blend sips in super rich and chocolatey, but then that cayenne pepper kicks me in the throat and ruins the experience for me. (I know a Mexican hot chocolate-loving friend who would adore it, though!)

This is the chilli chai to end all chilli chais. I’ve tried many, and this is by far my favourite. The chilli is really hot, and it builds at the back of your throat the more you drink, so if you’re not a fan of spice I would stay clear of this tea! I love spice, and this is the perfect amount for me – it’s a pretty intense heat, but it doesn’t hurt your mouth or drown out the other flavours. In fact, it complements them beautifully. I can actually both smell and taste the chocolate among the spices, too, which is a novelty for me since I typically don’t enjoy chocolate flavoured teas as I don’t think the flavour translates well. This is the exception to that rule. It’s a deep, rich dark chocolate and it tastes authentic rather than artificial – it’s definitely reading as chocolate rather than cocoa butter, which is what I usually get when I drink chocolate teas. Anne has done a fantastic job blending this, and I was excited to see that it has recently been reblended and is still on the 52teas website. I might have done some window shopping and compiled a fantasy basket which this has been added to… let’s hope I get through my self-imposed cupboard cull quickly enough to place an order while this is still in stock!

Thank you VariaTEA for introducing me to this mind-blowing chai. Sipdown 193/397.

Chais are growing on me this year and it all started with this one:

http://sororiteasisters.com/2016/11/08/mayan-chocolate-chai-52teas/

I am currently sipping on a cup of this – a reblend. This tea was requested as a reblend as part of a “You Choose the Reblend” incentive tier from the start-up Kickstarter campaign and I am taste testing it now. (It will be added on the website – in limited quantities – on Monday, November 23 after it’s been first offered to the person who ordered the reblend and to those that contributed at a certain level on our Kickstarter campaign.)

This is really good. I changed the recipe a bit because first of all, my black tea base is different. Second, I used cacao shells in the blend in addition to roasted cacao nibs and mini VEGAN chocolate chips. Third, I used crushed chili pepper flakes instead of cayenne pepper powder because it’s easier to distribute the pepper flakes throughout the chai than it is to ensure that the powder remains properly distributed.

This is really good. Spicy! Lots of chocolate flavor. It starts out more chocolate-y than spicy, with just a really warm yet gentle heat on the back of the throat. Then as i continue to sip, the heat develops, becoming spicier and warmer. By the time I finished the cup, my tongue was tingly with heat (but not so much that I felt like I needed to eat or drink something to cancel out the heat) and I could feel a burn on the throat, but not uncomfortably so.

I find this to have a perfect balance between spicy heat and sweet chocolate flavors.

My first 52teas I received from BrewTEAlly Sweet’s Sale in February. After reading the tasting notes of this I could not wait to try this and burn my mouth. This being the main complaint I figured it would be perfect for me and my husband.

I tried this as soon as I received it, I was so excited to try this until I smelled it the smell reminds me of a spicy cologne my grandfather would wear. I figured maybe that was because it was a “mans…..tea made to appeal to men, but I have not noticed this bothering anyone else. The taste, all I remember all I remember is I felt like I would be sick if I continued to drink it. I can’t get past the smell, just thinking about it makes my stomach churn.

Luckily my husband likes this and it did not go to waste. I’ve made this as a latte with 2t sugar for my husband and I took a few sips before giving it to him. So, I’m glad all the spicy heat was not lost and the milk helped mute the smell for me. Tonight I iced it for him with a little milk and sugar, I forgot to try it again but I’m happy it is gone

So I like spicy, but holy crap is this tea ever spicy!! Like so spicy that I ended up giving it to my boyfriend (who really likes it, so maybe that justifies the mantea label). Now and then though, I crave this blend. You can taste both the chocolate and the spice equally. It is definitely a milk and sugar kind of tea though. Particularly the latter.