Lemon Meringue Chai

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas – Day 11

Neat tea. It bends my mind and tongue. I like how the lemon (reads mostly lemongrass to me) melds with the soft vanilla meringue flavor and smooth chai spices (heavy on the cardamom and ginger for me). A little wood and malt barely poke through to ground it all. Almost sassy but mostly a sophisticated blend.

Day 11 of the 52teas advent calendar. I’m going to need to give this another try when I can focus on it better. I wasn’t sure what the best way to prepare it would be. Because it’s a chai, I decided to go with adding oat milk and honey. I’m getting cinnamon, clove, cardamom, a bit of ginger… but not really lemon or meringue. Maybe those would come through better if I make the tea straight! Looking at some of the older notes, I see a few folks liked it as a cold brew so maybe I’ll try that…

52teas 12 Teas of Christmas 2023 – Day 11

What an interesting idea. I’m not sure I’ve had a lemon chai?

I do like it, though to me there isn’t quite enough spice to make it a chai – it’s more of a lemon black tea with a side of spices. It doesn’t taste like lemon meringue to me at all, more of a classic tart lemon flavor and a bit of an herbal note as well. As for the spices, I think I’m getting cinnamon and cardamom? But it’s a bit tough to place since the spice notes are quite light.

It’s a nice enough lemon black tea, maybe it needs the latte treatment to get those creamy meringue notes.

How on earth did I not review this already? Maybe got deleted with the steepster change of hands?? Anyways brewed some from on old bag; two steepings combined, and the last steeping was 8min cause I got to talking with roommates. Made it iced as usual. Not just cause it tastes waaay better iced, but my AC is broken and it is HOT. There is a bitter, tangy zing to it, but I always had just a bit of sugar to smooth it out and bring out the meringue flavors; I think I put in 8g of sugar for a 16oz cup. The is one of the few teas I would want a big bag of to have to serve to people. It just so perfect for hot weather. Sweet, refreshing, lemon zing, and mild amount of spices.

Yum, I somehow managed to make the perfect cup of lemon meringue chai this morning. My previous attempts with it have been alright, at best. I usually wind up with a quite bitter, overly spiced, lemon candy scented brew that somehow lacks body. I was always disappointed with how the super sweet lemon played with the bitter black tea, even with a short steep. It smelled fantastic and complex in the packet, but I couldn’t seem to get a similar flavour out of the actual brew.

This morning, though, it’s tasting exactly how I had hoped it would all along. When I bought it I was thrilled at the prospect of a blend with three of my favourite flavours; lemon meringue, chai spices, and black tea. Pleased to report that those are the exact flavours I’m tasting now, in perfect balance! The lemon is present & creamy-sweet without being overwhelming, the spices are subtle & on point, and the black tea base shines through without a hint of bitterness. This cup also seems less ‘thin’ or watery than my previous ones as well.

I’m suspecting that the culprit in my previous underwhelming experiences with this blend might be due to over leafing, which would explain the bitterness & the overpowering, almost artificial lemon candy vibe I was getting. This time I just put a scant teaspoon at the bottom of my infuser, and steeped for 3 min. I’ll have to try and replicate this to determine whether it was a fluke. Either way, I was pleasantly surprised by the perfection in my mug this morning :)

SSTTB: Pick #16

Cold brewed this one and took it to work because I wanted to try it but wasn’t really digging the idea of having it hot.

It’s pretty good overall, I can see why some people like it so much. The lemon flavour in this is definitely strong, but in a sweet “lemon pudding” or pie filling like way. The spice in this really makes it pop too, and sort of exaggerates the sweetness of it. I can totally see where the “meringue” comes into play. It’s just creamy and good overall. The black base is totally far in the background and not getting in the way at all.

So I’m definitely thrilled I tried it and liked it. I wonder if this is the original blend or from the reblended batch? I remember this being on my wishlist months ago but removing it when it seemed really unlikely I wouldn’t have the chance to try it.

A nice dessert Chai overall; wouldn’t buy a whole pouch of it (so rarely do I crave Chai) but I’d drink it again!

Frank always comes up with such interesting and innovative tea blends – for instance I’ve certainly never seen a lemon-flavoured chai put out by any other tea company! It certainly is lemony and the chai spices make a good counterpoint to the sour citrus. I’m not really getting the ‘meringue’ part though as the marshmallow root just doesn’t really come through and there’s not very much sweetness. However this is without anything added to the tea – I’ll experiment with adding milk and sweetener to see if that changes things. I’ve found that milk in particular can radically alter the flavours of some black teas.

It’s lemon, it’s spice, but it’s not for me. Too lemon, strange spice and not a meringue in sight.
This isn’t something I would have chosen for myself, but when the opportunity came up to try it, well you just have to try some of the ones that you wouldn’t pick for yourself. You never know what gems you might find.

SSTTB

T&C TTB#20: This is going to drive me crazy. I am absolutely positive I bought a pack of this back when. I have been tearing the house apart trying to find it for months – I never ever tried it and I lost it! This is sweet and creamy lemon with cardamom. Maybe a bit of ginger the flavor but I don’t get much cinnamon. The spices seem to be blended well here and the lemon adds a brightness that is appealing.

Made with 3 oz. half-and-half and about a tablespoon of sugar.

SSTTB

The spices are nicely balanced but something about the combination of lemon and spice is bordering on cleaning supplies to me. And there is no meringue to be found. Oh well, at least this is one more tea I can cross off my list.