Lemon Meringue Chai

Good lemony flavour in the background which is a bit drowned out by the spices. Good combination with the black tea base.

Thanks to Kittenna for sharing with me!

Thank you to ashleyelizabeth for this one! Been wanting to try it for a while. :)

The loose leaf smells kind of medicinal… uh-oh. There’s lemon myrtle in here. Well, we’ll see…

I steeped it for a pretty short amount of time, ‘cause I know Frank’s flavored blacks tend to do better that way. The aroma is mostly of cardamom and citrus, with some solid floral notes. Hmm. I’m not sure I’ll like a flowery chai. The very idea is strange, at best.

I added milk, because that’s what you do with chai, and some sugar. It smells a lot more like lemon meringue pie now, for sure! First sip… mmm, interesting. The front of the sip definitely tastes like lemon meringue—sweet and lightly creamy (thank you, marshmallow root), somewhat lemony (although I like my lemon curd a bit more tart than that). The spices are filling the role of the pie crust flavor, bakey and warm… but then the aftertaste is ALL floral. That lemon myrtle… dang, this was almost really good. I just can’t get around it. This tea would be much better off without it. :/

I received this one from CharlotteZero in our recent swap.
I’m not sure why I wanted to try this, I don’t like chai, and for the most part, I don’t like lemon in my tea. I also don’t like Frank’s spicey teas as I find they have a bit of a medicinal taste to them. It must have been the merinque that intrigued me, as I do like creamy lemon.
This isn’t half bad. It’s a little creamy, and the lemon is more apparent than the chai which I like. I can detect that medicinal taste but only faintly. It also holds up well with stevia and skim milk, so I will be finishing off the bag of this while I power through this diet.
Thanks CharlotteZero!

KallieBoo was so nice to share some of her 52 Teas with me. This was one that she allowed me to try. Thank you!

I had been eyeing this one as I love both lemon and chai. I thought this would be a great combination. It was a nicely spiced chai, but I missed any hint of lemon in the mix. I am glad I got to try some of this. I may have to keep an eye out for some more 52 chai’s. The spice seemed to cover up what I dislike about the black base.

Ah, this is most definitely the one I’m getting something bitter and astringent out of – which saddens me, because I really wanted to love this! I mean, I bought a pound of Lemon Meringue tea from Tealish I love it so much, and I’ve been on a huge chai kick… so you’d think I’d love this.

My guess is that I did something wrong with the brewing of it – perhaps I took out this teabag at 3 minutes instead of 2, mixing up the two teas I was brewing concurrently. That’s the only thing that makes sense… it’s just brewed too long. Or, that’s my hope. I do get chai (smooth chai, zero sharpness) as well as meringue and lemon zest… it’s just that darn bitterness/astringency that’s killing it for me.

I heated this on the stove and added a little milk and honey…maybe too much honey. This smells SO lemony sweet, just like the pie meringue. I might have to try this will less honey as it’s almost too sweet to smell. Very good though.

I’m about to start on coursework so I may have to move my electric kettle into the office so that I can take tasting breaks. Thank you Charlotte for sharing this with me!

I have to admit that this reminds me a lot of Bigelow’s Lemon Lift. I actually really like that tea, but I somehow didn’t put together that a lemon chai would be similar to that. It makes me want to do a side by side taste test. I think this offering from 52teas is a little sweeter and more nuanced, but I could be mistaken. Either way, I do enjoy this tea hot and am looking forward to trying it iced, with soymilk and sugar, etc.

First steep of 5 min was too long; 2 min works best for me. Not getting the lemon or the meringue. The prominent flavours are cardamom and clove. I look forward to experimenting with this tea. For anyone craving lemon-cardamom flavours, I recommend Lemon Cardamom Chun Mee and Sun and Cloud Mist, both 52teas’ blends.