Rooibos Chai

I am not allowed dairy products until tomorrow, but it was too late in the evening for caffeine. I was limited to my small collection of caffeine-free tisanes, but I didn’t want anything fruity. I wanted something heavier, like tea. But the chai rooibos just wasn’t that heavy. So I decided to experiment. I made it with hazelnut-flavoured coffee whitener (not mine, but my mother’s), with honey and vanilla extract mixed in. I don’t know, I felt like something heavy, spicy but sweet. …I want spice cake. Hrm.

Coffee whitener is quite odd, but I liked the hazelnut taste, so overall it turned out all right. Warm. Plus, it rids my mouth of the, uh, copper taste. Stupid wisdom teeth.

THE RUNDOWN
1) Pre-Taste: I love chai that doesn’t have a too-powerful clove smell. There should be more chai then clove. I also like the bright red color, and that’s after 3.5 minutes of steepage. This was a sample taken from a hotel ages ago, so hopefully it hasn’t gone stale.
2) First Taste: I sense all of the seeds and fruits: cardamom, star anise, and the bush rooibos. I also get that earthiness of clay – like red mud. Dirt but clean dirt if that makes sense. I always tend to add ‘dirt’ to reviews of bagged teas. Not surprising.
3) Second Sip: Oddly, I taste more of the black pepper and clove this time around. Odd, but in this caffeine-free blend I’m not missing the actually tea leaves. I thought I would, but it’s nothing I’m really sensing is lacking.
4) Final Thought: There’s definitely something good int he tea, maybe the sweetness. Unfortunately, this wouldn’t be top among my list of recommendations of rooibos chai. Stick with loose for fuller flavor and less confusion in the recipe.

I am not a huge chai fan but for a free sample I can’t complain. I actually liked this tea. It wasn’t anything special, mostly just easy drinking, not too overpowering, but nothing too memorable either. Wouldn’t buy it for sure, would I drink it again if offered – probably. I’ve had worse chai teas :P