I was having virtual tea last night with a friend on instagram. Usually I brew gongfu when I’m doing that, but I just wasn’t in the mood to pull out the full tea table set up so I made a few Nordic mugs of Western tea instead.
This was my first time trying this tea, though I’ve meant to get around to it for a while now. I wasn’t surprised by the intensity of the spices as they’re quite strong in aroma as dry leaf and visually comprise a significant part of the tea. I think was did catch me off guard with both how prominent the anise/licorice type flavours in the cup were as well as the general sweetness. I enjoy anise a lot, so I was pretty into how it presented here. Definitely made this Chai more round and balanced feeling, and worked with the subtle notes of vanilla and oak that made this feel appropriately named.