Cardamom Masala Chai

The first two Vadham teas I tried, I loved- this one I expected to love because I love Cardamom but not so. It has those little balls of rolled up tea which I have had before in a Harry Potter tea set I got as a gift from my sister. Its like the tea is not rounded enough or is generally lacking something for me. I do like the Cardamom. Idk there are other chai flavors in the sampler set I prefer more. Wouldn’t purchase a large of this one

Latte Sipdown (320)

Vahdam recommends making this stovetop but I got lazy and just made it the usual way I make a latte. It was so pretty and the milk/tea line was so sharp. It’s shallow but I think it makes the tea taste better haha.

I’m wondering if I should have made this via the stovetop though because it’s a bit loose flavorwise. I get a really nice cardamom flavor but it’s separated from the milk. It’s like the sharp contrast in looks also made for a sharp contrast in flavor versus when I make my beloved chaiwala chai on the stove top and it comes together deliciously. So I guess next Vahdam chai I try, I’ll do it on the stovetop.

- straight, leftover tea -
Using the leftovers from my previous cup I made a smaller glass with no milk. The flavor of this chai is very relaxing and not too overpowering. I tend to dislike chai when it has too much cinnamon, but this one is perfect.

332/365

This is one of the more straightforward blends from the Vadham chai sampler; for some reason, I seem to have saved those until last! I quite like cardamom, so this should be okay.

Like some of the other blends from the sampler, this one has a CTC base, with lots of whole and crushed cardamom pods. As you might expect, it brews up really quickly. I’d say it definitely needs milk.

To taste, it’s significantly smoother than I expected, although that’s probably mostly a result of my own prejudices – not all CTCs are equal, after all. Some are more equal than others, and this is one of them.

Did it just get a little Orwellian around here? Just me, maybe.

The cardamom is very prominent, also as you might expect. It strikes a nice balance, though, and isn’t too harsh. The base tea is nicer than I expected; malty and fairly sweet. I expected it to be on the tannic side, maybe even verging on bitter/astringent, but it’s none of those things desipte the fact that I left it at least four minutes because I got distracted. By work, of all things.

The cardamom pretty much overpowers any other spices, but if you like cardamom then that’s going to be okay – and you probably wouldn’t have bought this blend if you didn’t. The overall flavour isn’t what I think of as chai, but it’s a solid cardamom flavoured black. There are worse things in the world.

The chai journey continues. This chai, according to the package, is nothing more than black tea and crushed cardamom pods. It’s really nice.

I sampled a cinnamon chai not too long ago (spiced with cinnamon and cardamom) and I commented that I thought the original chai, with a few more spices in it, was better. Despite that, I think this cardamom-only chai is delicious. Cardamom is such a complex spice to begin with, and giving it a platform to really do its thing is awesome. You get to taste all of the facets of it – the spiciness, the herbaceousness, the sweetness… It really is a wonderful experience.

This is a great launching point for those wishing to start their chai journey. Given that cardamom is a prominent spice in most (all?) chai teas, I think this chai is the best place to start. You really understand how it forms the backbone of the entire chai experience, and how much it really gives in flavor – its spectrum of flavor is incredible.

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