Hazelnut Chai

I really do love chai tea and hazelnut is such an enchanting flavor so I had to try this one:P I made it as a latte with some whole milk topped with just a touch of cinnamon and nutmeg ..and oh la la, sweet, sweet comfort. This cup was so comfy and happy that I just had to curl up on my bed with a genetics book and just appreciate the pure bliss radiating from my cup. Ahhh, yes. As much as I am a fan of loose tea vs bagged tea, this bagged tea was incredible. The hazelnut was smooth and delicious and the cup was full of flavor and spice. Plus, not to mention it was incredibly convenient…. after so many loose leaf tea cups I almost forget how simple a bagged tea can be to prepare. Plus, this tea is in eco-friendly tea sachets…is organic…and fair trade. How can I not want more of this? A home-run tea for me. Now I really want to try the rooibos version of this…badly. :P tehehe. I bet I will like it even more!

Picked up a Zhena’s chai sampler cheap at Marshall’s. Not like I’m exactly running short on tea right now, but I have a hard time turning down more. This was the first one out of the four I decided to try. And well, the name’s a bit misleading. There’s no hazelnut flavor to it at all. It’s just chai. A very, very mild chai at that.

Don’t get me wrong, it’s not terrible. I’ll use the other three bags (there’s four bags of each kind in the sampler), but it’s not something I’d buy more of if I wanted something hazelnut flavored. Or hell, even if I wanted chai; there are far better ones than this.

This seems to be a rather weak and watery tea. After tasting this I thought that perhaps I had under leafed so I rebrewed with more tea and a little bit longer steep. Still quite bland. I taste only the mildest of spices. I like chais that have a bit of zip to them. This is rather flat. I can’t taste any cardamom or pepper at all. My package did not list the ingredients so I didn’t see that there was no actual hazelnut in it. Well, that explains why I didn’t taste any. I was really rather disappointed in this tea and I am a little worried that the rest might not be as good as they sound. I may have to return my other unopened tea from there rather than waste my money.

I tried this without any creamer/milk and about one teaspoon of local honey – it turned out great. However, if you’re wanting the “standard” Chai like ::cough:: starbucks ::cough:: makes you will probably have to go steam some milk. I think steeping for a shorter time has a better effect. I will experiment with the milk/creamer additive and report back later.

Likewise as the Fireside Chai, I think this one would benefit from the milk tea treatment.

Smooth. Light on spiciness. Does the main can say in the ingredients that it has hazelnuts in it? Because the four pack I got does not list hazelnut. But I’m assuming that’s what they meant by “natural flavoring”. I prefered it luke warm and slightly cold honestly. But it would also be good hot and with some steamed almond milk. Overall, pretty solid tea. But I still think the coconut chai is the best.

i love it! a lil milk a lil honey and a ton of flavor!