Original Masala Review

Type: Chai
Origin: India
Price: Sample (regular price - $15 for 3.5 oz.)
Vendor: Yogic Chai
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 tsp of loose leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, boiled at 200-212F, steeped for 2 minutes, added ¼ cup of 2% milk, and steeped for another minute.
Overall Score: 4.6 out of 5

The Original Masala tea smelled and tasted very similar to the Kuki Chai Masala tea. I am first hit with the sweet and spicy cinnamon smell. Also, I taste the cinnamon first and then the ginger and cloves start to creep up, leaving their essence on my tongue. The difference with the Original Masala is the Assam black tea base adds a bit of a smoky flavor in the background.

Again, this chai gives me that warm, cozy feeling. I am brought back to the pumpkin pie reference, as I mentioned with the Kuki Chai Masala, with the smell and taste of the spices. However, the smokiness of the Assam creates a bold twist. I did find this brew a little bitterer and having more astringency than the Kuki Chai Masala. This was obvious, though, because black tea tends have a bit more of a bite than green tea. It has been suggested by the instructions from Yogic Chai to add maple syrup as a sweetener. I do not mind a slight bitter taste like the one in this cup so I did not add the syrup (and I did not add any syrup to the Kuki Chai Masala, either).

I brewed this chai without milk to experience the taste of the tea itself. The milk made this tea significantly milder. When I drank the brew without milk, the cinnamon, along with the bitterness of the black tea, made my mouth feel hot, spicy, and dry. As mentioned before with the Kuki Chai Masala, the milk added a creamy, smooth texture. The brew without milk was too watery and too strong for my taste.

The color of this brew, compared to the Kuki Chai Masala, is darker. While it was brewing, the color was a deep red. However, by the time it was done steeping, it had turned brown in color (first picture). When the milk was added, it toned down the color just a bit making the brew a tan or light brown color (second picture).

Before brewing the Assam leaves, along with the other spices, are clearly unique and identifiable (third picture). In both the Kuki Chai Masala and this Original Masala, I loved the different colors of the ingredients. The Original Masala blend has the black Assam leaves with the bright green cardamom, the red cinnamon, and the white cloves and ginger. After brewing the Assam leaves have opened up nicely (fourth picture). The smell of ginger seems to be present more than the cinnamon, while observing the wet leaves.

The reason this tea received a slightly lower score is based on my personal preference of the type of tea. I like green tea more than black tea. I really thought the green Kukicha in the Kuki Chai Masala brought the flavors of the spices together better than the Original Masala. I enjoy more grassy flavors of tea, like the Kuki Chai Masala, and not so much of smoky flavors, like the Original Masala. Don’t get me wrong, though, I am not saying that I don’t like this tea. However, if I had to choose only one, Kuki Chai Masala still holds first place.

Kuki Chai Masala Review

Type: Chai
Origin: India
Price: Sample (regular price - $15 for 3.5 oz.)
Vendor: Yogic Chai
Brewing Method: Per Instructed - 1 tsp of loose leaves, 1 cup of filtered water, boiled at 200-212F, steeped for 2 minutes, added ¼ cup of 2% milk, and steeped for another minute.
Overall Score: 4.8 out of 5

After sipping this tea, I wanted to curl up on the couch with my favorite blanket and watch a fire dance in the fire place. The mix of cinnamon, cloves, and ginger made me feel all warm and cozy inside (which was very pleasant considering it is about 20 degrees outside at the moment). My first thought when taking a drink of this chai tea was that it was like pumpkin pie in a glass. With the milk added, it gave the brew a very smooth, creamy taste. It was kind of like when you add whipped cream to the top of a big slice of pumpkin pie.

One really good thing about this tea is that none of the spices are over powering. With mild Kukicha as the base, it doesn’t mask the other flavors and lets the spices do their thing. At first, I could smell the cinnamon, and then after a few sips the ginger left a pleasant after taste. Finally, the cloves help bring all of the flavors together for that warm “Thanksgiving” type feeling.

I brewed the tea without milk just to see what the milk actually brought to the tea. I found out that not adding the milk to this tea is like brewing hot chocolate with water instead of milk. The tea brewed with only water is just as good, with some of the same warm flavors. However, the milk makes it smooth and creamy. Brewing this without milk makes the brew taste watery.

The color is a nice orange-red (first picture) before the milk is added (second picture). This tea can be enjoyed any time of the year, but the color, along with the taste, reminds me so much of fall.

Before brewing the loose leaves are more twigs than leaves (third picture). You can actually see the pieces of cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and green cardamom that make up this chai tea. After brewing, the Kukicha leaves have opened up nicely and the smell of the spices seem to fill the whole kitchen (fourth picture).

Over all I really enjoyed this tea. I really loved that it is 100% organic. This was my first taste of chai, and I’m sure it will not be my last.

The New Additions

I must apologize for the lack of posting. School has begun, once again, and my time is limited. However, I still make time for tea… just not enough time to write about it. Stay with me, though, I’m going to try my best to get more reviews submitted because I received loads of new teas for Christmas.

Speaking of things I received for Christmas, I will now get to the main reason for this new blog entry, my new tea toys! The first tea ware that I would like to mention is my fantastical green Yixing pot that I received from my boyfriend’s parents. I absolutely love the shape and the deep “smoked” green color. I mentioned my favorite color is green right? Heh, anyways, I also love the cute matching cups that come with it. The only problem that I see with this Yixing pot is the size. It’s a good 12oz and from what I’m learning about Yixing pots, the smaller the better… contrary to what I’ve been told by my promiscuous peers. Another problem I am having with this Yixing pot is I have been, as of this moment, unable to find a tea to dedicate it to. Some tea friends of mine have suggested oolongs but I am still not really into oolongs. I swing towards green tea. I am open to suggestions on a good green tea to present to this lonely Yixing pot, so what do you think?

Next up is my greatest impulse buy, yet… I think. Heh, this set of cups I found on the internet and darn it if I can’t find the name of the site at the moment (sorry). Anyways, this was a serious love at first site kind of thing! I love shiny, bright, bold colors… heh heh, shiny! I was, at first, just going to order the green cup (duh) but they were on sale and, like most shoppers I know, I couldn’t pass up a good sale. I am very glad that I bought the whole set because the four of them look amazing when sitting on my shelf, waiting to be filled with leafy goodness. Heh heh, so shiny.

Finally, I received a bright red “tea pot” from my aunt. I have searched the internet using numerous Google searches and have visited almost every site that has been mentioned on Tea Chat but I have never seen anything like this. I know you can buy “tea cups” with strainers in them but I have not seen one with this design or even a lid (but maybe that is just me). This tea pot works like a normal cup with a strainer, you put the strainer in the cup, put the leaves in, add hot water, and with this cup you put on the lid. When the tea is done steeping you remove the lid, turn the lid over (so the red side is facing down), remove the strainer and after all the liquid drains into the cup, you set the strainer on the lid of the tea pot. Cool, eh? I think it’s pretty sweet… and shiny. The only problem I have with it is that when I brew a small leaf tea like Sencha or Gyokuro, the leaves get stuck in the slightly large holes of the strainer. This makes clean up not the greatest thing in the world, but it is actually quicker to clean than my “regular” tea pot.

These are all my new toys. I plan on getting into Matcha next, however, that will not be for a while. Like I said above, I still have so many teas to try before I start getting into the ceremonial stuff. It is still on my list of stuff to do to expand my tea experience, so no worries. One thing I would like to purchase, if the funds will allow, is a tea tray. Time for some more online shopping!

Tsar's Blend Review

Type: Black
Origin: China
Price: ½ oz. Sample - $2, ¼ lb - $8.25, ½ lb - $15.70, 1 lb - $29.80
Vendor: Dragon Water Tea Company
Brewing Method: 1 tsp of loose leaves, 8 oz. of filtered water, heated to 212°F, in "Kat" teapot, for 3 minutes
Overall Score: 4.8 out of 5

The tea has an extremely sweet, smooth taste to it. I never thought about mixing black and white tea. However, this makes sense because the white tea is not as strong as the black. Since it was steeped for only 3 minutes, this allowed the black tea to have strength but the white tea is not steeped long enough to have any bitterness to it. Thus, an overwhelming sweetness is present.

I am normally skeptical when teas are described as “sweet,” but this tea seriously tastes like there has been a teaspoon of sugar added. If some sugar were to be added, I think it would be too sweet. Could white tea be used as a natural sweetener for other teas?

There is no astringency at all. Even when I drink this hot, my mouth still feels refreshed instead of dry like other teas leave it. With that being said, I think this tea would make an excellence iced tea.

Looking at the picture, you can see that the color is a dark reddish brown. As a matter of fact, I got this sample when I ordered the green cup that the liquor is in.

Before brewing: This tea consists of black leaves in tiny bits with a few silver needles here and there. Like my smiley face? Heh heh. I counted about 10 silver needle leaves in my ½ oz. package of this blend. So, you can see that there is not that much white tea in it, but it still makes a big difference.

After brewing: Both the black and white leaves are still the same size, roughly. The black leaves have opened up a little, but the chopped up bits aren’t that attractive.

I will definitely order more of this tea. Before I drank this tea, my favorite black tea was Ceylon Sonata from Adagio. However, I think this black tea just took the number one spot on my chart.

The one thing I would like to mention is that this tea was sent to me in a closable bag/pouch. The thing is, the pouch is clear on one side so you can see the tea (or whatever the contents is) that is inside the pouch. If I remember right, isn’t light and air the two biggest enemies of tea? If that is true, why would you put tea in a clear pouch? Even though it is only clear on one side, I still think it is bad packaging.

My Ancestry in a Teapot

It’s been a tradition for my brother, cousin, and I to spend the night at my grandparent’s house while my parents and my cousin’s parents go to Indianapolis for some black Friday Christmas shopping. Both of our parents make it a weekend trip, complete with booked hotel rooms, because both of their wedding anniversaries are that weekend (November 23rd and 25th). I declared that I was “too old” to stay over at my grandparent’s house. I told everyone a week before Thanksgiving that I would just pack up myself, and my Chihuahua, and head over to my boyfriend’s apartment for the weekend. However, my grandparents, try as they might, could not hold back their disappointment that I would not be joining them for the traditional three day sleepover. I, eventually, gave into their pouty faces and notified my boyfriend to not expect me over as previously planned.

The day after Thanksgiving I was rudely awaken from my slumber on my grandma’s couch by my sixteen year old brother and sixteen year old cousin playing guitar hero. I heard my grandma working away in the kitchen making breakfast so I decided to join her. Mercifully I had remembered my teapot, kettle, and tea and set up shop on the kitchen counter. The only tea that I brought was Dragon well so I proceeded in making me a warm cup. When I sat down at the kitchen table, cup in hand, my grandma mentioned that she had “never seen that color of tea before.”

After talking with her about what was in my cup I found out that my grandma used to be a huge tea drinker. This surprised me because I’ve always known her to be an avid coffee drinker. She was familiar with the terms “green” and “black” but never heard of “white” or “oolong.” She told me that her mother (my great grandmother) would have two or three cups of tea a day until the last 10-15 years of her life when she switched to coffee.

My grandma, then, left the room and returned with an orange and green teapot shaped like a pumpkin. She told me that it used to be my great grandma’s favorite teapot. She said that the teapot was left to her after my great grandma’s passing in March of 2005. “It has to be over 100 years old,” I remember my grandma saying as she explained that my great grandma was given the teapot from her mother when my great grandma got married. “You can have it. You are the only one that drinks tea like mom and I used to,” said my grandma. I was overwhelmed with the gift but the only thing I could say was, “why didn’t anyone tell me this? Why didn’t anyone tell me that you guys loved tea so much?” Here I had thought that I was the first one to get into this tea hobby while the rest of my family swore over their coffee. Then I find out that this has been a preference passed down from my great great grandmother… and who knows if it goes further back than that. I looked down at my cup of Dragon well and felt like this is not just a hobby anymore, but it felt like more of a tradition. A very tasty tradition.

Looking at the teapot, you can see that it has been used a lot! From the cracks on the side of the teapot and on the lid, it looks like it has been broken and meticulously pieced back together many times. It looks like there are burn marks on the bottom, as well. Also, there is a chunck missing out of the lid (the brown spot). There are several stress cracks that can be seen in the bottom of the teapot. There are also holes by the spout. Upon checking my new ‘modern’ teapots, they do not have those. I’m curious as to why some teapots do and some do not. There is a Japanese patent number on the bottom of the teapot. I tried to look up this number on the internet but have been unsuccessful at finding any information about it.

I am not trying to point out the flaws in this piece of pottery but saying how much it has been loved and used over and over and over again. My grandma said that she doesn’t have a clue of the last time it was used. I do know that I will never use this teapot myself, though. Especially, and this may be a little weird but, when you open the teapot it smells just like my great grandma’s house. Every time I turned the teapot to take a picture of it, the smell would hit me and I would get flooded with memories of holidays, bonfires, and other get-togethers at my great grandma’s house.

My great grandma passed away very peacefully when she was 93 years old. She loved to listen to people play music, especially guitars and pianos. She was nicknamed the “Harley Grandma.” From the age of 88 to 92 she would ride on my uncle’s Harley Davison motorcycle in the “Frozen Buns” New Years Day ride in Indiana. She loved animals, including the many cats, dogs, and birds she had throughout her life. Most importantly, she loved tea. As you can see, so do I. What I am saying is after looking at this pumpkin teapot and thinking about the amazing life that my great grandma had… I hope the love for tea is not the only thing that gets passed down.

Blue People Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Taiwan
Price: On sale price of $21.60/4oz.
Vendor: Aroma Tea Shop
Brewing Method: 1 tsp of loose leaves, 8 oz. of filtered water, boiled at 212F, in IngenuiTea teapot, for 2.5 minutes
Overall Score: 4 out of 5

When pouring this tea into my cup, I detected an anise-like smell with some faint mint in the background. I observed that the liquor is a light amber color. When tasting it, I was first hit with a slight licorice root flavor that this tea has been fermented with.

After taking a few more sips, my mouth and tongue began to feel cool from the mint. The licorice lingers for a short while but the mint stayed with me for quite some time. This brew had no bitterness at all. In fact, it was very smooth and sweet.

Before brewing: The leaves are like nothing I have seen. They are very tightly rolled into balls resembling tiny pebbles. I got a laugh as I poured the loose tea on the plate and some of the tiny balls had enough momentum to roll off the plate as if I had just poured out a bag of marbles. I know I can say that has never happened with any other loose leaf tea I have tried.

After brewing: These pebbles put on a show when the boiling water was added. They slowly opened up and revealed wrinkly but attractive whole and half leaves. While trying to open up, some of the pebbles would bob up and down in the water. It was definitely fun to watch.

I shared this tea with a friend and he informed me that he, too, liked the cool mint after taste. He said that even though there was no bitterness found in the tea, he added a small amount of sugar. He concluded that it intensified the mint flavor a little bit, but the anise was very faint.

Milk Aroma Oolong Review

Type: Oolong
Origin: Taiwan
Price: On sale price of $21.60/4 oz.
Vendor: Aroma Tea Shop
Brewing Method: 1 tsp of loose leaves, 8 oz. of filtered water, boiled at 212F, in IngenuiTEA teapot, for 2 minutes
Overall Score: 2 out of 5

These leaves from Taiwan were steamed with milk, so when they say “milk aroma,” they were not kidding. I noticed a milk-like smell when brewing the tea. However, that is the one thing that I wish I could have taken out of this tea. Before I brewed the leaves the smell was that of a very sweet oolong tea. However, when the tea was in my cup, the smell was like that of spoiled milk.

The description of this tea on the Aroma Tea Shop website was describing this tea as “sweet, creamy, and smooth.” I agree with this description, but the after taste was quite unpleasant. The spoiled milk taste was left in the mouth along with some astringency.

Before brewing: The whole leaves are rolled and curled into tight little balls. There is hardly any dust or small pieces. This definitely looks like a high quality tea which was meticulously handled with care.

After brewing: The liquor is an amber or deep yellow color. The leaves have almost fully opened up. Most of the leaves are whole but some are torn or ripped in half. I would say that these leaves are very attractive as I observe them spread out on my plate.

Despite my dislike for the taste, that does not mean that you may not like it. I love milk, but not warm milk. I even shared this tea with a friend and he had the same opinion as I did, even after tasting the tea without and then with sugar.