Review: Chocolate Chipotle - Tea Chai Te

Type: Flavored Black (Chai)
Producer: Tea Chai Te
Origin: Assam
Brewing Parameters: 2 tsp, 1 part boiling water, 2 parts heated milk, 6 min. for 8 oz. (recommended)
Appearance: A dark orange powder (chipotle, chocolate, cardamon, cinnamon, and more) with small CTC leaves and anise
Rating: A- | 91/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
First off, this tea has a ridiculous amount of powder; it seems like there's more spice than there is actual tea. It smells great, but the ratio of flavoring to leaf is something I haven't seen before. Brewing it like the caramel creme brulee chai, it came off a bit darker and a light tan/brown color. The smell is very chocolatey, with the spicy chipotle coming in second.

Reading some reviews for this tea, people say that it's very spicy. I didn't get that; while it is somewhat spicy, the milk does a good job of masking it. The main flavor is a creamy chocolate with cinnamon. Like most other chais, the spice stays in your throat after drinking and comes out when you breathe. Overall, surprisingly good considering that I don't like spicy food that much.

Other Notes

Today's album is the unreleased Black Cab EP by Higher Brothers. I haven't listened to the entire thing (obviously because it's not out yet), but I found them through 88rising/Yaeji. Although I can't speak/understand Chinese, all of the songs currently out are actually pretty good. Beats are nice, they can rap really well, and some of them are pretty damn funny. My favorite song is 7-11.

I also got back from the UCLA weekend. I came in there with the idea that the chances of me going to Cal over UCLA is 90-10, but coming back, it's now 50-50. I have an amazing squad from there and we all text each other and have a ton of pictures. I love the campus/location, food, and people there, but the issues are that: 1. I don't have Regents, 2. it's pretty far from home (and my parents would have to drive 6-8 hours to get there), and 3. I'm unsure about the academics. I love Cal because I've been to it so often and know it so well, but my main issue is the people and competition; everyone at LA seems so happy and friendly, which is a vibe I don't get at Cal. I'm personally leading towards LA because I feel like undergrad should be about the experience and not the academics, but my parents are pissed about it. I have a week to decide, so we'll see, probably when I get back from DC.

Review: Caramel Creme Brulee - Tea Chai Te

Type: Flavored Black (Chai)
Producer: Tea Chai Te
Origin: Ceylon
Brewing Parameters: 2 tsp, 1 part boiling water, 2 parts heated milk, 6 min. for 8 oz. (recommended)
Appearance: Small, broken up black leaves with a few twigs
Rating: A- | 90/100
# of Brews: 1

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
Quick review today because I have a ton of work to do. This tea smells amazing– very aromatic, but not too artificial– but for some reason, it's marketed as a chai. I see it more as a flavored black tea, because from looking at the tea, it's just leaves; I'm pretty sure chai usually has spices mixed in.

Anyway, although it's a flavored black in my opinion, I brewed it like a chai according to their instructions (3-4g instead of 2 heaping teaspoons, 4 oz water with 8 oz milk and temperatures aren't exact). After brewing, the liquid was a sort of gray-light brown with a strong caramel-vanilla scent. I didn't add any sweetener, but the milk and the flavoring of the tea is already pretty sweet on its own. There is a light cinnamon/spice taste, but it tastes mostly how it smells– like caramel and vanilla. It's very smooth, and with the milk, it's not bitter at all. Overall, if you like flavored teas, go for this; I like it. I can see it used as a cooking ingredient, and since it's pretty sweet on its own, you can make this in bulk and serve it pretty easily without having to figure out sugar/sweetener ratios.

Other Notes

Today's album is the Sophtware Slump by Grandaddy. I've heard Grandaddy before (AM 180 is my jam), but lately I've been on a binge of their albums after hearing a few songs from this album. Their style changes a lot, but this is a good concept album.

As I said above, a lot of work to do today. I've been pretty lazy over break, but now with the UCLA trip this week, finals starting next week, and comp civics national finals next week too, I need to get my act together. I'll try to do another review of the last Portland tea (Chocolate Chipotle chai) when I get the time to, but don't expect any more posts until the end of the month. See you all later! 

Review: Bao Zhong - Tea Chai Te

Type: Oolong
Producer: Tea Chai Te
Origin: Taiwan
Brewing Parameters: 1 tsp, 8 oz.  185°F water, 3-4 min. (recommended)
Appearance: Small-medium sized, loosely rolled dark green leaves
Rating: B- | 82/100
# of Brews: 6

Tasting Notes and Thoughts
I mentioned this in a previous post, but I'm not the biggest fan of Tea Chai Te. They have a great selection of teas and the store is a nice place, but the service there wasn't the best (compared to other, similar tea stores I've been to). Also, I'm not sure if this is just the teas I've gotten or if I'm brewing wrong, but they all seem to be very weak in flavor– today's tea is no exception.

If I had to describe this tea in three words, I'd call it a buttery milk oolong. After washing the tea, it smelled exactly like milk oolong– mainly grassy, and a bit creamy. The color of the brew was always light yellow. For the first set of brews, the flavor was savory and earthy, with butter and nuts as the main taste. There was also a light cinnamon aftertaste. As time went on, it became more fruity and floral, but as I mentioned before, it was a bit weak in taste (despite using 5g of leaf). It's a decent tea; however, I think I'll need to try experimenting with water temperatures, leaf, brew times, etc. to try and get a better flavor. It has the potential, but it's not there yet.

Other Notes

Today's album is the Animal LP by Big Scary. Now that it's the weekend, I need to start getting my act together and catching up on all the work I have– just one project for AP Gov and studying for all of my other classes. I've spent this entire break mostly relaxing, but these next two weeks are going to be busy as hell, so it looks like I got some work to do!