Green Tea and Spices - SLO Chai

The Green Tea and Spices (which needs a shorter name!) contains Fair Trade certified Ceylon green tea, cardamom, ginger, nutmeg, star anise, cinnamon, orange peel, cloves, and black pepper (all organic.) They come as tea bags - square bags made of paper. There are 16 bags in a box and the bags are all enclosed in a single cellophane wrapper. So, once you break the cellophane bag, you will definitely need to find something airtight to store the bags in. They do not individually wrap their bags because they are trying to minimize consumer waste. They also use recycled paper in their boxes, soy-based inks, and heat-sealed bags. I commend this commitment, but I think they should consider making the wrapper resealable.

There are two recommendations for brewing so I tried both. The unbrewed tea bag smelled heavily of ginger and nutmeg. I brewed first in hot water for 5 minutes. I sipped it first unsweetened. The anise was definitely the predominant flavor to me - I would have sworn it was a licorice tea. At first I was disappointed because I tend to like the cinnamon and clove heavy chais. When I let go of my expectations and just sipped the tea I actually really enjoyed it. The green tea was subtle and the spices rang out. The orange flavor was a subtle note and after taste for me. I tried adding a bit of honey and felt that it toned down the anise a bit and made for a more unified blend. I tried the other brewing recommendation - simmered in water for 10 minutes then combined with sugar and milk. I felt that the milk washed the flavors out a bit too much, but then again, I really like my chai spicy.

Tea: Green Tea and Spices
Source: SLO Chai
Type: Green tea chai
Brewing details: A) 1 tea bag at 180 degrees for 5 minutes. B) Simmered tea from opened tea bag in 8 ounces of water for 10 minutes. Added sugar and milk.
Comment: A really unique tea - surprisingly good for a tea bag. I'm looking forward to trying the other sample they sent.

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Taken from http://teapages.blogspot.com/