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Friday, February 26, 2010

The Tao of Tea Loose Leaf Red Tea 'Red Bush Chai'

Tea Information:
Tea: Red Bush Chai
Type: Red Tea
Packaging: Loose Leaf
Company: The Tao of Tea
Purchase: Here
Description: A caffeine free blend of South African Rooibos and uplifting spices.
Ingredients: 100% Organic Rooibos Leaves, 100% Organic Cinnamon, 100% Organic Spearmint, 100% Organic Cloves and 100% Organic Cardamon.

Steep Information:
Amount: ~1.5 teaspoons
Additives: none
Water: 6 ounces filtered boiling
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: woody, spicy, followed by mint
Steeped Tea Smell: woody, followed by mint
Flavor: spicy red tea, mostly cinnamon and cardamom
Body: Full
Aftertaste: mint
Liquor: dark reddish-brown

I was fortunate enough to grab the last two serving of this from the Steepster Traveling Teabox.

The smell is a bit different than the normal Chai I drink because of the mint.
The taste is a smooth, well balanced, spicy tea. The mint follows the sip.
The spices are a mellow and don't stand out individually, they also are not very strong (think medium versus mild salsa).

This was not a bad tea, it was a nice sold red spiced tea. I am glad I got to try it, and would drink it again, but it is not my preferred chai so it won't become a cupboard regular.

Post-Steep Additives: lactose free fat-free milk

It didn't really make much of a difference. Perhaps if I had steeped it in the milk it might have?

Post-Steep Additives: honey

Tempered the spicy, but the spicy wasn't a strong spicy so I don't think it's really needed.

Resteep: 6 minutes - tasted like a quality flavored black tea? odd since it's a red tea, still smooth but the spice is very very mild and so is the mint.

It does resteep well but tastes like a totally different tea.

Rating: 2/3





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