If you’ve been following Life’s a Cup of Tea for a while, you’ll know I’m a big chai lover. I love the spiciness. I first had chai tea in latte form back in the day, but I like drinking it plain most. I’ve had a lot of different chai teas, but I recently stumbled upon Zhena’s Gypsy Chai Tea Sampler at TJ Maxx for $4.99, and I had to try it. With 4 sachets of four kinds of chai, it’s a great buy.
These teas come in round eco-friendly sachets, which is nice for steeping and seems to steep pretty evenly — and is also not as bad for the environment as it is easy to break down. The tea in the bags looks fine, but I’ve tried all four and they are very flavorful. I’ve had chocolate chai, but the coconut and hazelnut black chai teas stood out to me. I had not had these flavors of chai before, so I was intrigued. The chocolate and caramel are herbal, which I like because I can drink them later in the day without worrying about not being able to sleep (another theme for my old lady self).
Ingredients
Chocolate Chai—From the Cedarburg Mountain Region of South Africa comes this superior grade, caffeine-free organic Rooibos, blended with the rich, exotic taste of Mediterranean carob and the zest of ginger and cinnamon bark. Chicory and licorice root, round out this delicious thick, warming cup. Wonderful with a splash of milk.
Coconut Chai—Indian black tea, organic cinnamon, ginger, cardamom pods, whole cloves, orange peels, nutmeg, org. black pepper, organic cinnamon essential oil, organic coconut flavor.
Caramel Chai (Red)—Organic, Fair Trade Certified™ Rooibos*, Cinnamon*, Ginger Root*, Licorice Root*, Natural Flavoring,Cloves*, Cardamom*, Nutmeg*, Black Pepper*,Organic Vanilla Bean.*
Hazelnut Chai (Red)—Organic, Fair Trade Certified™ Rooibos*, Cinnamon, Ginger Root*, Licorice Root*, Natural Flavoring, Cloves*, Cardamom*, Nutmeg*, Black Pepper*, Vanilla Bean.* * Certified Organic”
My favorites out of here are probably the caramel and hazelnut. The caramel is very smooth and has a sweetness, so if you’re into sweet teas but don’t want to add sugar, you’ll love it. The hazelnut is nutty (no surprise there) and also smooth a little less bitter than the chocolate, which wasn’t my favorite, though I did still like it. The coconut chai was interesting, I’d had coconut teas before but didn’t care for them, but this one is pretty good and would be a great choice over ice in the upcoming summer days.
If you’re new to chai or love it already and want to taste some new flavors, this is a good pick. All of these teas are comforting and great hot, but could also be fabulous iced, or made into a latte.
Let me know what your favorite chai tea is, and check out my tea talk video about this sampler! And be sure to subscribe to my channel while you’re at it 🙂
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