I KNOW I reviewed this tea for Steepster. Surprised it was not. Anyway…
Alistair’s description was spot on. I usually get a really smooth and spicy cup of apple malt. If that makes sense. The Assam with the spices, namely the strong cardamom and the bay leaf, produce a red delicious apple taste that is also comparable to dried apple tisanes. The rest is consistent of a chai: it’s a malty, but smooth Assam with the right blend of spices in my opinion. They really play with each other, the ginger bouncing to the cardamom to the cinnamon to the clove and back to the cardamom . The cardamom , malt and the ginger were the strongest for me personally, which is why I particularly liked this chai.
I highly recommend for TRUE chai lovers because it is a TRUE chai, and it is very approachable for a new tea drinker. If you do not like malty Assams or chais, then stay away. Gong fu worked for me just as well as Western, but the Gong Fu gives you the snobbier mini notes of the Assam with subdivided categories for the spices. Western is easy to set lighter or thicker in terms of how malty the Assam was, though I can say that I was able to Grandpa Style this in my tea tumbler with a very small tea spoon. You cannot go wrong with the quality of this tea at this teas price.
