My first experience with Shou Mei. The leaf looks like the picture and is interesting to look at and festive in aroma. I am not a particular fan of chai – which strangely is exactly why I chose this one. This is not any of the things I dislike in chai. It is not overwhelmingly spiced. The pepper is held down to a very mild level. Though the list of ingredients is long, they all make sense. (Are you listening Yogi and Stash?) In the taste it is clove and cardamom. Originally I thought ginger and cinnamon, which are also present. I don’t taste lemongrass or vanilla but assume they are filling in the flavors of the cup.
This reminds me of Mystic Chai, which is a powdered chai mix I used to buy at Sam’s Club. I liked it but it was pre-sweetened, which meant three times too sweet for human consumption. This is not sweetened so I get to control how sweet I want it. What a novel idea!
For chai, I like this one.
