Product Overview
As chai tea connoisseurs in the business for 14+ years now, we've had ample opportunity to sample all the best brands, and we've put that experience into our new Signature Blend! This instant dry mix is 100% organic, herbalist formulated to our exacting specifications, and dare we say it? We think it's the best chai available anywhere! It's a lightly sweetened, finely balanced cup that offers full-bodied flavor without overpowering any single ingredient.
The product label says it all: "If at first you don't succeed, Chai & Chai Again!" And that's exactly what we did, going back and forth with the various spice blends until we finally hit the nail on the head. Indeed chai blending is a very subtle art. Try a sample for yourself and let us know what you think!
Note: This chai mix is highly concentrated, requiring only 1 rounded Tbsp per 8-10oz cup, so it makes 2-4x more cups than similar mixes by brands like David Rio, Big Train, Mystic, Pacific chai, etc.
Ingredients: Organic Black Tea, Organic Cane Sugar, Organic Ceylon Cinnamon, Organic Giner, Organic Cloves, Organic Cardamom, Organic Nutmeg, Organic Allspice.
Directions: Mix 1 rounded Tbsp with 1oz hot water and stir. Then add 8-9oz water and/or milk or substitute (or combination). Alter the ratios as needed.
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Chai Direct's signature Chai Scores on the Taste-O-Meter:
Bold; 9 :: Spice; 7 :: Sweet; 5
"What can I say? In my opinion, this is the best chai on the market because, after all, I was the dude in charge of designing the recipe, going back and forth with the herbalist at Fiddlehead until the blend was perfect! And what is my idea of perfect? First of all, although I like hot/spicy food, I don't like an excessive amount of ginger and cloves in my chai. Those spices are a peculiar type of 'hotness' which just burns the back of my throat. On the other hand, though, those spices definitely need to be in there, but riding just under the surface. This gives the chai additional, subtle notes. Next, I found that adding too much black tea or cinnamon easily pushes it out of balance, as those flavors are easy to distinguish and make the chai taste too 'narrow.' It's as if all the other flavors seem to disappear. The underappreciated spice, I found, was cardamom. This tended to create a more neutral and full bodied flavor; probably something to do with the oils in it. (Recalling my experience as a coffee taster.) Cardamom, however, in excess can become almost hinting toward bitterness. And this is balanced by the organic cane sugar, which is significant, but by no means prominent in the flavor. The goal of all of this was to create a blend full of balanced subtleties, that add up to a strong flavor, yet you can't quite put your finger on just one. And THAT is the perfect cuppa chai!
--Troy the chai-tasting-guy
