Here is the part two post about the wonderful experience I had tasting a variety of different Chai blends. You can read the part one Chai blog post here which features four other combinations as well as some interesting facts about Chai.
My top Chai blends to try:
5. Brand – Bon Chai
Blends: Indian Spice Tea
Ingredients: Cinnamon, Australian black tea, star anise, ginger, cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, cloves and chilli.
Vanilla Rose Chai
Ingredients: Cinnamon, Australian black tea, organic vanilla bean, star anise, ginger, rose petals, cloves, cardamon and pepper.
Caffeine Free Spice Chai
Ingredients: Cinnamon, organic rooibos tea, star anise, ginger, cardamom, pepper, nutmeg, cloves and chilli.
Price: Starts from $10.20 for 100g
The variety of the fresh hand crushed spices used in all three blends were impressive. I also love the fact that these blends are all about more spice and less tea (80% of spice and 20% of tea). It’s nice to know I can enjoy more than one cup without consuming too much caffeine.
My favourite blend was the Vanilla Rose Chai with flavours such as real Organic Vanilla Bean and Rose Petals. It also includes Pepper, so while it has lovely undertones of vanilla and rose, your taste buds are also teased with a nice peppery flavour. The Indian Spiced Blend is a full-bodied type of Chai compared to the Vanilla Rose Chai, which is a much smoother and subtle chai blend. I recommend those people who are very passionate about Chai to try this range, particularly the Vanilla Rose Chai blend.
6. Brand – Chai Walli
Blends: Chai and Chai (caffeine free)
Ingredients: Anise, black tea, cardamom, carom seeds, cinnamon, cloves, fennel seeds, ginger, mace, rooibos, roses and star aniseed. Note: The caffeine free option included all of these ingredients
Note: The caffeine free option included all of these ingredients but did not contain black tea.
Price: Starts from $11 for 100g
The founder of Chai Walli Uppma, shares a lovely story about her Chai that makes you feel as though you’ve stepped into her world. Her story explains that her Grandad, a natural medicine doctor, used to make his own chai blends in Northern India. You can say Chai naturally runs in her family! Her signature Chai Walli blend contains 11 of the finest quality spices and is also available as a caffeine free option. I have to say that both blends tasted as good as each other, but it was the caffeine free option that stood out. This blend is gentle on the taste buds considering all of the spices included in the mix. They are perfectly balanced, and you end up with a very smooth, delicious tasting Chai. Uppma’s instructions on the back of the packet were one of the easiest to follow, and after tasting so much Chai, I have learnt how important it is to know how to brew Chai correctly.
7. Brand – Calmer Sutra Tea
Blend – Calmer Chai
Ingredients: Pure Australian Honey, spices, antioxidant rich black tea leaves and fresh ginger root.
Price: Start from $17.50 for 250g
This is another standout Chai, founded all the way back in 2002; these guys make their Chai order. One of my favourite wet Chai’s. Your senses are instantly hit with the fresh ginger that makes this Chai moist. It’s truly a gorgeous, beautiful wet Chai blend with a divine smell and strong taste. This sort of Chai variety is best stored in the fridge or freezer to lock in the flavour of the fresh ingredients used and will store for 2 months. I love the fact they also offer larger quantities as I tend to buy Chai in bulk to save money. Their sizes go all the way up to a 3kg size (a 1kg of Chai lasts me 6 months). They also have some fabulous information on their website about brewing tips. I actually included their brewing tips in part one of this blog series which you can read here.
So there you have it, a detail list of 7 completely different Chai blends. Some blends were wet, others were dry, some were caffeine free, while others were spicy and peppery. I think I have covered a Chai for everyone’s preference if you have a Chai that deserves to be on this list, please let me know.
