Chocolate Chili Chai

Ooooh, apparently if you make it a latte that’s when the spiced notes come out! Normally all I get is a lovely dark chocolate flavour, but tonight I used this to make a latte with vanilla soy. The result is a delicious cup with a bit of a tingle and all sorts of flavour. Delicious!

More and more I fear I may just not be a chai fan. I gave this tea a second shot tonight and it is really just not a hit with me. I get a bit of dusty chocolate flavour and a lot of chili heat on my tongue, but it was just not great in my world. I think that his is really just not the tea for me. Which is actually fine, because so many of them are the tea for me!

Nice chocolate tea, but that’s all I’m getting.
No chili, no chai, so IMHO this doesn’t deliver what’s promised.

This one still has so much promise, but it’s unchanged from last year for me. Really tasty, with the chocolate coming through and the chilies rounding it out really nicely. And it still smells absolutely phenomenal. But, still a little weak even with quite a lot of leaf. I have to agree with Michelle Butler Hallett in thinking an Indian black base would have solved this. I think that would have balanced this out so much better. I’m torn. So tasty, so weak! This re-visit has stimulated my interest enough to get me to play around with it a little more, at least.

This is another sample buried deep in the cupboard, from winter 2012. Time to drink eight grams!

Mother thinks this is awful and tastes like watered down chocolate.. I don’t think the chalky chocolate is that bad. It’s boring but drinkable, and seems to take a lot of steeping abuse without getting bitter.

I wish it had more of a spicy kick to it, like the mildly terrifying, leathery hot Zhu Rong Yunnan from Verdant (maybe I’ve blown that one out of proportion). I don’t mind coasting on the weak chocolate and peppercorns, however. It’s more of a diluted creamy comfort thing, especially with milk, than a burn-flesh-for-fuel kind of beverage. Maybe some habeneros would be nice. Those are good peppers. I’d even settle for cayenne peppers.

I have to say, I am enjoying this tea.

As previously stated by others, the flavour is a bit light, but I don’t mind. The chocolate flavour is equatable to Read My Lips, and in my opinion, that makes a very very good chocolate tea. I love the little chippies! Also, I’m going to make my own artisan chocolate chips one day, so this is inspiring me :3

Anywho, The first sip had a little chili kick to it., but after a few sips it was gone. I looooved this tea when it was hot, but as it cooled down the taste got less and less .. tasty! :( Granted, I will probably still buy a 100g tin of this because I have no tea that is like it. Mayan Chocolate Chai is totally different.. in fact.. I think i will mix the two one night !

At the suggestion of one of the girls at my local David’s tea. I had this as a latte! Like ‘Read My Lips’ and other chocolate teas, I do prefer them with milk, anyway. This tea tasted just like Lindt’s dark chocolate with chili peppers: that dark chocolate bitterness and a bit of a bite from the peppers!

It reminds me of a really great cup of hot chocolate! This will certainly be a new indulgence for me.

Dry Leaf Nose: Very chocolatey, with tea notes and a hint of chili pepper.

Liquor: Toasty brown colour, with a rich chocolate note and chili background.

Flavour: A rich chocolate flavour with touch of chili that enriches the chocolate and leaves a lingering flavour on the palate. The black tea base adds a sweet, ripe and full bodied note to the cup.

how is it possible i haven’t reviewed this one yet you ask?
well, i have a horrible thing to admit…i’m not really a chai drinker.

but the truth is that this is really a chocolate tea!
i mean it is isn’t it? it’s warming.
it’s like mexican chocolate, it has a little bite at the end.

but i feel like that’s all obvious from the name of the tea.
good name.

I got to try a bit of this today because David’s tea had testers of this and Ceylon Star. I was a little hesitant because I was unsure how I felt about chili in teas but it was very muted. I liked this tea enough that I was on the fence about buying it but in the end I chose not to so I guess I was not blown away.

It is definitely worth trying out though.