Tea of the Week for January 25, 2021: Rose City Chai (Black Tea)!

Rose City Chai (Black Tea)!

Tea Description: This tea was inspired by Portland - aka Rose City! 

As I sit here, sipping on this tea, I found myself wondering where it is that I've tasted something similar to what I'm drinking & I realized how similar to Breakfast in Bed this tea is. It's - of course - not precisely that blend - since there are not only more spices here but also different teas utilized in the blend. The Breakfast in Bed blend uses Rose Congou (a Chinese tea) & this blend uses a CTC Assam which is more malty & quite a bit richer than the Congou.

But the blends DO have very similar profiles - so if you enjoyed the Breakfast in Blend tea, you're likely to enjoy this one as well. 

I didn't go about to make a tea similar to Breakfast in Bed - I've just been wanting to make a Rose Chai for some time - the idea of blending the sweetness of rose with the robust, spicy notes of chai has intrigued me & it wasn't until I sat down & taste tested it that I realized how similar in profile the two are. 

For this chai, I started out with Assam & Vietnamese teas. Then I added traditional chai spices: ginger, cinnamon, clove, cardamom & black pepper. Then I added some vanilla bean to lend some creaminess to the cup - I wanted to give this a latte-like flavor without having to add milk to it. Finally, I added rose buds & petals to the mix. 

This tea is warm & comforting. Spicy but not too spicy. The rose adds a really lovely note to it. There is a nice amount of vanilla to this - silky & smooth. I really love how this chai came together. There's a really nice balance of all the flavors here - you taste a little bit of everything but not too much of any one thing.

This blend is organic, VEGAN, gluten free & allergen free! 

organic ingredients: black teas, rose buds, rose petals, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, cardamom, black pepper, vanilla beans & natural flavors

This tea is so nice. I'm loving every sip of it! The first flavors I pick up on are the cinnamon, clove & ginger. The vanilla also comes in right away - followed by the bold, malty flavors of the black tea base. Then I notice the sweetness of the rose. Cardamom! The pepper isn't a very dominant flavor - by design - I didn't want this to be too peppery - I was looking for a zesty spicy note with a little bit of warmth from the pepper - without too much bite from it. 

to brew: give the pouch a really good shake - there's a lot of ingredients in this & you want to ensure that your cup has a good representation of them all. use 4g of leaf (make sure there's at least 1 rose bud in there along with some petals!) to 12 oz of near boiling water (205°F) & allow to steep for 3 minutes. This tea is pretty forgiving (especially considering that there is Assam in it!) because I oversteeped my first pot of it by more than a full minute & it still came out amazing - so feel free to play around with the steep time a little to get just the right time for you. I found that the best pot came with a 3 minute steep time, but even after 4 minutes, the tea is not bitter.

Strain & allow to cool for at least 10 minutes. As with all chai, I do recommend a little bit of sweetener (honey or sugar) as the chai spices just taste better with a little bit of sweet - but - don't over do it - because the rose adds a bit of sweetness to the cup as it is.