Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Chai’

When doing a little background digging for this blend, I ran across an interesting factoid. Bamboo isn’t actually a tree, rather it is part of the grass family; “true grass” or Poaceae, to be precise. The shrubs or tree-like specimens in this family are called bamboo. To think of any part of the Orient is to think of that particular plant, whether as building material, weaponry, or culinary additions. In terms of tea, bamboo is often used as a storage device to “compost” maocha, the proto-form of pu-erh tea. I had heard of bamboo included as an ingredient in blends, but hadn’t actually tried it. TeaFrog had such a product that could potentially sate my morbid curiosity.

Ingredients for their Bamboo Shoots blend included genmaicha, green tea, ginger, cardamom, bamboo shoots, red peppercorns, papaya pieces, shredded coconut, and pineapple. Dear Bamboo Buddha, what did I get myself into? I was turned off at first by the mention of genmaicha. Some people like the Japanese “poor man’s green tea”, I’m not one of them. I prefer my tea and rice separated by serving ware. The inclusion of ginger, cardamom and pepper was also perplexing. Was this trying to be a chai? Papaya, coconut and pineapple begged to disagree…and disagree they did.

This smelled like neither genmaicha or chai, and for that I was eternally thankful. Rice and spice just didn’t sound that appealing. Instead, the dominant aroma was “TROPICS!” – yes, in all caps. Everything about this blend screamed “Hawaii” for some reason. Smelling it livened my mood. (It also helped that it was sunny outside, but I digress.)

On appearance, I could make out all the different ingredients. The most common sights – other than the rice and green tea, that is – were the papaya and peppers. White coconut innards peaked out occasionally, but not in a lasting fashion. As for bamboo? Well…I didn’t quite know what I was looking for. Beyond the Chinese sencha, and Japanese genmaicha, I didn’t see ‘em. A few twigs caught my eye here and there, but I assumed those were part of the genmaicha garnish.

Brewing instructions, alas, weren’t present on the site. The usual approach for a green tea blend – as far as I was concerned – was a 180F(-ish) water temp for three minutes. I went with exactly that; 1 round teaspoon-worth in 8oz.

The liquor infused to a bright yellow color – not gold, not green, prime yellow. The steam aroma was an oddity. On the one hand, there was genmaicha toastiness; on the other, spice and tang mixed with tropical death. It was a difficult smell to pin down. If I were to choose an analogy, I’d compare it to sniffing the inner bark of a palm tree. No, I don’t know what that actually smells like, but if I did…it would probably be this. The taste, thankfully, was all fruity magnificence with only a mild spicy lean – as if the hot water only took the good part of the ginger and cardamom. The loud tropical fruits did their part in masking any of the rice-y/toasty aspect. There was a bit of a woody finish, but I didn’t mind. Heck, I drink dandelion root.

For a green tea blend, it was a trifecta of what-the-hell. None of the ingredients made any sense, nor did they seem like components that would mesh. However, like any good chimera, it roared with life on taste. As for the bamboo? I still don’t know what that tastes like. For an introduction, though, this was blessedly batty one. I’ll happily steep it again.

You can purchase the Bamboo Shoots directly from the TeaFrog website.

Sweet treat time!  Opening a Coco Truffle pyramid, can tell why it was recommended to me just by the smell.  Yum in a bag! Almost smells like a chai. It is a pure herbal blend, naturally caffeine-free, beautiful as a dessert tea.

Steeped it in boiling water for five minutes and the smell of all the spices are coming through, the cardamom scent is a bit strong though.  Tastes good but a bit weak.  Steeped it for three more minutes and the blend has balanced out.  It’s brewed a beautiful dark steep.  Truffle magic, here I come. Can taste and smell the cacao goodness now, like an exotic candy bar in a cup, this is really delicious.  This is the very best, zero calorie indulgence I’ve had in awhile.  I don’t crave sweets very often but I will be reaching for this one the next time I have a chocolate crisis!

You can purchase Tea Forte Coco Truffle Tea directly from their website, and in various high-end establishments around the world.

Okay, clean slate, trying the second of my Kalahari teas, Cherry Vanilla. As soon as I opened the package, the scent wafted out. The dry leaves smell almost like of those chocolate covered maraschino cherry candy bars that I can never remember the name of. Wanted to open the bag but, again, it was too dusty looking so I just dropped it into my teacup and steeped it.

It brewed up a nice, dark red color, very nice amber like you’d expect with a Rooibos. The scent is really spicy, completely overrides the initial cherry scent that I got from it. It actually smells delicious, like a caffeine free chai. I love spicy teas and am actually happy to have lost the cherry scent. First sip gave me a burst of cinnamon at the back of my tongue, a little bit powerful but that’s okay, it’s really good (did I mention that I like spiced teas?). I let it cool just slightly and the flavors from all the other spices came out almost one at a time. It’s a really good balance of spices, none are really overpowering the others now. Except for the auspicious licorice trying to sneak to the front.

I really like this blend and I tried to steep it again but it failed. Thinking the recommended steeping time for this one should be longer, closer to seven minutes.

There are ten different ingredients listed on the package. Nine great ones and one that I would love to see dropped – I don’t ‘get’ the cherry part of the blend, seems unnecessary and it’s listed as a ‘flavor’. The issue I have with unknown ingredients may seem petty but I really need to know what I’m consuming to be able to feel confident with the product. Nice blend but not good enough for a place on my shelf.

You can purchase the Cherry Vanilla directly from the Kalahari Tea website.