Creamy Madagascar vanilla notes dance with tingling Malabar Coast spices. A lively ginger finish is accentuated by candy cardamom that produces a bright and coppery liquor with rosy highlights. Commonly served with milk and sweetened to taste.
HEALTH PROPERTIES: High in anti-oxidants
CAFFEINE LEVELS: Medium
INGREDIENTS: Black tea, Ginger, Cinnamon, Cardamom, Black+White pepper, Clove, Nutmeg, Calendula petals, Natural flavors (organic compliant)
TEA SOURCING: Blended from Indian Assam and Kerala black teas, with Sri Lankan teas from the Nuwara Eliya, Dimbula and Uva regions.
ETHICS: Ethical Tea Partnership and GMO free
THE STORY OF VANILLA CHAI
Chai is such an integral part of Indian culture that it is virtually impossible to avoid when traveling through any part of the continent. Even when fresh cold drinking water cannot be found, you will inevitably encounter a chai-wallah, or chai seller, yelling out, "chayee! chayee!"
While riding the rails in India, the call of the chai wallah can be heard at every stop proffering their delicious hot drink. It is not uncommon for a chai-wallah to board a train in the middle of the night and wake up passengers to sell chai. The chai arrives in small clay cups that customers throw from the train windows when finished!
Indian chai is typically made using a rich black tea, usually an Assam, and brewing it in heavy milk with cardamom, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, and pepper. The drink produces a warm soothing effect and engenders a wonderfully calming effect. We've taken the soothing aspect of this blend one step further and added a dash of vanilla. This addition of vanilla adds a hint of creaminess to this tea - a fantastic addition. Brew this tea piping hot and add some sugar to help open up the exotic flavor of the spicy blend that makes up this tea. Just try and stop yourself after one cup! Important: Turn your bag of Chai upside down a few times. The powdered spices can settle at the bottom of the bag during transit.
BREWING INSTRUCTIONS
BREWING INSTRUCTIONS FOR HOT TEA: Infuse one slightly heaping teaspoon for each 8 ounce cup with boiling water for 5-10 minutes.
ICED TEA BREWING METHOD (Pitcher): (To Make 1 Liter/Quart):
Infuse 6 slightly heaping teaspoons of tea with 1 1/4 cups of boiling water for 7 minutes. Quarter fill a serving pitcher with cold water, and add the infused tea, straining the leaves, to the pitcher. Add ice and top-up the pitcher with cold water. Add lemon and sweeten to taste. A rule of thumb when preparing fresh brewed iced tea is to increase the strength of hot tea since it will be poured over ice and diluted with cold water.
ICED TEA BREWING METHOD (Individual Serving):
Infuse 1 slightly heaping teaspoon of loose tea with 6 ounces of boiling water for 7 minutes. Add the tea to a 12 ounce glass, filled with ice, straining the leaves. Add hot tea to a 12oz/375ml acrylic glass filled with ice, straining the tea or removing the bags. Add lemon and sweeten to taste.
NUMBER OF CUPS: 15-20 cups from each 50 grams of tea, with a single use of the leaves. Loose leaf tea is traditionally infused 3 times, with a different flavor profile following each infusion. Accordingly, each 50 gram bag can make up to 60 cups of tea.
