Try My Chai Pie... (Twinings Chai)

Member Name: Fishbulb

Product:	Twinings Chai
Date:	28/08/03 (414 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: refreshing, unusual, christmassy

Disadvantages: a light blend, not for you hardened tea guzzlers (perhaps), not to everyone's taste, not an everyday, all day drink

...HA that fooled you, no pie here - just tea!

Upon the recommendation of another DooYooer who swears that this tea kept her sane through her studies, I thought I’d try it out myself. Not that I feel the desire to be kept sane or indeed because I’m studying, I tried it cause it sounded really nice.

Also, for the record, I’m not entirely sure why you recommended anti-madness tea to me in the first place…I shall be asking you some questions lately *raises eyebrows and winks, but realises that it’s nearly impossible to do both at the same time*

It was described to me as a “yummy” tea, which frankly is good enough for me!

Anyway, it’s called ‘Chai’ the story behind it is included in the blurb on the box and is as follows.
“Legend has it that a royal king in the ancient courts of India invented Chai. It’s roots can be traced to the Hindu natural healing system of Ayurveda where herbs, spices and tea were combined for their health benefits as a digestive aid. Chai wallahs (Indian tea sellers) here have popularised the drink over the centuries and can still be heard all over India today, loudly calling out the word ‘Chai’ to advertise their tea!”

That’s all very good and well, but doesn’t tell us a great deal about the tea. I guess that you’ve guessed it’s made by Twinings by the product category and as such it comes in a Twinings style box. It’s predominantly black with a shiny golden stripe there’s a green oval on the front with a crude drawing of various spices, which gives you an indication of the likely flavour of the tea. It also says that it’s a traditional Indian spiced tea. I’ve been assured that it’s fairly standard practice to flavour your tea with spices and herbs in that neck of the woods. The Greeks apparently do the same thing too and the Turkish flavour coffee
in the same way, their coffee grinds are traditionally ground to a fine powder with the spices and all left in the cup – bluuuurghh – an acquired taste I believe. Of course I’m not recommending you add coffee or spices to this tea and I fear I may be sidetracking slightly from my point, which is currently eluding me!

*Ponders for a moment and wonders how many of the readers of this opinion tried to raise their eyebrows and wink at the same time a little earlier on *

If you hunt around the box (and I don’t mean for rabbits, I mean looking at the box intensely) then you’ll find a small list of ingredient which are: Tea, Ginger Root (10%), Cinnamon bark (10%), Natural flavourings. Although star anise is not listed among the ingredients it is mentioned briefly on the back under the “Flavour & Occasion” bit. Other things you’ll find on the box are the origin of the tea (India); which is a brief flavour guide, “Brewing Instructions” and “Recommendations”

Now as far as tea and coffee go, to fully appreciate the natural flavour of them you’re supposed to drink them blind. That’s not to say you should all go and find pointy sticks to poke your eyes out it’s a term to describe tea/coffee without sugar or milk.** Now I do understand this, but each to their own. At the end of the day you don’t appreciate chips more without salt and vinegar and ketchup and salad cream if you like those things on them so add what you like to this tea to make it taste good to you, if you like your tea sweet/milky/black make it to your own tastes. The serving recommendation on the box tells us that in India Chai is served with milk and often sweetened to enhance the flavourings of the spices so for all intents and purposes it’s a normal cuppa.

** Please do not send in any videos of any eye-poking antics as we will not look at them and they will be thrown s
traight in the bin.***

I like my tea strong and this is a ‘mellow tea’ according to the packet, make it up in the same way you would normal tea. (There’s instructions on the packet in case you’ve been hit over the head or have never made tea, but I aint gonnna tell you how to make it here) I tend to leave my teabag in for ages, if I’m making herbal tea then I never actually take it out but again this is a matter of choice.

What you will notice initially when you make this is that instead of being a red/dark brown colour like bog-standard tea it’s a pale yellow, darkening only enough to be slightly darker in colour than a strong lager it also stays so very clear, even in our hard-water area. (I know this as I have a glass mug) Don’t let the light colour put you off though if like me, you are a fan of stronger flavoured teas.

The best way to describe the smell is ‘Christmassy’ it’s lovely mainly the smell of cinnamon is predominant but when you get close-up to it, there’s a real ‘all-spice’ smell to it. It’s really quite an unusual flavour, a combination of typical tea flavour with a light spicy flavour on top. The cinnamon is the most obvious of all the smells and flavours in this drink, although the more discerned tasters among you will be able to detect the delicate hints of the other ingredients. It really does make a welcome change from plain normal tea. I actually enjoy all types of coffee and tea, including herbal tea, and this really is a great choice when, if like me you’re spoiled for choice and you don’t know what you want to drink. After having it recommended to me, I have recommended it to several people myself who have all enjoyed it. I actually used to work in a coffee shop and when we got so fed-up with coffee we could drink no more we used to make normal tea and flavour and sweeten it with cinnamon syrup. Yummy and almost to t
he same effect, but a little less restrained in flavour!

I don’t think I’ll be chucking out my industrial strength breakfast tea blend leaves just yet, but I know that I’ll always have a box of these in my cupboard now for those occasions when I feel like something special. It’s not going to break the bank buying a box of these and like most teabags, they’ll keep really well if kept in an airtight container.

Now that the summer’s here, I shall certainly be trying my hand at making some iced tea with them, this obviously will have the added bonus of being pre-flavoured and then it’s just a matter of chucking in some citrus fruit to give it a zing.

I favour drinking Chai in the afternoons mainly as it’s not as pungent as your average cuppa char or coffee and seems to sit a bit lighter on you. It’s an ideal alternative to coffee after a meal for the non-coffee drinkers among you as it really is a little bit special. Another bonus to the subtle flavour is that it goes particularly well with biscuits and other sweet treats. (Especially my personal favourites, Lotus biscuits, in spite of having a very similar taste)

I bought mine in Tescos, I suspect that you’ll be able to pick it up from most supermarkets (that sell Twinings tea) but I cannot honestly tell you as I rarely frequent other supermarkets.


So in conclusion, if you like cinnamon and you like tea, I’m fairly sure you’ll like this. It makes a pleasant change and a nice in-betweener for the more indecisive among you.


*** We probably WILL look at them, and laugh and that’s about it really. You won’t get any credit for them at all.

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