A truly authentic blend of Assam black tea, Indian spices and herbs…This tea delivers in all areas.  It’s organic, flavorful, and healthy.  Your senses are immediately awakened by the powerful aroma produced by the dry tea, spices, and herbs. The organic ingredients consist of: Fair Trade Assam (CTC), cinnamon, green cardamom, cloves, and ginger.  Preparing this chai is a joy from start to finish.  The fragrance of the Masala Chai is present throughout the preparation of the tea.  The aroma helps to build the excitement for the moment when you finally get to drink the Masala Chai.

I tried to deploy a traditional method of preparing the tea.  I used a range burner, small pot (usually making two large cups), and a strainer.  I used one teaspoon of Masala Chai per cup (approximately 6-10 ounces).  So, you start by filling your favorite cup with water (as a measuring tool), than you pour the water into your pot.  If you’re making two or more cups, repeat the process as necessary.  Now, set your burner high enough to start heating the water to a boil.  I put the dry tea, spices, and herbs in the water almost immediately and let the water come to a boil.  Once the water starts to boil, turn the heat down to avoid a mess.  Let the chai simmer for about 1-3 minutes.  Add milk during the simmering time to allow the ingredients to simmer together.  As always, you can add your favorite milk substitute or no milk products - it’s all up to you.  After the tea simmers, you can strain the tea into a serving pot.  It can be messy and challenging to pour the chai directly into your cup from a pot while holding a strainer.  Lastly, pour the chai into your cup and sweeten the beverage using your favorite sweetener.  Again, you may like it without sweetener - I know I do.  Having said that, I also like to load a cup with sweetener (syrup, brown sugar,etc.) when I’m in the mood for something really sweet.  If you want to use your favorite tea maker with a built-in strainer, that’s fine.

In the end, you are going to be left with a very fragrant, flavorful and beautifully balanced cup of Masala Chai. It’s obvious with Masala Chai, you have to enjoy the ingredients listed above.  The organic spices and herbs in this blend are more than just writing on a box.  I highly recommend Yogic Chai to anyone that enjoys chai or to anyone looking for a fun, flavorful, organic, black tea.

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I’ve been drinking Choice Organic teas for a couple of years.  The Whole Leaf Organics line clearly shows an evolution with the tea selections offered by Choice Organic.  I was very fortunate to try several of the new selections.

Reasons to enjoy Whole Leaf Organics (WLO):

• Choice Organic Teas offers the largest selection of exclusively organic and Fair Trade tea pyramids, keeping in line with its long-time commitment to manufacturing organic and Fair Trade teas.
• Whole Leaf Organics (WLO) tea pyramids are fully biodegradable.
• Choice Organic Teas does not use any PVdC in their packaging.
• The 100% recycled box is printed with soy ink and features a unique cover with a die-cut pyramid window, offering a peek at the tea garden-inspired painting commissioned by Seattle artist Maija Fiebig.

Black Tea: Estate Blend Darjeeling: This tea exceeded my expectations by having a lot more flavor and character than I anticipated.  Darjeeling’s muscatel flavor is always inviting, but this one had a welcomed grape-like flavor that added a special element to the tea. Choice Organic described the tea as having a floral, nutty taste.  Either way, it was really good. The leaves expand in the tea pyramid during the steeping process to remind the consumer that they are drinking tea from real organic Darjeeling tea leaves rather than dust and fannings.  This is a great choice for tea drinkers looking for a solid/flavorful organic black tea in a convenient tea bag.

Green Tea: Jasmine Green: I haven’t always enjoyed Choice Organic’s green teas, but this one was very refreshing.  It was definitely my favorite green tea offered by Choice Organic.  The pan-fired organic Chinese green tea was very pronounced with an oceanic and slight smoke flavor.  The jasmine flavors balanced perfectly with the green tea to create an enjoyable cup.  Choice Organic described the tea as having a lightly floral, almost sweet taste to it. I have to agree with their description, but I want to add that the green tea flavor shines through the jasmine.  For me, that is a definite plus. The split personality of the green tea and sweet-jasmine flavors combine to create one delicious cup of green tea.  It was gone too fast.

Herbal (Caffeine-free): Chamomile Citrus: If you enjoy Chamomile, you’ll love this one.  The chamomile dominates the cup, but your taste buds are hit with orange peel, hibiscus, and lemon myrtle (all organic).  The zesty citrus flavors mixed with chamomile were very interesting.  I think this one would be perfect with honey and a tad bit of your favorite sweetener.  Again, the key to this herbal is you have to enjoy chamomile.  Choice Organic describes this herbal as: citrusy blend brings out the best of mild-mannered chamomile. Its sweet, floral taste comes from whole yellow chamomile flowers harvested on a Fair Trade farm in Egypt. Orange peel and pink hibiscus add a light, fruity essence.

That completes a long list of Choice Organic teas that I’ve been fortunate to recently drink.  It’s exciting to see the direction the company has taken with this line.  The quality of “bagged” teas continues to be raised by companies like Choice Organic.  This is welcomed change for all of us.

• Visit Choice Organic

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Royal Golden Yunnan is a rustic black tea that I thoroughly enjoy. I feel like I should be sitting around a campfire enjoying this tea on an expedition of some uncharted territory.  It’s great to drink something that immediately takes you somewhere in your mind.  It’s a peaceful tea mixed with adventure.  The scent of the dry tea leaves reminds me of a mix between tea and tobacco.  Royal Golden Yunnan has a very intense traditional Yunnan black tea flavor with an earthy accent, faint smokiness, and a light note of  cocoa.  The tea has attitude and that’s what I’m always looking for in a tea.  The complex flavors help me concentrate and center myself by focusing on the tea.  It’s amazing how peacful drinking tea can be when you actually stop and pay attention to what you are doing. You’ll be taken on a journey of flavors as the tea warms your body and calms your mind.  The Yunnan Province is well-known for it’s superb teas and great tea traditions.  Drink the Leaf continues the tradition by offering an excellent variety of Yunnan tea.

Drink the Leaf describes the tea as: An attractive tea in all aspects: dried, steeped, and most importantly, flavor. The golden tips once steeped display a dark molasses color. Malt and honey with a slight smokiness aroma lead to a robust and full tea. Nice smooth finish persists with hints of cocoa.

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The simple pleasure of having your expectations exceeded is one of the joys I get from drinking a wide variety of teas.  I’m not the biggest Earl Grey fan in the world, but I’ll drink it and usually think it’s ok.  Like most flavored teas, the quality of the tea leaf and the balance of the flavoring is key.  If you are new to Earl Grey here’s some background from a previous blog of mine:

My name is Earl, Earl Grey: Earl Grey is a popular black tea blend often referred to as an afternoon tea. I like it anytime of the day (as long as it’s a good one), especially in the morning. There’s one catch to liking Earl Grey, you have to like the flavoring of the Bergamot oil. Bergamot is a citrus fruit described as a cross between the pear lemon and a grapefruit. Whenever I hear someone say they don’t like Earl Grey, they are usually trying an Earl Grey from a supplier that might have overpowered the tea with Bergamot oil.

I’ve had several cups of Teavana’s Earl Grey Creme over the past two weeks.  First of all the scent of the tea is incredible.  It reminds me of Lemon Meringue Pie - unreal. As the tea was steeping the scent rising from the cup had my mouth watering. After the first sip, I was floored. The cream flavor made this tea perfect for my taste preference. It was like a lemon filled cookie and milk balanced with black tea. The vanilla and cornflowers made for an excellent accent of flavors. This is a dairy free product - it’s just flavoring. If you want to take your Earl Grey to another level, I highly recommend this tea. It has a great dry leaf presentation, excellent aroma, and mouth-pleasing flavor.

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At the World Tea Expo, I found a brand of tea that I’ve never tried before called Stassen.  The Stassen Group is a premier corporate conglomerate in Sri Lanka that offers a wide variety of products and services.  Obviously, tea is one of their main areas of expertise.  I’m trying their organic earl grey today.  It’s a very traditionally packed tea bag.  The tea bag was wrapped with a paper wrapper and the tea is finely cut in the bag.

Stassen defines their quality as: Organic teas by Stassen carry the Bio-Suisse, JAS and Transfair seals, which indeed shows that our organic teas are premium. Stassen also has an ISO 9000:2000 certified tea-bag factory to cater for all tea-bag requirements, HACCP and is currently working towards ISO 14000 international standard. Its two tea factories are also certified to ISO 9001:2000 global standards.

The Ceylon tea was very smooth and full bodied.  The bergamot flavoring was on par with similar bagged teas from other brands.  The one surprise I had from this tea was its fresh and full flavor coming from the Ceylon tea.  This tea will appeal to the traditional bagged tea consumer.  It is an organic product; which will add to its overall value.  If you like simple, traditional, bagged teas, and you see the Stassen brand name you will not be disappointed.

• Learn more about Stassen

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Tetulia caught my attention at the World Tea Expo in 2008.  I didn’t get to spend much time focusing on this one brand, but the name “Tetulia” just sticks in your head.  I can’t think about it without saying the name at least three times - Tetulia, Tetulia, Tetulia.  It’s just fun to say…

About Tetulia: Tetulia is named for the region in Northern Bangladesh where our tea is grown. Tetulia teas reflect the pristine and delicate environment from which they hail. The Tetulia Garden sprang forth from virgin land nestled against the Himalayas to the North and the Brahmaputra and Ganges Rivers to the South.  Into this perfect tea-growing land, we introduced strong, vibrant saplings, which were planted with care in the new millennium. Since then, the tea plants have been encouraged and nurtured by Mother Nature’s own hand. The result: exquisite, organic teas unlike any you’ve experienced before. Fresh. Clean. Smooth.

Social responsibility is a primary focus of Tetulia.  The Tetulia Cooperative has provided many opportunities to those closest to the tea.  Education, health and cattle-lending programs, are just a few of the benefits Tetulia has offered the Bangladeshi men, women, and children.  I applaud this effort and can only hope by supporting their products that it will benefit a group of people that deserve an improved living environment.

The good news.. the black tea was very enjoyable.  After receiving my order, I quickly started steeping the loose leaf tea.  The scent of the dried tea has a deep freshness about it.  It’s not the most aromatic tea I’ve ever had, but I liked the fact that the scent differentiated itself from other black teas.  After steeping the tea for a few minutes in water around 208 degrees, I poured the tea into my cup.  With no major expectations, I enjoyed the aroma of the steam rising from the cup.  Then, I took a sip.  The flavor was very pleasing.  The smooth, fresh flavor with low astringency, made for a very good first impression.  This is an excellent everyday black tea.  The tea is full bodied with a slight sweetness that adds to the overall balance of the tea.   This tea easily rivaled many breakfast blends that I’ve tried lately.  Although the region is very close to India, the tea did not remind me of Assam or Darjeeling teas.  To top it off, Tetulia is certified USDA Organic.  Definitely give this tea a try if you are a black tea drinker looking for another black tea to diversify your daily routine.

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English Breakfast Tea: Let me start by saying English Breakfast tea is quite confusing for new tea drinkers. If you are an experienced tea drinker, you know what I’m talking about. You’ve probably established your favorite English Breakfast teas by now. Anyway, almost every account of its origin that I’ve read did relate the tea as a breakfast compliment. That said, this is an anytime of the day tea. Keep in mind it does have caffeine, but almost all black teas have caffeine. Choice Organic’s english breakfast tea is a blend of teas from Ceylon, Assam, and East Africa.  The tea is organically grown and certified fair trade.  This blend comes in a pyramid tea infuser.  All-in-all, I felt the tea was on par with other bagged teas.  The tea was very smooth, but it did require milk and sugar to bring out the flavor.  With Assam tea in the blend, I expected it to have more of a kick.  This tea is perfect for the casual tea drinker.  If you require more of a bold flavor, this is not the tea for you.

Jade Green: I was looking forward to trying this one.  I let the water cool to about 180 degrees and steeped the tea for about 3 minutes.  Like the other Choice Organic teas, the tea comes in a pyramid biodegradable tea infuser, and it’s organic and fair trade certified.  The tea has an interesting almost fruity flavor to it.  The vegetal flavor was slightly bitter for my taste, but the faint almost floral flavor helped me through the cup.  I’ve had bad luck with Choice Organic’s green teas.  The bitterness is just too much for me to truly enjoy the cup.  Choice Organic describes the tea as: A healthful blend that brews up a mellow yet lively cup. It’s an artful combination of fine green teas grown in the lush jungles of China and the sweeping hills of India — offering a light, almost fruity taste with a gentle finish.

Sweet Liquorice Mint: I don’t often take the time to drink an herbal tea (tisane), but when I do, I prefer something minty.  This was a great herbal tea.  It was sweet and minty.  The flavor lingers leaving your mouth with a fresh minty taste.  I highly recommend this tisane to anyone that likes peppermint, spearmint, or liquorice root.  The tea is absolutely delicious.  This would be a great tea after a meal.  Not only will it leave a smile on your face and cleanse your palate, it will help you digest your meal.  One of the ingredients is organic cornflowers.  I cannot honestly say I detect the flavor, but I applaud Choice Organic for adding something unique and interesting to the herbal blend.  Sweet Liquorice Mint is a caffeine free beverage because it does not contain tea.  So, feel free to drink this one all day long.  I can’t say enough about the flavor of this blend - awesome.

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Choice Organic’s Earl Grey is made from Fair Trade Certified black tea, organic orange peel, organic oil of bergamot, and organic safflowers. This tea is another example of Choice Organic’s commitment to social responsibility and customer satisfaction.  Their Whole Leaf organic products contain loose leaf tea in a pyramid tea bag; which gives the tea consumer a quality tea in an easy to use tea infuser.

Earl Grey is a popular black tea blend often referred to as an afternoon tea. I like it anytime of the day, especially in the morning. There’s one catch to liking Earl Grey, you have to like the flavoring of the Bergamot oil. Bergamot is a citrus fruit described as a cross between a pear lemon and a grapefruit.  The flavor combines to create a flavorful black tea that is a favorite of many.  With the Choice Organic Earl Grey, I didn’t find the flavors to be overpowering.  I typically do not add milk, sugar, and honey to tea, but this one needed something extra to bring it to its full flavor potential.  I think most people that enjoy Early Gray in a tea bag will enjoy this tea.  If it had just a bit more flavor from the start, I would have been more satisfied with my cup.  Keep in mind this product is organic and fair trade.

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