Bigelow Vanilla Chai Tea

November 7, 2008

Instead of wasting my brain cells watching yet another episode of CSI Miami, I decided to give you a quickie review of a product.

Lainie shared with us one of her tea reviews the other day and her content is much more structured than what I’m going to provide you with here. As you know from earlier columns here, I don’t provide you with much pricing detail for magazines and little items.

In fact, I didn’t even provide you with the price of tickets for the showing of Martha Mitchell Calling. That’s going to hold true for small items and consumables here on Jeffsnotes.com for the foreseeable future.

Today we take a shot at tea. That’s right, a consumable. Bigelow Vanilla Chai tea.

If you’ve worked with me at any of my freelance assignments or taken a stroll through the study and the kitchen at my compound, you realize that I’m a hoarder. And one of the things I hoard the most is tea.

Here’s just a few of the teas I keep on hand.

And the Bigelow Vanilla Chai is right there on the bottom left.

While Bigelow might be a standard, off-the-shelf tea brand, they make some pretty flavorful and easy-brewing blends.

Let’s start with the flavor. This stuff is strong. When I get a Chai Tea Latte at Panera, I add whipped cream for flavor and that is not quite creamy enough. The Bigelow teabag packed enough creamy and spicy flavor to negate the need for milk.

Purists might be annoyed by my addition of sugar, but I like a slight sweetness in my teas and Chai is no exception.

According to the description on the back of the tea packet, Bigelow says the Chai is “a delightful blend of tea and exotic spices.”

It goes on to say, “It is often brewed with milk, which gives Chai a wonderful, creamy characteristic. In Bigelow Vanilla Chai we have added the flavor of vanilla, offering you a whole new dimension of Chai.”

It is a whole new dimension and here’s my bottom line…

If you like strong spiced tea, this is a nice little tea for you to try. It could be a little strong for some tastes and definitely has character. You can get it at any supermarket for around $3 a box. I’d suggest having it in the afternoon or as a post-dinner brew – if you don’t have an issue with strong flavors or caffeine.

So many review sites give stars as a measuring stick. I give Bigelow Vanilla Chai four stars out of five for flavor, body and freshness.

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