Two Spiced Greens

I like spiced teas. I love a good chai. Typically these spiced teas are blacks, but recently I have been trying green teas that contain spices. Today I am going to look at two of my favorites. Both are offered through Adagio.com. One is their Bengal Green Chai and the other is a blend I created called Martha's Foolish Ginger.

First an introduction to the two teas: Bengal Green Chai (shown on the bottom in the pic above) is described this way on the site:

Our smooth China green tea with a chakra warming spice combination. Its natural sweetness and fiery kick will bring you back to center, no matter how polarized you’ve become.

Martha's Foolish Ginger contains decaf spiced green (containing cinnamon, cardamon, and ginger) and lemongrass.

I brewed both teas with these parameters: 2 tsp leaf at 180 for 3 minutes. Both teas were steeped in 6oz mugs.

Both teas have almost identical golden colored liqour. The Bengal Green Chai smells like mulling spices; it was rather difficult to discern any green tea aroma from the tea. Overall the aroma is warm and soothing. Martha's Foolish Ginger smells like green tea and lemongrass with the spice aroma barely discernable. This tea smells very lively and fresh.

Bengal Green Chai is very spicey! I can agree totally with the 'firery' part of the discription. However, I did not experience any 'natural sweetness'. The spice stays on your tongue and almost masks the green tea flavors. The flavor of the green tea is more evident if you have been drinking a black based chai and then switch, but alongside other greens it is pretty hard to pick out.

Martha's Foolish Ginger right up front tastes like green tea, followed quickly by the freshness of the lemongrass and then finishes with just a hint of spice. This tea is not as in your face as Bengal Green Chai and the flavors blend very well, none overwhelming the others. It is a very, very mellow cuppa. None of the flavors are very clear, however. They don't seem to ever resolve fully in a sip - but the overall effect of drinking a full cup is satisfying and refreshing.

I would not add sweetners or milk to either tea. I did try it once with the Bengal Green Chai, but dispised the result. Neither tea really is a good substitute for black chai, but each is pretty good for its own character and taste.