Republic of Tea Green Chai Tea Review
The Republic of Tea company produces a tasty and unusual Green Chai Tea that does a great job of combining the fresh goodness of green tea with the spicy kick found in chai tea.
Green tea is one of the four main different types of tea, all of which come from the Camella Sinensis plant but undergo different processing methods to produce differing types of tea: black, oolong, white, and gree. Green tea is a particularly nutrient rich tea, whose leaves are left as close to their natural state as possible in order to preserve the high levels of catechins and antioxidants known to be extremely good for the health. Celebrated for its medicinal value particularly in China (the birthplace of tea), green tea leaves are often processed by hand and are spared the oxidization process that strips black tea of its antioxidizing properties. The resulting tea has a very fresh, vegetal flavor, and is consumed both for health purposes and enjoyment in an increasingly large percentage of the world's countries.
For this particular tea, Republic of Tea have blended good quality Assam green tea leaves with cinnamon, ginger, and cardamom to produce a chai tea. Chai tea is a spicy beverage normally made using black tea. It typically contains a mixture of Indian spices, such as cardamom, cinnamon, cloves, ginger, and pepper, and is dosed with a liberal amout of sugar and diluted with milk to produce a hot, sweet beverage. The sweetness is an integral part of the blend, with the sugar being deemed necessary in order to bring out the full flavor of the spices.
Making chai tea using green tea leaves is a little bit less common than the traditional method of using black tea, but this version from Republic of Tea is a very successful one. The aroma is not as powerful as the spicy fragrance given off by the majority of spicy black tea varieties, probably because there is no pepper used in this one. It does, however, have a pleasant ginger fragrance when brewed, as well as the unmistakeable fresh aroma of green tea leaves.
The tea's flavor is complex and very satisfying, particularly if you tend to enjoy chai tea and other spicy tea varieties. The taste of ginger is subtle, but unmistakeably present as a gentle overtone rather than a screaming presence. But the cinnamon is the main character on the stage – the tea actually does taste remarkably like a good cinnamon tea rather than a traditional spicy chai tea. The cinnamon notes to it are strong and long lasting, making themselves known with every sip and lingering on in what proves to be a very pleasant aftertaste.
While not a particularly spicy tea, this Green Chai Tea has enough of a kick to satisfy fans of flavorful chai tea. It will also go down very well with those who love a cup of cinnamon tea! And of course, as a green tea, it has all the health benefits that come with drinking a fresh green brew – with all the sweetness and superb flavor of a tasty chai. You can buy it online here.
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