TeaboxKashmiri Kesar Gulab Masala Chai 250 Grams | From The Everlasting Beauty Of The Kashmir Valley | Tea Mixed With The World's Rarest Saffron & Light Scented Roses

Teabox makes excellent quality teas, and this chai is no exception. But it could be a bit better in a few ways.The good:It's generally high quality with a nice aroma and flavor. You can really taste the spices, and it's a unique blend with saffron and rose. Goes very nicely with milk.The not-so-good:1) It's not certified organic. There are tons of organic chai options that are actually less costly than this one, so I see no reason to opt for non-organic.2) It uses lower quality CTC tea. This is standard for chai, but higher quality teas use full leaf.3) The amount of spices is on the lower end. It tastes good, but if you like a highly spiced chai, this isn't for you. It could use more cardamom in my opinion.Overall - it's a good chai and a unique blend. I like the saffron + rose flavor, but this would be better if it were organic and if there were a bit more spices in it.

The tea arrived in a vacuum sealed, metallized package that looks like a small block of coffee and weighed as much as expected (9+ oz.). I just pulled it open but this resulted in a split part way down the seam, so I recommend cutting it open with scissors. It looks inviting and smells wonderful, with the green cardamom particularly prominent. I brewed it following the directions to use 1 tsp per 150ml of boiled water and steeping for 5 minutes. Just pouring the water over the tea turned the water reddish-brown. The steeped tea does not smell as delightful as the dry mix and is strongly flavored and a bit more bitter than average. I cut it with much more water (+50%) and enjoyed it much more. In the future, if making more than one teacup, I’ll cut back on the ratio of tea to water by at least half.Ratings: Aroma of tea mix: 5 / Appearance of tea and tea mix: 5 / Aroma of steeped tea: 4.5 / Flavor of steeped tea: 3.5 -- Overall: 4+ stars.