Let's Take a Chai Break

I'm going to interrupt this Thrive Forward cleanse food diary series for a product review of the most delicious chai I've ever tasted. Okay, I take that back. The very best chai I've ever tasted came from a teensy cafe in New Orleans, but I can't even remember the name of that place. But this is definitely the best chai I've had at home.

Blue Lotus Chai sent me three flavors of their spicy masala chai to review because they have a great deal going on with Vegan Cuts right now. The vegan discount website is offering a Blue Lotus Chai sample pack for $13 (regularly $18.97). The sample pack contains all three flavors — Traditional Masala Chai, Mint Masala Chai, and Rooibos Masala Chai — which is enough to make 51 cups of tea.

Now, as you may know from reading other posts this month, I'm off coffee for the Thrive Forward cleanse. But I am allowing myself to have tea, because well, let's not get too crazy, right? Anyway, because I have the tough job of researching products for this blog, I've had 3 cups of chai in the past 2 days. And let me tell ya, this stuff is serious chai.

Each package (the little ones that make 17 cups and the bigger jar that makes 100 cups) comes with a tiny bamboo scoop. You mix one rounded scoop with four ounces of hot water and four ounces of plant milk and a sweetener of your choice (I chose agave nectar). There's no steeping or any of that mess. You mix the powdered chai straight into the hot liquid. Instant chai!

Because it's masala chai (masala means spice), this stuff does not mess around. I made a cup of the Traditional Masala Chai last night with almond milk and agave. Most chai that I've had is spicy but not like this. Every sip leaves your mouth burning for more. Not in a hot-hot spicy way, but more like in a spicy gingerbread way.

Besides black tea powder, the Traditional Masala Chai contains organic ginger root powder, ground cardamom, cinnamon, black pepper, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves. There's no sweetener, no milk powder, no artificial anything, and best of all, no steeping.

The Mint Masala Chai may be my favorite. It has a slight minty flavor that's not overpowering. The other ingredients are the same, except there's added peppermint powder.

And the Rooibos Masala Chai is awesome too. And for you caffeine haters, this is one is also naturally caffeine-free since it has rooibos powder and chai spices instead of black tea powder.

One thing to note: The sampler pack on Vegan Cuts comes with three of the 17-cup packages, not the 100-cup jar. But I think you'll like the sampler so much that after you finish those 51 cups of tea, you'll be purchasing the bigger 100-cup size.