Tea India Review

It seems to be compulsory in the UK to drink tea. Lots of tea.  Even more so if you live in Wales.  When Tea India got in touch & asked if I'd like to try out some of their teas, newly launched in the UK, I was intrigued.  What's so different from any other cuppa?  Well, the postie turned up obscenely early on my day off, and I answered the door with scarecrow hair, PJs, and eyebags too big for Easyjet hand luggage.  Clearly a cuppa was just what I needed.

I love Chai.  I can't convince SqueakyDaddy, because he's not a tea drinker at all, but to me, Chai isn't tea.  It's not.  It's a million times nicer, more complex, and just yummy.  I was sent the Masala Chai to try out, but they also have a Vanilla Chai & Cardamom Chai varieties, so one for every mood.  The Masala Chai is blended with ginger, cinnamon, black pepper, cardamom, cloves & star anise to give a really warming rich taste.  Just right for the autumn nights.  It's a really complex flavour, and hard to describe.  I've never been one for being able to tell you what drinks taste of, I'll never put Oz Clarke out of a job!  Even though there's quite a few sweet spices in there, it doesn't make it a sweet tea.  It's a big flavour though, one to savour, not to bolt down.  It'll last ages with us as well, as it's only me drinking it!

I'll confess to not being a massive "normal" tea drinker, so for the black tea, I realised I should enlist the help of some experts.  My colleagues are well known for their great tea-drinking skills, and they deserve a little treat every now & then, so I took the box of black tea in for them to try out.  First impressions were that I was really spoiling them, the box definitely looks like a step up from the supermarket norm.  The tea itself passed the taste tests with everyone, from the no-milk tea drinker, right through to the lots of milk & at least 2 sugars end of the spectrum.  Not too strong, not too feeble, and no tanniny aftertaste.  The tea leaves are picked from only the top two leaves & the bud, where the tea is freshest, which is what gives the rich & smooth taste.

The Masala & Cardamom Chais have both been awarded a 1 star gold rating in the Great Taste Awards 2012, and the Vanilla Chai and black tea were each awarded a 2 star gold rating, confirming the quality of the range.  Tea's what you want it to be, a quick pick-me-up, or a real treat.  Tea India makes the treat side a whole lot more sophisticated.  I'm never going to be completely converted away from coffee, believe me, it's for your benefit as much as mine.  But I'm very happy to have an alternative.

Tea India is stocked in selected Tescos & Booths stores, Tescos stores mostly in the South East, Booths in the North West & Yorkshire.  Including my former stomping ground of Ilkley.  That makes me very happy.

Disclosure: I was sent two boxes of Tea India teas free of charge for the purposes of this review.  All opinions are my own & I was not told what to write.  Links are provided for your convenience.  I am not a member of any affiliate scheme & will not receive reward for their use.