I love my The Wall mug from Boreal Wildcraft that I bought backups. What I didn’t get to explore are Boreal Wildcraft‘s teas. Since they are based in Winnipeg, Canada, they took inspiration from the Canadian wilderness for their tea blends.
Today’s review is Boreal Wildcraft’s Chaga Chai. What is Chaga? The dozens of health fitness scammers that fill my spam with blog requests say it is magical, but all that interests me is it is a mushroom that tastes like black tea. What I like about this tea blend, in particular, is that it is wild harvested Manitoba chaga mushrooms. Why not mushrooms in my tea? As long as it tastes good of course.
Dry Leaf and Steeping Method
The leaves have lots of bits and bobbles of things such as orange bits, barks, and dust. The ingredient list is golden-tipped black tea, wild Canadian Chaga mushroom, cloves, cinnamon bark & leaf, orange peel, ginger, green cardamon, lemongrass, coriander seeds, black pepper, and nutmeg. The scent of Chaga Chai is super strong spicy chai, enough to probably burn your eyes as well as make good spiced cookies.
I used 4 grams of leaf, steeped at 200F/93c for 5 minutes. To be a completionist, I even used my Boreal Wildcraft The Wall mug.
Tasting of Boreal Wildcraft’s Chaga Chai
Steeped up, the chai still smells like a weapon of strong spice. The taste, however, is delightful! The chai smells stronger than it tastes.
The black tea is sweet and softly malty. The chaga adds an interesting nuttiness that I had to double check if there were nuts added. I can taste the lemongrass and orange, which lighten up this chai and give it a crisp finish. The spice level is heavy, and it is easy to pick out the cloves, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, coriander, nutmeg, plus feel the pepper’s heat warming my mouth. I’d give this a moderately heavy spice level, enough to heat you up on a cold day, but not tripping pain receptors hot. Winterpeg (Winnipeg) Manitoba is notorious for having death winters, likely why this tea has a potent spice level and a crisp refreshing feel of winter.
The longer it infuses, the more savory the flavor gets, yet not bitter. Steeped for 25 minutes, it does go into spice overkill mode, so be sure to remove the leaf or top it up with more hot water unless you like painful spice levels.
Comments
If you love higher spiced chais without being hot or prefer a clean, non-milk chai – Boreal Wildcraft’s Chaga Chai is the bomb. Chaga Chai tastes clean and crisp, so likely you do not need milk. I also found the devoid of bitterness makes this chai not need sugar. I enjoyed how clean and refreshing the chai is, mixed with the spice level and interesting chaga nuttiness with the smooth black tea base. The flavor is certainly unique compared to other chais, with a nod to wild harvested goodies from Canada.
I quite enjoyed this chai, I could see myself buying it for myself and my dad. My dad loves chai and would drink my stash on me. I love the contrast of spice and refreshing, the spice level, flexibility to steep awhile, and lack of bitterness.
(tea provided for review)
