Product Review: Tazo Chai Tea Latte

It's getting cold out there (first time all winter, here in sunny FL!) - and as a non-coffee-drinker, I'm constantly fighting jealousy of my coffee-drinking friends comfortably bundled up with a steaming mug of something delicious in their hands. To assuage my jealousy, I invested in some chai tea mixes (one from Tazo and two from Adagio, incoming later this week). Today was the first day my previously neglected thermos tagged along with me to work, and it was so. worth. it.

Follow the jump for product review -

(http://www.starbucksstore.com/Tazo%C2%AE-Chai-Tea-Latte-Concentrate/011017406,default,pd.html)

Tazo has taken something I previously paid $5/cup for at Starbucks and made it affordable and delicious for the non-tea-connoisseur like myself. I'm sure this is heretical to those who are truly tea enthusiasts (side note: Surprisingly to me, there's a HUGE following of tea drinkers! They're as maniacal as coffee drinkers!) but I thought the convenience of this tea made it so worth it. It's about $4 at your grocery store for 8 cups - 4 oz of the tea per serving, plus 4 oz of your milk product choice (we like Almond Milk). I mix them together and pop them in the microwave for 2 minutes - alternatively, TBird drinks his iced, and it's just as good.

The Starbucks website describes this drink as "A spiced tea with ancient Indian roots, Tazo® Chai blends full-bodied Assam teas with aromatic spices from around the world. The malt and astrigency of the black tea is complemented by sweet cinnamon, spicy ginger, fragrant cardamom, star anise and cloves. Delicious blended with milk and served hot or iced." It's a strong, almost smoky flavor, perfect to warm inside and out on these chilly mornings. And now I don't feel so left out :) There's also a moderate amount of caffeine in chai to so it's a nice kick to get the workday started.

Pros:
Delicious
Convenient
Affordable
Potential health benefits: cinnamon (thought to increase circulation and open breathing, increase awareness and vitality, and reduce fatigue - also reputed to be an aphrodisiac!), ginger (stimulant for the circulatory and the immune systems), cardamom (pain-relieving and antiseptic attributes), star anise (most widely used for treating digestive ailments ), cloves (said to benefit the lungs, kidneys, and heart - also a mood elevator), among other spices.

Cons:
None really, but I'm a bit of a nut about making things from scratch to know exactly what's in my food, so I'll be interested to compare this convenience version with the loose-leaf Adagio teas I'll be brewing myself.

Coming next in the tea world: Adagio is kindly mailing me samples of their Spiced Apple Chai and their Chocolate Chai, so I'll have a little variety in my cold-weather choices. Any hot tea drinkers out there? These are loose-leaf teas, any suggestions on how best to prepare these?