I recently had the chance to review the Tazo Chai products through Smiley 360. I received the products free in exchange for my review. I love chai lattes (ever since we got a Keurig, we always keep chai latte k-cups in our home), and so I was so excited to find out that I was one of the people that had this opportunity.
Smiley 360 sent me 3 free Tazo Chai product coupons. One for me, two for my friends. The two friends that I gave them to have not responded back to me in regards to whether they enjoyed their products or not, so I can't speak for them in this review. I know for a fact that one of them hasn't even redeemed the coupon yet. I also got 3 Chai Tea filter bags, one vanilla caramel, one chocolate, and one original.
I gave the original chai filter bag to a tea-loving friend of mine. He enjoyed it, but didn't really have much to say about it. I tried the chocolate. Unfortunately, this is just one product that I cannot fall in love with no matter how many ways I try it. The chocolate flavor was off and really dulled the chai flavor in the filter bag. I had to add some creamer to it just to give it some body, it just felt like it was lacking something. I guess I'm just not a fan of flavored chai tea, maybe I am just a sucker for the original?
But I really had some high hopes for the concentrate. The instructions say to mix it half and half with milk and then heat. I did this, and the spiciness of the concentrate was so overwhelming that it seriously was "burning" my throat. So, I dumped some out, added some more milk, and struggled to sip it down. Needless to say, I did not finish the cup. I returned two days later to try my luck again, and this time I used 1/3 of the concentrate and 2/3 of the milk. This time the spiciness was just right, but now the flavor is really watered down because I've used way too much milk. At this point, every time I go to take a sip, I just smell warm milk. I really dislike warm milk. Again, I was not able to finish the mug of chai tea latte.
Part of me thinks that maybe I just got a bad box, or maybe it's just this flavor. Maybe I've been spoiled with the overly sweetened k-cup versions of chai latte! But when I have such a poor experience with a product, it makes it really hard for me to justify purchasing a box to try again. I think that maybe if I tried the original latte concentrate, and maybe used rice milk, maybe then I would like it? But as it sits today, I have an all-around 2 star rating for these latte concentrates, and a 4 for the chai filter bags.
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Concentrate
Pros
-easy to use
-cheaper than purchasing lattes at a specialty shop
-easy to find in your local Walmart/Safeway
Cons
-way too spicy (burns my throat)
-not fond of the flavor
My over all rating - 2 stars
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Chai Filter Bags
Pros
-easy to use
-easy to find in the store
-decent flavor
Cons
-the added flavor dulls the chai flavor
My over all rating - 4 stars
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