Twinings: Gingerbread Chai Latte

Recently, I have been bemoaning the fact that Twinings have retired their original chai tea.

I couldn't (and still can't) work out their logic behind discontinuing a popular member of their family, and one which, when it was in every shop, was often sold out. I loved the sweetness of the chai, the fact I could really treat myself to a milky, sugary drink. And part of my disappointment was that it was the nearest thing that Twinings had to their Mulled Spice tea (long since retired).

But, I guess, time and tastes march slowly on, so found myself (as I often do) browsing on the Twinings website and headed straight towards the silky pyramid section. I have to admit the Nutty Chocolate and Full English didn't appeal to me, but when I spotted their Gingerbread Chai Latte I was very interested. And somehow a packet magically appeared in my basket!

This is a tea that is a real treat for me, as it's designed to take with a liberal dash of both milk and sugar. And I have to say, though saddened that the original chai is discontinued, I think I may of found a more than worthy replacement.

Firstly, I will say that this tea is a slight faff to prepare. Apparently you are meant to put in a long, tall latte glass, pour 3/4's full of hot water, then hot, frothed milk and then add sugar. I'm sure that many of you out there will prepare it correctly. I do not have either the time or inclination, so I just pop the teabag in, add sugar, hot water and milk to taste. And it still tastes brilliant (I will prepare it properly one day!).

Gingerbread Chai Latte is the latest, impressive addition to Twinings very popular loose leaf silky pyramid range, which provides good quality loose leaf tea in the convenience of a teabag.  The pyramid is filled with a generous amount of black tea and obviously, a blend of spices.

Quite frankly, this tea is brilliant. I am very, very impressed indeed and I hope this tea has a long shelf life.

This tea really does taste exactly like gingerbread. You may think that is stating the obvious and I wouldn't blame you, but, I have tried other gingerbread tea's which, despite being blended with mixed spices, don't actually taste like gingerbread. This does. It's as good as popping down to Sainsburys and buying the really cute Mr and Mrs Gingerbread biscuits that they sell.

The flavour of this tea is very strong. If you don't like gingerbread this most certainly isn't the tea for you, but if you love it (as I do!) you'll be in for a great treat.

The ingredients are basic. We have a fabulous black tea from China, ginger, syrup and spices. Simple as that. It doesn't include bits of biscuit or anything weird like that. Just four simple ingredients that come together to form a wonderful tea.

The spices and ginger are blended together really well, forming that familiar flavour that you have with gingerbread. It's very strong and once you take a sip of this tea you are fully aware of what you have just tasted. The spices dance around your mouth and your taste buds burst alive with the flavour, long after you have taken your sip.

Amazing this tea isn't too sweet either. The spices keep you on your toes and keeps the sweetness factor quite low which I think is quite nice as I don't have an overly sweet tooth. 

This tea makes you feel refreshed and instantly satisfied. It's incredibly moreish too, meaning that the cup of tea doesn't tend to stay very full for long! Once you have taken a sip you immediately want more and more of it. Due to the rather lush, addictive qualities of this tea, it does mean that the packet doesn't last long - you only get 12 silky pyramids in each bag, so when looked at it from that angle, it's quite an expensive tea, but, it's truly worth it and I think it adds a bit of luxury to your tea drinking day.

The tea is light and refreshing enough to be pleasant to drink on hot summer days, and I think it will be warming and comforting when autumn sets in - especially when the days get wetter and the evenings get darker earlier. A perfect time to serve this would be on firework night. It would really provide people with a extra special drink that warms them from the inside and keeps them warm for ages.

It's pretty perfect whenever you choose to drink it!

I was really impressed with this tea. It's different to the original chai, which is sweeter than this, but I have to say it's already proving to be a popular replacement.

There is nothing negative about the this tea whatsoever. I suppose if I could wish for anything it would be that  maybe another half dozen pyramids could be added to the pack making it a bit more cost effective, because as it stands currently, this is a "treat" tea, meaning I only have a mug a couple of times a week due to the higher cost.

You'll love this if you love gingerbread or, indeed, if you are a fan of Twinings range of dessert tea's that have been released in recent years, such as Cherry Bakewell and Salted Caramel green teas. And, indeed, if you're a fan of chai tea's this will certainly make an impression. It has for me.

Just as I was mourning the loss of chai, Twinings have come up with something that is a very worthy replacement. It's modern, fresh and funky and I think it's a twist of genius.

Plain and simply it's delicious.