Take Your Time with Chai Tea – Oregon Chai Review & Giveaway

You all know I like Chai tea, right? Especially vanilla chai. I’ve been known to throw down a few dollars each day to start my morning off with a cup of Vanilla Chai Latte from Starbucks. And while I love treating myself to the drink, the Asian side of me detests the fact that I spend that much money on a beverage. Believe me, I’ve tried to make my own at home. I’ve even bought concentrate Chai tea from Target in hopes of being able to make something similar. I’ve scoured online stores trying to find Chai tea mixes that would come close to satisfying my craving. Many failed to measure up – whether it tasted too much like tea or too much like powdered milk. Finally, I found a solution with Oregon Chai’s Chai Tea Mix.

Founded in 1994, Oregon Chai offers seven varieties of Chai tea that are easily prepared by adding milk or adding water – they even have a Vanilla version (yippee!) The Chai is available in concentrate or mix forms, and they have sugar-free, caffeine-free, and vegan concentrates for those with dietary restrictions. Recently they introduced a 10-ounce canister option which allows you to quickly prepare your custom Chai tea. Since the canister contains loose powdered mix and not individual packages. You can add more or less mix so you can increase or decrease the Chai flavor according to your tastes.

Now that we’re in the tween season of fummer (the month that can’t decide if it’s summer or fall,) on some days you might want a nice cool drink and on other chilly mornings you might want something hot to warm you up. Fortunately Oregon Chai’s Chai tea can easily accomodate both needs.

Making your Chai tea is actually pretty simple. For your hot tea, add ~ 2 Tbsp of Chai tea mix to 6-8 ounces of boiling water. I say ~ because some of you might like your tea stronger or lighter flavored. For iced Chai tea, use warm water instead and then pour it over icea. They also say you can add a splash of milk or creamer for extra creaminess. I was feeling adventurous one time and tried to make it with milk only. I think it came out way too creamy, since there is already dried whole and nonfat milk in the mix.

When you first mix up the hot Chai tea, it creates a light frothy foam on top. The foam does disappear if you let it sit. Sipping on a hot cup of the Chai warms you from the stomach up. You can clearly taste the traditional chai spices with a sweet honey after taste. I tried to check the ingredients to see what spices Oregon Chai put in their Chai, but they cryptically hid them all under the name “natural flavors,” which I’m sure includes cardamom and cloves. While the Oregon Chai Chai Tea Latte doesn’t taste like one from Starbuck’s (which seems to have more of a spicy kick to it,) it definitely has a delicious and satisfying Chai flavor.

With school back in session, it is still very important that we set aside time for ourselves to decompress and re-center ourselves. With everything we have to do, Oregon Chai is encouraging us to take our “Me Time” to help us “maintain focus and balance in our everyday lives.” One way that I take my me time is by curling up in my armchair with a good book and drinking something hot. This winter, I plan on adding Oregon Chai’s Vanilla Chai to my list of hot drinks to enjoy.

Each of the 1o-ounce Oregon Chai canisters makes about 10 servings of Chai tea. At reasonable price of $5.29/canister, that comes out to about $0.52 -which my money-conscious side likes MUCH more than the $4.00 I pay at the coffee shop.

If you are interested in trying Oregon Chai Chai tea products, then check out their website at www.oregonchai.com. Their online store allows you to purchase their Chai in individal containers or in bulk, which will lower your cost per mug significantly. The website also features many recipes -both for drinks and foods – using Chai. To stay in theloop for product news and updates, you can sign-up for the Oregon Chai newsletter, Like them on Facebook, or follow them on Twitter.

The WiC Project Oregon Chai Giveaway!

The Prizes:

One winner will receive a 10 ozz canister sample paired with the hot mug and one winner will recieve a 10 oz. canister sample with the double-walled acrylic reusable iced tea cup. (The first winner selected will receive the mug, the second will receive the iced tea cup.)

This giveaway is closed.

The Rules:

Giveaway ends at 11:59 PM EST, September 17, 2010.

Visit our Giveaway Rules page for general giveaway rules that also apply to this giveaway.

Disclaimer: This post consists of my (and/or fellow tester) opinions only. No compensation was given for this review/giveaway. I did receive free samples of Oregon Chai products and tools from the manufacturer or representing PR agency to use and test for the purposes of this review. This did not affect the outcome of this review.

Filed under: closed giveaway, Food & Drink, giveaway, review