energía herbal chai by oregon chai ®

Day 1 ~

The three boxes of Oregon Chai tea arrived courtesy of a sharp knock on my door, mid-morning on Monday or Tuesday of this week. It's been a fairly unusual week, so I happened to be at home at the time. I immediately guessed it was my expected package of tea flavors to review, and indeed it was!

The first flavor I opened to review was this energía herbal chai by oregon chai ® ~ and I must admit it was not one that I would ever have purchased on my own. I was hesitant to try it because I am not typically as much a fan of white or green teas as I am of black teas. What I quickly learned, however, is that Oregon Chai has only slightly altered their Original flavor of tea in creating these new kinds, so that while the packaging of this energía herbal chai is green, the ingredients are as follows :

organic guayusa ~ these are dried leaves from one of three caffeinated holly trees in the Equadorian Amazon Rainforest, which have been shown (according to Wikipedia) to reduce levels of physical and mental stress.

organic yerba maté ~ also from a species of holly, a shrub or small tree, originally from and still predominantly cultivated in South America.

ground ginger root ~ commonly used to spice tea and coffee, especially during winter, and primarily produced in India

ground cassia bark (cinnamon) ~ bark from an evergreen tree native to China

ground cardamom seed ~ from Guatemala and Southern India, these seeds in the ginger family have a thin, papery shell and small black seeds inside their pods

ground clove bud ~ these buds start out pale, shift to green, and are harvested when they turn bright red - they are from a tree native to Indonesia and the Maluku Islands - clove is the primary spice that differentiates 'chai' from other types of tea here in the states

ground anise seed ~ similar to licorice in flavor, has been used to aid the body in digestion, and to relieve menstrual cramps

I heated my water for a minute in my microwave and steeped one bag of the energía herbal chai for two or three minutes, then began to slowly sip as I paced my living room, enjoying the sun pouring through the windows while three cats skittered underfoot. I was so pleasantly surprised by the depth in its flavor!

Day 2, 3, 4 . . .

I've continued seeping bags of this tea in mugs of hot water throughout this entire week, trying to find just the right words to describe the flavor. I went with the descriptions of the ingredients listed, because when I enjoy the aroma of this tea, or look at the packaging, I wonder why I wouldn't have purchased it on my own, yet I find it so thoroughly enjoyable at all different times of day. It relaxes me at night (as dark aromatic hot drinks tend to do) and gives me a slight boost of energy mid-afternoon. I think this "boost of energy" has less to do with its being labeled "energía herbal chai - an energizing blend of guayusa, yerba maté & chai spices" and much more to do with the relaxed happiness I feel seeping into my insides as I consume it.

This evening, I seeped my once-seeped tea bag of energía herbal chai with one fresh bag of "the original chai tea." Beyond delightful was that blend. I'll write more about curious mixings and creative recipes using the original chai tea a few weeks from now. Then, even later this evening, I seeped one last bag of energía herbal chai in a clear, rainbow-paint-rimmed mug and added a couple of touches of organic vanilla soy milk. I've enjoyed the original chai tea this way on many an occasion, and thought I would give the energía herbal chai a similar go. Also, highly recommended.

I do hope you'll be interested enough to try this delightful tea that you'll consider commenting on this blog post many times during the coming days in hopes of winning your own free giveaway from Oregon Chai ~ and, please, share with your friends!

* giveaway criteria *

After reading my blog, do one or more of the following (1x per day for the next 6 days) for your chance to win a giveaway of tea from Oregon Chai :

* Visit OregonChai.com, then comment here to share something awesome you learned about Oregon Chai (or one of their products, such as energía herbal chai) ~ provide a source link to what you learned in your comment here

* Sign up for Oregon Chai's newsletters and share confirmation link in a comment here

* "Like" Oregon Chai on Facebook, post something fun on their wall, and comment here to let me know you did so

* Follow @OregonChai on Twitter, tweet the following, and provide tweet link in a comment here on my blog :

Win the Gift of Me Time from @OregonChai #Giveaway {3 Winners} #tea #contest {Ends 02/24/12} http://bit.ly/AgPvXc