Do you recall that warm holler of ‘Chai Garam‘ at Indian Rail junctions? Chai, tea, chaa – it’s a beverage that I cannot function without. A detoxifying lemon tea first thing in the morning, a tight milk tea toward noon, green tea or iced tea in the afternoon and finally a lightly spiced or flavoured milk tea in the evening. Yes, that’s my daily tea routine. And I love spiced tea, especially cardamom or cinnamon. I had mixed and ground a few whole spices together to make my own spice mix, but it was way too addictive to be consumed daily.

I’ve won this hamper of 500 cups of tea from Vahdam Teas on Twitter. It came as a big surprise and is a blessing for a tea lover like me. They have sent a wonderful box of Cardamom Spice Tea, packed in airtight pouches and one sample each of Assam Spice Tea and Kashmiri Kahwa Spice Tea. I love the effort they implement on packaging the tea and send ziplock pouches to store them. I’ve tried all three varieties and loved each of them. They are different, exotic and very fragrant.

Cardamom spice tea

Cardamom Spice Tea – First things first, I have 500 cups of this beauty, yay! When you open the sealed pack, the aroma will instantly hit you. It is extremely organic as there’s no chemically added essence, but only crushed cardamom mixed with black tea. The aroma is so heady that I kept sniffing the airtight pouch till it was time to discard it. About half a tea spoon is enough for two cups of creamy cardamom flavoured tea. You just need to boil this flavourful mix with milk (adding a little water if you wish to dilute it). The black tea that is used in this mix has round crumbly grains and is strong. Crushed green cardamom pods and husk enhance the flavour to a blissful heaven. It’s a must try if you’re a spice tea lover or enjoy the Elaichi Chai at your local chaiwala’s.

(L to R): Assam Spice Tea, Cardamom Spice Tea, Kashmiri Kahwa

Assam Spice Tea – I’ve received a 10 g sample of this one, sealed in an airtight ziplock pouch. If you notice the picture below carefully, you’ll note the Assam Spice Tea in extreme left, it has more of ground spice that visible tea. There’s a strong mix of spices that include cinnamon, cardamom and probably nutmeg, in my opinion. There’s nothing mentioned on the sample, so I’m not sure about the contents. It is strong than Kashmiri Kahwa but a little less fragrant than the Cardamom Spice Tea. Perfect for a strong cuppa on a rainy day.

Kashmiri Kahwa without milk

Kashmiri Kahwa – I’ve received a 10 g sample of this one, sealed in an airtight ziplock pouch. Since I’ve never had Kahwa previously, it was a new experience to me. Kashmir is widely known for its tea and the wide range of recipes that they have. The Kahwa mix has a visible spice content with crushed green cardamom, cinnamon among the ones I could recognise and it has long grains of black tea. Though I haven’t tried the recipe of a traditional Kashmiri Kahwa, still liked the concoction that I prepared with and without milk. This one has the lightest flavour among the three mentioned here. I loved it without milk too, it’s a little less strong for people like me living in the plains and used to kadak chai every time we pick up a cup.

I was overwhelmed with this prize and adding these teas to my prised possession. I think Vahdam Teas is doing a great job in bringing forth true flavours from Assam, Darjeeling, Kashmir and other parts of India where tea is cultivated.

Do try these varieties if you’re a tea lover like me and let me know how you liked them.

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