Onyx Gochujang Chai | Onyx Coffee Lab
- Description
This organic chai is a distinctly unique Onyx blend that starts with a base of single estate black tea from Iyerpadi Estate, one of the highest tea estates in the world nestled in the Nilgiris, the "Blue Mountains" of Southern India. The featured spices include ginger root, cinnamon, cardamom pods, clove, lemon-grass, and Gochugaru, a sun-dried Korean red pepper. The brewed tea is a balance of savory heat and warm sweetness, producing the ultimate cup of chai with a full body and delicate lingering spice notes. Very enjoyable on its own and comforting when paired with your favorite milk.
- Origin: Nilgiri Mountains, Southern India
- Process: Fully Oxidized, Fired
- Caffeine: 50mg
- Tea Tasting Notes: ginger, chestnut, red pepper, malt
The Story
The name “chai” is technically the Hindi word for “tea”, which was derived from “cha”, or the Chinese word for “tea”. Commonly, chai represents a mix of spices steeped into a tea-like beverage, and the exact recipes for chai will vary greatly across continents and cultures. We experimented with different spices seeking to balance our favorite elements of chai between heat, sweetness and flavor. Coincidentally, we had already been working with gochugaru, a sun-dried Korean red pepper, to create a house version of a delicious red chili paste, called gochujang. Inspired by the gochujang, we introduced the same pepper into this chai blend to combine its complex flavors of spicy, sweet and slight smokiness alongside more traditional chai spices of ginger root, cinnamon, cardamom, clove and lemongrass.
BLACK TEA
Black tea is oxidized more than oolong, white and green teas, meaning that after plucking and withering, the tea leaves are rolled, crushed, chopped, or otherwise bruised to spur oxidation to 90-100%. Temperature, humidity and other factors affecting oxidation are tightly controlled before drying. The resulting brew will be stronger in flavor and usually a deep reddish color. Many Asian countries name this a “red tea” after the color of the tea liquor after steeping.
ABOUT THE SACHETS
The pyramid tea sachets are designed to give the tea leaves ample room to unfurl & expand as they steep. These sachets are made from PLA Mesh (NeoSoilon®) material that is derived from 100% non-GMO sugar cane. Each sachet is pre-dosed so you can enjoy a great cup of tea at your convenience.
STEEP RECIPE
Hot (8oz)
Tea: 3g (1 sachet)
Water: 8oz
Water Temp: 205°F
Total Brew Time: 5 min
