Vanilla Veda Chai

Tea Forté's Vanilla Veda Chai is an exquisite black tea blend flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, ginger root, cardamom, licorice root, and cloves. Its vanilla comes from a particular type of Mexican orchid and takes its name from the Spanish word vanilla, which means "little pod." This familiar flavoring lends a subtle sweetness to anything it touches. Blended with stronger ingredients like ginger and cloves, it brings the tea blend's complexity into balance, allowing the flavors to complement one another in a comforting dance on the tongue.

Complex and beautiful, this blend unfolds a bit more with each sip, revealing further depth of flavor as time goes on. The reason for this is the layering of spices, which are selected for their ability to play off of one another with increasing richness. Ginger hails from the tropical rainforests of India and Southern Asia, while clove buds hail from the Maluku Islands of Indonesia. Cardamom is an aromatic herb dating back to the Vedic era of India around 3,000 B.C., when it was widely used for medicinal purposes. It later made its way into perfumes throughout the Greek and Roman empires and even appeared in the texts of Theophrastus, the Greek father of botany.

The word "chai" is Hindi for tea, and in India, hot cups of tea are commonly prepared with regional spices to bring about a warm sense of comfort. Called "masala chai," spiced tea has evolved from a strictly Indian tradition into a centering favorite for tea lovers around the world.

Vanilla Veda Chai may be enjoyed with milk or sugar to taste, and makes for a beautiful latte when prepared with warm, frothed milk and topped with a dash of cinnamon. True tea enthusiasts also enjoy it without accompaniment, allowing the mélange of ancient flavors to speak for themselves.