Wednesday, October 23, 2013

Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte - Target - Cherry Hill, NJ

Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai Latte  - Target - Cherry Hill, NJ
Here's another seasonal item I picked up at Target.  While I still have a decent array of pumpkin items in my stash, I was really hoping for some more savory snacks. Does anyone know of some savory seasonal items that are on the shelves? (The harvest salsa, which I reviewed last year, and pumpkin soup mix were the only items I could find.) Please send me a MESSAGE if you spot anything seasonal and savory that I should review. 
On to today's review, Tazo Pumpkin Spice Chai.



This packaging is very similar to the peppermint soy milk I reviewed last Christmas. It is a waxy, foiled, cardboard container that has been folded into a carton with a plastic pour spout. (A lot of pre-made soups, broths and stocks use the same packaging.)  The package design is simple, but very well done. A lot of effort was put into the typography while the images are very basic and cropped to create visual interest. I really love the look of this product.

At first glance you might think that the product is a little small and overpriced, but this is actually a concentrate. You are meant to mix one part chai with one part milk (or any milk-substitute). Even so, it's still a bit on the pricey side. Tazo was a tea company that was purchased by Starbucks, I'm not too familiar with their pricing before or after the purchase, so I can't really say prices have gone up.

I started out by shaking the container, as per the instructions, and pouring the concentrated chai mixture into a glass. (The carton was refrigerated, since I prefer my lattes cold/iced.) The tea was very thin, dark, and heavily spiced. You can actually see little specks of the various spices floating around inside the glass.
Since I am using whole milk, I decided to smell the concentrate before and after mixing. In it's own, the liquid smelled like pumpkin pie filling. There were a strong, spicy, aroma that was undoubtedly the pumpkin pie spices and it was really well balanced. After adding the milk the aroma was a little bit weaker, and it started smelling more like gingerbread than pumpkin pie.
I stirred everything up to make sure that it was well combined and, after my first sip, I was really impressed. This actually has a strong pumpkin pie flavoring! It is creamy, significantly spiced, and very sweet. The only flaw is that the spices will eventually settle to the bottom and the flavor won't be as powerful after about 15 minutes, so I recommend having a spoon or stir stick nearby. (Easy fix!)
This stuff is delicious! Even though it is a bit on the expensive side, I really recommend it.

On a Pumpkin Scale of 1-5 (5 being the most pumpkin-y) I’d give this a 4 and it's really yummy for an instant chai tea.

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