46Tons gets its inspiration from the Boston Tea Party, wanting to revolutionize the tea industry by integrating history, culture, and science into their drinks. Their goal is to bring the best tea and drinks from around the world with their own flair and local ingredients to make unique and original drinks. They pledge to minimize their environmental impact, by aiming to have all of their products use only recyclable products like PET, PP, and recyclable foam, while refining processes to ensure they are using the more environmentally friendly option. They also want to support the community, donating portions of each purchase to a charity of their choice.
46Tons currently sells a Mom’s Chai Kit and Matcha Latte Kit. They sent me their Mom’s Chai Kit to try and review. Here are my thoughts:
The 46Tons Mom’s Chai Kit has four main components: Assam Black Tea, 46Tons Spice Blend, 46Tons Syrup, and a package of Parle G biscuits. I originally was a bit nervous because the 46Tons syrup seemed extremely sweet, made from Taiwanese Black Sugar, White Sugar, and Red Sugar. However, this was not the case at all! The first few times, I made this exactly according to the recipe they provided, however, as I got more comfortable with using the three main chai ingredients, I started experimenting a little bit more and going off of intuition instead of a recipe. I really enjoyed this kit and both the structure and freedom it gave me to enjoy making chai.
I used both my small little milk pan and a larger pan to create chai, each coming out fairly consistent. There is nothing like making a cup of chai and knowing that it will be exactly like you prefer. Each stage brought wonderful aromas swirling around my kitchen. The assam black tea (not ctc which I was a bit surprised and skeptical that it would brew as robust as I normally prefer) had my kitchen smelling so wonderful, with just these more full and rounded black tea notes. But when the spices hit, oh my, just wonderful notes of cardamom, maybe clove, and other spices just rose up from my pot and just made my heart quite happy. Fast forward to completing the brew, I think I often made a lighter color chai than I do with other chai blends. But this is not necessarily a bad thing, since the taste was explosive. I also found a fondness for the Parle G biscuits, craving them at really random times. They were the perfect companion to the chai. My original concern was that this chai would be a bit sweeter than I prefer, but again, not the case! The blend of spices and robust black tea allowed the sweetness to cut through perfectly. The spice blend consisted of Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, and Nutmeg, which I noticed the cardamom, cloves, and nutmeg the most, with occasional hints of cinnamon. I found it intriguing that there was an absence of ginger in this chai blend, but I really did not miss it. All in all, a really stellar cup of chai.
Price: This chai kit is available on their website for $35 (Shipping is included) and on Etsy for $25 (shipping is calculated separately). They come out at about the same price.
Packaging: This tea kit came securely packaged, with the black tea in a fairly airtight pouch. The spices are put in a plastic container that surprisingly also held in the aroma well, but was a tiny bit difficult to use when I first opened it up (I put the teaspoon in and it overflowed a bit).
Sourcing: Their black tea is this kit is from Vahdam Tea, their Assam Black. Therefore, the tea is from Assam, India, as disclosed by the company.
How do you normally make your chai? Do you have a specialty blend that you use or a certain black tea? Let me know! Happy Brewing!
-Danielle