Teavana Oprah Chai Herbal Blend

I was in Teavana on Saturday and wanted to pick up the new Oprah Chai Herbal blend to try.  I love the original Oprah Chai, that is perhaps one of my favorite chai teas of all time.  I bought 2 ounces of the tea, or rather I asked for 2 ounces but you know the tricks that Teavana plays.  "Is 2.5 ounces ok?"  I went ahead and said it was OK since I wanted to really try the tea.  I made a pot on Sunday.  The tea tastes identical to the original version.  I mean IDENTICAL.  The herbal blend has Cinnamon, Apple Pieces, Ginger, Carob Pieces, Lemongrass, Chicory Root, Natural Flavor, Blackberry Leaves, Cardamon, Basil, Puffed Amaranth Grain, Cloves and Black Pepper.  I thought at first the Lemongrass would be strong, as it tends to be in other tea blends such as Chamomile, however, the lemongrass is very mellow.  The spiciness takes over and that is what you taste.  This is amazing.  Such a good alternative to the original if you are watching your caffeine intake.   I made my tea in my Breville Perfect Tea Maker and set it for an herbal blend.  I sweetened the tea with rock sugar and added a splash of vanilla soy milk.  I honestly had a hard time believing that there was not any black tea in here because this tasted so much like the original version!!

Ironically, after I purchased the tea from Teavana I went into Starbucks and they had all of their teas on sale, 20% off I believe, and I saw that they had the Oprah Chai Herbal blend as well!  I picked up some there too because it is actually a way better deal that at Teavana.   Not only was it cheaper because of the sale, but,  at Teavana you only get the tea in a disposable bag.  At Starbucks you get the tea and a nice tin to go with it for the same price at Teavana.  So, I was able to dump my Teavana purchase into the Starbucks tin and ended up with 4.5 ounces of tea!