Chai Spice Tea

Stash Decaffeinated Chai Spice is made with black teas that are naturally decaffeinated using the CO2 method. This process allows the tea leaves to retain the most flavor possible and leaves only about 2-6% of its original caffeine content. Blended with cinnamon, clove, ginger and cardamom, this tea still has all the spicy, rich flavor of a caffeinated chai. The brewed tea is very aromatic, with a powerful taste and lingering flavor that is quintessentially chai in nature. This tea is delicious plain or with milk and sugar.

Some of the finest black teas in the world come from India, the world's leading producer of tea. Included in these teas are the robust and malty Assams, the prized muscatel Darjeelings, and the well-balanced Nilgiris. However, most tea consumed in India is not enjoyed for its subtle flavor nuances, but is instead blended with sweet and pungent spices to make the popular beverage chai.

Chai is usually brewed very strong, often concentrated, with lots of sugar and milk. Traditional Indian chai combines rich black tea that is boiled in milk with local spices such as cinnamon, clove, cardamom, and occasionally black peppercorns, ginger, and red chilies. The drink is then sweetened with sugar.

The Stash Tea Company is a privately-held company headquartered in Tigard, Oregon, a suburb of Portland. Founded in 1972, Stash Tea originally operated out of an old Portland Victorian style house, supplying loose herbal teas and bulk herbs to natural food stores. Starting in 1975, the company broadened its focus to include bagged teas and then began to sell a full line of traditional, specialty blend and herbal teas directly to fine restaurants and through a mail order catalog to consumers.

Today, Stash Tea is one of the largest specialty tea companies in the United States. The company derives its name from an entertaining aspect of tea folklore. In earlier centuries, tea was a valuable commodity traditionally transported by clipper ship. The ship's captain often was presented with some of the finest teas for his personal use. This supply was his "stash," stowed carefully as his "private reserve". Today, the term is still used to denote anything put away carefully because of its preciousness.