Ever since Starbucks released the bottled Frappucinos about 6 or 7 years ago, I've loved to mock the coffee world, as I don't drink it, and those things are always like 5 dollars for a 16 ounce bottle! It's pretty crazy what Starbucks gets away with, but the caffeinated masses pay what they want, I guess. This being said, I don't know what attracted me to this at Whole Foods. Could it be the numerous blurbs on the front of the bottle each with a different description of the drink? Because with all of them put together, this is apparently "Fresh-Pressed Bhakti Black Chai Tea with Cold-Brewed Coffee, Fresh-Pressed Ginger, and Fiery Spices". Something tells me that's too big to put in 72 point font anyway, so they just went with Bhakti Chai. In a nutshell, this is a coffee and Chai tea blend, which sounds pretty good. Oh, and on the back, the bottle says "Bhakti means devotion through social action". The perfect tagline to get eye-level shelf real estate at Whole Foods. I actually am looking forward to this one though, so let's see how it goes.
Color: It's a creamy coffee color, again, just like those bottled Frappucinos and other chilled coffee drinks you can find anywhere. If you haven't seen those before, it looks just like melted coffee ice cream.
Smell: It's actually a really nice scent, with both the bitter earthiness of the coffee and the spices of the Chai tea present and easily identifiable. If it tastes as good as it smells, we could be on to something here.
Taste: Easily the most complex and deep flavored drink I've reviewed in a long time. When it first hits your tongue, it's nearly too herbal, like the cardamom flavors of chai tea. It's almost a burning sensation for your nose, which isn't particularly inviting, but it gets neutralized rather quickly by the creamy and rich coffee flavor. Props to Bhakti for making a drink with two bitter flavors from being really sharp and uninviting without making it taste saccharin-sweet, instead, it has just enough sugar to keep the flavors balanced. I haven't even mentioned the hot spices that come after the coffee yet, either. As the coffee flavor fades away, it has a spicy and hot aftertaste almost like that of Cayenne chili powder, which is really cool. Triple-flavor drinks are good for me!
Rating:****
What kept it from 5 stars? It was just that super intense herb aroma and flavor that came off right as I first tasted it. It just started off a good, deep drink rather poorly, but fortunately, the coffee and chili flavors redeemed the drink before I could write a bad review. This will be a tough drink to find on the shelf, but if you see it, give it a shot. It's not bad, and certainly a very interesting drink. Two reviews in one day! Looks like I'll have to go replenish the drink supply.
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