This post is bit of a departure from the norm for us as we are going to be sharing with you our review of the chai latte that Keurig bring outs for their new 2.0 series brewers. We haven’t done a review on a single K-Cup pod flavor before, or any of the many other types out there for that matter, but we wanted to share this one with. And it brings something a little different to our normal writings in our news and views section.
After making the drink I had to pop upstairs for something and when I came back down one could really smell the aroma of the chai latte as it wafted through the house – the spices really came through. So that was my first impression of the drink. My wife has been enjoying this change from her normal breakfast tea for some time but this was my first time with our K550.
Like a normal chai latte at the cafe the K-Cup variety is in powder form with a mix of spices and soluble tea (if you would like a better list of what is in the tea, have a look at our next article that will cover making the drink at home – from scratch rather than in a K-Cup). So there are no coffee granules left in the K-Cup when the brewer has finished – in effect it is really more like the tea with the K-Cup being empty at the end of the process.
One step I didn’t mention, and something I always do in using the Keurig, is heating the coffee cup first. As you can see from the photo above its only about a 6 oz cup (its the size selection I always use) and so the water only cycle from the K550 is ideal. So once the brewer is ready, and I’ve remembered to take out the old K-Cup sitting in the holder, I always run the hot water only cycle so the coffee cup is nice and warm. I find your drink stays hot for longer and in particular for coffee I find it improves the taste. However if you are cold coffee fan, don’t try this at home!
The chai tea has a very soft taste and quite sweet when compared to the normal bitter taste of coffee. I enjoyed the drink and will be having it more often in the future. Having said that it certainly won’t be replacing the first morning coffee – its more of a ritual now days than anything else. But I can see the chai being just the thing perhaps in late afternoon for something that is a little more relaxing than my standard coffee drink.
We would be really interested to know what you think of the new K-Cups and the flavors they are bringing out. We never tried the chai on the old B60 so don’t know if it is any different. Oh before we go we should do a little plug for Keurig’s variety pack from which the chai pod came from. The 20 pod pack came with our K550 and its been a nice intro to some of the flavors we haven’t tried, in particular the teas, or we omes had forgotten about. You don’t seem to able to buy it separately but there plenty of choices out there in similar mix packs. A nice way to buy and try before committing to a large pack of a single flavor.