Biscottea

Biscottea are "traditional" Scottish shortbreads baked with various teas and tissanes, Earl Grey with Darjeeling, Chai, Honey Bush, Blueberry White Tea, and Mint. Tea in food is nothing new, and I am often skeptical, having only a passing, professional interest in these items as they come into the store, often with propaganda concerning "health benefits." Blah blah blah.

But these were awesome.

The chai caught my intention first. It tastes like chai, more so than what passes for chai at places like Starbucks. You can taste the spice combined with the creamy, buttery goodness of the shortbread.

The Blueberry was my second favorite, with an intense blueberry flavor that's more vibrant and realistic than you would often find in a blueberry flavoured something-or-the-other.

The Mint is a bit...different, and the Earl Grey and Honeybush were both good, but the Chai and Blueberry impressed me the most.

My Own Masala Chai.

I have oft wanted to dabble in making my own chai, and these cookies inspired me to finally give it a shot.

I chose to use Teance Golden Yunnan as the base tea (this was a mistake, but I'll get to that in a bit). For 16 oz of chai, I used 4 g of tea, 1 g each of cloves, cardamom, and pepper and a cinnamon stick. I have no idea what I'm doing, so it seemed like a good start.

I expected the worst, but it didn't turn out all that bad, mostly just too mild. I think a pure/mostly bud dian hong isn't strong enough to stand out, and the Teance is more subdued than most. Next time I'll use Rishi's.

No one spice stood out. I'll definitely use more pepper and cinnamon next time, and I may leave the cardamom out and add ginger. I'll post periodic updates as I try new blends.