I apologize in advance for the lack of pictures but I had just gotten these samples in the mail and really wanted to try the Hazelnut Chai for breakfast. Twinnings USA has a site where you can get free samples of three different teas. Naturally, I'm all about the free stuff despite not even drinking bagged tea so I ended up getting the hazelnut chai, spiced apple chai and lady grey (which I've tried but have really enjoyed). Anyway, I just got the samples yesterday so don't expect them for a few weeks after ordering them.
Outsides: Twinnings Hazelnut Chai black tea is part of their holiday collection and is their blend of chai tea with hazelnut flavoring added in. It's in a normal tea sachet. I let the tea steep in almost boiling water for 5 minutes. Honestly, pictures of this tea would be pretty boring because it's just a boring black tea color. The hazelnut adds a nice scent that is noticeable and strong but not as overpowering as something like Adagio's Chestnut black tea (which has been a fall favorite of mine).
Insides: Although there is a strong hazelnut smell, it doesn't really add much to the taste of the tea and if you've had the normal Twinnings Chai, that's pretty much what it tastes like. For those of you who don't know, Twinnings actually does a pretty decent job making a chai tea. It's not as good as Margaret's (or actually, Metropolitan Tea Company) but Twinnings has a small amount of heat to their tea with a nice amount of sweet spice and it goes well with half-and-half. For a bagged tea, it's fairly well balanced and I was surprised at how smooth and un-bitter it was despite me thinking I oversteeped. I did end up adding hazelnut Coffee Mate to it because I wanted a treat for breakfast, and the extra hazelnut flavor complemented the tea nicely.
Tilt: Twinnings is relatively inexpensive and I like how they have a few varieties on their chai tea (Hazelnut, extra spice, apple cider and vanilla). I'm a big fan of hazelnut flavoring and appreciate that a big-name brand is providing slightly more unique tea flavorings. I'd imagine this tea would be good cold, but it's not quite strong enough to make lattes and such out of (btw guys, I bought a cheap milk-frother and find that it makes the best matcha whisk).
Overall: Is this tea something you REALLY need? No, not really. If you want a fun bagged tea for work, this might be a good choice but I'd just buy a normal chai you know you'd like and some hazelnut syrup/creamer/flavored stevia drops and achieve it that way.
My Rating: Pass/Try it.
Twinnings is one of the most famous tea retailers in the world and because of that, is available in pretty much every drug and grocery store.
