It was just this past September when I discovered Almond Breeze as a viable alternative to organic dairy. I had seen it at Queensdale Market a few times, but had taken a pass on it because it was in a tetra pack. I try never to buy anything in those containers, as they are incredibly costly to make and very difficult to dispose of. In case you are wondering what a tetra pack is, think six or seven layers of foil and plastic laminated together. There is nothing you can do with it other than incinerate it or stuff it into the ground once you use it eight times.
Recently, because of my diminishing need for dairy, Almond Breeze has found a way into my fridge door. I am addicted to the way it tastes with the Tipus micro-ground, so I buy the biggest box I can, which is the two-liter size. I figure this is half as bad as buying the one-liter size, which means that every week in my recycling bin, there is one two-liter Almond Breeze container. I do plan to implore the company to switch to less ridiculously wasteful packaging.
That being said, I have fallen deeply in love with Almond Breeze. Moving away from dairy for my chai and morning cereal routine seems to have made me less sluggish in the mornings. I also have discovered its amazing ability to hold perfect micro-foam for latte art. In addition, its taste with the spices requires no added sugar.
In past posts, I have commented that the pizzazz baristas have introduced to an art form we see so successfully created in specialty coffee shops needs to cross over into specialty tea shops. Our tea lattes should be works of finesse and skill – wowing the customer with style, quality, and flavor.
With this in mind, I set out on a mission to become much better at tea latte art, so I could help others perfect their own tea latte art. In the progression below, you’ll see how my rosettas have become more refined over the weeks. The final one is from this morning and I think it is the best one I have poured yet. Keep in mind that I drink chai lattes about four times a week, so in a month I will pour 16 lattes. This is essentially what the progression looks like after roughly 20 lattes with Tipus micro-ground and Almond Breeze Original:
This was not the first attempt creating art, but it was the first with Almond Breeze. Its flavor profile with Bipin’s Chai is out of this freakin world, folks!
Last week, after reviewing a few more videos on YouTube about latte art, I had a breakthrough. As you can see, this one looks much more professional and stylish.
This is the one I made this morning. I am pretty happy with the evenness, and this is about 20 lattes since the first picture.
Each time I sip one of these, I marvel at the exquisite lingering profile, which for a long-time chai lover like myself is totally transcendent. So, go grab a liter (or two) of Almond Breeze, get some chai from Tipus, and make yourself some bliss in a cup. I challenge you NOT to levitate.
Most impressive Brendan, I think you’ve got it. As I’m not a ooffee, I had no idea what the requirements were for success. I too have discovered almond milk and no longer keep “real” milk in the house. As you point out, it has a sweetness to it that milk just doesn’t have. In addition, as milk is an inflammatory beverage, almonds are not and infact are quite good for us. We tried different brands over the years and have come to prefer Pacific organic almond milk the best although Almond Breeze can’t be beat for their chocolate milk. Talk about bliss:)
My real problem with chai is that I never really considered it a health beverage due to the amount of sugar that is typically part of the mix. I’m not familiar with Bipins Chai but will look for it at the market. Not sure it’s available in Portland Oregon. I would be curious to learn how much sugar was in the package. Also, any other fattening or unhealthy ingredients? Traditionally I understand that chai is tea with spices and milk. The substitution to almond milk makes it almost perfect.
Hey Michelle – thanks for the feedback and great questions!
Almond Breeze itself has 7 gms of sugar per serving. Bipin’s chai has no sugar, no additives – it’s just dehydrated tea, fine ground spices, thats it.
I think all the spices are now cert organic as well, and the tea is soon to follow. Trust me when I tell you that I am very picky about what I consume, and this is the ONLY powder chai blend that is actually better then what you can make at home, (following a similar recipe) it is light years ahead of the rest of the so called ‘instant chai’s’. It is the real deal Michelle.
So with almond breeze, a 12 oz chai latte has 7 grams of sugar.
…and a whole lotta kick! – which is, of course for us chai lovers, the whole reason for the beverage.
The ayurvedic properties of that spice combination is age old and so powerful to our immune systems.
thanks for the chat,
I’m confused – you mention Tipis and Bipin chai – as I’m searching for where to buy it, it seems that I need to know which to look for. I have found tea/coffee shops that will sell me a cup but I’m interested in buying the ingredients.
Thanks
Michelle, you can buy it directly from the website at http://www.tipuschai.com/.
Excellent – thanks erika:)
sorry if I confused you Michelle. Bipin = Tipus.
Bipin is the owner/creator and his chai company which is called Tipus Chai.
He does have three blends as well. There is the micro-ground instant which is becoming ‘chai now’ and he also has 2 other version he calls ‘slow brew’.
All are top notch,
Hope this helps – I would be interested to hear your thoughts on his recipe.
Will do. Thanks for the information.
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