The base of this Tea Forté Chai tea is black tea from the Nilgiri region in South India. Nilgiri literally means 'blue hill'. Many waterfalls, flowering plant species and high mountains are found in the Nilgiri region, including Doddabetta Peak, the highest in the range at 8,652 ft. The Nilgiri Hills are part of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve, which is part of the protected bio-reserves in India.

Chai is in many languages the word for tea and is believed to be derived from the Cantonese 'Cha' (for example Persian, Hindi, Korean, Russian, Mandarin,and Swahili). In the western world Chai tea is mostly referred to as a full flavor, spiced Indian black tea that is enjoyed from morning until night in India, where it is traditionally served with boiling whole milk and sugar for a unique infusion.

The wonderful yet delicately composed mélange of ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, cloves, star anise, black pepper and flavoring gives Tea Forté Chai tea its characterTea Forté Chai contains very flavorful and aromatic spices. This black tea is known as a 'very forgiving black tea', meaning that it is almost impossible to 'over steep'. Our Bombay Chai combines black tea with the spices found in a traditional Indian masala chai. Chai recipes vary enormously, using different spices, sugars and amounts and types of milk. However, they are uniformly well-lightened and sweetened.