Seattle-made Morning Glory Chai uses natural ingredients for the ideal blend

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While Jessica Vidican-Neisius was studying for her degree in California, she often visited her cousin in Seattle. During these trips to our beautiful city, she had an epiphany about her purpose in life: bringing chai to the people of Seattle.

Seattle had great coffee (of course), but Vidican-Neisius couldn’t find chai anywhere. She had recently learned about the amazing taste and benefits of chai and felt strongly that Seattle needed not just any chai, but chai blended specifically for our city.

So after graduating, she moved to Seattle and embarked on a journey to blend the perfect Seattle Chai.

While working at Tenzing Momo, the Tibetan pharmacy at Pike Place Market, Vidican-Neisius worked to perfect her chai recipe. She conducted all sorts of experiments to find the best flavor profile for her chai. How does it taste with pastries, for example? Before or after coffee? With cigarettes? She worked with colleagues and clients to tweak the blend, eventually “getting to that harmonious place where all the flavors fused together just right.”

Vidican-Neisius describes Morning Glory Chai as having a “balanced taste. It’s not so ginger and peppery, and it’s not so clove-like that it numbs your mouth. It is made from real ingredients. No synthetic substances, preservatives, [or] Artificial flavors.”

Originally, Vidican-Neisius sold Morning Glory Chai through a few coffee shops and then opened her own chai house in Ballard. But after years in retail, Vidican-Neisius decided to focus solely on selling their chai wholesale. She wanted to work on bringing chai to as many people as possible.

Morning glory chai is about half as sweet as most chai blends, uses honey and maple syrup as sweeteners, and is packed with beneficial botanicals. As Vidican-Neisius points out, morning glory chai isn’t just dessert chai — you can have it for breakfast without consuming a lot of sugar. If you like your chai sweet, you can of course sweeten Morning Glory Chai to your heart’s content.

While there is no one right or best way to enjoy chai, Vidican-Neisius prefers to sip it all wrapped up and warm on a cold, brisk walk. A hot drink on a cool winter walk? Sounds like a great combination if we get through the next few winter months.

Curious how you might like your chai? Try it out by picking it up from a local retailer or buying directly from the site.