Backing Off a Bit with a Dirty Chai at Broadcast Coffee

After yesterday's less-than-pleasant experience with Stumptown's macchiato, I decided today that I should tone it down a bit.  So I decided to see what happens when coffee and tea come together in my stomach for a caffeinated menage-a-trois.  I often pass Broadcast on my way to the gym, and it gets pretty good Yelp reviews, so I figured I'd stop in for a dirty chai on my way home for an early-evening pick-me-up.


It seems to be getting a little easier to coax myself through the doors of a coffee shop, although I still felt a bit nervous.  Thankfully, the place was pretty dead at around 5:00 PM on a Friday, and by the time I got up to the counter, I felt bold enough to even customize my order a little bit: "Medium dirty chai with hemp milk, extra spicy, please!"

Not much to look at, but possessed of
a surprising inner beauty!

I've gotta say, I feel a little guilty including this beverage on this blog, because there really wasn't much coffee flavor in this beverage at all.

That's not to say the espresso shot did not make a worthwhile contribution to the drink, however!  Normally coffee shop chai—which always comes in the form of a concentrated syrup mixed in with heated milk—is too sweet and too weak for my taste.  Not so with this dirty version!  The espresso—again the Stumptown Hair Bender, which is what Broadcast uses for their house espresso—provided a sturdying bitter earthiness to counterbalance the spicy syrup, and was just barely detectable in the aftertaste.  It also offered a nice caffeine boost, and led me to declare that "I'm never again NOT ordering my chai dirty!".

I can't say I was overall impressed with the quality of chai, though, and I'm not sure the hemp milk was a good decision, as the beverage definitely lacked in creaminess.  Also—and this may be me fooling myself—but I did feel like I could recognize some of the qualities I found unpleasant in yesterday's macchiato when I could get a hint of the espresso.  Compared to the smooth chocolatey flavor of Vivace, I think the Stumptown espresso has a more acrid woody bitterness that seems a little "hollow", lacking supporting sweetness (even in the context of the dirty chai!).  Perhaps I'm just not a fan of the Hair Bender?

Either way, this was a more-or-less enjoyable beverage, if not a "gourmet" taste full of subtle and titillating flavors.  Tomorrow I'm going to try something a little bolder.