Angrboda

Glad to see I’m not the only one that was not that impressed with it.

I have pretty much given up on chocolate tea. I love chocolate far too much and I miss that texture. And you are quite right about Hershey’s Kisses – blech.

Chocolate teas are always a bust for me as well :(

I feel like chocolate teas are really hard mostly because so much of eating chocolate is the texture. You can’t really get that in a liquid. I haven’t had this one to say for sure or not, though.

Sigh. The US and food regulations. It really wouldn’t surprise me that we’re missing out. Is there a brand of chocolate you would recommend? I would love to try it and see how different it is.

Della Terra has a couple of nice ones but generally chocolate teas do not thrill me.

Nicole, Exactly. I agree.

JoonSusanna, I wish I could give you specific recommendations, but I don’t know what’s actually available where you live. I seem to recall having heard that you can get Lindt, though, so that’s a good place to start. In general, try to look for something which is produced by a European company, because they’re more likely to sell European chocolate. I can’t guarantee, though, that exported products aren’t modified to local tastebuds. It’s probably more expensive, but give it a go anyway if you find some.

I feel exactly the same about chocolate teas – I keep expecting them to have some kind of richness like a hot chocolate, but it’s like just having a drop of cocoa essence (I have this same issue with almond tea – I suppose creaminess isn’t something that really works with tea). I actually like the sound of the burnt sugar, the chocolate teas I’ve tried so far were all so flat.

Tor Ince, I don’t think I’ve tried very many almond teas that I can remember. I know there has been some nut ones, but not just off the top of my head. I had a walnut green once, though, which was super sweet, almost to the point of being undrinkable.

I’ve tried one almond tea from a local tea shop and the sencha sweet almond from the Covent Garden Tea House – I would be more than happy to send you some, if you like! It’s an elegant tea and I feel like I might be missing something, I really want to like it more than I do.

I like the sound of walnut tea. I got some maple syrup and walnut coffee grounds for Christmas; super sweet, but then I like flavours to jump out and make themselves known!

I’d like to try that, but I must warn you that I’m currently likely to be a little slow with return parcels. I’ll follow you, so shoot me a message whenever.

I gave my mother some cinnamon flavoured coffee one year for Christmas. My father thought it was dreadful, but she and I quite liked it. (Probably especially me)

Sure thing! I’m revising for first semester exams right now, but I’ll post you a sample in the next week or two.

I’m a huge fan of cinnamon, sometimes I just brew cinnamon sticks for tea (although that’s super sweet if you overbrew). I find flavoured coffee really hit or miss – like tea, really – I remember being super-excited about vanilla coffee, but it didn’t really taste of much.

I see you’re in Denmark, I was in Copenhagen over Easter and fell completely in love! I also picked up some kvæde te/quince tea – is that a popular blend over there?

Strangely enough, I don’t really care for cinnamon in tea, but I like it in cooking and baking. I think for me it just doesn’t mix well with tea. I’m searching high and low for the Perfect Vanilla Tea, though. No luck yet.

Quince is not super popular here, I don’t think. Husband is English too and if I remember correctly he only had very superficial knowledge of it until I gave him some quince rooibos that I had. I didn’t like it at all, but he loved it. Once upon a time I had a rather enjoyable black tea with quince, but I can’t remember where I got it from and haven’t seen it since. I must admit that I had kind of forgotten about it until you reminded me just now, so I think I’ll keep an eye out now.

I think the only cinnamon blend I’ve tried is chai, and I still don’t ‘get’ chai. I’ve had amazing dairy-free chai made for me, but I can’t make it with bags at home – it just tastes like a spiced everyday. Maybe I’m missing something.

The perfect vanilla is on my list too! This is probably where my fragrance nerd comes in – I’m that girl who tries every vanilla perfume and complains that it doesn’t smell enough like vanilla pods. Lipton has a very good vanilla caramel, creamy and fragrant, but I haven’t tried a pure vanilla black yet.

I bought my kvæde te from Netto – the brand is House of Tea and it’s a ceylon with little pieces of quince. I’m not sure what fresh quince is like (it grows everywhere in rural England, but isn’t widely used at all – even less than damsons) but it reminds me a little of apricots and red apples with a tiny bit of aniseed. I haven’t tried it in a strong brew or with milk yet.

‘When I then get a thin, watery mouthful of tea, it’s just not the same and it breaks the illusion of chocolate quite severely"
- YES. THIS!!! I’ve given up on chocolate in teas.

As an American, I think Hershey sucks as well. It has a kinda icky taste. Personally I think it is if you combined real chocolate and bakers chocolate; also it seems to taste better if it is used for baking.

So far, my favorite vanilla black is colonille from serendipitea. We drink a fairly large amount of said tea. Plus, they’re super nice people.

The differences between US and European chocolate are even deeper than percentage of cocoa solids. Speculation was when they started to make chocolate in the USA they did not know exactly how to process the milk and the process they used was different, leading to production of butyric acid. The wikipedia explains it better

""Hershey process" milk chocolate is popular in North America. It was invented by Milton S. Hershey, founder of The Hershey Company, and can be produced more cheaply than other processes since it is less sensitive to the freshness of the milk. The process is a trade secret, but experts speculate that the milk is partially lipolyzed, producing butyric acid, which stabilizes the milk from further fermentation. This compound gives the product a particular sour, “tangy” taste, to which the American public has become accustomed, to the point that other manufacturers now simply add butyric acid to their milk chocolates."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Types_of_chocolate

I really do not like american chocolate and was glad when I was able to understand the whys of it.

About quinces, never had any tea. Beware of one thing though, the ornamental quinces are not nearly as glorious as real ones! They grow very easily in my country and are very popular to make a sort of jam (true marmelada, which gave origin to marmalade). But they need a lot of sun to ripen properly, not sure if the ones growing in England are not the japanese ornamental ones whose fruit is not great. Even the fruit ones have the most beautiful blooms!

I agree…real chocolate, dark and lush…or forget it…it rarely balances well with tea and those few lucky and skillful enough to do it proper, realize that its a balancing act….

Hershey’s might be the most widely available chocolate in the United States, but it is certainly not the only kind made here. Skip the Hershey’s and go for the Scharffen Berger or Green & Black’s.

Green and Black´s is nice, though IMO a bit pricey for what it is and the fairtrade thing apparently slightly dodgy, but it´s a british company isn´t it?

Apparently it was originally … it’s now owned by Kraft Foods, and my current bar was manufactured in Poland. It’s global chocolate now. :)

Everything is sort of global now, Twinings is made in Poland I hear. American candy bars sold in Europe are usually made in Europe and would not be surprised if some brands are owned by Unilever. But I tend to associate the nationality with the original one, so G&B is to my mind british chocolate (as is Cadbury´s which is I think also now owned by the same company or some other boring conglomerate).