So this is the first ever tea from my first ever tea swap! International and everything. Thanks Azzrian for this one ( and the others, they look delightful). This is my first array into American tea companies (the only teas I had while there visiting about 5 years ago are not worth mentioning).
The smell of this dry is so good! To me, it smells like chocolate covered strawberries you get from the Christmas Hills Raspberry Farm in my state’s north. They do both freeze dried and fresh covered strawberries. The smell in my house right now is of the fresh covered berries, all warm and melty. I can’t do that smell justice in words, maybe you have a place nearby that does something like that and know it? My other half just bounded (literally!) over from his cup to sniff at mine. I can tell I’m going to have to hide this from him, based on smell alone!
First sip – it’s still pretty hot, but the smell is getting to me, must try! Oh my! How tasty! I got a huge hit of chocolate in my mouth, with a hint of the strawberry at the end. More sips – definitely very chocolatey, with just a hint of strawberry. The black tea base is very soft, not at all bitter, and compliments the flavours well.
An FYI – when trying a new tea, I always have my first cup without additions, unless there is unanimous suggestions to do so on here. For this tea, I’d very happily drink it straight, but if you have a sweet tooth, adding some sweetener would go well, and would probably bring out the strawberry. Milk would also be nice, but I’ll probably have it black.
I’ve just had a few nibbles of a muesli slice for breakfast (I know, it’s a dessert tea, but I’m rebelling) which is sweet, and I can taste the strawberry more. Yes, this one will have a bit of sweetness in the next cup I think. The strawberry is lovely! With the sweetness in my mouth, the chocolate and strawberry are very well balanced and work very well together. The black base is just sitting there, underneath, providing a nice home for the strawberry and chocolate. Not competing, supplementing.
Yes, I really like this! The only other berry/chocolate tea I’ve had is DavidsTea’s love tea #7, which is nice, but this is better.
Just delightful! Thankyou Azzrian!
(I steeped it for about 4mins, iPad functionality does allow for precise time selection. Was boiling point water).
