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Kittenna

299 Followers / 289 Following

100

Kittenna drank Cacao Tea by Cha

Thanks so much to Raritea (and Indigobloom?) for grabbing a gift box of this tea for me!

I’m pretty sure that I’ve had roasted cacao shells in tea before, but I haven’t ever had an infusion of JUST roasted cacao shells. I had no idea how this was going to taste (but I had high hopes!)

Anyways, so I was brewing up a bunch of teas, and noticed this intense, delicious chocolate smell wafting over. Like an amazing dark hot chocolate. Sometimes this happens in my kitchen (random smells), so I didn’t think a great deal of it until I went over and noticed that the smell was emanating from this cup! (You’d think I might have figured this out sooner, given what I was infusing!) So yes, cue SUPEREXCITEMENT to try this tea!

So as soon as it was cool enough, I took a sip… and HOLYCRAP! This is so incredibly good! Looking for an authentic chocolate flavour in tea? Well, here ya go! This tastes like unsweetened dark hot chocolate. But it’s not bitter, it still has a sweet edge, making it super drinkable. Seriously, this stuff is amazing! I’d drink this over hot chocolate any day, because it has got to have far fewer calories (I’d assume zero, but it’s way too delicious to be zero… but that would be so awesome…)

I am going to have the boy try some of this sometime this weekend, as he loves hot chocolate. I expect he won’t really like it, because it won’t be sweet/creamy enough, but I still am going to have him try it, haha. I really need to get some more of this delicious stuff…

ETA: Second infusion still has enough flavour to be enjoyable. I still can’t get over this tea (ok, tisane). It’s literally like drinking liquid chocolate. Liquid cocoa powder, I guess, but without any of the nasty powderiness (that said, I wonder if an infusion of cocoa powder would have essentially the same flavour? Would have to infuse it in a VERY fine filter though, to prevent sediment.

2013-03-14 23:51:41 -0400

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8 min or more

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12 comments

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Sil 2013-03-15 06:37:42 -0400

Hmm…

Bonnie 2013-03-15 07:30:00 -0400

Be careful…it has a laxative effect in some people. (You just gave 100% to a non-tea might be a first.)

Kittenna 2013-03-15 19:15:08 -0400

Sil – I don’t have enough of this to share, since I want the boy to try it and only had enough for 2-3 cups to begin with. However, we need to find a source of this! If not Chá tea itself (Raritea/Indigobloom can shed more light on where we could get more, I’d imagine).

Bonnie – you’re right, 100 to a non-tea! I think it’s because I have been dying to find something I could use as a replacement for hot chocolate, and no “chocolate” tea I’ve tried has come close (except for a tisane I had from LiberTEAS, which I’m quite certain contains a good amount of this stuff.) Also – I didn’t notice any laxative effect, but did only drink a single cup, so probably not enough to cause any harm. Good warning though, because it’s tasty enough that I could go through quite a lot of it…

Bonnie 2013-03-15 21:43:40 -0400

I like this used instead of artificial chocolate flavoring by far!

Indigobloom 2013-03-16 01:32:40 -0400

I tried one of my samples with milk and a dash of sugar…. heavenly! Glad you like it!

Kittenna 2013-03-16 01:37:47 -0400

I wasn’t super clear on where you guys got this – as in, I want more……

Indigobloom 2013-03-16 01:51:31 -0400

We got this at the opening for Cha, sortof like Amoda but for nebwies. BUT the guy who runs it also owns Herbal Infussions and he sells it there to. I’ll see if I can grab some for you!

Kittenna 2013-03-16 01:54:16 -0400

No hurry! Just wanted to make sure it was locally available. Whew :P

Indigobloom 2013-03-16 02:08:15 -0400

kk! I want some for myself to so its an excellent bulk purchase opp!!

Kittenna 2013-03-16 02:10:18 -0400

Ok, good to know! If you could find out cost that would be great :)

Sil 2013-03-16 09:56:51 -0400

It’s 14.95 for the tin with the sachets….can’t easily see if they sell it loose but I vague remember that they do. I can always go down there this weekend and get some so ppl have it for next weekend

Kittenna 2013-03-16 10:05:10 -0400

No rush, really! :P

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I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.