Double Chocolate Decadence

Okay, enough.

I haven’t really read Steepster since at some point before Christmas, having been caught up in the holidays and avid reading of something else that was deemed a little more important to chew my way through at the time. There’s just no way I’m ever going to make it back through all of the Steepster posts I’ve missed. I’ve skimmed back a couple of days and I’m leaving it at that. If I missed anything important, please link me.

For the second tea of the new year, (the first being the orange pu-erh from Nothing But Tea, which Husband has developed an affinity for. You should have heard him try explain why earlier. He sounded like me on Steepster! LOL!) we had the next out of the 52teas Christmas box.

And once again I feel wary. I’m afraid I’ve had some sort of caveat with all the teas in box this year, although in some cases I’ve managed to overcome it. There are only two of the ones that are left that I’m actually looking forward to, so I suppose it’s been a bad 52teas year for me. I recall having better luck last year. Oh well, we can’t win them all, can we?

Anyway, the reason for my hesitation with this time is simply the fact that it’s chocolate flavoured and although I’ve had teas before with some sort of chocolate element to them, I’ve never ever found one that actually tasted properly of chocolate to me. I’m completely open to the idea of a chocolate flavoured tea, and the moment someone manages to make one that works I’ll be the first to swoon. But it hasn’t happened yet. The closest I’ve ever been are those black teas that have a strong naturally occurring note of cocoa. But those aren’t flavoured, and cocoa is not the same as chocolate.

It started out quite well. When I opened the envelope, the first note I noticed was something that reminded me of honey. A strong flower honey. This note persisted after brewing, and now also had a note of chocolate to it. Dark, heavy chocolate and in combination with the strong honey, the aroma of this tea struck me most of all as something akin to a dark chocolate toblerone. Husband thought it reminded him more of stepping into a heavily scented garden, which I consider to be in the same sort of category as my strong flower honey. There was a slight note of milk and of nuts as well.

When I took the first sip, it finally dawned on me why I’ve never managed to find a chocolate flavoured tea that works. When I get something with chocolate I expect a thick and slightly sticky texture, the sort of feeling one get from real chocolate melting on the tongue. 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.

Add to this the fact that I might have rather different ideas of what constitutes as chocolate and what doesn’t than many of you Americans. Where I live, milk chocolate must contain at least 25% dry cocoa solids and dark chocolate at least 35% dry cocoa solids. Otherwise it’s not chocolate and is not allowed to be sold under the name of chocolate. The US rules for when chocolate is chocolate are based on how much chocolate liquor it contains, so it’s not directly translatable, but when reading about both it seems, if I understand it correctly, that the US will accept what amounts to less dry cocoa solids than the EU will. This supports my experience with Hershey’s Kisses which some undoubtedly well-meaning soul sent me once. They were quite, quite foul and had little to nothing to do with chocolate. Mind you, this was about a decade or so ago, so I suppose it’s possible that the quality of the product has been increased.

And all of this is why I don’t think this tea lives up to its name. At first there was the initial disappointment that once again a chocolate flavoured tea had failed to work. After having got over that, I could start paying attention to what it actually tasted like, and I have arrived at some very dark caramel. Slightly bitter, with a strong note of burnt sugar to it, but also with just a smidge of sweetness. I discussed this with Husband and while he hadn’t thought of that by himself, he agreed with my assession. It’s nice and all, but to us nothing in this cup even remotely resembles what we understand as ‘chocolate’.

I won’t be writing a full-length review for this one yet, because I just finished a root beer that had the most remarkable set of spices (I don’t say that often about a soda, as I don’t usually like soda) and I can still taste the anise lingering on my palate, and it is giving this deliciously chocolate-y blend just a hint of licorice-y goodness … which leads me to think that at some point when enjoying this tea, I might need to drop a piece or two of star anise in the teapot to alter the flavor a bit. Would definitely be tasty (I do love anise).

First of all, I’ve got to mention this one more time – FRANK: I love the new base. The old base was hit or miss for me sometimes, but this one is really good. Rich, hearty but with a nice roundness so that it doesn’t come off as too heavy. Very good.

Is this chocolate-y enough? Well, truth be told, I don’t know that there can ever be enough chocolate. That’s like saying a person has enough tea. That statement simply does not make any sense to me. You might as well be speaking gibbily-gook because there is never really “enough” chocolate nor is there “enough tea” in the world to satisfy me.

However, in terms of tea and chocolate enjoyment, I am really enjoying the level of chocolate in this. Rich and deliciously smooth chocolate, not some flimsy, namby-pamby milk chocolate, this is dark and decadent. Yummy. Yes, it is that. It is definitely Yummy.

This is the eighth of the 12 days of Christmas Teas! I am happy this one was included because I was very curios about it. Chocolate and tea sound like a great idea, but unfortunately, I have only tried 1 chocolate tea that really made me think “Wow, this really tastes like chocolate”! So I am very skeptical when I see a new chocolate tea.

The little packet smelled a whole lot like Malted ChocoMatte. If had a hint of fruitiness to it, but in all honesty, it did smell quite a bit like chocolate. The black tea leaves had a few cocoa nibs in it that worked nicely with the idea of chocolate flavored tea.

Once brewed (in my marvelous, best purchase ever!) Breville, the chocolate smell dissipated just a bit and the black tea scent appeared. Unsweetened it was a bit too bitter for a chocolate tea, so I added a bit of sweetener. Once again, it reminded me of Malted ChocoMatte. The taste is very similar, except that it is black tea rather than matte. All in all, a pretty good chocolate tea. Not quite hot chocolate, but a tasty dessert tea that I really enjoyed!

(i’m forcing myself to drink the 52teas tea that i have left. please tell me if it’s my immature newbie palate that is making me dislike these teas. i’m grumpy today so i’m thinking things like ‘i can’t wait until i drink all of these teas and then don’t buy them again’. i’ve steeped them short, i’ve steeped them non-boiling, i’ve steeped them in small quantities, i’ve steeped them in bigger quantities. i just don’t get it.)

I melted the last of my See’s candies Scotchmallow (marshmallow topped with butterscotch caramel (see below) and covered in dark chocolate) into this, then added a splash of almond milk to smooth it out. It’s now about the closest thing a cup of tea can be to hot chocolate. :-)

I was particularly interested in this because I’m a total chocolate hound. I’m quite picky about my chocolate and generally only like dark chocolate. Frank does chocolate that suits me well.

I really like the new base. It feels smoother and bit more refined, maybe silky is a better descriptor. I love, love, love the level of chocolate in here. It’s not fake like say tootsie roll chocolate either. This is one awesome tea, now if it could only make it to the permanent collection. ;)

Cool beans, my parcel finally arrived. Despite staying up until 3am last night, I made sure I got up this morning and retrieved the chocolate madness.

The scent of the dry is pleasantly chocolatey. Not prominent, but not weak either. The best description I can really give it is sweetened cocoa nibs. I was hoping for Fry’s cocoa intense but it’s not quite there.

The first steep was for four minutes. The aroma was a light cocoa. Not rich nor creamy. When it comes to the taste, I’m really enjoying the tea base. It adds a depth to the chocolate. It’s stronger than the chocolate itself, but it’s not bitter at all. Very smooth and soulful.

The second steep was for five minutes. It’s weaker than expected. I added a splash of milk and the dairy totally took over.

I didn’t precisely measure, but basically filled one half of a standard-sized tea ball and brewed a pot. I think I’ll just steep one individual cup next time to see if I could extract more intense flavour out of this. Not the most chocolatey tea I’ve tried, but it’s still very good, though. The tea base alone makes this worthwhile.

Not sure if I’m translating this correctly, but doesn’t “la petit mort” mean “the little death”? Hmmm…Maybe it’s a play on death by chocolate? lol

This is one of those teas that I would repurchase if there was a decaffeinated version. I enjoy how the dark chocolate and the black tea complement each other. But I know if I had to choose between this one and some of my other favorite blacks (i.e. Caramel Pumpkin Cheesecake or Cotton Candy), this one could never win. I’m happy I got to try it though, it’s still quite good.

12 Days of Tea #8!

So I’m back on schedule with drinking these teas on the correct days. I was too busy for my roomie and I to do it together, so I ended up taking the box home for Christmas, and she will finish off trying things in the new year.

Anyhow, this was a tea I was quite excited about trying, as I had been sad that I missed out on sampling it when it came out, since it sold out rather quickly. Unfortunately(/fortunately?) I don’t think I’m a huge fan. I’ll admit that my tastebuds might be a touch wonky (as I’m currently suffering from an ill-timed holiday cold), but I just didn’t get as much chocolate flavour from this tea as I wanted. The dry tea smelled fudgey and delicious (and a bit alcoholic!), but the tea just didn’t live up – it was thin, and tasted too much of black tea base, and not enough of chocolate. It wasn’t bad or anything, but I definitely prefer Della Terra’s Dubbele Chocolade. So I suppose it’s ok that I didn’t pick this one up after all :)

I used 1 tablespoon of dry leaf for 375 ml of water.

The dry leaf smells like a very authentic rich and chocolatey chocolate cake batter. The authentic chocolate cake batter quality transfers to the brewed tea scent as well.

The chocolatey richness is present near the end of the sip in the background. The main flavour is a bit thin. The black tea taste is strong but there is no bitterness. The astringency of the black tea carries into the chocolate flavour and complements it, making it taste more like a dark chocolate.

Rating: 85

I have had a stressful couple of days, and then came home to find some chocolate tea waiting for me in the mailbox! Boy, did I need this!

I wasted no time boiling water and brewing a cup. The aroma is chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! It reminded me of Milk & Cookies, which brought a smile to my lips for the first time in days. I took one sip without additions, and it tasted like watered down chocolate. I mean literally, like someone had melted chocolate and added water. I couldn’t believe how chocolaty it was! The only thing that was off was the viscosity. It’s too liquidy to be a chocolate bar. I crave the texture of solid chocolate when drinking this.

But, I added some Truvia and skim milk and prayed for the best. Mmmmmm!!!!!!! This is really yummy chocolaty tea! It’s hard to even think of it as tea! It’s pretty much just liquid chocolate. I’m going to wait a little while now to let the flavors meld into the tea leaves. I bet the next I try it, it’ll be even better!

Thanks to LiberTEAS for suggesting and Frank for blending! Now, I’m off to NYC first thing tomorrow morning to go wedding dress shopping!!!!!!!!!!

Following the preparation done by others, I am not getting chocolate at all.

I did enjoy this with a salted caramel chocolate biscotti, and I would have thought even that could have helped with chocolate but not really. I can get it a bit in the aftertaste.

On the plus side, it’s the new black tea base so it’s pretty good even if I’m not getting chocolate.

Day eight

The scent of the packet is all chocolate with a touch of something alcoholic. I wasn’t in the mood for chocolate today (I’ve been eating way too many Christmas goods).

Luckily, there appears to be only a smidgen of cocoa fudge flavour- I’m mostly getting what I think is the black tea base. It’s malty, honeyed, and all-around smooth. I’m happy to drink this without milk and sugar right now. Maybe the chocolate richness would come out more with milk or my favourite chocolate soy, but the base by itself is too good. Flavoured qualities come out more as it cools down and aftertaste is more chocolatey.

This is very good but I don’t feel any desire to keep it around long-term.

On the eighth day of Christmas my true love gave to me a mug full of … double chocolate decadence tea.

Unfortunately yesterday was a difficult time for me for reasons I won’t go into so instead of a cup of tea I went out and drank wine instead. Therefore I am having to drink this tea today instead of yesterday which just means I have two to pick from today.

I opened the tea this morning and a wave of cocoa powder struck me quite strongly. It’s not chocolate as such, more cocoa nib.

Trying this one first without sugar or milk.

This tastes exactly like a chocolate cigar I once tried, it’s a little bitter and the flavour is strong but just not quite right. It’s not sweet or creamy, I think next time I should add the extra’s and see what I get.

I’m not a fan of cocoa nib at the best of times but today it just tastes rather inedible. Just not to my taste.

Maybe I need to steep the tea longer but I’m not getting very much chocolate flavour – certainly not enough for something labeled “Double Chocolate”. The base itself is nice though, robust and malty with a slight hint of smokiness.

On the 8th Day of Christmas…

I steeped this tea for 3 minutes and it is about as bitter as if I’d steeped it for 10. It has a lot of good reviews, so maybe I did something wrong, but I followed the time/water temp of many of the people who really enjoyed it. Strange.

After putting milk and sugar in, it is enjoyable. There is no way I could ever consider drinking it any other way. Sad :(

On a happier note, today is the first day of my VACATION!!!

Oh dear, I’ve gotten behind in my 12 teas of Christmas notes once again. How did that happen? Oh well, it’s too far gone now. I’ll just review them as I please :D

I’ve been really enjoying trying a new tea every day though. I’ll be a loyal 12 teas of Christmas enthusiast as long as Frank keeps making them every year! I love a new tradition. Although after seeing everyone’s notes about the 12 days swap, I’m a little sad I didn’t participate. Looks like tons of fun!

This tea smells like delicious malty chocolate cake batter. I like that the tea smell isn’t overpowered by the chocolate, even in the dry leaf.

I tried it with no additions after about a 4 min steep and it was quite bitter. Added a bit of sugar, but still bitter. Time for some milk, and with both the milk and sugar it’s quite nice. Most of the bitterness has been covered up and the tasty dark chocolate and bold black tea notes come out. I enjoyed my cup, but I don’t think I could drink this often. It’s really heavy, without anything to brighten it up. But overall it’s a decent, chocolatey tea.

I had this with some milk and it was pretty tasty! reminds me of lava cake :D

This tea practically leaped out to me tonight when I was looking for something out of the ordinary to sip while working on homework (exciting Friday night, huh?) The dry leaves smell wonderful, like sweet milk chocolate. The tea smells like hot chocolate, and with a little milk and just a pinch of sweetener it’s very much like sipping a nice hot cocoa. I wish it was a little more creamy, but overall it’s a nice tea treat.

-Dry blend has black tea leaves and pieces of cacao.
-Dry leaves smell like sweet milk chocolate. Tea liquor aroma is of strong hot chocolate.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium brown color.
-Heavy chocolate flavor with a sweet rich finish.
-Best with milk and the smallest amount of sweetener.
-Good tea. Heavy chocolatey dessert tea.

Backlogging.

Yummy but a little on the flat side. I rarely drink anything other than my pg tips with milk and/or suger but I think this would be improved by it so I’ll hold back my rating till I’ve tried it that way. I’ll probably end up finishing the package but it won’t be a pouch order for me.