Chocolate Mint Flavored Black Tea

My first 52teas order arrived yesterday — woohoo!!!!! I was too pooped from work and had so many other things to catch up on that I decided to wait until today to start steepin’ (but you can bet your sweet bippy that I opened them all last night and sniffed the leaves). Yummy!

So, I bet you’re looking at the tea that I’m rating and giving me the hairy eyeball. I know what y’all must be thinking: “but she goes on and on about how she doesn’t like chocolate, and yet she buys a big honkin’ 4 oz tin of this?!?! She cray-zay!” Yes, I am, as I think you’re thinking “cray-zay.” I actually really like Girl Scout Thin Mints — they’re sort of in their own realm of chocolate. But then again they’re not available year round, so that makes them more of a treat. I generally prefer my chocolate mixed with other things such as peanut butter, mint, cookies, caramel, etc (never chunky nuts — blech). But even then I can only do a little at a time and then I’m good for at least a month or more in regard to consuming chocolate. So, I think that my tin of this should last well over a year. Well, unless my Mom steals it from me.

This tea truly is like a liquid Thin Mint. It’s sort of like having a smooth black tea while eating a box of those cookies. Like you’ve just swallowed your cookie and then quickly taken a sip of tea. NOM!

This tea also helped me stop crying after a second mystery Samovar package showed up today. It turned out to be my original order that had been mis-handled. I thought that the original package would be sent to me — apparently not. This original box that I received today (2 days after sending out the Geek Prizes almost a week late) has the super-special prize for the Geek Pride grand prize winner placed in a nice gift box whereas the replacement shipment had everything thrown in and individually wrapped up in TONS of bubble wrap (you’ll eventually see Cait — again I apologize). The boxed item takes up about a third of the space of what I sent out to Cait. I was moved to angry tears because I was so very excited to place my first Samovar order and it has turned into such a nightmare. I don’t plan on ever repeating this nightmare ever again — I didn’t spend this much money to get so much grief. I’m awaiting a response from Samovar to see what on earth I’m supposed to do with this box that I don’t want and I’m angry that I have to deal with it. At least I wasn’t double-charged because I couldn’t afford that (my car payment would have bounced). If that had happened, then you would’ve seen Rabs really really mad.

Sorry for the venting, but it does come back around to my conclusion:

All of this frustration seemed to melt away once I sent off my email to Samovar and I was able to concentrate on this wonderful tea. I’m definitely tickled pink with Frank’s customer service and free shipping. The thought of spending my money (and knowing how much further it’ll go) at places like 52teas gives me hope in my tea future. TG

I have been trying to win the 52 Teas Email Trivia of the week since the first week they started it! I FINALLY WON 2 weeks ago!!! I was soooo excited! I ended up choose this tea as my tea that I won…I just got it in the mail today! YAY! And it couldn’t have come at a better time because I seem to be running out of most of my teas in my stash! Oye! Anyhow…upon opening the package I was stunned by a glorious chocolate aroma! Very powerful Chocolate Aroma! It was delightful, indeed! Color-wise it’s a medium brown once infused. After the infusion you can smell both the chocolate AND the mint but neither are overpowering. My first sip confused me as I thought based on the dry smell it would be all about the chocolate but it wasn’t. I wasn’t to quick to form an opinion…I took sip #2 and noticed the pleasant minty freshness. The mint it’s overpower but you certainly know it’s there. It accompanies the chocolate taste, again, neither too overpowering, taste-wise. There’s a bit of a woodsy undertone as an after thought but it doesn’t last long…the mint-chocolate combo pulls thru again at the end and lingers on to the aftertaste. All-in-All I do like this tea. It’s a bit different than I thought it would be but certainly not in a bad way. I like it. It’s tasty and flavorful but not obnoxious. Others have mentioned a Girl Scout Cookie Thin Mint comparison and I can totally see/taste the likeness! I’m sooooooo glad I won this! It’s nice. I will enjoy this often.

I let my daughter taste this tea and she said, “hmm, it’s okay. I mean it’s pretty good.” Seven times out of ten her response is, “tastes like butt.” I’m pretty sure it just got the okay comment because I don’t take as much sugar in my tea as she likes in hers.

I liked this one better as it cooled down. I felt the flavors came out a little better. Perhaps an icing is in the future. Smooth and a bit malty are my first impressions. Maybe the chocolate makes it malty like. The mint is very natural, naked mint. I keep pushing my tongue up to the roof of my mouth, where I taste the mint the most.

Chocolate and mint, where can you go wrong?

I finally got around to trying this one and it’s not bad. I’m still not convinced I’ll ever find the perfect mint chocolate black but i’ve found a few close ones. This one is pretty good. the chocolate is mild and then strong and the mint doesn’t over power. I think what i like best is that this is part of frank’s permanent collection so if i can’t fine a suitable OMG THIS IS AWESOME mint chocolate, then this will do in a pinch. It’s certainly much less “artificial” than david’s tea’s red my lips, which i really loved when i first started drinking tea and now comes across as artificial and kinda meh.

Ok, so does this have roasted mate in it?! Or malt flavouring? Because I’m getting a strong association to the super tasty Malted ChocoMate. In fact, that’s why I chose this sample from the awesome package sent to me by Missy & Dylan! Thanks you guys :)

So yes. This smells much like a minty Malted ChocoMate. Interesting.

Sadly, once steeped, I’m smelling the dreaded peppermint :( There’s something about mixing mint with hot water than I’m just not fond of. Apprehensive of tasting now but hey, I’m pretty sure I requested this one from them, so I had better do it.

Umm….. wow. This is much, much better than I had anticipated. I’m not really getting too much chocolate, but I’d chalk that up moreso to an inability to differentiate flavours than to a lack of chocolate in the blend (or cocoa nibs, in this case). The mint somehow blends wonderfully with the maltiness that I’m familiar with from Malted ChocoMate, and is rather lovely. Odd – I just thought about how this is a similar combination to Verdant Tea’s Chocolate Chamomile Curiousity Brew. Although that one smelled like cinnamon toast. I think they may have tasted somewhat similar…

I seem to be getting a bit of a scratchy throat from this one (or maybe I’m only just noticing it now), so that’s the only downside.

I’m still not fond of mint in teas, but this blend works really well. Thanks for the sample, Missy & Dylan! I used it all up in one generously-leafed cup (I think that’s what I requested?) which makes me happy as I get to tick off another tea as ‘sampled’ yet add nothing to my cupboard! This tea didn’t even make it out of the kitchen :D

I normally don’t like mint teas even though I love mint in candy. However this doesn’t taste like ordinary tea mint. This is more like eating a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie and I’m enjoying it quite a bit. I need to dash out the door to travel to MIssippi. Next time I drink it I’ll be more exacting with the description. (There will definitely be a next time with this one.)

Thanks to Sil for my sample!
I don’t really care for the mint in here, I prefer a deeper, rounder mint… so this tastes a bit herbal like for me. As if I should have this when feeling unwell.
Don’t get me wrong, it’s refreshing and tasty! but I am definitely getting a toothpaste association, which I have never before experienced. I’ve read about other people thinking that minty teas taste like toothpaste, and now I finally get it lol
Or maybe it’s pine needles that this reminds me of?
As for any chocolate in here, it’s more of a vague background note and comes out more as the cup cools in the end of my sips. I was definitely hoping for a stronger cocoa.
And a rating? I’m quite enjoying this cup, but I can’t see myself craving it often. So… where does that leave me? I feel pulled in two directions here!

Backlogging.

For the fifth tea of Christmas, Frank gave to us Chocolate Mint Flavored Black Tea.

When I opened this sample packet, at first I got alcohol, followed quickly by mint – real strong mint ~cough, cough ~, then chocolate – dark chocolate. I do have to say that Frank nailed the smell on this blend. I’ll confess that I’m not a chocolate mint fan at all. The husband is and occasionally I’ll want a spoonful or two of his ice cream. The dark tea leaves have visible chocolate bits and bits of mint leaves.

Steeped, the tea still smells distinctively of chocolate mint and is a color that we’ll call standard tea color. I did a butt load of dishes while and after this tea had steeped so it was not piping hot when I first tried it. The taste is mint tea with dark chocolate. This is good, but definitely not a favorite of mine. I’ll have to see what the husband thinks when he tries it. As I finish drinking this tea, I decide a like it a bit more and raise my initial rating five points. I definitely get the Thin Mint comparison that others have made. I did not attempt a second steep because I did not want anymore chocolate mint at that time.

I’m rating this tea a 67, which is on the high end of my nice range (60-70).

Continuing on my 52teas binge…

This tea smells delicious, all the darn time. Fresh out of the bag, brewing in a big old western style pot, cooling slowly in my cup… a very, very good smell. The freshness of the mint, plus the indulgent sweet smell of the chocolate (which I can actually pick up pretty distinctly in the smell). This would also make a good candle, although it would probably be less tasty as a candle.

Tasting this tea, the flavors seem to move along in waves. The first hint is chocolate, then the mint comes forward, and fades away to the smooth, malty black tea before chocolate round two (which tastes like a chocolate liqueur flavor at this point). From what I’ve tasted in other teas, chocolate seems like it might be a bit tough to master in a tea flavor. Frank does it nicely here, and the mint is at a great level where it accents the chocolate, as opposed to overpowering the cup. A long, lingering fresh mint taste stays in the mouth after a swallow.

Overall, another very impressive tea from 52teas. It doesn’t quite instill the mad-squirrel frenzy in me that the Cherry Cheesecake Genmaicha did, but I’m definitely glad it’s in the permanent collection and I don’t have to have palpitations thinking I’m never going to see it again.

This is another of the teas that I ordered in the buy 3 get 1 free deal…

Minty… chocolate-y. Nice. This has more mint than chocolate, and, the chocoholic in me thinks it should be the other way around. Other than that though, it’s a pleasant enough tea.

I got this in the Box of Chocolates sampler pack and was immediately excited to have a chance to try this tea. The dry leaf smells just like Andes mints, you can even distinguish a more dark chocolate smell than milk chocolate. It has a great scent!

Once brewed, the mint aroma really comes to the fore. I was a little worried that it might overpower the rest of the flavors, but that concern was for naught! The flavor is well-balanced and sweet. The mint adds a coolness to the flavor that is very refreshing.

I tried it further with a small amount of sugar and then some milk. While it still tasted very nice with these additions, the milk made it, well… milky! More like milk chocolate than the dark chocolate flavor it had before. I was surprised to find that I prefer this tea plain. With many black teas in general, and especially flavored teas, I usually like them a little better with a dash of sugar and a splash of milk. But this was the exception.

I definitely will be getting more of this in the future!

Another tea of Christmas I’ve been slowly enjoying all day. I got to try a few sips hot, but forgot it on the counter before running errands this evening, so I’m enjoying it cool/room temperature this evening. I probably shouldn’t be drinking this caffeinated tea this late into the evening, but I don’t have anywhere to be early tomorrow am.

I agree with the others on the “thin mint” girl scout cookie semblance of this tea. I wish I had a little half and half to add to this as I think it would make a great chocolate mint tea latte. Delicious tea, glad I have enough for a few more cups:) Also glad this is from the permanent stock and I can add more to my shopping cart!

Backlog from yesterday…crazy day, didn’t get to log anything!!!

Well, I continue in my early morning tea-fails.

First off, let me say how completely excited I am to try this tea. I’ve been wanting to try it forever, since chocolate mint is my second favorite chocolate combination (peanut butter, of course, being the first). And Frank’s blends are amazing, so I was really holding this to high standards.

And then I went and mucked it up. Poured 2 cups of water into Chloe, scooped out 2 tsps of tea. Then I realized that there was only 1 tsp left and decided to just make a three cup pot. Got the brew basket ready, set the timer, and forgot to add that third cup of water. So I got a brew that’s much stronger than it should have been…the mint is definitely strong enough to clear the sinuses and is overpowering the chocolate quite a bit (to the point I’d just call this a mint black tea and leave chocolate out of its name). The addition of chocolate milk helps bring it back into check, though, and I highly recommend drinking it that way (and that’s kinda a big deal for me to actually admit). I’m going to resteep these leaves, this time with the proper amount of water. I’m going to have to preset tea on weekends/snowdays…my first pots these past few days have been utter disasters without tea already in my system.

Second steep at 5 minutes was nice…still more mint than chocolate, though.

I don’t taste Girl Scout Thin Mints, as others have stated, but I do taste a very mild mint flavor mixed with black tea. I’m having a hard time picking up on the chocolate in this tea, perhaps I need to mix it up a little when I brew it next. I may toss in some extra peppermint next time I brew this, I like strong flavors.

I taste the mint and I taste the chocolate but for some reason it just didn’t work for me, so it just wasn’t my cuppa tea. A bummer indeed.

Delicious. This smelled so good from the package! In the cup, it is sweet with chocolate and mint. I added brown sugar and milk to it, and WOW did the flavors pop! Yum! Great blend. My fav of 52teas so far!

I absolutely love the label on this tea and totally want the cupcake on it STAT!!!!! :) I guess I have to settle with the tea instead. The tea is scrumptious! Nice blend of mint and chocolate neither flavor too overpowering. I enjoyed this as today’s tea of the day. Once again looking forward to tomorrow!

Dec. 18
This tea does taste like a liquid thin mint cookie. This is a very nice chocolate mint tea. I really enjoyed the taste. I’m usually an assam or yunnan tea drinker so this experience is broadening my tea drinking experience. The good thing is that I’m drinking teas that I normally would not drink. A very nice tea.

Carolyn said this is like eating a Girl Scout Thin Mint cookie. Her description fit my experience. I was able to notice a nice chocolate flavor and there was a trace of mint. I thought there was enough mint, but it wasn’t MINT, if you catch my drift. I put in some soy creamer, so mine tasted kind of like Thin Mints dipped in milk. It was definitely delicious and I’m looking forward to trying it again!

Yeah. For some reason I had a craving for minty black tea. And wasabi almonds. I’m drinking this tea sample and eating wasabi almonds at the same time. It’s pretty awful, but both items on their own are good.

I think I could of wait and had each item separately, but I’ve been without tea today until 3:30pm – OMG! I needed tea now!