Vanilla Berry Truffle

Tea type
Fruit Rooibos Blend
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Not available
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Art of Tea
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 45 sec

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23 Tasting Notes View all

  • “All right y’all. I have 43 days before I move to California, and after a discussion with Auggy in which we were bemoaning the number of samples we both have banging around in our respective...” Read full tasting note
    34
  • “This was very currant-y today, yum! (why yes, I AM avoiding the Hawaiian fruity sample thing from Teafrog – I can’t help it! I am very busy employing “Dessert Tea Stress Therapy” to keep from going...” Read full tasting note
    76
  • “This one has been on my shopping WISH list for ever it seems! Thanks to LiberTEAs I was able to try it! I’m not going to lie…I wanted to try this one because of the name! I’m not usually that way...” Read full tasting note
    79
  • “Thanks very much to the wonderful CAIT, I had a sample of this tea. I’d had it around for a while but have not been drinking much rooibos at all. Last night I wanted a hot drink, and decided to...” Read full tasting note
    77

From Art of Tea

Our Art of Tea Vanilla Berry Truffle is a caffeine free blend of succulent black currants, South African Fair Trade rooibos, organic hibiscus and creamy white chocolate blossoms hand blended in small batches to create a full, rich taste to compliment any meal.

Water Temperature: 206 F degrees
Caffeine Content: Caffeine Free
Steep Time: 5-7 minutes
Ingredients: Fair Trade Organic Rooibos, Organic Hibiscus, Organic Currants, White Chocolate, Natural Flavor
Origin: Art of Tea Blend

About Art of Tea View company

Art of Tea is a tea importer and wholesaler based in Los Angeles, California. We hand blend and custom craft the world’s finest organic teas and botanicals. Our teas are carefully selected directly from growers, each one offering a unique story.

23 Tasting Notes

34
260 tasting notes

All right y’all. I have 43 days before I move to California, and after a discussion with Auggy in which we were bemoaning the number of samples we both have banging around in our respective cupboards [what a problem to have, truly] I realized that I have a whopping 125 samples left from trades, vendors, and the like. One hundred and twenty five.

And thus, we decided to extend a challenge to one another. One sample a day, completely finished no if, ands, or buts [these kids got GUTS] about it. Except after doing a tally I realized that in my case, to be finished with all of these samples before I move, I am going to have to drink three a day for forty-three days. Daunting? Absolutely. Impossible? I think not. And so there we have it – our own personal Julie & Julia type situations laid out before us.

Of course, you know what this means. You’ll be seeing a lot more of me on Steepster. So much, in fact, that you may very well get sick of me, but I am doing this in the name of tea and I think we can all agree that this is a pretty worthy cause, no? So, while Auggy is going to be my Official Sipdown Accountability Buddy I do encourage you all to provide anything from gentle nudging to verbal abuse should I begin to lose steam or fall behind my 3-A-Day goal. I am, of course, assuming that you all deeply care about all of this. [Also, it may go without saying, but for an indefinite period of time I will not be able to participate in any tea swaps.]

Oh, and should you be wondering where the name for this came from it’s because that Europe song [you know the one] has been stuck in my head all week and it is somewhat appropriate even though it doesn’t really make sense [like the best things in life]. Please feel free to imagine that bitchin’ 80’s synthesizer track playing in the background as you read on. And now, it’s time for…

The Final Sipdown: Day 1.1

Unable to choose a tea to start this off, I shut my eyes and grabbed at random, closing in on this one – a sample that I received from teaplz a while back. [Actually, all of these samples are going to be from “a while back,” but do I get points from keeping them sealed in a cool, shut off from light area?] In an effort to keep things fresh, I am going to refrain from reading my prior log, but it’s starting to rush back to me in a not-that-great-way. This tea smells of medicine. Hot theraflu and…cedar?

Sipping it, I get a shot of slightly sour lemon surging through the liquid. The berry taste floats around it, not really loud but not quite soft either. I’m unable to pick out anything specific, except maybe not-quite-ripe-raspberry. The lemon flavor, I’m thinking, is from the hibiscus and maybe tempered by the berry a bit. No vanilla to be found, I’m afraid, though at the back of my tongue I am getting a hint of chalky milk chocolate.

Oh, there we go. At the tip of the tongue, as this tea cools, a smidgeon of vanilla. The mouthfeel is somewhat creamy, and this tea is trying ever-so-desperately to be pleasantly blended, but it just isn’t cutting it. The nice mouthfeel is offset by the now distracting sourness and every time I bring the cup up to sip it I get a whiff of medicine smell. Now the aftertaste…the aftertaste could be nice. I actually get more of a vanilla flavor on the aftertaste than I do with the tea, but sitting naggingly on the back and sides of my tongue is that bitterness that pervades the tea. Drat.

This tea is, indeed, flavorful, but simply not for me. I think it’s rated about right for what I think of it, though, so I’m not going to change it. So there.

And that’s tea number one down! The journey begins! As I just said to Auggy – this is either going to be brilliant, or a hot mess. [THERE IS NO IN BETWEEN!] Certainly, there will be a lot of peeing. But no time to worry about any of that, because I have two more teas I have to drink tonight and now I get to remove this sucka from my cupboard. Who knew that clicking a button could feel so fantastically rewarding?

Samples Downed: 1

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec
Auggy

Am I Julie or Julia? Because I don’t want to cook through a cookbook. Just sayin’. (Though if I had to cook through a cookbook, it’d be Joy of Cooking. And that thing is thick so yeah, I’m back to not wanting to cook through a cookbook.)

gmathis

Looking forward to the results of your adventure!

takgoti

@Auggy Neither. I rather like the sound of Auggy & takgoti. And also, I have actually been contemplating cooking my way through Martha Stewart’s wedding cake book, but that may be a tad masochistic… Maybe Molly Wizenberg’s. I’ve already done about half of it.

@gmathis Thank you! Hopefully it will be a success!

laurenpressley

What an exciting project!! I’m loving your reviews popping up again, takgoti! :)

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76
382 tasting notes

This was very currant-y today, yum!

(why yes, I AM avoiding the Hawaiian fruity sample thing from Teafrog – I can’t help it! I am very busy employing “Dessert Tea Stress Therapy” to keep from going insane over the trip :P )

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79
6768 tasting notes

This one has been on my shopping WISH list for ever it seems! Thanks to LiberTEAs I was able to try it!

I’m not going to lie…I wanted to try this one because of the name! I’m not usually that way but there is an occasional tea that ‘gets my attention’ because of the name, specifically…this one was that tea! Or in this case TISANE.

Pros and Cons to this one tho!
PROS:

Overall it’s an a nicely flavored rooibos. The amount of hibiscus is barely-there and I am very happy about that…I wouldn’t change it at all! The Vanilla Notes a creamy and smooth and contribute great to the overall taste of this.

Not a pro or a con, really, just an observation…
CURRANT. The primary flavor that I am tasting is CURRANT. It’s good and tasty and not overdone. So, because I am enjoying that aspect of the flavor I suppose it is a PRO but again you have to like currant.

CON:
I would love to taste more white chocolate! There isn’t enough White Chocolate at all! It’s very faint…I want more!!!!!! Lots more! What I can taste of it I do like but it’s teasing me! I want that taste magnified greatly!

Not that it’s a CON but I would love to see – with the addition of more White Chocolate – what this would taste like with some caramel in it!

Also…it does have that stereotypical rooibos taste to it!

The PROs do outweigh the CONs and I think this is a great starting point and they are on to something here but I really want more white chocolate!!!! HEY! Did I mention I want more white chocolate!?

Overall…still tasty and I would certainly drink it again!

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77
259 tasting notes

Thanks very much to the wonderful CAIT, I had a sample of this tea. I’d had it around for a while but have not been drinking much rooibos at all. Last night I wanted a hot drink, and decided to try this one.

Unlike other tasters, I thought that the taste was not off at all—at least not off for me. Maybe it’s the black current? I liked the fact that the rooibos did not stick out its head and start singing “I am sawdust, hear me roar”. Instead, it was a docile and quiet vehicle for a mild-mannered vanilla/current beverage.

I think that Art of Tea has done a better job than many places of formulating rooibos blends. For me, it’s tantamount to sticking the pill in cat food and hoping that the cat does not notice. Typically the cat glares daggers at me before he or she is within a room-full of the tainted food but every now and then there’s a cat who bravely (or naively) will eat the food and eat the pill and make life easy for everyone. Art of Tea seems to conceal rooibos like the bitter pill that must be adulterated.

But I ramble. This rooibos tea reminded me that they need not all be deadly.

Preparation
Boiling 7 min, 0 sec
gmathis

That’s how I feel about hibiscus in my fruity teas … the pill in the cat food. Perfect analogy!

RachanaC (Rachel)-iHeartTeas

Gross never thought of it that way. LOL :-)

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75
4843 tasting notes

This one took a little while to grow on me, but now as I am nearly finished with the cup, I am finding that I quite enjoyed it. It has a nice, creamy taste and body. I like the black currant… the white chocolate… and even the hibiscus here isn’t bad.

I like!

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more
TeaEqualsBliss

I hate to say it but I might have to break down and place an Art of Tea order

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216 tasting notes

I feel a little bad about logging all of these tasting notes when I can’t really taste the tea, but it’s kind of useful for me to remind myself that this tea is really good with a great big dollop of honey: it’s very smooth and sweet, and the sour berry scent from the dry leaves is completely gone leaving only an interesting tang.

(As you may have gathered by now, I got myself the Art of Tea Dessert Sampler off of the steepster select a while ago and am working my way through it!)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec
Ricky

Agreed! I hate it when I drink sometime and I have no words for it either because it was so bland or it was really plain / ordinary. I just leave a rating for those, but I wish there was a way to do private notes. I’m guess it’s good that there are no options to make notes private, otherwise I’d be too lazy to type anything.

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63
69 tasting notes

I received this sample as part of a FB Contest so I feel a bit remiss in not bragging it up a bit. I do see where the others found this slightly medicinal taste to the cup. The berry when paired with the rooibos base gives off this note that is akin to cherry Nyquil. Further, the vanilla was not quite as prominent in the flavor profile as I would have liked. I was able to remedy both of these issues by stirring in a splash of french vanilla creamer. This largely squelched the medicinal notes and added that vanilla component that I was hoping for. Art of Tea has several other blends that I enjoy and I don’t see myself becoming compelled to order this one again. (Cinnamon Fig, Carmelized Pear, Classic Black to name a few).

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec

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41
187 tasting notes

Backlogging from yesterday.

It’s difficult to even remember a lot about this one, since I was drinking it while I was packaging up some teaswaps for Auggy and takgoti. I was more concerned about the ratio of tea to bag, and how I was going to fit everything in a box, than I was about the flavor of this one.

Anyway, it’s a rooibos blend, and it actually smells very pretty when you stick your nose in it. There’s a strong berry scent, but underneath those berry tones is a warm, comforting twinge of vanilla. The entire tea looks very pretty as well, with the red of the rooibos contrasting against the deeper reds of the currants and hibiscus, and the white shavings of white chocolate.

So I steeped this one up, and the flavor is a bit disappointing. The tart, berry flavors completely overwhelm the vanilla here. The only thing that works out well is that I think the vanilla does tame down a lot of the tartness, and allows for flavor elements like hibiscus to be muted (which is always a plus, in my opinion). The white chocolate, I couldn’t taste, and the rooibos has its typically woodsy-sweet flavor. None of it is particularly aggressive or assertive. If anything, the blend is a bit bland.

But the tea wasn’t bad enough to distract me from the wonderfulness of getting prepared to share tea with some awesome ladies, so I guess that’s a point in its favor!

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
takgoti

Dang. This sounds like it should be really good.

teaplz

It might be better if it’s steeped longer, maybe…? I need to experiment a bit. Maybe with more leaf, too.

Ricky

It sounds like it would be delicious.

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431 tasting notes

Thank you meghann M for sending this and a few other blends to try. Thank you very much. Luckily the roobios is not extremely strong which makes me happy and I can taste the currant and abit of hibiscue to with alittle vanilla and mabe abit of white chocolate. I believe that this blend is fairly good but on the almost too tart side with the hibiscus. Meaning this is good but would not become a favorite. Thanks for giving me the chance to try this.

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392 tasting notes

Had a cup of this today while watching a movie and eating some popcorn. Due to the popcorn and a very long day I will more fully review this later but I can say this – it’s yummy!

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