Love Tea #7

Soooooo…I think I might have found my wedding dress!

I tried on so many dresses yesterday, it was a whirlwind of a day! For unidentifiable reasons, I started to freak out after the second dress at Kleinfeld. The consultant put me in the third gown and left the room to pull more dresses, leaving my mother and me alone. Once I started to calm down and actually see myself in the third dress, I was so surprised!

It was beautiful and romantic and looked great on me. But it was nothing like what I came in wanting. At the very end of the appointment, I tried on a highly detailed, bead encrusted, satin ball gown. My mom burst into tears and cried, “OMG! That’s your dress!” That’s when I became really confused. It was, in truth, everything I had ever thought I wanted. It was a corset, lace up, dramatic, “wow” factor, dropped waist ball gown that fit me like a glove. But I couldn’t get the lace romantic gown out of my mind. I never thought I would pick a romantic, tiered lace, fit and flare gown. But it really made me feel like a bride.

Now, I’m sooo confused! I don’t know what I want. Should I go with my original vision of the dramatic, “wow” factor ball gown? Or should I go with the romantic lace dress that kind of snuck up on me? I don’t know. I’m still trying to find a picture of the ball gown online, but here’s a link to the Tara Keely gown for anyone that’s interested. http://www.jlmcouture.com/Tara-Keely/Bridal/Spring/2012/Style-2206

The dry leaves smell very chocolaty. I brewed it up and brought the cup into the living room where my fiancé was playing Diablo III. I launched Steepster to start blogging and he said, “That smells good whatever that is.” Then he started taking exaggerated deep sniffs of the air. He’s totally right. This tea is powerful! It’s the first time my apartment has actually been flooded with a tea aroma.

Oh. My. God. This is insane! It tastes exactly, I mean exactly, like chocolate dipped strawberries!!! I’m getting creamy chocolate. I’m getting fresh, juicy, ripe strawberry. And I’m getting just a hint of floral rose. This is one of the best teas I’ve ever had. EVER! The aftertaste is just as luscious and delicious as the tea itself, which is incredible!

And this is all without additions! I didn’t want to mar the tea’s inherent beauty. And you know what? I can’t bring myself to want to change anything about this. There’s a rich tasting tea base underneath the flavor of chocolate covered strawberry and no bitterness or astringency or anything to complain about whatsoever.

After a few minutes of enjoying this tea, the following conversation ensued between me and my fiancé…

“Let me try some,” says he and takes the cup without waiting to hear my response. He takes a swig (yes, the boy doesn’t sip; he swigs) and says, “It IS chocolaty.”

“Well, what did you think it was?”

“It’s chocolaty,” he repeats. I sigh.

“It’s chocolate covered strawberry tea.”

“Ohhhhhhh, that’s what it is!” He says with a giant knowing grin and winks at me. Hahaha, he’s so cute! :)

I’m in love. I’m in love with Love Tea #7 (and my fiancé of course ;) but he’s a given). I’m so glad I chose to brew the entire 5g sample. I thought about cutting it in half, but then I thought one strong cup of tea is better than two weak cups of tea. So, I forged ahead and found something glorious! *heavenly sigh This is perfection! Be generous with the leaf and you’ll be in love too!

I did a second steep for 6 minutes and added milk and sugar this time. It was still great, but the first steep sans additions is my absolute favorite.

Daisy Chubb is my hero!

Funny…I remember when I thought Adaigo’s Valentine’s Flavored Black was da bomb…but…this kicks it’s ass 7 ways to Valentine’s Day! :)

It’s really great! The Black tea base is still around medium strength for having flavors on top of it. The strawberry is juicy, tangy, and sweet without being tart. The chocolate smells AMAZING and the flavor on the taste buds are marvy, too! the rose is a nice touch but doesn’t overly contribute to the end result of the overall flavor but I am totally fine with that. This is the way it SHOULD be…ahhhh!

Got this as a sample with my David’s Tea order. I thought it was Daniel Scott, or maybe Daisy Chubb, who recommended using the entire sample and brewing strong. Now I can’t find who said that. But that’s what I did!

Hoo, boy!

I don’t know that I can add much more but this is delicious. I actually brewed it a little too long, more like 5-6 minutes I estimate, and it’s not bitter. I added half-and-half after a single sip but that’s mainly because I wanted it to be as decadent and dessert-y as it could be without adding sweetener, which it does not need. I think I would also like it just fine plain.

The roses are coming in as an aftertaste. The fresh-strawberry-with-chocolate is definitely prominent. I’m struggling not to gulp it down because it’s so good and I don’t have any more.

Until the next order. Mwa-ha-ha!

Whoa! This is a strong tea. Not really a rose flavor. But an odd, intense sweet strawberry liquer flavor- sort of like a strawberry schnapps (if that exists) w/a hint of chocolate. I need to try this one more time before I rate it. I am not even sure if I like it.

MY ORDER FROM DAVIDsTEA CAME!!!!!!!!!!

I got this tea full size and I also received three samples (Darjeeling, Chocolate Chili Chai, and Jumpy Monkey) as they do with any online order.

I immediately opened it and smelled the dry leaves-not too keen on the smell. It’s overwhelmingly chocolate-y and I really hope that this will disappear when the leaves are steeped.

The aroma of the steeping leaves is much more pleasant-not as chocolate-y and a lot more fruity. The color is semi-dark.

First sip-I only got a little because it’s still EXTREMELY HOT. Tastes a little water-y, I might have to put the leaves back in for a little while…..

It’s cooled down a little and it’s more enjoyable. It’s kind of tangy and the black tea is definitely the forte. The chocolate is kind of there in the background and I can kind of taste the sweetness of the strawberry. There’s no rose, however, and I LOVE rose teas, so that’s kind of disappointing. It smells DIVINE! Like the way that chocolate covered strawberries taste, if that makes sense. It’s still kind of weak… A little disappointing. My cup is almost empty so I’m going to resteep and use some more leaves and perhaps steep longer……

Second steep: ~205 degrees (Fahrenheit) for 6 minutes. I didn’t actually end up adding extra leaves, I thought the amount I had was plenty. The first steep has left a lovely sweet aftertaste in my mouth, and it is actually kind of floral. This steep is much more enjoyable. The flavors are a bit stronger and the flavor has really evolved. I really like this steep! The chocolate is sweet and a nice foreground for the tang of the strawberry. Still no rose flavor really, so I will make sure to get some rose in there next time….

Overall a nice tea. I probably won’t repurchase this but is a nice treat and I’ll enjoy it while it lasts!

Hmmm, yes this was great!
Not the tea I had intended to order, in fact I had planned to make one from my own stock, but I was passing by while running an errand and figured I had to get a cup! I’m stressed out from studying for an exam I have coming up and that usually leads to me making poor financial decisions (not that I’m making excuses! just sayin)
Oh yah the tea…
At first sip I couldn’t taste the chocolate much, so I added a swirl of agave and it brought up the notes quite nicely. I don’t like that the agave was needed but atleast I’ve found a chocolate tea I enjoy! most of them either have mint or taste like a chemical brew. Somehow, its almost creamy. Maybe from the chocolate? Funny, I’ve never seen that before. Most of the time, any choco chips don’t melt, or so I’ve noticed. The second infusion was less creamy but had less agave and was just overall lighter. Still great!
In both infusions, the roses, chocolate and strawberries blend well together. It reminds me of my Rose Congou Emperor, only sans the cocoa. I wonder, what would happen if I added a few chips to my congou??? :P
Too bad they are so similar… I can’t justify buying any of this one til my congou is gone.

sweet…and nice! it smells really good. the black tea is not strong but i like it just as it is :)

i have nothing to say about this tea exactly. i don’t taste the chocolate covered strawberries but i WANT TO! i WISH i did.

what i wanna say is that I FUCKING LOVE STEEPSTER! i wanna spend all day here and just try all 88 of my teas in a cyclical pattern and think about art and books and movies and tell you all about them and listen to your stories and loves.
mad fact.

This tastes like Lip Smackers! Chocolate, strawberry, cherry and maybe even Dr. Pepper Lip Smackers. Husband took a sip of it, said it was too hot, but smelled like coffee and tasted “like that rice thing with the, the sencha!” Sigh, no dear, I’ll brew the genmaicha next, but this is certainly not it. Chocolate covered strawberries in lip gloss form, no doubt. Thanks Traveling Tea Box for bringing up late elementary school memories.

Got this in a swap with Emilie, thanks again!

This smells fantastic, mmm chocolate covered strawberries. The liquor it’s a really pretty deep orange-red.
Really lovely flavor, dark and delicious. Definitely a cocoa taste and not just a “we dumped chocolate syrup in it” taste, which is great. The strawberry mingles really well and I pick it up as a bit of an aftertaste. Yummy!

My other chocolate tea. Purchased last night. I was swept away by the strawberry smells and the very mild chocolate aspect. This evening as I stared at the snow that seems to be 6 feet deep I thought I’d give it a go. The mild chocolate aroma became much stronger when steeped, and really became the front flavour. It reminds me strongly of chocolates with strawberry in them…You know, the strange creamy strawberry chocolates that always disappear from the box right away, along with the caramels. Anyway, it’s quite nice. Probably good to have on hand for the occasion when I want it, but not something I could imagine drinking every day. Maybe only in winter..

I went to de-cupboard this today and discovered it’s not in my cupboard in the first place. ANOTHER ONE, HEAVENS!

I recall being quite disappointed by this one after Read My Lips. Of the two, Read My Lips is by far David’s superior chocolate tea. I was not exactly in love with this one at first. Har har.

I also recall that I started off steeping this one at my “cautious” black steeping time of 3 minutes, which I gradually learned is a mistake with DT’s blacks, which generally need a good 4 or 5 minutes to get the best flavour. (Actually, I’ve learned that it’s a mistake with many blacks, unless I plan to try for extra steeps – which I admittedly don’t do often because I’m too fickle most days to drink the same tea twice in a row. The number of blacks which need a shorter steep are vastly outnumbered by those that can stand up to a longer one.) At three minutes, this had next-to-no strawberry flavour – the strawberries were overwhelmed by the chocolate, which nevertheless had a flimsiness to it, a lack of richness.

At four or five minutes, this one is way better, with the strawberries coming out to balance the chocolate. It’s a very enjoyable mix of chocolate and berry sweetness.

I know that, and yet, the last two cups in this bag just haven’t been as good as I know this one can be. Maybe it has just gotten too old, who knows. I will have to re-visit this one at some point, but for now, I have too many to drink up to re-purchase it.

Man, I really don’t like being unable to click to take this out of my cupboard. I miss having the closure here.

I think I’ve had this one before but can never for the life of me remember it the next time. It is a tasty chocolate-strawberry blend, even if the rose gives it a bit of a floral edge I’m not fond of. The chocolate is similarly low-key; the overwhelming flavour I got was the dried strawberries. And they really tasted like dried strawberries – which isn’t a bad thing. If you’ve never had dried strawberries, a) why the hell not? and b) you’re dumb, because they are freaking delicious. Like little chewy candies of nature.

While it was tasty, it was also forgettable. For chocolate blends, I’d go for some Read My Lips or Chocolate Orange over this one.

I don’t know why I have waited this long to add this to my stash, err, cupboard, but I am glad I picked some up today(!). It’s just such a nice and cozy feeling/tasty tea! I mean, who doesn’t like chocolate and strawberries? This is just one of those teas I was aware of, but kept getting sidetracked with new and new and new teas.

I will say that I am drinking this the British way, with milk and sugar…it’s pretty much the de facto way here in Victoria. Since moving here, I tend to drink my darker teas this way. Some oolongs I will have just with sugar though. But honestly, I think adding milk and sugar makes this creamier and juicier than if drunk straight.

I only got about $3 worth, but that was still 26g, so not bad. I think I will probably refill this.

Mm this is a nice tea.
I swapped with a friend who found it too flowery – well it can certainly get syruppy and heady and strooong with too much leaf and too long of a steep.
I almost got headachy, but on my resteep it has mellowed out just enough.

The rose does seem to overwhelm, I don’t get much strawberry but the chocolate is there for sure! I feel like a queen when I drink this, and I wouldn’t trade that for anything. Thank you friend Kelly!

Tried this one as a sample last night. I had it in the store months ago as a sample and didn’t like it at all. So when I got the sample in my last order I was thinking of giving it away. But it has so many things I like I decided to say “what the heck” and give it a shot. Well I loved it. So good. I will defiantely be rebuying this one.

Meh this is alright. It’s chocolatey, but artificially so. I’m not getting any strawberry flavour from it, nor the rose thankfully.
I do think this tea made me feel, well umm funny. It was almost anxiety like, but less panicky.

Anywho this won’t be a tea that I stock. I probably wouldnt have finished the tea off had there been more than just the one mug.

This one is so good! Chocolatey and raspberryish and hot and comforting. Definitely getting more for next winter. Yummo.

What’s in your tea cup first thing in the morning?

Today? THIS ONE!

I am not a fan of rose petals in my tea, (though I will eat them with day lily petals on a bagel with cream cheese) but I must say they add a little something special to this tea, I think when I get my new (and first) teapot today, I will be enjoying me the last of this while I sit at home reading tonight!

But I digress, I am still not able to discern astringency and all those other notes that are in tea, unless I over steep it and today I (oops! sigh) over steeped this one, but a little cream and this will go down easy and in just enough time to choose another tea to put in my to-go cup and head to work!

Oh I love this. I’ve tried Valentine’s from Adagio and didn’t care much for it, but this I like a lot. It tastes more like the real thing…chocolate covered strawberries.

I’m getting a lot of chocolate, especially in the aftertaste. Not picking up too much on the rose, which is totally fine by me. The strawberry scent was more prevalent for me in the dry leaf.

Next time I order from DavidsTea I am getting more of this. Thanks for sending me some to try, cheetah_pita!