Stormy Night (organic)

I must be doing something wrong, or maybe my taste buds are on the fritz? The flavors are a lot weaker than I was expecting.

Cinnamon is the only flavor that I can identify among all the ingredients. After brewing this according to the instructions, I tasted some…ugh…weak. I decided to brew it longer. Much longer. I actually forgot it brewing while I emptied the dishwasher and replied to emails.

On the up side, despite my careless over-steeping, it doesn’t taste bitter; unfortunately the flavors still seem weak. I believe the best word to describe this is – muddy. Not in a dirt kind of way, but rather, that the flavors blend so much that they somehow cancel each other out. The only one that stands out a bit is the cinnamon. I expected “stormy night” to have bold flavors to conjure images of thunder and lightning. Instead it is more like the aftermath of a windstorm – messy.

Sigh…. disappointed :(

In my various trips to David’s tea, I somehow bought 3 separate 25g pouches of this. I’m contemplating returning my 2 unopened ones, unless someone can tell me how to fix this. Any suggestions?

It is very hard not to eat the chocolate chunks out of this tea – they are freaking amazingly yummy.
The tea is okay! I prefer others, but it is a nice chocolatey cinnamon tea, almost like a mexican hot chocolate.

Eh, this one is not quite what I was expecting. It brews up quite murky, and with an offputting aroma that I can’t quite place. It’s a little reminiscent of Super Chocolate or Dr. Chocolate (carob??) The flavour is surprisingly weak, given the aroma, and mostly tastes of murky cocoa and cinnamon. The mouthfeel is drying though not astringent – kind of like getting chunks of chalk in your mouth. I can’t taste the coconut at all here either.

I have enough left in my bag for another shot at this one, but I’m really disappointed :( This is definitely one of the least tasty teas from DavidsTea I have tasted.

I keep putting off reviewing this. I’m so stuffed from a randomly put together Thanksgiving meal, but nonetheless, I need to report to the world about this tea!

I’ve had it twice already. The dry leaf smells a lot heavier on the cinnamon than I was expecting. It’s like dry ground cinnamon. The other notes are quite weak. I was hoping to get more coconut, especially since the shreds are so delicate.

Once steeped, it also smells like ground cinnamon. Kind of like Super Chocolate but with a different tea base. The taste is also like that. But! Luckily, the soy creamer brings out the vanilla and coconut in this. Makes it taste more like a baked treat.

I’m a little disappointed in it. Was expecting a better balance of flavours. It’s a cozy tea for sure, but out of the new ones this fall, I still prefer Toasted Marshmallow.

in my opinion this tea is understated and classy. it’s also the first tea i am logging while using my new computer! this screen is huge. it feels so wrong, but it also feels so right.

i swear, the first time i had this tea i was like ‘meh it’s nice enough’.
but it’s really hitting the spot this morning.
it’s honest. cinnamon and vanilla black tea.
and snow is on the ground here for the first time this season. school/work was delayed 2 hours. and i have a book to read and tea to drink.

I may need to steep this one longer. It tasted a bit like coconut water.

Other than not being able to taste black tea in here whatsoever, it wasn’t too bad because thankfully I like coconut. It smelled better than it tasted though.

I’ve got enough to make maybe 2 more cups so I’ll be steeping it a bit longer and hoping that works better. It smelled like cinnamon and chocolate (and black tea) while steeping but it just didn’t transfer that well or something.

As the days get colder and the winds of autumn grow in their intensity this tea hits the spot. Tried this one today at the Hillside branch of DAVIDs Tea and its fantastic. Had a similar but richer nuance than the earlier Toasted Marshmallow. It gave a feeling of being wrapped in a warm blanket and sitting by the fireplace all nice and cosy. The smell was fantastic and the taste was a perfect compliment to the morning’s errand rush, made everything more relaxed. I’ll most likely take this one with me tonight at my late night lecture. Thanks for another winner!

Another tea sample my family brought me from Canada! I can’t wait to try this one as this looks up my alley.

DRY: Strong cinnamon scent. Huge chunks of chocolate, very rustic looking tea. The chocolate tasted good too.

STEEPED: Cinnamony and chocolate smell, weird film on the top of the light brown tea. Little murky and debris floating in this tea that my Steeper didn’t catch.

TASTE: Warm cinnamony, deep earthy black tea, slight creamyness from coconut or vanilla. The main flavor of this tea is cinnamon though.
Sweetened, I think the chocolate flavor comes out a bit more.

Oddly, my last cup from my tea pot was REALLY weak! Huh? I’m thinking all the weird floating debris carried the flavors.

COMMENTS: I disliked Dr. Chocolate/Spiced Carob – SN is very similar but lacks the stuff I disliked about Dr. SC – cardamon /waves fist! However, yeah, kinda weak flavor. Kinda close to Cocoa Canela, but not as spicy! I’d say this tea is the least spicy of the 3.

Not bad, I’m sure there are plenty of peeps who would like this tea, it’s very fall like, warm cinnamon and chocolate. I’m thinking it needs nuts for another layer of flavoring as it’s too close to Dr Spice Chocolate Carob and Cocoa Canela vibe.

It’s funny, when I took my first big sniff of this glorious aroma in store and ordered a cup to go, my girlfriend looked at me with that knowing look of hers and told me I should get a packet of it to bring home. I should mention that she doesn’t like vanilla or coconut in tea, but she knows me and my tea tastes pretty darn well.

I scoffed at her and said I just wanted to try it, so we left with just my cup to go. After I had my first sip, I let out a big sigh. Yep, she was right. I LOVE this. How could I not? It has several of my favourite tea flavours all combined into one warm, creamy, sweet, comforting cup.

It’s very rich, in that chocolatey coconut way, and has a smooth nuttiness to it too. Yum! These flavours just work so well together. It just begs to be made like a chai, on the stove with milk. I think that would really make the flavours pop.

This tea is somehow familiar, in the best way. Something about the way the flavours all meld together really reminds me of something happy and delicious from my childhood.

My only real gripe is that it has the dreaded signature DT sludge. Why they couldn’t have just used chocolate flavouring and those mini chocolate chips rather than big chunks of oily, messy milk chocolate is beyond me. I really hate the oily scum! But I look past it, because this tea is all kinds of wonderful.

So next time my girl tells me to buy a tea, I’m just going to get the damn tea! She knows best, as I’ve now got a 50g pouch of this that will likely be replaced when it’s gone. This is the first new tea from David’s that I’ve really loved since blueberry jam.

5 minute since i’m back from the store with 25g of that one and one of the new clear glass perfect cup ( the dry branch i just love that model next thing is the dry branch tea pot before they change the model for the holiday and on the counter behind them near the tea was a gongfu glass tea pot and is box did not have time to ask them the price but next time i will for sure since it was no where in the store except there maybe a new product) steeping it right now as i write this

The dry leaf have a smell i can’t identify it’s smell like no ingredient that is in it once steeped the cinnamon aroma take all the place the brownish color is just amazing in a cup with dry branch in front of it make me feel like i’m in a forest :) and with the heavy fog that is outside i don’t know it’s just fit with the smell( ya i know i’m weird sometimes :P but i totally assume it) there is a little oil floating on the tea probably from the coconut but a lot of tea with nut in it do that so it’s ok with me

The taste: now i’ve steeped it 5 minute the bag say 4 to 6 i like to be in the middle of the suggested time when it’s a tea i don’t know i taste a little nuance of cinnamon taste but i do feel the cinnamon on my tongue taht little spicy effect but that all no chocolate no vanilla and no coconut even no black tea bitterness maybe it’s one of those tea i should put some honey in it and all the flavor will get out it’s not bad but i feel like i could just put cinnamon in water and get the same thing so no note till i give it more try

The mug: i love glass mug since i like to see my tea it’s mostly how i know when it ready for me and i just love all the amazing color different tea give us and i love the dry branch model! ( as i already said it ) i know it suppose to be glass but i just can’t get the idea out of my head that the mug feel like plastic the top feel like glass but not the mug itself i was nearly tempted to squeeze it to see if it will bend a little like plastic but i didn’t lol if it’s glass i don’t really want glass in my hand

Dry Leaf Nose: Malty with chocolate, cinnamon, and vanilla notes.

Liquor: Pale amber colour.

Flavour: Rich, malty chocolate with sweet cinnamon and vanilla notes. Black tea underpins the flavour, while the coconut adds a tropical note at the finish.

Mini sipdown! 15g samples are the best thing.

I found this one to be on the boring side of things but it’s not a bad “tea”, or maybe “diet hot chocolate blend” would be a better label. The coconut and cocoa makes it creamy and smooth and the cinnamon gives it some flavour. Not a fan of the oil islands on the surface but that seems to be an inescapable trait with ingredients like these. Super scummy.

Like many DT’s, the base is nearly undetectable. I found this drinkable with or without milk. It sort of looks like it has something in it already, anyways.

Meh. This tea did nothing for me today. It might be my buds are off, or that it was prepared too weak, but I got a hint of cinnamon and not much else. I got the same feeling with Toasted Marshmallow. It was ok, but not stellar. I might buy 15-20 just for me to try it once or twice more, but honestly, there are other teas that I like so much better anyway, I likely won’t bother.

This was just meh for me. The chocolate was there but it reminded me too much of Dr. Chocolate or Super Chocolate. It is ok as kind of a Mexican hot chocolate, but not even close to what I was expecting. The flavours don’t really meld well together in my opinion.
Oh well, so many other delicious chocolate teas to choose from!

This is alright, but not as good as I was expecting when I first bought it. The chocolate is there, and the cinnamon, but the vanilla tastes a little weird. I think it’s because of the coconut. Mehhhh.

This is a tea version of hot chocolate. That is all I have to say.

Storm of…chocolate? David really was up to something when he crafted this. It’s true, you really need a big amount to taste the black tea base, coconut and vanilla. This is primarily malty chocolate and cinnamon.
Conversely, it is delightful and does the trick. It reminds me of my favorite swedish dessert, the Pepparkakor (spicy cinnamon cookies). Actually, I’m going to make some and dip them in Stormy Night. On a stormy night. How comforting and cute.

I had to toss some mini chocolate chips into my tin because I ate most of the chocolate chunks out of it…They’re like pieces of mini toblerone, and I LOVE toblerone!!!

I definitely prefer SN to Super Chocolate, I’m not a huge fan of cinnamon and green tea, and find Super Chocolate to bee too strong. I gave what I had of it to a friend who loves it.

As much as I like it, I feel like it would be better with an oolong base. I actually drink it exclusively blended with Spiced Carob/Dr Chocolate to get the oolong component I feel it’s missing. The sweetness of the coconut and vanilla balance out the bite of the cardamom in the Dr Chocolate, which in turn lets me enjoy it more as I’m not a huge fan of cardamom.

Because I really don’t drink it on its own, I don’t feel like it’s fair to give it a rating. It’s a great tea, but I kind of wish it would have been an oolong and replaced Dr Chocolate/Spiced Carob.

I’ve finally gotten around to trying this! Bought a Tea of the Month pack a few weeks back for one reason: it smells just like these amazing cinnamon rolls that a shop by my place used to sell. Right down to the icing. That’s it. Sometimes it’s a bit more chocolate-y, but, well, that’s not a problem for me. And, I’ll be honest: it even tastes like them a bit. I thought it was a long shot, because smelling AND tasting like my favourite cinnamon rolls? Too much to ask. But it actually does.

The assistant who helped me when I bought this said that it was a great alternative to hot chocolate, to which I thought: hah, ‘alternative’.

One thing I definitely would have done is brew this stronger. I used about 1 and a half teaspoons in one of my larger pots, about 2.5 cups, because I tend to be careful when brewing new black teas for the first time, but I would definitely recommend both steeping a bit longer and using more tea to get the sweetness and flavour from the chocolate bits, cinnamon, and everything else to their full strengths.

In terms of a creamer, I tried it with some vanilla soy milk and it was quite nice, but I think this tea deserves full dairy, at least 2% milk or Half & Half. The extra vanilla didn’t add much, but a chocolate flavoured non-dairy might be better. I imagine almond milk would also do very nicely with it. But for me, especially since it’s such a sweet and decadent tea by itself, I think going the full way with a creamer would definitely be called for.

I sweetened it with both honey and brown sugar and brown sugar was definitely better. The honey didn’t add sweetness so much as its own flavour, and I wasn’t particularly fond of the result when mixed with the tea. Your mileage may vary, I suppose, but definitely a sugar for me if I even do want this sweetend.

All in all, it’s a decent tea, and something very good for the fall and winter, but I haven’t fallen in love with it. The liquor is very dark, obviously, but there’s also a very definite oily sheen to it. I’ve noticed this in a few other blends from David’s, like their Blood Orange Pu’erh, but particularly with their teas that have flavouring added, whether it’s natural or artificial. Some might not appreciate seeing that in their cup.

All in all, it’s a warm, winter tea; not for icing, not something I’ll be stocking up on regularly, but I’ll enjoy it while I have it.

wow look at those chunks! chocolatey goodness!

Dry leaves: in the bag all i can smell is the vanilla extract. once i let them sit in the cup a while and breathe i can pick up the chocolate and cinnamon

steeping: nice reddish brown color and a lovely oil slick there at the top, mmm this is gonna be good lol. smells like cinnamon oatmeal with a hint of chocolate

time to taste: not too sweet, nice cinnamon flavor, the chocolate gives it a nice richness and the vanilla rounds it out very nicely.

I like it!