Ceylon Star

Despite not being someone who cares for chocolate teas all that much, I keep trying them out thinking I’ll find one that I love. Finally, I think I’ve found the one!

I love the aroma of this one — lots of coconut and white chocolate with undertones of licorice-y (in the best of ways) star anise. The liquor is a bit cloudy and smells like spicy, creamy coconut. The most prominent flavor is coconut with star anise adding a spicy kick. While not the strongest of flavors, I can definitely tell that white chocolate is an ingredient. Together with the coconut, it makes a decadently creamy experience. I bet this would make a great latte.

Thanks for sharing, CrowKettle!

So the first time I had this I thought it was amazing. Kinda spicy chai without being, well, spicy chai…if that makes any sense. Lol!
I’ve been entertaining getting the 250g that’s on sale at DavidsTea right now, but figured I’d make this again just to be sure. Now I’m even more on the fence before.
I remember it being amazing, but this cup is just so-so. I had originally steeped it for 4 min, but it tasted so watery that I dropped the basket back in for another 2 min.
I have a feeling that this was under leafed for the cup I used, since it was a pain to get an actual measure out of this what with the big chunks of star anise & coconut in the blend. I should’ve picked out at least the star anise, measured my cup, then added a few pieces after.
It smells the same as it should, but the cup itself is kinda weak and meh. Disappointing. Though at this point I’m not sure if it’s the measure’s fault, or that I was over-hyping the brew in my head. Lol.

I am busy with a tea booze experiment to write anything lengthy right now, but this is the jist……. I love it. I bought it on sale for $15 for 250 grams and I might buy more at sale price.

Hmm…I like this! I’m a fan of licorice in small doses, however. If you aren’t, you probably won’t like this.

I actually was a bit surprised – this tea has more of a licorice kick than I thought. Sweet black licorice would probably be the best way to describe the taste. A bit of creaminess from the white chocolate. Perfect for a cold night.

Dry: Pretty blend of loose black tea and what appears to be broken pieces of star anise. There are also orange bits that I am guessing are tea-stained coconut from the ingredient list. I don’t see any cocoa or white chocolate nibs in the blend, but can taste it once brewed. Dry leaf smells sweet with a hint of spice and cocoa.

Steeped: This brews into a slightly cloudy gold-brown liquor with a very slight film. The aroma is that same sweet-spice and chocolate from the dry leaf that is really quite appealing and makes me think of the cooler months ahead.

Taste: At first, I thought this was rather bland with nothing really standing out. As it cooled a little though, the Ceylon tea is quite lovely. The star anise is a flavor I never really appreciated in cooking, but it is nice in this tea. The cocoa adds a warm sweet note to what is already pleasant to begin with. I wasn’t getting much in the way of coconut, but it didn’t seem like it was missing it either. This was noticeably weaker in the second steep, I don’t think it would hold up to three without losing considerable strength.

I didn’t think I’d like this tea because I hate anything remotely licorice, but it turns out I actually like Ceylon Star for what it is worth. Not my favorite tea ever, but certain worth giving it a go for a sweet and relaxing experience.

I find myself torn with this tea.

In reading the description I was so excited to try, even though I had never actually had star of anise before. I got so excited I almost bought it without even smelling it at the David’s store (new location on 6th ave!!) However at the last minute I noticed that licorice notes were in the description and that can go either way with me. However, it still smelled delicious enough, so I had to give it a try.

We have a small teaball at work, and although not my usual, preferred method, I couldn’t wait to try it. It was a challenge just packing what appeared to be a good representation of the blend into the teaball. I decided to stick with the tealeaves and coconut in the ball and allow a single star of anise to float freely in my cup. It looks very fancy!

I love the initial flavors, however the aftertaste reminds me of mints I had when I was younger (and despised). They were chalky white, but when you sucked on them a black, bitter/licorice-tasting and seed-like filling was in the center. I just can’t shake the comparison.

I think I need to try a few more cups before I make this decision – I do so want to like it!!

I was attacked by the strong aroma of coconut when I opened the packet, which surprised me because I thought it was a pure Ceylon tea! And I was even more surprised to know that the “star” in its name came from one of its ingredients, star anise!!

I didn’t know what to expect as the combination of ingredients was rather unusual to me. The tea didn’t look too appetizing when brewed because there were oil droplets floating around… I guess the culprit was white chocolate? The tea was sweet and strongly coco-nutty. Too bad I am not a fan of coconut (but seems many blends from DAVIDsTEA contain it?). Then after a few sips, I realized that black tea + mild cocoa flavour + licorice-like flavour of star anise gave a taste that strangely resembled tie guan yin!! Indeed, this tea was so light that it’s more like an oolong than black tea. Overall, an interesting tea that’s worth trying at least once.

Second cup of the day: a nice mug of Ceylon Star.

Dry, this smells like chocolate through and through. The mix is so pretty with the whole star anise and coconut flakes. Once brewed, the tea has a much milder chocolate scent. I don’t get the spicy, licorice scent that others are getting, but then again, I still getting over this cold.

This tastes soooooooo good! I can taste the chocolate and coconut. The star anise is just in the background as a mild spiciness. Not licorice, which I was worried it would be. Adding a tiny bit of sugar accented the chocolate. Adding 2% milk didn’t enhance the tea at all, but it didn’t detract from it either. All in all, I’m glad I picked this one up.

So I tried this tea on Christmas eve and yesturday while visiting a david’s tea store. For a while I have been looking for a tea that has that chocolately soemthing that I wanted. And this makes me happy. I think I finally found it. Funny thing is that I didn’t notice the chocolate, my fiancee did. It really is just a delicious tea, no wonder is is the tea of the month for december. :) It really is a wintery treat.

This was a sample from one of my DT orders. I was kind of hoping I wouldn’t like it much…..since I do not need more black tea! …..but……it’s good! I like licorice and chocolate so…..I didn’t stand a chance! The licorice is soft flavor, kind of spicy, like a melted twizzler?……a nice milky cocoa taste too….sometimes I think Davids mixes too many flavors together……but in this case, it all works ! Licorice, spice, cocoa creamy good!

I have a ton of black tea, and many on the “need to try” list, so won’t rush to buy this right away but would be great morning or work day tea that I would buy again sometime for sure!