Chocolate Orange Slice

I closed my eyes and pointed and ended up with another Della Terra Teas blend. I gotta say, I’m getting really spoiled here. I also kind of feel like I’m starting to sound like a broken record with my unbridled glee. Every time I feel like a blend couldn’t be better, couldn’t be more accurate, I get one that is. This is such a blend.

For the third time in two days, I wanted to eat the tea. It just smells so much like those chocolate oranges that it’s hard to resist the temptation. I haven’t had one of those chocolate oranges in years, either, which makes it even harder! But I resisted and patiently brewed my tea. The balance was way off in the blend’s fragrance, and this worried me: where the dry tea smelled just like a chocolate orange, the brew smelled mostly (maybe entirely, now that I think about it) like chocolate. I was worried that the orange would be absent from the flavour, as well.

My experience is that DT blends don’t re-steep well. At least, the past two black tea blends that I’ve tried to steep for a second time (Oatmeal Raisin Cookie¹ and Dubbele Chocolade²) were both really weak, even after steeping for 10 minutes. My experience is also that the recommended 3-minute steep time really doesn’t pack the flavourful punch I expect. Therefore, I’ve decided to steep just once for about 5 minutes and call it a day.

The chocolate-orange balance was restored in the flavour (and actually appeared in the brew’s fragrance, too, after it’d cooled a bit). It’s quite good unsweetened (my sweet tooth prevents me from thinking any tea can be “amazing” unsweetened, but this is really pretty good), but it’s delicious after being sweetened a bit. I’m going to be thinking about it until tomorrow, when I can next have more caffeinated tea.

Tea amount: 1 level tsp/~4.75g
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: ¾ tsp demerara sugar

¹ http://steepster.com/bleepnik/posts/137359

² http://steepster.com/bleepnik/posts/137472

Just gotta write a couple super quick notes. I got my Della Terra order yesterday!!!! Just in time to be able to hit up weekend sales if I so choose :D Got started immediately, and brewed this up last night. I have to say… it’s EXACTLY what I was hoping for! Chocolatey and orangey. More like a Terry’s dark chocolate orange than milk, but it was completely true to the name. It’s pretty much what I wanted DavidsTea’s Oh Christmas Treat/Chocolate Orange to be, but there’s no risk of fishiness here! And I even oversteeped this one by accident, and it was still great. I used ~3 heaping tsp to a Timolino full of water, and it was perfect.

Also, this wwasn’t even a tea I ordered in my Try Me packs – it was a free sample! Awesome!!

So with my samples I may be able to figure out what sort of Della Terra Teas i’m less a fan of. In this case I’m beginning to think it’s the chocolate teas. This tea smells AMAAAAZING. It’s exactly like a chocolate orange chocolate. However, after brewing it and tasting it..it’s a chocolate tea…with a hint of orange spice at the end of it. I’ve got more of this sample left to try so we’ll see if i can figure out how to improve on the brewing paramters.

Chocolate!! and Orange! Oh yes this is good. I can taste it quite clearly despite being sick!! Mucho thanks to Sil for the sample :)
It’s a little heavy for my liking, I may have overleafed the cup. Next time, less leaf, longer infusion!
I love that there is no sugar required, yet I’m getting quite a bit of smooth citrus rind, along with an overall impression of chocolate.
Can’t wait to have a second cup now :)

I won this very generous amount of tea in one of the Della Terra giveaways. Unfortunately, it arrived at my school mail box just after I had left for the holidays. I was very interested in trying this, as one of the first loose leaf teas I ever tried was David’s Teas Chocolate Orange Puerh. I was really interested in how this compares with that, so ended up drinking this before trying all the winter Della Terra teas I received from my mom for Christmas.

It smells really good in the bag. When I first opened it, I was hit with a wonderful smell very much like the chocolate oranges you see at Christmas time. Unfortunately, I let it steep while working on homework, and let it go for much too long. I’m not sure exactly how long, but it was definitely enough to become bitter. I’m really excited about this one, so I’m sure I’ll try it again soon and pay special attention to make sure I do it properly! Hopefully it tastes as lovely as it smells.

Cavocorax sent me a sample of this to try :D I was hoping to compare it to DT’s Chocolate Orange pu’erh which I hadn’t enjoyed at all because of the earthy/fishy taste. :S

Steeped 5 minutes and tried it unsweetened. I taste a lot of orange but not so much the chocolate. It’s still really nice though, although a bit weak? I wouldn’t want to add cream to this because then it would taste like nothing, but I do like it. :D

This smells nicely like dark chocolate. I hadn’t had much luck with chocolate teas, but I like the flavour of this one a lot. And I liked the hints of citrus. (Though I did have it with oranges… which only made it better).

My order finally arrived! Now I have all the flavoured blacks, holiday blends and rooibos! That’s 8 new teas. Annnnnnd, that’ll probably be it for awhile. :)

I love how this smells dry, and while it was steeping the chocolate and orange scent took over my house. We were on a hurry so I poured it in my timolino and zipped out.

It’s tasty, but much like my orange sample from Zen Tea, it seems a little thin flavor-wise. I’ll add more tea next time, or make a smaller cup, then rate it.

Strong dark chocolate and orange aroma; the flavor is somewhat weak, though it improves with sugar. I liked this very much, though the flavors block out the flavor of the tea, the origin of which I am not sure. Although I really enjoy this flavor, I think I prefer to taste the natural flavor of the tea rather than any added flavors. I tried resteeping this tea, but it didn’t work – the chocolate pieces had already melted with the first steeping, and all that was left was a weak orange flavor.

Why is this rating not higher?? It legit tastes just like those chocolate covered oranges that you smack while they’re in the foil and they break into slices. I feel like I don’t drink enough dessert teas with fruit in them, just the caramel chocolate marshmallow cake kind of things. This is delectable, the orange flavor is really apparent, it’s the first thing I notice.

I can’t quite smell the orange in the brewed cup of tea, but it smells VERY milk chocolaty. The chocolate flavor is a little more subtle, you get a malty feel with a fruity flavor. I like this balance, I’m going to enjoy this tea a lot!

Just want to add a shout-out to Della Terra Teas here. I was putting in an order for some half-price Halloween specials, and I put a note asking if they were still offering samples with an order (the Facebook page wasn’t clear). I requested this one if they were, and they sent me a very generous, full 1 oz sample. I am very impressed by their customer service!!

This one smells EXACTLY like a Terry’s chocolate orange. Unfortunately the flavour was just a little off for me, too heavy on the chocolate and too light on the orange. It was better with cream and a touch of sugar than it was just straight. Reviewing the tea info, I see it says to steep for 2-3 minutes and I did much longer than that – maybe the taste is my own fault. I might also try blending this with another tea.

I definitely taste chocolate, but I find the orange to be lacking. The tea has very generous chunks of orange, so I expected more the flavor to come through. Overall, a pretty decent chocolate tea but nothing special.

The dry tea smells like a slightly sugary dark chocolate truffle. The tea smells very sweet, and of cocobutter mixed with orange flower water.

The first taste is suprisingly bitter compared to the smell but in a good way like biting into good dark chocolate, there is a faint hint of vanilla. The orange flavour is not strong in my first sips. It is more like a faint hint of a memory in aftertaste, leaving a faint taste at the top and front of the mouth you get when drinking an orange liquor after the burn of alcohol has receeded. The orange flavour is very soft again almost floral. It doesnt taste of alcohol.

The tea base is very smooth, but does not have a strong presence. The flavour blends with other flavours and may be adding the hint of bitterness. The tea remains sweet while drinking. It has gone to my head a liitle bit like a sugar rush. In the 2nd steep the orange is more present, and is closer to a fruity, fresh orange flavour than floral orange. The chocolate is still present. Nice dessert tea.

I received this tea in my Mystery Box and it has turned out to be a staple for me. I’m not a big fan of Sees chocolates with the creamy fruit centers, BUT this actually does taste exactly like one with an orange flavored center and I LOVE IT.