Griottes (Chocolate Cherry)

cherry cough syrup drizzled on inferior quality chocolate? apparently. ick. Not a fan of this one in the least. It’s not a terrible tea but i for sure would prefer to not drink it than drink it since there are so many other teas out there that have better flavour and tea notes to them. Happy to have tried it but that’s about as far as that goes. eesh

Happy Tuesday, MASSIVE TEA ORDER came my way today!

Oh, I’m the first to review this one!

Things really got out of control on Black Friday…I just happen to be one of the lucky gal who took advantage of Della Terra 60% off sale and, well, let’s just say that instead of spending less, I just ordered twice as much of what I would have at regular price…that leaves me with 15 pouches to try. Tea binge. And yes, storage has become a serious problem…

I came across Della Terra in the search of a new flavored tea retailer… my long time regular flavored tea shop was a disappointment in the last year of so, I don’t want to bash on them cause they still offer outstanding customer service, but quality is just not what it used to, so I turn to others to meet my standards.

I do enjoy desert tea but I’m super picky… I will try a ratio of ten to find one I really like. With real food, I’m not a fan of anything super sweet (except maple syrup!), but rich dark chocolate is the way to go if you want to win me over. Cherries being among my favorite fruits, I tell you, this tea had me drooling at its name…

Out of all 15 huge pouches, that’s the one that got me on a frenzy, searching like a maniac, tossing all the other bags… I could hear their screams «pick me! pick me!», but nope, Griottes was the chosen one.

I was so hoping it would meet my expectations…and it did just that!!

The dry blend smells fantastic, but I picked just a hint of sourness that got me worried a little. However, it just translated as a hint of tartness, which paired beautifully the richness of the chocolate.

Think plump luscious and juicy cherries dipped in decadent dark chocolate. As simple as that.

I haven’t had one in years, but the wet leaves kind of smell like Cherry Blossom candy bar!

The steep time recommended was 2-3 minutes. I have to mention that was not enough for me, way too watery. I steeped it 4min 30sec to get the richness I wanted.

Having said that, black flavored teas often turn bitter if over steeped, so better start with shorter time and adjust according to what you like.

Great job on this Della Terra!

Hmm, this smells like a chocolate tea. No cherry at all…? Just a bit of a perfumey, possibly floral aroma. The flavour, not surprisingly, is mostly chocolate and perfume. Almost like… rose water. I definitely am not picking up cherry.

I admittedly did just buy this one on a whim (I dislike chocolate-covered cherries, mostly because I dislike maraschino cherries), and although it’s better than it could have been, I was really hoping for some solid cherry flavour! In spite of that though, and the fact that I’ve mentioned that it tastes like perfume, this tea really isn’t so bad. It’s actually growing on me a bit as I sip it, so although I don’t think I’d ever buy it again, I will manage to finish the bag!

I received this blend in a swap with TheTeaFairy
Let me explain first what a swap with TheTeaFairy means ! I received sooooo many teas, that’s incredible, all in small bags with different coloured stickers, using a colour code for the kind of tea and wearing a diamond or pearl sticker to mention the prefered blends !
Waouh I am so impressed, really.Thank you so much !

So I decided to visit first the orange flower serie, the black flavoured teas and this one first.

It’s not bad but not exceptional neither.
I was expecting cherries I mostly get a chocolate tea.It smells, it tastes chocolate, I am not really able to get cherry.I get something fruity but not cherry.
I think the flavours used here may not be 100% natural, but I may be wrong.
I am happy to have been given the opportunity to taste it, thank you again TheTeaFairy

della terra chocolate tea. pretty much i love them all. i had this and then a lapsang after, and the chocolate scent was still in my head and nose. the della terra chocolate tones linger with me. it’s a specific kind of moment from my youth kind of sense memory thing. hard to explain.

Backlog from yesterday morning.

Steep notes: 2 tsp. leaf, 14 oz. water, a splash of milk.

This smells and tastes like chocolate covered cherries! That awesome part of the chocolate taste that I did like from Dubbele Chocolade is present here, without the aftertaste that I didn’t like so much. The cherry flavor is perfect, too – it blends perfectly with the chocolate.

As far as the mouthfeel – the milk really gives this a thicker, chewy texture that takes this from good to decadent. Sigh – I wish I had more than an ounce of this!

I was a bit hesitant to purchase this one. I love chocolate covered cherries (especially dark chocolate ones) but a few reviews compared the flavor to cherry cough syrup and that made me nervous. I like real cherries, but do not like cherry flavored things. Still, the lure of a chocolate-covered cherry tea was too much, so I gave in. The dry leaves smell perfectly of rich dark chocolate with a tangy sweet cherry note. The tea’s aroma is of medicinal cherry (but not too mediciney) with a hint of sweet chocolate. There is a pretty sweet cherry and chocolate flavor and finish, with a strong cherry aftertaste that lingers. Without milk and sweetener, that strong cherry aftertaste reminded me a little too much of cherry cough syrup. However, with milk and sweetener it becomes a cup of liquid chocolate covered cherry. Over the holidays, my mom and I always purchase a few boxes of the cheap Queen Anne’s chocolate covered cherries and the flavor of this tea reminds me of those. It’s not the most authentic cherry flavor, which is ok because it’s more of a candy-sugary flavor. I am glad this tea is better than what I was expecting, and that it’s really quite good. Maybe not a tea that I will jump to repurchase, but I will gladly finish the rest of this try me pack!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with small chocolate chips and pieces of dried cherries.
-Dry leaves smell like rich dark chocolate with a tangy sweet cherry note. Tea liquor aroma is of medicinal cherry with a hint of sweet chocolate.
-Tea liquor is a clear light golden brown color.
-Sweet cherry and chocolate flavor and finish. Strong lingering cherry aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A decadent cup of dark chocolate and candy cherry flavor. Reminiscent of Queen Anne’s chocolate covered cherries.

More chocolate :) It’s surprising how many varieties of chocolate tea there are on the market and Della Terra seem to have a decent selection. I have around 5/6 other chocolate tea’s that I have yet to try from them but so far so good. Other chocolate tea’s I have tried seem to be as far from chocolate as possible and it just tastes chemically fake and strange.

Raw this tea smells like chocolate with dark cherries, almost like black forest gateux.

Once brewed the chocolate is darker and the cherry is sweeter. A good start so far.

The flavour is nice, chocolatey and sweet but with only a hint of cherry. The smell is darker than the taste, whilst it does taste of dark chocolate rather than milk it’s still rather light and fresh. It’s similar to a hot chocolate/hot cocoa drink but without the milk/creamer and a drop of cherry liqueur/syrup in for flavour.

I was hoping that this would be a little stronger with the cherry but it’s still very nice. I would say it tastes more like chocolate cake with a cherry on top than fresh cherries dipped in chocolate.

I do have a tea to compare this with and that would be Black Forest – Simpli-special. That tea contained stronger tasting cherries and it was also a little sweeter. In comparison this Griottes blend tastes like a weakened version.

http://steepster.com/teas/simpli-special/30637-black-forest

I liked this one. I’m not one for chocolate teas but I thought id give it a try. Out of all the chocolate teas I have this one is my fav. I don’t get a lot of cherry but its a nice sweet but not too sweet chocoalte tea.

Another winner from Della Terra. I don’t think I’ve had a tea from them that I didn’t like.

This tea has everything I like about chocolate covered cherries and makes it work with the tea :) A wonderful dessert tea and a great way to start my vacation.

1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml

Very slight cherry flavour. Slight chocolate sweetness. Dark chocolate astringency. There are definite overtones and an aftertaste of artificial chocolate flavour (likened to soapy detergent taste). I am reminded of the taste of Chocolate Chili Chai by DAVIDsTEA.

Thanks to Sil for sharing

The scent is pretty nice, both chocolate and cherry. And the flavour is pretty much like those cordial cherries. It’s good, but would be better with a little vanilla. (Now I need to find another chocolate tea to try it with.)

Dustin was so kind to send me a sample of this tea; thanks Dustin!

Years ago I had a cheap and simple chocolate tea. It was not a good experience. It tasted as tea with a bit of cacao powder. Since then I’ve always avoided chocolate teas, untill I recently decided to try Theodor’s The du Loup, which I really liked very much and put chocolate teas back on the my to-try-list.

Like TheTeaFairy, I picked up a hint of sourness in the smell of the dry leaves, so I was a little apprehensive about this one. Based on the smell I definately wouldn’t have bought this. And that is of course the beauty of tea swaps, because once brewed this is een tea that lives up to it’s name. Altough I can’t really discern the cherry flavour, I do get the total griottes experience: the sweet dark chocolate taste with a sense of tart fruitiness. The flavours blend beautifully.

I do wonder if artificial flavouring has been used for this tea. Not that I would mind, but it seems neigh to impossible to achieve this taste with solely natural ingredients. Unfortunately the website doesn’t give any information.

Oh my, this is my new favourite dessert tea. I can definitely taste both the chocolate and the cherry in this and the tea base is subtle but there and I wish it could be a bit stronger but it’s okay. The chocolate taste is the strongest I’ve tried so far and I’m still not finished my search for the perfect (for me) dessert tea but this is the best I’ve tried so far. I bought a bit of all of Della Terra chocolate teas and this is a great start.

Dry this one has a strange, almost soapy chemical smell, and the cherry seems more the alarmingly pink jarred maraschino type than fresh. Brewing a perfume-y element comes through all the chocolate and cherry aroma. Once finished brewing, in the cup it has a distinct liquor-like smell, as if the cherries are fermented.

Unlike with many DT offerings, a lot of those strong scents don’t translate into flavor, for better or worse. There is the taste of dark chocolate a la H&S Florence, and some cherry-ish thing with that soap comes in at the back of the sip.

All in all this isn’t terrible or gross really, but it is kind of strange, puzzling. Wouldn’t restock, I don’t think.

First tea from Della Terra Teas and I am impressed. I tried it when it was too hot, and I got mostly a sour cherry taste that I didn’t like. When it was warm, it tasted sooo good. Smooth chocolate cherry… the chocolate is pretty strong. I am so content right now, I feel like I’m wrapped snugly in a blanket of chocolate, I can smell it all around me and the aftertaste is nice. Mmmm… good cup to end the night :)

To introduce myself to Della Terra teas, I had bought a few sample packs to figure out what I liked. I liked all the rooibos I tried, but the flavored black teas kept falling short of what I was hoping for and what I kept reading others were experiencing. Yesterday I happen to take a sip of a cup I had let get cold and dumped the rest of it before I tasted what I had in my mouth. I was caught off guard at the flavor and noted to try to cold brew some of their black tea. So last night I dumped a heaping teaspoon into a glass of water and stuck it in the fridge overnight. Added some sugar this morning and wow! I guess it turns out I just don’t like their black tea warm! This stuff is really flavorful! I get a pretty even cherry and chocolate flavor on the sip and chocolate lingering after. The cherry flavor is more like maraschino cherries than fresh, but in a pleasant way that matches well with the chocolate. I am really enjoying it and my cup is almost empty now! I want more… MOOOOOORE!!!