Chocolat Pot de Tea

I got this sample from Joy’s Teaspoon with an order I placed more than a year ago or so at this point. At that time I did not drink chcolate in tea. I thought it was an abomination – but I’ve finally learned my lesson. So, I dug this out and embraced the lovely milk chocolate aromas from the dried (and steeped!) leaf. It smells sweet and appetizing but there is a hint of bitterness in the aroma. I find that even now some chocolate teas (such as DT’s Chocolate Chili Chai) are unappealing and even make me feel nauseous. We shall see how this one holds up – so far, all is promising. For the record, a co-worker just arrived in the switchboard office that I cover from 1 to 2 and said it smells like chocolate – so mmuch so that she thought I was having a hot chocolate, not a flavoured tea.

First sips are not as sweet as the aroma would lead me to believe. There is a bold chocolate flavour, which actually combines the creaminess of milk chocolate and a slight hint of bitterness from dark chocolate. The taste changes on my tongue, but has a very pleasant lingering flavour. The initial sip is darker than the rest, I find. It’s very rich and decadent, though a bit too dark and bitter initially.

I must confess that I have no fondness for dark chocolate. I like the adulterated milky stuff – with sweet Cadbury being my favourite of the commercial brands. I was hoping this would be like DT’s Read My Lips, sans mint, but it’s a different beast. A little more adult and not quite my thing, unfortunately.

I’m not a big chocolate-in-tea kind of person (OK, stop throwing the tomatoes!) so my review is a bit slanted. I like this tea OK; got it in a sampler pack. But it’s not something I would buy on its own. (This is why there is no rating.)

So my review: the chocolate taste is strong and bold. There are cute little chocolate chips in the tea which help the chocolate flavor. I ended up dumping the rest of my cup, because I didn’t care for it at all – chocolate and spicy. BUT that’s because of my dislike of super chocolate-y tea. (I like it mixed with other flavors but not on its own.)

If you like chocolate tea, this is the one to try. In fact I’ll send the rest of my sample to the first person who asks for it. :)

This tea wasn’t for me. I bet other people would like it though. I like a darker chocolate, I think this is a milkier one.

Today was quite the adventurous tea day. Four new teas to sample (counting my early morning tea). This one is courtesy of QuiltGuppy! Thank you!

This was my late morning tea. I prepped this in a cup with my new bamboo strainer. 1 1/2 tsp tea, 6 oz cup, freshly boiled water, 4 minutes. Lightly sweetened.

This one has a rich chocolate taste. I could definitely get used to it. It is probably one of the best chocolate teas I have had to date. It is hard to compete with my favorite, though, on cost. If at some time I am planning an order from Joy’sTeaspoon, this will be on my order.

yummy! This tea was so good it made me get back on Steepster after a social networking vacation! I think the chocolate is rich but does not overpower the tea. I added a little vanilla sugar and a small splash of milk…oh my worth a few repeats! I tried this sans sweetner and milk and it is good but the creamy chocolate is helped by the milk.

Backlogging from yesterday. Received a sample of this From Naomi – thank ya!
And I have to say, this is the best chocolate tea I’ve had! I decided to try this right after I was disappointed by Read My Lips chocolate tea from Davids Tea. I have to say in comparison, this isn’t strange artificial chocolate tasting me to me at all, it’s more like fresh baked brownies! Scent and taste. And it still tastes like tea, it’s a great balance. I added brown sugar to really make it a decadent treat. I didn’t add cream because I was out but I’m sure that would be amazing!

First I want to thank KeenTeaThyme for sending this for me to sample. She added two other goodies that I am anxious to sample but since I am a chocolate addict I decided on this one first. Next let me say I LOVE Joy’s Teaspoon!
The tea smelled like chocolate and made the kitchen smell lovely but the flavor was not what I was expecting. This was not my favorite chocolate tea…something seemed off with it to me. I can’t place it but I am glad I got to try it.

Thanks to Naomi at Joy’s Teaspoon for this!!

Ok, it took a few minutes of tweaking to get this right, but after I did…
OH.
MY.
GOOD.
GRACIOUS!!!!
Yeah, that good. Ok, maybe……a little under that, and I am not really physically showing the excitement, but I can enjoy this tea. A lot.

Smell: Dry, in the bag. Chocolate-y. But dry, unsweetened cocoa chocolate-y. And I’m not too fond of that, usually, but this smelled yummy. Steeping it smelled like that, but kind of burnt, which I’m just going to atrribute it to the fact that it was in BOILING WATER. So yeah. Hot.

Taste: The first sip with no sugar was yucky, and had no real flavor to me. Sorry. Second sip after 1 packet of raw cane sugar, was sweeter, but still no good. Packet #2…eh, almost. A bit chocolatey, but not perfect. It took 3 packets for me, which is ok because I like sweet. I let it cool a bit, added a few extra chocoalte chips, and then took a few more sips.

The chocolate flavor is the bittersweet of dark chocolate, and again, unsweetened cocoa. To me, it is a subtle flavor at first, and then kind of grows, but it isn’t a strong, overwhelming flavor. Honestly, that’s kind of what I want, BUT at the same time I REALLY LIKE THIS TEA. After a few more sips, I added some cream and that finally made it perfectly chocolatey for me and just YUMMY. The chocolate is creamy and rich, but again, a bit bitter. You have to enjoy chocolate that’s not overly sweet (like dark chocolate) and you have to like something that still has the taste of tea. For me, I loved it, though it did take a few adjustments.

I used 1 1/2 teaspoons, 8 oz. of water, 212 degree and 4 minutes steep time. Add 3 packets of raw cane sugar, a few extra chocolate chips, and a little bit of cream and you are good to go! Just don’t go overboard!! :-)

UPDATE: I let this cool a bit, to “warm” rather than hot, and it is SOO GOOD! SO SO GOOD!! The chocolate has gotten a bit sweeter, like milk chocolate, though there is still the bittersweet notes. It all mixes perfectly, and the cream makes it SO MUCH BETTER!! Upping the rating…

This tea smells fantastic. It reminds me of chocolate brownies. It is delicious, but add cream and sugar and it is sinful!

In a word? A-MAZING! This is the closests I’ve come to finding a substitute for hot chocolate without the calories. If it was available in decaf I’d be all over it for night too. I’m very sad I only have enough of my sample left for a cup. Hope it resteeps well.