Chocolate and Cream

So early and so far already a long day…Opened up my tea basket when I got in the office and sifted through to see what I would enjoy. These samples still need to be had, so TeaFrog was a given, but I felt like chocolate so it sounded good.

The leaves are dark and curly, with some larger splinters, presumably cocoa and chocolate chips! Brewed up a pot of this, three minutes, hot, no additives. The liquor is a dark red color.

Once again, Tea Frog came through, they know just the right balance between actual chocolate and cocoa to make a slightly sweetened, smooth, creamy tea that is not to harsh in flavor or bitterness.

Delicious.

Another of my TeaFrog samples from a previous Steepster Select.

I’ve been running around all day: kids swimming lessons, my workout, my haircut, younger kid’s friend’s birthday party, and finally got home. I’m really tired, but somehow it seems a little pathetic to go to bed at 7 p.m. So I thought I’d try some black tea to wake me up a little.

In the sample bag, the tea smells delicious. It’s a sweet chocolate smell, a milky chocolate. I was thinking chocolate liqueur, and then I realized it’s pretty similar to the smell of chocolate syrup. I can see chocolate chips in among the dark brown leaves.

After it steeps, the aroma becomes less sweet and less intense, and takes on more of a chocolate baked goods quality. The liquor is lighter in color than I’d expected. It’s a sort of bronze color.

Yum. Tastes like…. chocolate! It’s very chocolatey. More chocolate than tea, by a lot. It’s interesting because it’s like drinking a grown up version of hot chocolate, by which I mean hot chocolate stripped down to its essence. No milkiness, no creaminess, no frothiness, no chewiness, but a lot of the same essential comfort flavor of warm chocolate without all of these. It’s kind of surprising.

As for the cream, I don’t taste it independently, but I understand it. It’s the difference between a baking chocolate flavor, and a sweetened chocolate flavor. It’s as though the chocolate here has been sweetened with lactose, though I can’t taste a cream flavor. The tea itself shows up more in the aftertaste than elsewhere; it has a sweet, mild flavor that goes well with the chocolate.

Most of the chocolate teas I’ve had have other flavors in them as well. This may be the first solo chocolate I’ve had, and it will be a good benchmark as it seems to be a solid, standard sweet chocolate flavored tea.

Mild milk chocolate flavor. Powdery sweet cocoa aroma. Smooth black tea background. Nothing bitter. Slightly creamy.

Eventhough I’m not much for chocolate, I don’t hate this. :) It’s tasty. Nothing offensive or artificial about this at all. Very soft and soothing.

Just got this in the mail from Mike! Woot! :)

Now here’s the sweetest tasting chocolate flavored tea I have tried so far. Some others have been dark chocolate or fake chocolate or cocoa chips or carob or semi sweet but this is SWEET. I like it! It’s lighter in color than I thought it would be but that’s ok with me. The creaminess does seem to make it sweeter and BRIGHT tasting. This is good and different than I was expecting. I would certainly drinking this again!

There’s definitely chocolate and a light cream flavor here. I’m going to leave off the score today because I had this at work where I didn’t have cream and sugar. It wanted cream and sugar, at least to my tastebuds. So I don’t want to do it wrong by not scoring it that way. But I have a feeling it will be lovely with the two of them.

Return of the TTB 1.2

I have the most horrible craving for chocolate EVER. And of course, there is no chocolate at my house (actually there isn’t really any food at my house, have to go grocery shopping tomorrow…) Anyways, I am so glad that I picked this out of the TTB 1.2!

I have read wonderful reviews about this particular tea so I’ve been interested to try it myself. The scent in the bag is SO good – rich, chocolate with a smoothness that I believe can be attributed to the cream. I had several chocolate chips in my portion so I couldn’t resist trying one and it was VERY sweet. My expectations for this tea are now rising exponentially.

The tea brews up to a medium golden-red color and is still strongly scented with chocolate and cream. My initial reaction to this tea would be to add milk or cream (but, of course, I don’t have any…grocery shopping) so I’m hoping this tea can stand on its own. Initially, the taste is primarily of the black tea followed by the smooth chocolate. I wouldn’t say that there is too much chocolate, but it seems to be just the right amount. There is a slight natural sweetness that I think would be greatly enhanced with the addition of a small amount of sugar. (Be right back…)

Yes, that did it! The addition of sugar took the slightly bitter edge off the black tea base while simultaneously boosting the chocolate factor. It doesn’t taste like I added sugar, but like I drizzled in a bit of rich, chocolate syrup. This tea is surprisingly good without milk or creamer which makes me believe that it would be AMAZING with milk or creamer.

Another great, delicious tea by TeaFrog…going on my shopping list!

The cream gives a “creamy” well (duh!) flavor to this blend. The chocolate flavor is pronounced as well. This is wonderful and a distinct chocolate flavor. This has become one of my favorite chocolate teas and have been drinking this one all week.

This is a very tasty tea. Not your typical chocolate and cream blends. The flavors are very well balanced. It is very smooth, creamy, and chocolatey. None of the flavors are overwhelming, basically I feel like the chocolate and cream have bonded into one ingredient. It is weird, but in a good way. We should call this Chococreme Tea. I really can’t put this one in words. You just have to try but what I can tell you is that it is VERY GOOD!

Mmmm, this one smells so good, it’s just crying out for cream and sugar – but I’ll start it off solo and see how it goes. Steeped for five minutes at just under boiling, the scent is mouth-watering – chocolate and malt. Yum, tastes chocolatey, and creamy as well. Not sure how they get the creamy flavor in there without there being any cream in it yet! I think they must use a fairly mild black tea as the base, because the tea flavors are present but mild. There’s very little astringency or bitterness.

Okay, can’t hold off any longer – I’m putting in the cream and sugar. Wow, it’s really like a light-bodied hot chocolate now, but just enough tea flavoring in there to make it different from that. A little bit of yeasty/bready flavor in there too. I like this a lot!

Longer review posted here: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2682/tea-review-teafrog-chocolate-and-cream-flavoured-black-2/ A really good dessert alternative!

Review by Tamara: “I truly enjoy this cup of Tea, from the moment you open the container you can smell the warm aroma of superior loose leaf tea. Black teas are one of my favourites and this one certainly fits the bill…”

Read the full review at: http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/147/tea-review-teafrog-chocolate-and-cream-flavoured-black/

This is very good! I haven’t tried it with milk or sugar yet, but I’m not sure if I want to. It’s sweet with just a hint of black tea. I typically like it when my black tea is swallowed up by a sweet flavor. I taste a bit of chocolate (not a large amount, but enough) and none of the cream, unfortunately. The flavors blend nicely with the black tea. Delish! Thanks lori! I’ll be ordering some of this later.

The tea is exactly as it claims to be: chocolate. This is probably the most chocolate of any tea I’ve had. It’s very good. It has a slightly odd perfumed fragrance as well, which I assume is supposed to be the “cream” flavor. It’s a good tea but somewhat monochromatic. If what you want is just this side of hot chocolate, this is a good place to go.

Today’s a great day. Not only did my first 52teas order come in, but so did my package of TeaFrog samples.

I wanted to try this one first because as soon as I opened the pouch, the smell reminded me of Tea Desire’s Irish Cream, which I’ve always enjoyed. Comparing them side by side though, there are definitely some differences. While Irish Cream is sweeter and creamier, Chocolate and Cream has more chocolate, and it even smells like chocolate liqueur or something. Or like a chocolate truffle with a few drops of rum.

Wow, is this every chocolately. It’s like biting into a bar of dark chocolate. While the steeped tea smells like milk chocolate, the flavour is bolder. Colour me impressed! It’s like drinking hot cocoa. The real stuff.

Ok, so I just cheated, at least in my books. I almost never add any sweeteners nor milk/cream but halfway through my cup, I decided to add a couple tablespoons of milk. It’s actually pretty good. Turns this more into, well, milk chocolate. The aroma smells more bakery-like too.

This is another sample from TEAEQUALSBLISS! What a great tea! I have been wanting to try this one but wanted to do it on a special day when I could really spend some time with it. The only other chocolate tea I have had is Florence by Harney and Sons and that one is a real favorite for me, so I was eager to try this one. The scent is marvelous and chocolate-y. It brews up to a nice medium color and still has a lovely aroma. I was afraid it would be just the same as dumping some mini-chocolate chips in a cup of hot tea, but it isn’t. The tea has a lightness, a cleanness, I didn’t expect. It has almost the tingle of Uva Highlands, but no astringency or bitterness at all. I tried it plain – lovely! And totally drinkable just that way. I added a little sugar – still good. I added a little milk – also good. I think you can take this one any way you like. A really interesting tea. I would love to have some again.

I love chocolate tea, but I’ve always been a little skeptical of teas with actual chocolate chips in them. It always seemed like cheating; like the chips would melt and make the tea less chocolate tea, and more weak hot chocolate. But I ordered this sample anyway, because I thought this one might be a good one to try.

Turns out my mistrust of chocolate chips in tea seems to be unfounded. I brewed up this tea with it’s little chocolate chips, and it’s really quite tasty! The liquor is a medium-shade reddish brown, and it smells and tastes mostly like chocolate and that hard to describe toasted or roasted flavor I often taste in chocolate teas. I don’t get a strong cream note, but I think it’s underlying the chocolate and giving it the feeling of sweetness without actually tasting sweet. The black tea base isn’t distinct, but it offers a nice background without being too strong and without any bitterness. Overall, a very nice tea!

This was a sample that I saved until I had time to sit and truly enjoy. I will guard in my tea vault what is left of this sample until I can ordr some of this tea. The flavor was wonderful and the aroma while steeping filled the kitchen. This is going to be a tea I will only drink on special days when I want a true treat.
Can Not Wait To Order SOme Of This Tea!

Mmm…this did not disappoint! This was my third sample (out of ten), and so far the only one I would buy a full size of. Oddly enough, I didn’t think this one had a very chocolately smell dry, but once it steeped it smelled lovely. I used a little bit each of milk and sugar, and it turned out great. It falls below chocolate chili chai and read my lips from davids tea, but it is definitely up there with my favourite teas to satisfy my sweet tooth.
This is a great alternative to hot chocolate, and it has a nice, plain (in a good way) chocolate taste. Very comforting.

I got a sample of this with my Steepster Select order a while ago and kind of forgot about it. I am not a huge chocolate-lover, and I usually don’t want real chocolate bits in my tea, but it sounded fantastic. It also smells fantastic—all the teas I’ve stored near it in the cabinet took on a bit of the smell.

I didn’t see if the spoonful of tea I used to brew my cup today actually had any chocolate chips in it, but the taste of chocolate was (thankfully) quite subtle. I didn’t really get much of a “cream” flavour at all, but I drank this while I was working and didn’t have the time to sit and really analyze it so I might’ve just missed it.

I wasn’t blown away by this tea from the one cup I’ve had, but it was pleasant and I am anxious to try it again and get a better feel for it

Now here’s a tea that’s meant to be drunk with milk and sugar! Great chocolate flavour, strong without being overpowering. Sweet on its own, but not too sweet. I’d love to see a version of this tea with mint added, but it’s just fine on its own. A perfect dessert tea.