Mélange de Chamonix

I refuse to view this as chai, despite the cardamom. No ginger, no black pepper. French name. I’m not putting in the chai category. I’m calling it a chocolate spice flavored tea.

So I’m drinking it straight up as my first morning tea, because I felt like something mixed up and flavored with a chance of being sweet after my epic green tea experience last night. I feel much too healthy and clean for my own good. Time to get some approximation of candy into my bloodstream.

This does just fine, and it doesn’t require milk or sugar to get there. It’s got a very chocolate fragrance in the tin, and I can see the green cardamom pods in there. Pretty.

The tea’s aroma smells like baked goods, like something that would go into a tart or pie. It’s a blend of chocolate and cinnamon mostly and a touch of cardamom.

The taste is mild with a minor kick that doesn’t take it out of the mild category, in my view. Just a little love pat on the tongue to remind you it has spices in it. It’s terrifically drinkable without milk. The chocolate succeeds in giving it a little sweetness, which is what I was hoping for this morning. There’s no bitterness, and no sense that you’re drinking something other than the way it was meant to be had (which I’ve sometimes felt trying to drink chais straight).

A nice not-chai for the collection.

I’m not sure what’s up with me recently, I’ve been craving a lot of chai. Since it’s a bit of a PitA to make, when I don’t feel up to making it I have my standby instant tea (so I haven’t been logging much).

So I’ve been looking for a chawan to properly drink matcha and finally found one that I liked at Upton Tea Importers. Since I was placing an order, I HAD to buy some tea… right?

Opening the bag and smelling this one, I knew I was in for a treat. I usually don’t write about dry leaves (oh, yeah, tea leaves; they smell) but this blend made me want to jump in the bag with them. SO GOOD – mostly like chocolate. Yum.

This simmered on the stovetop (with milk and sugar) longer than I normally make chai for – I was puttering about in the kitchen making a pitcher of iced tea for the husband and doing other random things.

The taste…. it’s a tossup if I prefer this or Adagio’s Masala Chai. Adagio’s has a strong spice “bite” to it, while this is smooth and rich. I’ll probably end up keeping both in my cabinet for the foreseeable future and pulling out whichever my mood calls for.

The chocolate is still there, though it’s no longer dominant. It’s allowing the other flavors to play (though I’m not tasting cinnamon). So good!

Sipdown!
This is yet another sample sent to me from Sil :D
A tasty blend of black tea, a little cocoa, & spices, most notably Cardamom.

I kind of want to reserve judgment on this, because I’m drinking it not long after a workout and I’m feeling a bit dehydrated, but.. for as slowly as I’m drinking it, it’s very tasty. I was expecting more of a cocoa taste, but this cup seems to be more spicy and sweet. That’s fine by me; I love anything with cardamom.

Thanks to JacquelineM for this sample! More to come.

The appeal for me with this tea was the mention of chocolate and cinnamon. It took me until the 3rd order from Upton to add a sample to the cart though, because cardamom appears to be the star. I like cardamom, but don’t love it like I do cinnamon or clove.

The brewed aroma is of cocoa and spices. First sip though, the cardamom is indeed the dominant flavor. Having added a T. of honey, it’s sweet and on the mild side…maybe mild to medium on the spice level scale. The cinnamon does get notice here too, not pushed out (good thing). What I’m not getting is the cocoa/chocolate in a noticeable way. I think it’s hanging out in the background, playing as the mellower (is that word?) of the spices because I still smell it when sipping.

I think what would bring out the chocolate is a little bit of cream, but need to get back to being calorie conscious, so skipping that for now. This will go into my “finish sample, but probably not order more” pile, but only because of personal taste (cardamom).

I don’t normally go for flavored teas but this was an exception that I hope to revisit next winter.

As others have indicated, its sort of like a chai with the cardamom and the cinnamon, but with the addition of a dusting of chocolate, this is really delightful and you don’t have to mix it up with milk to be be yummmy.

I can’t divine what sort of tea is used for the base, clearly something inexpensive as whatever tea is used is going to be overwhelmed by the additional spices. You can steep this one forever and it just keeps getting better and better. I got busy and forgot about it in for more than 10- minutes- it was still very good. Great for kids too.

Will buy again certainly!

So…this one is supposed to be the Shiz-nat, eh!? :)
It smells a little like snickerdoodle and black tea. I’m just finishing up the infusion now.
It’s a reddish-brown in color, medium.
It doesn’t taste like snickerdoodle. It is a like a paler chai…cinnamon but not over the top, thankfully…it’s the perfect amount! This is pretty good…will be trying again!
Thanks J for sending this to me! :P

I was craving a chai tonight but it’s late and I decided I wanted something mellower. So I went for my sample of this, hoping the chocolate might smooth it out and make it a good compromise.

Indeed it does. I agree that this is more a spice tea than a chai, but I really don’t mind. The cinnamon is at the forefront here, with the chocolate hanging a bit behind but really enhancing the flavour. I like it quite a lot, and it is reminding me of the delicious Super Chocolate from DavidsTea.

This one just reminded me of another chocolate chai I had in my stash a while ago. Both are good, but spice teas are actually not my usual choice. The cost of the two is pretty close, so not even a noticeable savings to report. One difference is that the spice level is a bit more subtle in this tea, which is actually a bonus for me. Note to self: If you ever get a craving for chocolate chai, buy this one!

Spiced grownup hot cocoa tea :) I taste the cardamom strongly, then a bit of cinnamon, all enveloped in cocoa with a medium bodied black tea. I kinda want to drink it every single day until Spring!!!! Delicious!!!

A very nice blend of spices, cocoa, and tea. I drank it with Silk creamer, which married to its flavors to quite well. This tea has a stronger cocoa taste than I expected, though it does not taste of chocolate. It is full-bodied, but without the sly, sweet, creaminess of chocolate.

The first few sips feature the cardamon and cinnamon most prominently. In subsequent sips the cocoa begins to come into its own and it dominates the taste, though it is a benevolent tyrant that allows the other flavors to add their notes as well.

The tea is black with a whisper of floweriness in the notes that comprise it. But it has a hard time getting a word in edgewise compared to the cocoa.

Since I love cocoa, spices, and tea, I love this one. I will be buying a canister of it very soon.

I’m a spice fiend, so I was intrigued by the description of this tea. “Fine India tea is blended with cocoa, cardamom, and a hint of cinnamon to produce a balanced and warming cup?” It sounded right up my alley! The loose tea smelled lovely – mostly of cardamom with a cocoa backdrop. I steeped it for three and a half minutes. The resulting tea was, sadly, not as wonderful as the smell. I found it rather weak on the spice (but keep in mind, I love peppery spices!) It was also rather astringent, so I added milk and a bit of stevia. It was much improved with the addition of milk (the sweetener I could take or leave) which brought out the cocoa taste. It was pleasant, but I wanted more cardamom. I couldn’t really detect cinnamon at all. I’m going to try a longer steep next time, and I may try treating it as a chai (this is not a chai to me – not nearly enough cinnamon!)

Nice mellow tea with hints of cinnamon flavor and an aroma that includes cardamon (slightly chai-like). Not too terribly sharply flavored (I brewed my small pot on the high end of the recommended steeping time), but has nice subtle flavor for those who don’t like powerfully strongly flavored tea.

I like this tea. I would describe it as a mellow chai, not lots of cinnamon and not lots of cardamon flavor but really nice. I only purchased a sample of this but I think I would be willing to purchase a tin.

This is still not my “perfect chocolate” tea – maybe Florence will be the one?

Love this tea for winter! Well-balanced chocolate and spice notes. I received this as part of a holiday sampler from Upton Tea Imports but will definitely reorder.

One of my favorites.

I decided to try this tea to experience cocoa and cardamon notes in a tea. When the tea was steeping I noted a strong chocolate mint aroma—very pleasant. I was excited for the first sip. I steeped it for 5 minutes with 212 water as recommended by upton. Upon tasting the tea I noted a slight cocoa flavor and some fruity/cinnamon notes. Nothing especially exciting to me—it reminded me of a christmas chocolate—one of those berry flavored cream filled types that make you wish you weren’t in the company of others so you could spit it out after the first bite.
The tea loses much with the addition of milk and sugar.
Its not awful, but not worth bothering to order online.