Chocolate Chamomile Curiosity Brew

What is this delicious concoction?! dark chocolate mint and chamomile??? I think this is tea heaven.
Well… colour me impressed! this is amazing. SO worth the investment.
At first sip, I tasted mostly mint and some chamomile and I was thinking… where is the chocolate? but wait for it, the cocoa builds and by the time you are halfway through the cup, dark chocolate sings like a bird true and clear. Really good chocolate mind you. Like that 75% cocoa bar you get at specialty shops. Wow.
Soon, by the time I finished one sip, my tongue was crying out for MOAR MOAR NOW!! and it’s not very often I find a brew like that.
Second steep was great as well but not as sparkly. Third steep… well I never found out because our kettle broke at work. We are supposed to have a new one by Monday.
I am in love with this tea. Might even be a cupboard staple. Thank you, David Duckler/Verdant for your genius innovation!
Rating: 98

Shut the door!

I mean really, I would never have guessed that the yammy Laoshan Black Tea that I LOVE could taste any better…and with mint?!
How in earth is it possible that these two flavors, and all the other abracadabra alchemic additions here-to-with inside-eth this tea are workin “a spell on me”! Oh yeh!

All I was doing was mindin my own business. I received a package from Verdant today (choir sings) with two (2) of the new tea’s. I can’t review them yet because they are NOT listed on Steepster. I shot a quick note to Mr. David at Verdant “HELLOOOO, I would like to write about your tea.” And, in the meantime, I was snakin on some dry goat cheese and steamin some cauliflower in Lapsang Souchong (you know that I do). Why not, smells good.
There was this OTHER packet of alchemy blend to try in my box today. Verdant got me! Got me again! “Uncle!” I cried on this alchemy blend!

I steeped this little gem 4 minutes. I wanted to take a spoon and eat it like cake it smelled so good. I imagine the gremlins at Verdant were rolling on their backs laughing!
“Got another one in Colorado!” they giggled along with the cats. The bakery spice cakeness of the Laoshan Black with the gentle mint cooling everything down…and then cocoa so natural and warm…teases me…laughs at me…and throws me a shot of fennel like a point of light at the end. The Chamomile is a hug. It surrounds all the flavors and keeps everything together in lightness. What a cuppa!

I have to get more of this. More and more. And more!

MY WORD! What is this CRAZY Concoction!? I LOVE Concoctions!!!!

It smells like Adagio’s Foxtrot (but better) with cinnamon, chocolate, black and oolong teas – more specifically – Red Robe and that quesi-charcoally aroma of a oolong, and various other flowers and gentle herbs!

And THAT’S just the aroma!

On to the taste…

Chocolate at first, then chamomile, then mint. The mint lingers. Then Cinnamon. The cinnamon is more subtle than the previous noteable ingredients but it lingers very nicely. Then I taste various other flowers, then more mint, then a bit of herbal-likeness, THEN more chocolate – but a sweeter chocolate, then a creamy-type-texture…then a charcoally type oolong, then more chocolate (but a more dark chocolate taste), and – if that wasn’t enough – a chamomile/cream/chocolate/cinnamon/mint/Flavor Combo! Very interesting, indeed! The aftertaste is a neat sugary/powdery cocoa powder type texture and flavor, too! The after-AFTER-taste is a gentle mint! WOW! This is involved but fun and super tasty!

I really like this and appreciate everything that went into it!!!! Excellent!

I was looking through my stash and realized I haven’t yet tried this one though I requested a sample of it with my last order. I’ve wanted to try this one for a while because I love the idea of Verdant doing a chocolate Alchemy blend, although to be honest I wasn’t totally sure about all the other odds and ends. I mean, I’m not a huge mint tea person, and I never seek out chamomile, but I was intrigued all the same. I figured this morning the black tea could help me wake up and the chamomile and mint can help calm my nerves and stress of moving.

A quick sniff of the dried leaf yields a minty and herby aroma. I started out intending to steep this with different parameters but once I saw the steeping instructions in the description here I was able to pull up and adjust before actual steeping. The steeped tea has a really interesting smell. First I get mint with perhaps a light, hayish, appley chamomile accompaniment. But then some serious chocolatey aromas come out to play. It’s definitely a little chocolate-minty in the aroma.

The combo of flavors in this tea reminds me a bit of an Andean herbal blend I got in Argentina, if it had a chocolately black tea base instead of being an herbal. That’s a good thing because that tea is also one I liked way more than I thought I would. This tea is slightly sweet, chocolately, minty, and a bit fruity (I always think chamomile tastes appley). It all works really well together. And it is having the added benefit of making me feel alert as well as calming my nerves. A good choice for this morning!

Man, how to describe this tea. It all sounds like the craziest mix of ingredients but somehow it really blends well together. I can taste the mint and the chocolate before anything else. Then I notice the chamomile. The main reason I generally dislike chamomile is because it causes this tingly burny feeling in the back of my throat. I don’t know if I’m allergic or if chamomile just does that. So yeah, I get a bit of that tingle from the chamomile and some sweetness from the fennel. Let me say, I generally really dislike anything licorice, but here, it’s just a rich sweetness. The balance of flavors is truly amazing. Somehow, it reminds me of seeded rye bread. Smooth balanced rounded brew. Very unique and very interesting. I can’t say I love it, but I am impressed with the care with which this blend was created. Wow!

EDIT ah! Forgot to thank Kittenna for this sample! Thank you! It’s amazing!

Going on the shopping list! Verdant never disappoints! I too, like other steepsters do not really care for a few of the flavor components in this tea yet masterfully blended by Verdant with their fairy dust, I love this!
Chocolate that just swarms the senses, a light but not over whelming mint, chamomile that knows its place, and joined when cooling by marigold that leaves you smiling!
The light sparkly nature of this tea makes you almost think you are drinking chocolate champagne!
GAWD!
Thank you Kyrstalyen! Dang I will be getting this as soon as my tea budget allows!

I was lying about not having hot tea anymore for the summer. I can’t do it!

My mom asked me on Sunday to knit an afghan for my grandma to put on her bed. When I first went to visit her, she had this fleece blanket I added an eyelash yarn border to on her bed so I was more than happy to accept this task since she would pay for the yarn. Only problem is I haven’t knit in FOREVER and it’s because I always lose steam quickly…so many unfinished projects. I’m hoping this tea will be an excellent motivator since I went from 10 rows on Monday to 2 yesterday. Of course it doesn’t help that I’m busy on other things, but right now I have the time for this tonight.

This is really nice. It’s not really chocolate bar chocolatey, but instead reminds me a lot of natural cocoa powder. There’s that definite cacao flavor but without being super sweet. And I love how much cinnamon I am getting from it. Last month, I tried a cocoa mole ale, but it was waaaay too much for me so I made cupcakes with it, topping them with a cinnamon chocolate buttercream. This tastes just like the buttercream but as a tea. I wish I had tried this before then, because a slight touch of mint like I can taste in here would have made it even more incredible.

I have some in the freezer and I am so tempted to make another cup of this and pop one in the microwave! Except I just looked at the clock so maybe tomorrow.

This is very comforting, and quite intriguing. I’ve started to enjoy chamomile, and I can tell it helps bring together the flavor in this tea.

Verdant’s blends are so cool. I was thrilled to see the combination of the Laoshan black, which is just the best ever, and Big Red Robe. And chocolate, of course!

The layers of flavour in this are amazing. There’s a lot going on, but it ties together incredibly well. I received it in the February tea of the month box, and only read the description included before trying it. I was a little apprehensive at the somewhat vague mention of “spices”, as I’m not typically good at isolating and pinning down what it is I’m tasting but hate not being able to identify flavours. My reaction to the first sip was: wow, is there mint in this? Ooh, there’s the cacao. I think I taste cinnamon, and is there fennel in there?

Spot on! That’s a first for me. I can make each out clearly, but they work together to make a tea that tastes like raw chocolate laced with spices and mild mint. Perfection! I’m not sure if I can make out the marigold and/or chamomile. I think they’re just mingling in there with the rest. I’m also getting the sweet, malty characteristics from the two base teas, but they seem to blend pretty seamlessly.

This has been in my cupboard for quite some time. I’m not really hoarding it, it’s just not that exciting of a blend for me.
I love Big Red robe, I love Laoshan black, I love chocolate, I don’t mind a little chamomile. I want to like this blend. But for me, it’s just ok. I drank the first 2 steepings plain (2 min, then 3) & on the 3rd steeping I tried a little honey. :P meh…
I have enough to drink it one more time, which I plan to do soon, & I think I’ll up the first steep to 3 minutes, as it just doesn’t seem all that exciting (I already upped the amount of tea to a Tbl).

Mmmmmm reeived my verdant order in the mail today and realized that I need to try a few of the blends before I go on vacation in case I need to. Order more before they slip away for good. Since I’d had a bit of along day I decided to try this one first for a relaxing evening tea. First steep and what I get here is all about the minty goodness with just an adage of chamomile to blend it I nicely. No chocolate yet but we’ll see what future steeps bring. Quite happy with this one as its a great evening tea…relaxes me.

Aaaand evening tea time commences! A whole load of new teas tonight, because I got a bit carried away!

Starting off with some of my brand new Verdant Tea! (Yes, I realize I have yet to try some of the ones I previously received, haha, just too excited about the new ones!)

I was admittedly rather skeptical about this one. It has multiple ingredients I typically dislike… in fact, I think it contains all three of my least favourite tea ingredients! Mint, chamomile, and fennel/anise/licorice. But my curiousity (haha) got the better of me, and the reviews intrigued me.

The smell of the dry tea has me a bit worried. It smells minty. And I can smell fennel, I think. Crap. I was really hoping they wouldn’t be predominant in the blend. Oh well.

And then…. it gets wet. WTF?! Cinnamon sugar toast? That is ALL I am smelling! It smells marvelous! This is entirely NOT what I was expecting! I noted down that it smelled extra bready as well, although that has disappeared a tad as it has cooled, and I feel like I can pick out the barest hint of mint.

Wow. This is so complex. I can taste the mint, but it’s tempered enough that I can handle it, the fennel/anise/whatever is present but only just barely, which is quite acceptable, it seems. And the finish is a lingering, lovely chocolatey flavour. Of course, I’m failing to appropriately identify the flavours in amongst those. There’s sweetness, yeasty bready flavours… so many. This was definitely worth the try! There’s a bit more peppermint than I would like, but everything else is delicious. I’m really loving the lingering aftertaste.

I have to admit that I’ve tried neither the Laoshan Black nor Wuyi Big Red Robe (although I have both), so I should probably do that before trying this again; perhaps it will help me elucidate some more flavours.

Overall, very satisfied with this blend! I might try it stronger next time; I brewed it cautiously tonight, with maaaaybe 1.5tsp of leaf, which was pretty “fluffy”.

ETA: Second infusion (boiling, 3 or 4 mins, I can’t recall), day after. The steeped tea still smells strongly of cinnamon sugar toast. Today, I feel like I’m tasting some cinnamon, and some sweetness. The peppermint is tamed more today (yes!), and other than being a bit weaker than I would like, this is really tasty :D

ETA: The second day after. I probably shouldn’t be re-steeping at this point. Ehhhhh… The aroma is still cinnamon-toasty. Before it cooled, I was getting some stronger peppermint aromas, which turned my stomach a tad. Today, it tastes… oh man, choked on my tea for the second time tonight… sweet and cinnamon toasty, with an undertone of peppermint. It’s rather mild, even though I steeped for four minutes. This is probably as far as I’d bother taking this one in the future.

0.75 tbsp for 188 ml

Brewed tea has a very distinct hay-like note. This is balanced well with chamomile scent and a chocolatey aroma in the background.

The chamomile is the predominant flavour. Mint in the background. Not detecting any cacao flavour. There is a very strong sweetness close to the middle of the sip which may be from the fennel or the spearmint.

Very slight hints of cacao coming through as the tea cools. The hay note from the aroma seems to be coming through as well.

Second infusion at 3 minutes. The chamomile is still present as well as the mint in the background. I’m able to better place the hay note from before as a salted and roasted peanut-like flavour. It is quite strong in this brew!

Thanks to Indigobloom for sharing!

I got this as a sample from Azzrian. It’s been sitting for a while just waiting for the right time to brew it. When I saw that Verdant was going to be discontinuing this tea, I knew I had to try it. Nothing is more disheartening than try a tea sample you really like, only to discover it’s no longer available.

I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to rinse the tea or not. On the website it says you should, but here it says you don’t. Since I was lazy, I decided not to.

The tea turned out absolutely delicious. You can definitely taste the mint and chamomile. I’m not the biggest chamomile fan, but it works here. I’m having a little harder time detecting the cocoa, but I like how the black tea undertones are working for this.

The second infusion didn’t have quite as strong of a minty flavor, but it’s definitely still there. This is an interesting tea, and I’ll be sad to see it go, but interesting to see what new stuff they have in store.

I LOVE getting orders in the mail. Make my day, the worst part was having it arrive while i was at work yesterday and not being able to have any until this morning! Torture!
I felt like I couldn’t figure this cup out. It was everything it promised, but I could pick a predominant flavour. Chocolate, chamomile, spearmint, licorice. I;m in love.

thank you momo for sending a bit of this to try! I was a little wary of this blend, send it sounded like an odd mess of stuff. But I thought since it was Verdant, it couldn’t be that bad, right? Well, it kind of tastes how I thought it would. To be fair, I didn’t use two teaspoons since my infuser only holds one. But there was an ick trio: chamomile, mints, and a bit of cinnamon. That just sounds terrible. I didn’t find ANY chocolate here. And an oolong and black tea blend sounds intriguing, but not here. The steep color was a deep yellow, so it really didn’t seem like there was much black tea here. I couldn’t taste the oolong either… just the ick trio. I really need to get a brew basket. I don’t think I gave this the chance it deserved. But maybe it just isn’t my cup of tea.

My taste buds are a bit off due to sick, but woah! The chocolate and chamomile are so interesting together. At first I went sip…sip…what the heck does this taste like…
And then I thought, oh it tastes like the name! The tea smells very dark chocolate and as it cools I’m definitely tasting mint.

Wow!
This tea exceeded my expectations. This may be my favorite blend yet from Verdant. I very much appreciate the fact that all their blends are completely natural with no added ‘natural flavor’. This particular blend has so many different flavors but it melds perfectly. I wasn’t sure I was going to like the mint but it doesn’t overpower the blend; it leaves a nice aftertaste. The chamomile I notice more as my cup cools, but again, not overpowering. The predominant flavor is chocolate. Need I say more on why this is so good? =) The chocolate is flavorful but isn’t bitter like dark chocolate. It also isn’t sweet like milk chocolate. It just struck me what this reminds me of: homemade hit chocolate mix. We used to take powdered milk, cocoa, cinnamon, nutmeg and I don’t remember what else to make homemade Mexican hot chocolate. This has that flavor! In a TEA, that’s remarkable.
2 tsp per 12 oz cup.

I dug into this sample a few days ago, but steeped up a 4th steep today and it is still delicious.
I remember it being definitely chocolate/cacao sweetness in the beginning of the steeps, and now that I am on my 4th it has turned into a very sweet chamomile peppermint brew with a little rounding out by the lovely lovely WBRR and Laoshan Black.
Really delightful. I can’t wait to steep up the rest of my sample to fully decide if it is an absolute must have or if I should stick with the pure teas =)
Withholding rating until that point in time.
If I absolutely had to rate it right now, I would say low 80s (due to the overwhelming flavour of the chamomile)

Funny that this is the first of the Verdant Alchemy Blends I am trying when it was always the one I was least, ahem, curious about. Don’t get me wrong, it sounds like an interesting flavor challenge, but I don’t think chamomile and I get along. However I ordered all eight of the that were available earlier in the week and since this one is staying for the summer it would be a shame not to try it in case I do like it and want to order more.

As for why it was the first one I tried of all the blends, well I suppose thats not quite true actually, I tried the complimentary sample David included as soon as my package arrived this morning. I was trying decide what tea to brew to start off the day and kind of hoping there was some Imperial Breakfast tucked in there for me. This Laoshan Earl Grey prototype fit the bill well. I’m guessing it is the prototype for the Bergamot Rose Laoshan they released yesterday, just sans rose. It was light on the bergamot which is a very good thing for me and so very very chocolately. I seriously loved it and I’m sure what they released is amazing as well. I’ve never tried a chocolate earl grey and though I know they are available, I probably never will. This seemed like the natural version of that and I would take it any day, it was a truly delightful cup(s) I had four or five of them :)

So that put me in the mood for this tea, as well as the Lavender Earl Green. I thought surely the latter would be my evening cup but we had pizza for dinner so Laoshan Black and Big Red Robe sounded much more stout than potentially dainty perfume (I’m sure it actually wont be). In fact I think an after pizza needs to be made from Big Red Robe, a nice Pu’erh and Laoshan Black (again should have ordered the Imperial Breakfast when I had the chance, new one sounds great as well).

I’m rambling too much and I haven’t even described this. Well it smells wonderful, I love mint and the scent from the loose leaf was both soothing and stimulating. When the leaf hits the warm mug I get more of the Laoshan aroma, but not nearly as strong as the sample this afternoon. Once brewed the aroma leaves remind me of some decadent dessert more than any one ingredient. Hot I get all chamomile and mint and twinge of astringency and I thought following the 2 min suggestion was a mistake. As it sits a bit though I can pick out more of the chocolate and it is honestly very nice. Something I will have to experiment a bit on, I loved the shorter steeps with the Laoshan Earl Grey.

I’m looking forward to diving into the rest of these samples, I feel less intimidated by then than say the Golden Fleece that remains unopened. Also my Verdant drawer is officially too full, I’m keeping these eight blends in the kitchen in a nice divided gift box with Upton, Teavirve and swap samples. This should also promote drinking. Right now I wish someone would reinfuses my tea for me, I have a sleeping toddler on my lap.

This is hands down my favorite blend ever. There are so many distinct tastes that have melded into a single superb fusion. The flavors you will notice immediately are the tastes of chocolate milk, cinnamon and candy apple. Beyond that there is marigold, chinese 5 spice, a tiny hint of root beer, and even an ancient pu’erh flavor (I’m guessing this is the “curiosity”). There is even a slightly crisp vegetal taste hidden in there as well. And at the bottom of the cup: a syrupy bitterness like the last sip of a fine espresso. Another sparkling flavor combination!

What is sparkling flavor, you ask? It has been a continuing exploration for me to find out what this tasting note actually means, and here is my latest update: First off, I drink a lot of sparkling water, soda water, etc. Not only does it satisfy my thirst, but it also gives me that relaxing effervescence in my chest as it goes down. I have heard that sparkling water also aids digestion because the bubbles help to break down your food. While I am no expert, I am inclined to believe this is true based on personal experience. And although I have never associated this same feeling with tea, now that I am aware of it, I have shared this experience in a slightly modified way. However, certain symptoms remain: The saturated savor at the tip of your tongue and the soothing sparkle throughout your body.

It’s hard to explain, but for me, there is something beyond inspiriting in this blend. While the caffeine combination of the teas plus cacoa nibs gets your blood pumping, the flavors send pleasant but conflicting signals of relaxation to your brain. Your heart skips a beat and suddenly you find that you can only breathe out but not back in again. We all know this feeling – but in a tea?? If this tea was a very attractive kitty cat, then yes of course all of this would make sense. But alas it is not. It’s a beverage – we consume it and five minutes later it’s gone. But thankfully these leaves are most certainly built for multiple steeps… Sorry Triple-C, I’m quite fond of you, but it’s back into the boiling hot water for now!

Other tasting notes: Licorice, molasses, sugar snap pea, acorn squash, taro chip