Tea for a cool and gray (finally) morning! There’s a lot going on in this blend: in addition to small, dark, typical Assam-looking tea leaves, there are large strawberry pieces, pink flowers, and an abundance of chocolate chips. I tasted one and it was very creamy and rich, not dry or bitter as I was expecting for some reason. The smell is invitingly rich and cake-like, very strawberries-and-cream with a touch of cocoa and espresso. Now the question of how does it taste? Many teas that smell like a decadent dessert end in tragedy in this department, but this one is quite delicious. The strawberry sweetness is very fresh but not over-the-top, and is tempered just right by the combination of espresso and a light natural astringency from the assam. The coffee fragrance as well as the chocolate flavor gets stronger with a longer brew time, probably due to the chocolate chips melting. And it is a very sweet, inviting sort of chocolatey note that takes me right back to childhood. This tea does have a very rich, almost buttery feel, so it may not be for everyone, but I found that doesn’t detract in this case. And on a final note, it brews up to the most beautiful, soft red color that has me wanting to take a picture of my teacup for the first time!
And now I’ll have to revise my profile so it no longer says I haven’t found a good chocolate-heavy tea yet…
