51

I like the taste of toffee, but not the hard crunch, so I was really excited to be able to try this tea thanks to Kitch3ntools!

Yummm… This smells so good! Have you ever smelled a tea that you wanted to eat the raw leaves w/ a spoon? This is one of those teas.

2.25g/6oz purified water. The liquor is a rather dark brown w/ a reddish tint to it and is topped w/ lots of essential oils from the ingredients. It looks like an oil slick, but it’s also a sign that there are lots of healthy things in this tea.

Well I definitely don’t have to worry about not tasting the camellia sinensis like I do w/ a lot of flavored, and especially black, teas. There’s no chocolate flavor and no toffee flavor. Don’t get me wrong, this is a sweet black tea, but that doesn’t mean it tastes flavored. There are lots of unflavored black teas that have sweet cocoa notes, and this tastes like one of them. I would have never guessed this was a chocolate flavored tea if I’d done a blind taste test. I’m not getting the toffee flavor either, although I think it may be contributing to the sweetness.

Conclusions: While it is a good black tea (and black teas aren’t even my personal preference), this does not live up to its name. Would be good served after a meal, but it is not a dessert tea so it could be served any other time as well.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Janefan

I had a similar problem with their butterscotch chai – smelled great but the butterscotch flavor just was not there. At all. :-(

Cofftea

BUTTERSCOTCH CHAI??? YUM!=D

Janefan

yeah, that’s what I thought too.. Wish I’d kept it and experimented with the steeping a bit more to get it to taste right, but I gave it away out of frustration (this was in my pre-Steepster days)

Robert Godden

Used to have the same problem with butterscotch flavoured coffee…

Shanti

Cofftea: Oil slick on top of toffee and chocolate tea = healthy things
Shanti: Oil slick on top of toffee and chocolate tea = melted oils from toffee and chocolate, two foods primarily composed of sugar and butter fat.

Funny how people can react to the same things in completely different ways :)

Ricky

agrees with Shantea. Doesn’t oil floating on top mean bad things? o.O

Shanti

Lol Ricktea.I forgot, usually I see the oils if it’s a heavily flavored tea as well (flavoring oils).

silvermage2000

nice review I was curious about this tea so disappointing that the chocolate and toffee arent there. Becuase I am a big fan of dessert teas but its hard to find good ones.

Cofftea

Shanti, It also can be from the essential oils and antioxidents. That oil slick is very common in true teas although being a chocolate and tofee tea it was thicker than normal. The leaves were also greasy when I tossed them… ew.
Silvermage2000, It is a very good tea for a sweet tea- but if you want a tea you could identify as a chocolate toffee tea in a bilnd taste test, this isn’t it. W/ most dessert teas you either taste all flavoring or all tea. :-/

Shanti

Sorry, but 1) antioxidAnts themselves do not appear in the form of oil, although small amounts have been found in food oils…you seem to be incredibly mistaken about the relative size of an “antioxidant molecule” in relation to a uL of oil, or even to a single fatty acid chain, 2) what do you mean by “essential oils”? Do you mean reduced oils from certain plants, often used as natural flavorings, or do you mean oils that are essential to health? In the first case, they are not particularly healthy or unhealthy (I challenge you to find one replicated and peer-reviewed study that says otherwise); in the second case, the oils and fats used to make toffee and chocolate are NOT “essential oils” or even “good” oils that people don’t get enough of or are beneficial to health, 3) I’m assuming that by “true teas” you mean unflavored Camellia sinensis varietals, but in my experience (and from what I’ve read from other people’s reviews of flavored teas), flavored teas are known for having sometimes seeming oily due to the flavored oils applied to the leaf, 4) the majority of the oil found in tea and indeed in most plants is located in the seed, not the leaves, 5) I’m willing to be that the oil slick was from the melted chocolate and toffee, and perhaps partially from hydrophobic flavoring chemicals.

Shanti

ps. sorry for the long comment, but there are few things I hate more than pseudoscience, especially when the purported science can be harmful.

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Comments

Janefan

I had a similar problem with their butterscotch chai – smelled great but the butterscotch flavor just was not there. At all. :-(

Cofftea

BUTTERSCOTCH CHAI??? YUM!=D

Janefan

yeah, that’s what I thought too.. Wish I’d kept it and experimented with the steeping a bit more to get it to taste right, but I gave it away out of frustration (this was in my pre-Steepster days)

Robert Godden

Used to have the same problem with butterscotch flavoured coffee…

Shanti

Cofftea: Oil slick on top of toffee and chocolate tea = healthy things
Shanti: Oil slick on top of toffee and chocolate tea = melted oils from toffee and chocolate, two foods primarily composed of sugar and butter fat.

Funny how people can react to the same things in completely different ways :)

Ricky

agrees with Shantea. Doesn’t oil floating on top mean bad things? o.O

Shanti

Lol Ricktea.I forgot, usually I see the oils if it’s a heavily flavored tea as well (flavoring oils).

silvermage2000

nice review I was curious about this tea so disappointing that the chocolate and toffee arent there. Becuase I am a big fan of dessert teas but its hard to find good ones.

Cofftea

Shanti, It also can be from the essential oils and antioxidents. That oil slick is very common in true teas although being a chocolate and tofee tea it was thicker than normal. The leaves were also greasy when I tossed them… ew.
Silvermage2000, It is a very good tea for a sweet tea- but if you want a tea you could identify as a chocolate toffee tea in a bilnd taste test, this isn’t it. W/ most dessert teas you either taste all flavoring or all tea. :-/

Shanti

Sorry, but 1) antioxidAnts themselves do not appear in the form of oil, although small amounts have been found in food oils…you seem to be incredibly mistaken about the relative size of an “antioxidant molecule” in relation to a uL of oil, or even to a single fatty acid chain, 2) what do you mean by “essential oils”? Do you mean reduced oils from certain plants, often used as natural flavorings, or do you mean oils that are essential to health? In the first case, they are not particularly healthy or unhealthy (I challenge you to find one replicated and peer-reviewed study that says otherwise); in the second case, the oils and fats used to make toffee and chocolate are NOT “essential oils” or even “good” oils that people don’t get enough of or are beneficial to health, 3) I’m assuming that by “true teas” you mean unflavored Camellia sinensis varietals, but in my experience (and from what I’ve read from other people’s reviews of flavored teas), flavored teas are known for having sometimes seeming oily due to the flavored oils applied to the leaf, 4) the majority of the oil found in tea and indeed in most plants is located in the seed, not the leaves, 5) I’m willing to be that the oil slick was from the melted chocolate and toffee, and perhaps partially from hydrophobic flavoring chemicals.

Shanti

ps. sorry for the long comment, but there are few things I hate more than pseudoscience, especially when the purported science can be harmful.

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Are you a company or tea blender on sites like Adagio that would you like your tea reviewed? If so, please e-mail me @ [email protected].

What I most enjoy from obtaining samples from companies to review is that it helps me to better learn to drink and review teas from a more objective perspective, meaning more of the “This tea is…” point of view rather than the “I like/don’t like” this tea. I feel objectivism in tea reviews is EXTREMELY important because no two tea drinkers tastes are exactly the same. I’ve also been extremely surprised by several teas. I love recieving a sample I think I will be only writing an objective review on, only to completely fall in love with it upon tasting it.

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Tea tastes:
I will ALWAYS pick loose leaf over tea bags. I only drink bagged tea if that’s my only choice or I find a flavor that I can’t find a loose leaf version for. When I do drink bagged; however, I always weigh my bag and am constantly curious as to the weight/flavor ratio- sometimes I am quite surprised by the flavor punch of light bags.

I have a preference for organic and fair trade teas (preferably both), but would never pass up an amzing tea just because it isn’t organic and/or fair trade.

I love savory teas.

I’m currently searching for a chai flavored soy powder or a soy based chai mix (either already mixed or a recipe).

I hardly EVER sweeten my teas. I feel that sweeteners (unless flavored like tea honeys, brown sugar, ice cream topping syrups, flavored coffee syrups, etc) do not add anything to the flavor profile of tea- in fact, I’ve found that they dumb down the flavors.

I NEVER serve my tea over regular iced cubes- I always make tea cubes.

I LOVE cooking w/ tea and making smoothTEAS.

I LOVE tea blending.

I rarely drink herbal teas unless they are mixed with true teas. My favorite herbals to mix with true teas are: spearmint, peppermint, lemongrass, rose hips, and gingeroot.

I can’t stand anything w/ fennel or anise. Hot black teas (except orange pekoe bagged tea that you get when you go out to eat and chai teas) tend to upset my stomach.

I drink matcha daily and love flavoring it. I’m also in a constant search of preflavored matchas.

I’m constantly searching for information on how to prepare tea authentically according to its country of origin.

My Tasting Notes Ratings (edited 8/8/10)
1: I can’t even stand the raw leaf enough to make this (I’ve never owned a tea w/ this rating, but I’ve smelled some before buying resulting in me NOT buying them that were that bad)

2: I steeped this tea but couldn’t stand the aroma enough to get it past my nose

3: I immediately gagged at the 1st sip and spit it out.

4: I manageed to get the 1st sip down, but I tossed the rest.

5: I drank the 1st cup but I can’t bring myself to resteep

6: Made it thru the entire set of infusions but I can’t bring myself to tinker w/ the parameters and won’t be making it again.

7-10: Does not taste anything like the ingredients or name suggests (i.e. Adagio’s Sour apple)

11-25: I can taste some of the ingredients, but the flavor is severely lacking

25-49: Teas that I would not consider bad in their flavor profile, but certainly below average

50: Average.

51-69: Teas above averge, but I wouldn’t go as far as calling them “good”.

70-75: Very good, but still room for improvement

76-85: Above average flavor profile

86-90: REALLY good flavors

91-99: Almost PERFECTLY achieves the goal of the ingredients and name of the tea.

100: Abosolutely perfect teas!

Other Interests: GOD! and all things pertaining to Him and His children, my dog Madison, travelling, and coffee.

Favorite Music: ANYTHING Christian. I don’t normally listen to secular music, but I do love jazz and swing.

Favorite Movies: Romantic comedies mostly. My Sister’s Keeper, P.S. I Love You, Fireproof, National Treasure Trilogy (I CAN’T WAIT FOR THE 3rd ONE TO COME OUT!), Night at the Museum 1 & 2, Sister Act 1 & 2, Yes Man, Bruce & Evan Almighty, rarely watch animated movies but LOVE anything 3D.

Favorite Books: THE BIBLE!!! & My Sister’s Keeper

Favorite Quotes: “A sad soul can kill you far quicker than a germ”- John Stienbeck "

Criticism is something we can avoid easily by saying nothing, doing nothing, and being nothing”- Aristotle

“You should always carry burdens, but they should never be your own”- me

“You have enemies? Good. That means you’ve stood up for something, sometime in your life.” ~ Winston Churchill

“Mom was right, ‘because I say so’ is enough- at least when it comes to God.”- me

Favorite Foods: fried calamari, lemon chicken, anything w/ buffalo sauce.

Favorite Places: WA state, Switzerland, Orlando

Places I Want to Visit: Hawaii, Africa

Anything Else: I was born with a birth defect called Spina Bifida which is the failure of the spinal column to close en utero. Because of this I am a parapelegic and use a manual wheelchair.

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