Chestnuts and I have an odd relationship. When I lived in New York, I used to love the smell of the sidewalk vending stands that sold bags of roasted chestnuts in the winter time. But then when I actually ate the chestnuts, I was always just a little disappointed. I think it’s a texture thing primarily, but it could also be that the flavor isn’t like that of other nuts and I expected it to be more like the typical.
So I wasn’t sure what I’d think of this. As it happens, I like it. I’m not sure how to rate it though. I don’t know that I’ve had other chocolate/chestnut teas to compare it to. So I’m giving it somewhere in the excellent range but it’s a soft rating.
In the tin, the tea smells like baking chocolate with some other smell mixed in that I wouldn’t identify as chestnut. But after steeping, the tea smells a lot like those roasting chestnuts on the street corners of NYC. The chocolate seems to add a bit of roastiness to the aroma.
The tea is dark red and mostly clear, with some floaters (likely from the chocolate). The flavor grew on me over the course of the cup. It has just the tiniest bit of papery taste to it which keeps it from getting a rating in the 90s, but is otherwise a nice, balanced flavor, more roasted chestnut than chocolate.
Flavors: Chestnut, Chocolate, Paper, Roasted Nuts