Does anybody remember that chocolate tea from specialteas? What did you replace it with.
As you may already know, quite a long time ago Specialteas was absorbed in to Teavana. Back when specialteas had a thing, they had a black tea with cacao pieces in it. It was so delicious, and while I’ve tried another chocolate tea from adagio, it wasn’t really as good, in fact I still have it all these years later because I drink it so rarely. The chocolate in the adagio one has fruity notes, whereas the one from specialteas was rich and complex. In general I don’t like fruity chocolates of any kind. Does anybody have some suggested replacements for a good chocolate tea?
I’ve found that in general, I enjoy black teas with natural chocolate notes far more than teas with pieces of chocolate or cacao nibs added – the natural chocolate notes tend to be richer and not watery tasting.
Tippy’s Tea Golden Monkey is a great straight chocolate tea, and it’s used as a base for some of their blends. Whispering Pines Golden Orchid is super chocolately. I think Verdant’s Laoshan Black is also quite chocolately, and their Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha is also very nice.
You might also want to check out Tisano’s cacao shell tea. I haven’t tried it myself yet, but I’ve heard that cacao shells are pretty much tops for really good chocolate flavour.
http://tisano.com/
We just sold out of all our golden monkey. But we are awaiting an order of 5 kg of that wonderful tea from China.
Tisano, now their chai cacao tea sounds very interesting! I might just have to give it a try!
Yeah, I know the magic of SpecialTeas. I’m drinking the BEST Earl Grey from them right now. It’s probably at least five years old!
I was going to mention Tisano’s cacao shells too. I haven’t bought them myself yet, but I know cacao shells in the past had the best chocolate flavor. Best thing is, you can add them to whatever black tea you want.
I know how you feel. I miss several of their teas. In fact, when SpecialTeas closed is when I first found Steepster as part of my effort to find new teas that I liked as much.
Unfortunately, their chocolate tea isn’t one that I tried, so I’m not sure I can recommend a good alternative. But, one of the best chocolate teas I’ve come across is Chocolate O from The Tea Spot. It isn’t fruity. I’ve actually noticed that the taste changes a bit from season to season. Sometimes it has a hint of smoke, sometimes it’s more creamy. Last I checked, it is offered in sample size.
Also, when brewed just right, the Verdant Laoshan Black is quite amazingly chocolatey, as someone else also pointed out.
Oooh putting vanilla beans in with Laoshan black makes it even easier to find the chocolate
Sadly, the Laoshan Black from the most recent harvest tastes significantly less chocolate and more barley/grains to me this time around. Missing the natural chocolate flavor. And now I’m looking at Chocolate O..:P
Thanks, I appreciate the tips from everybody. I can tell already that this is a good community.
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