Sweet Zhang

AJRimmer Advent Day 25

This was an exceptionally good end to a delightful Advent calendar! I’m not usually a big fan of chocolate-flavored teas, but the quality on this one is a step above. The base tea is amazingly rich and complex and the chocolate and vanilla flavoring layered on top marry seamlessly with the notes in the black tea itself. I’m always a tiny bit upset when I find a new favorite from 52Teas, since it’s anyone’s guess if/when it will be reblended. But even if this was a one-time treat, I’m so glad I got to sample it. A huge thank you to Devon Bartholomew for getting the ball rolling on this year’s Advent swap and to AJRimmer for organizing the swap and being my swap partner. It was so much fun (as always!) and I’m already looking forward to next year!

This tea gets incredible reviews, so when I didn’t really enjoy my first cup of it, I knew I should try it again before reviewing it. It tastes strongly of bittersweet chocolate, like a hot chocolate without any sugar. The black tea is very strong, almost bitter, but not bitter. You can tell that it tastes the way it means to taste. I added some spray cream to the last of my cup, which made it pretty decadent. I underleafed my second cup of it and was super careful with the steep time, and I enjoyed it a lot like that. It tastes so high quality and different from other black teas I’ve tried. The resteep tastes excellent too. The hype was justified with this one.

Made this earlier and I didn’t pay super close attention but remember chocolate.

(52teas (Anne) 2022: already recorded)

Delicious. Rich and just subtly flavoured. When I was sorting through all my teas to find those that had gone astray, I also nabbed a whole bunch that I want to drink again, so now my “drink soon” basket is stuffed, ahahaha.

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge, March 2022: A tea that makes you happy
Also falls under “a discontinued/otherwise unavailable-for-purchase tea”, and I’m incredibly sad about that.

This tea is magical chocolate pastry goodness. It smells like fresh, hot carnival funnel cake goodness and exquisite cream-filled chocolate éclairs. It tastes like velvety dark chocolate woven with delicate threads of vanilla and amaranth. It has no justification for being this good (or this unavailable to me), and so I’m mad at it.

Also, it’s a shame that this tea doesn’t have a photo, because it’s a super pretty blend of tightly curled black tea with a spread of red and blue petals. I meant to take a photo, but every time I went to look at it I became distracted by the aroma and ended up making a cup instead (resulting in this speedy, mournful sipdown).

Fans of Laoshan Black-like and Whispering Pines “Vanilla Dreams” teas would find a lot of common ground to love here. I hope it gets reblended at some point in the future.

P.S. – all tea makes me happy, even the ones I don’t love (English Breakfast makes me happy 10/10). This is a free space.

Mastress Alita’s Monthly Sipdown Challenge: a discontinued/otherwise unavailable-for-purchase tea

My intention was to count this towards a different category. But, I started drinking my first cup and immediately rushed to the 52Teas site, hoping a few more pouches would be available. Alas…

This is SO GOOD. I haven’t gotten really excited about a tea in awhile, and this one really did it for me. It’s the perfect vanilla black tea, and reminds me quite a lot of Cocoa Amore from Whispering Pines (another all time favorite).

It really is like chocolate milk (in the best possible way). The cocoa notes of the base are rich and dark, with a perfect amount of creamy vanilla.

Crossing my fingers Anne will reblend it at some point.