Chocolate Raspberry Truffle

Thanks to Sil for this sample!!
I totally see what you mean about this being a low grade cocoa. The chocolate note is just… well it’s off somehow.
And the raspberry is so sharp! In a very familiar, artificial sortof way.
At first, I really was not enjoying my cup. Strangely, by the end of the cup, it started to grow on me. I still disliked the fake notes but there was something oddly satisfying there. Like Tim Hortons beverages!(I heard they line the cups with a certain kind of coconut oil, which apparently is addictive so there are tons of people out there who don’t really like their coffee, but crave it anyhow heh)
That said, I wouldn’t go out and buy more. Def not heh.
Also, Dad commented on my cup of tea as it was brewing. First time ever he identified the type of tea, and that he likes chocolate! So I made him a cup and all he would say was “interesting”. Pretty sure he was disappointed though he won’t confirm because he is trying to be nice haha
Anyhow, it’s an almost sipdown, I have enough for a small cup left! Maybe I’ll mix it with my assam :)

On the Fourth Day of Christmas, Della Terra Teas sent me this tea!

Backlogging on this one a bit, because like the other 12 Days of Christmas teas from DTerra Teas – thanks Azzrian! :) – I wanted to write up the review in time to have it publish this morning. (or afternoon if you’re on the east coast).

I really like this tea. Delicious chocolate-y, raspberry-ish flavor. Sweet, tangy, and really yummy. Here is my full-length review of it: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/12/17/on-the-fourth-day-of-christmas-della-terra-teas-sent-to-me/

I have no idea why this wasn’t a tea I chose when I ordered three sample packs from DT, since chocolate raspberry is entirely my thing… but thanks to Starfevre, I get to try it anyway. Maybe I just didn’t want to try all their chocolate teas at the time, or they had other teas I’d rather try like the oatmeal cookie. This doesn’t have too much flavor. I’d say the very sweet raspberry flavor is the strongest, rather than the black tea or the chocolate. I expect not to taste the black tea with DT though! I think I’m picking DT’s black teas when I want a black tea but not so much caffeine. But maybe I’m assuming it has less caffeine since the black tea isn’t as strong? This is nice, but I’d prefer more flavor!

This was a nice little sample that came with the chocolate sampler last month. Thank you!

Many of us are looking out the windows at SNOW today. I’m loving it!

Snow arrived a few days ago in the Rocky’s and the next is coming Christmas Eve. It’s half way melted already leaving just enough to look pretty.

Granddaughter Schey came over last night and we went to the monthly Downtown Free ‘Food Walk’.
We were bundled up in boots and warm coats http://flic.kr/p/dD4h7t, walking first into the ‘Welsh Rabbit’ for Cheese Tasting (naturally smoked Wisconson Gouda and English Chedder). http://flic.kr/p/dD9EoU
When we left the cheese shop there was a man with a tray of hot cinnamon waffles from ‘The Waffle Lab’ on the street corner handing out free big waffle sections. http://flic.kr/p/dD9Eef YUM! Hot cinnamon waffles while walking down the street!
We wound up at the end of our ‘Food Walk’ at ‘Happy Lucky’s Tea House’ where Joe was giving samples of flavored, pressed grape oil paired with tea. (my favorite was Russian Caravan Tea paired with Habanaro Chili Oil).

Schey and I finally sat at the bar and ordered a pot of holiday tea and a cookie to share…(which Sam paid for before leaving for the day. His ’on-the-house gift to us).

Today, I’m picking up grandsons Micah and Donovan for a trip back to the tea shop for TEA WITH GRANDMA! A wonderful thing to do right before Christmas! The boys love going out for tea!

To get in the mood, I decided to drink this flavored tea. (I know, a shock!) I don’t dislike flavored tea’s, I’ve gotten more selective I guess.
I appreciate that Della Terra has samplers where you can try lots of different tea’s at a reasonable price. There were some of the chocolate sampler tea’s (like the Chocolate Puerh) that I was pretty fond of.

The Raspberry Truffle was full of flavor. Chocolate, raspberry…all very rich and strong. You know what the tea is all about. FLAVOR!

When you read the ingredients on the package, it says chocolate flavoring and raspberry flavoring. You can taste them.
Some of the other Della Terra tea’s use natural ingredients for flavor and I like that more.
To tame the sourness of the artificial flavoring, I added half and half which helped a great deal. Then I sweetened my tea.

I don’t think this will disappoint anyone who wants a dessert tea. The flavor is exactly what is in the name. You can’t taste any tea but you taste lots of flavoring.

This is the first of the Chocolate tea series that I can REALLY taste the chocolate…very strongly. The play of both flavors (chocolate and raspberry) works.

Not a thumbs down or a thumbs up cuppa tea.

I’m really having a disappointing tea night, nothing I’ve made is quite what I’m looking for and some are just flat out terrible. This tea falls in the not what I’m looking for category, but it didn’t leave me disappointed like the chocolate almond coconut did.

The scent of the dry leaf is strong and has a heavy artificial raspberry scent, but surprisingly the brewed tea has very little raspberry flavor. Mostly I can taste the black base with a hint of chocolate flavoring. Normally I don’t sweeten my tea, but I did add a little rock sugar to try and draw the raspberry flavor out a little. It didn’t really help.

I think I’ll take the last of this and try to make a latte out of it.

Meh. This is starting to confirm that it’s the chocolate teas from Della Terra that i don’t enjoy. Something about the way the chocolate tastes…it’s like low grade cocoa. or something. I didn’t get much raspberry from this either. :(

I used 1 tablespoon of dry leaf for 375 ml of water.

Good black tea base that compliments the other flavours. Raspberry tastes artifical. Chocolate flavour is only very faint. Immediate aftertaste has a good balance of black tea and raspberry taste with a chocolate hint.

As the cup cools, the tea tastes more just like slightly flavoured hot water.

Thank you to Indigobloom and Sil for sharing some with me!

Sipdown!! (161)

Thank you Josie Jade for the sample but I am not getting anything from this cup but astringency. It smelled so chocolatey but I am getting none of that flavorwise. This won’t be a restock for sure.

This was our new tea of the day on Friday, I just forgot to log it. I like this one, but it had more of an artificial candy raspberry flavor than a true fruity raspberry flavor. The chocolate was very nice. I don’t know if I would order more of this one, but I definitely will enjoy what I have left!

-Dry blend has medium black tea leaves and twigs with small pieces of green raspberry leaves and small chocolate chips.
-Dry leaves smell richly of cocoa with a hint of sweet raspberry. Tea liquor aroma is of malty chocolate and candy raspberry.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark orange brown color.
-Malty flavor with a dark chocolate finish. Light cocoa and raspberry aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Heavy chocolate flavor with a slightly artificial sweet candy raspberry taste.

Cuppa the afternoon……

It is another tea from my Mystery Box from Della Terra. Here is one I probably would not have chosen for myself. I did have an old favorite custom blend from another vendor that I drank quite a bit on the beginning of my tea journey. I probably got my fill of chocolate raspberry tea at that time…..at least enough that it would not cross my mind to purchase more.

All that being said, this one is surprising to me. The chocolate notes are of dark chocolate and they complement the raspberry very well, and it is a very good raspberry flavor. Again, I love that the tea base Della Terra uses is the type that lets the flavors do the talking. Let’s face it….if we are after flavors like chocolate and raspberry, we are not after a tea base that shows up as a bitter interruption. I did use just a little more leaf than I normally would since their base is on the light side for my taste, but that seems to work for me. I am not sure this would be a rebuy for me, but I will say that it did influence my decision to purchase more from this vendor. This is so much better than my older version of this tea. I will thoroughly enjoy it while I have it. Who knows? I might pick up an ounce or so in a later order. I love the size options they offer.

Usual mug method with just a little extra tea.