Chocolate Mint

I have Nutella at home. This is a very good thing, because gosh, I love Nutella. This is also a very bad thing because all I can think about is Nutella! I can’t wait to go home and eat Nutella!!! (!!!!) But, alas, I’m at work, Nutella-less.

I had some Tan Yang Te Ji this morning for the tangy chocolate notes, but I wanted more. Out comes Chocolate Mint for the afternoon! What a lifesaver. I’m getting a nice chocolate flavor, and the mint is refreshing and stimulating. What a nice afternoon cup.

(NUTELLA!)

Thank you ashmanra. This wee tin of Chocolate Mint has helped me out on quite a few chocaholic breakdowns!!!!

I’m obviously in something of a minority here, as this tea was pretty much exactly what I expected it to be and I enjoyed it quite a bit.

Let me say first, though, that I put about 1.5 tsp in for about 8 oz of water. I didn’t find it to be weak, the chocolate and the mint were both present and accounted for and not overly subtle in my experience. I didn’t get a lot of the tea, but frankly, that’s become a secondary consideration for me with flavored teas — if I wanted a strong tea taste I’d drink it unflavored, or I’d drink something I knew to have a strong tea base presence. It doesn’t bother me that much anymore, as I have added more and more members to my pantheon of great teas, that some flavored ones are more about the flavor than the tea. Next time I might go to two tsp and see what happens. Maybe that would bring the tea out a bit more.

To me, the mint was very fresh tasting. It didn’t have a candy aspect to it, but it naturally sweetened up the tea and the chocolate so that the tea didn’t whisper to me that it wanted to be sweetened or to have milk added. This in contrast to the Herbal Infusions Chocolate Mint, which seemed to want sweetening.

The aroma of the steeped tea is heavier on the mint than the chocolate for some reason, but it’s still a nice smell. Sniffed in the sample packet, the mint is eyewateringly strong, which seems to me a good confirmation that it is v. fresh and its volatile oils haven’t dried up. It’s got that pretty black/green mix thing going on in the dry leaves. I’m biased though because black and emerald green is my favorite color combo.

This is going on the list for if/when I ever come out of lockdown and place a full order with H&S.

Ohmahgosh little hand-held wand milk frother, where have you been all my life?! I resisted buying you because if Amazon is to be believed you break at the drop of a hat, but let’s be real here: the roundabout methods for frothed milk (heating a half empty mason jar in the microwave then shaking carefully while praying glass doesn’t explode everywhere from stress + thermal shock, fun times), while not terribly complicated, were enough extra steps I pretty much never bothered. Plus the froth from those methods while nice was never mindblowingly special. But you! I just fish you out of a drawer like a fork, don’t even have to plug you in, push a button to let you do your thing for 30 seconds and voila, magical, really tightly bubbly, tickly joyous milk froth for anything. Rinse you off with a dab of soap under the faucet, push you again to spin dry, and that’s it. I am in love. Even if you DO break in 3 months you’ll be worth the $7, egads.

It feels wrong to even review the tea here, because the froth discovery has me all twitterpated, ha. But it’s good. As I suspected, much like the plain Chocolate from Harney, which I like (it keeps lingering in the back of my mind, that dreamy Thin Mint aroma). I could have either of these made double strength with frothy milk plunked in my big 16 oz cup and call it a night on the couch (much healthier than devouring half a box of Thin Mints, no?). Tea and finding all sorts of new ways to enjoy it has truly kept me sane while holed up this winter.

I’m really surprised that I’ve never had this tea before. It is delicious and here is another Harney’s tea that I’d like to purchase in a tin. The peppermint definitely takes the stage with this tea, but there is a wispy chocolate flavor noticeable. It is very refreshing and would be perfect for a calming cup after dinner. Obviously it’s good for breakfast, too, as I’m really enjoying this cup right now. It’s super sweet and satisfies my sweet tooth!

Since we only have one foster kitten left from the first litter we fostered, I went to pick up a new litter yesterday. It’s two tiny Siamese kittens are they are just beautiful! The little girl came right out of the carrier and started following me around everywhere. Our cats can be a tough crowd to walk into at first, but these little kittens showed no fear and have been exploring all morning! Our cats take a few days to warm up to new kittens, so I’m sure they will all be playing and tearing the house up before long. I say this about every kitten, but these two are so cute I may be tempted to adopt one! Or both!

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves with small pieces of green mint leaves.
-Dry leaves smell strongly minty with just a hint of milk chocolate. Tea liquor aroma is of peppermint with a note of chocolate maltiness.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark brown color.
-Sweet milk chocolate and mint flavor and finish. Cooling peppermint and wispy chocolate aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. Refreshing mint flavor with a hint of chocolate. Perfect after dinner cup.

Copying Morgana ’s parameters since she had a good experience.

This is smooth, sweet, and refreshing. A very good after dinner tea. Also a good summer evening tea for when it’s too hot for hot chocolate. And a great “dessert tea” for you’ve already eaten way too much ice cream this weekend…. ::whistles:: ::looks around::

It’s a happy happy day when a co-worker (chris_s) brings me samples of Harney’s teas to try. The first one I’m trying is this Chocolate Mint. It smells absolutely fantastic and after smelling it, I couldn’t stop thinking about it until I got up and made a cup. Once brewed, the cup is very chocolately and everyone in the office can smell it. The mint is mostly present in the sip. It tastes like Andes Candies in a mug. Sadly, I don’t think I brewed it quite right as it is a little weak. It still tastes great even weak. I used 2 tsp for about 3 min at what I thought was boiling water (hard to tell at work with microwave as a kettle). Anyone have recommendations for amount of tea per 12 oz mug or steeping time?

PS – he also brought me Harney’s Spiced Plum, Harney’s Vintage Silver Tips, and Man Teas Maple Bacon… so you can look forward to those reviews coming soon!

Happy Birthday Sherlock Holmes.
your fictional birthdate will be on my calendar forever.
i will drink Russian Country all day and pour each cup in honor of you.
excuse the all the feeelz! last night was a heartbreaking episode. and compounded with the inordinate cloudy and overcast and freezing sky, it’s just got me in “a mood”.

i drank this tea yesterday morning as i watched the first 2 episodes of the new Community season with oddree and my boyfriend. it was a very satisfying viewing. and breakfast was a very british toast and beans with a fried egg. plus earl grey.
(i was already in sherlock mode. my early morning cup was 3 fandom blends all mixed.)

this mint chocolate tea might be a little weird for me. it’s just not what i’m used to or what i think of when i go to drink a chocolate mint tea. it’s totally mint. and i’m pretty sure it’s chocolate. but they just kinda balance and blend strangely?
idk.
i feel like i’m being hasty to judge. i’ll have another cup soon i’m sure. and i’ll get back to ya.

When I was in A Southern Season recently, I looked for a tea to buy youngest as a gift. She had just finished the tin of Chocolate Tea from Harney and lamented its passing, but they didn’t have it so I got this, completely forgetting that we have had it before.

To be fair – I don’t care for minty tea except on occasion, and I am not the biggest fan of chocolate and mint. I like York Patties but I haven’t bought them in years because I just don’t think of them. So when I had my first cup of this I remembered that I bought once before and ended up giving it away. Youngest thought it was meh at first but then said it grew on her.

A big problem is that my hubby thinks that this tea and Florence smell like mildew, and the sad fact is…it does. And the smell spreads through the whole house.

Youngest was trying to drink it all up, but I think it is going to have to go away tomorrow.
I don’t know why the plain chocolate tea doesn’t smell this strongly to me, but it took forever to finish it. Marie Belle was a better chocolate tea in my opinion, so even though I am a big Harney cheerleader, this one doesn’t do it for me.

When I drink it, I feel like I am having watered down tea with chocolate flavor and too much mint. The chocolate aroma is there but the taste doesn’t thrill me.

Maybe it is tons better for people who add milk and sugar. That may be what it takes to really enjoy this blend.

Thank you to TeaNSympathy for this great sample! I admit it….I am a huge fan of peppermint tea, so I was really looking forward to this one.

The aroma is so soothing, with a good mint and chocolate combo coming through. The mint was slightly more dominant, but the chocolate aroma wasn’t shy either. The wet leaf aroma was even more fragrant, with a good balance of aromas filling the space around me. In the cup, I detected more of the chocolate aroma, but of course the mint was not to be denied.

The flavor is delicious! My palate was filled with minty/chocolatey , and chocolatey/minty goodness! Such a good balance of flavors too. The tea base was there, but the flavors were somewhat stronger than the base tea. In this case I don’t mind it, because it is a dessert tea after all. It tastes like creme de menthe candy, or Ghirardelli Peppermint Bark squares.

I remember quite a few years back, getting this tea for my sister, because she likes Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream. She said it was delicious….and she is right! It is very delicious, and a perfect anytime treat! Thanks again TNS for such a tasty sample! :))

Cupped: Friday & Saturday, March 9-10, 2012.

Reviewed: Monday, March 12, 2012.

This is an even mix of bright green mint and dark choppy tea leaves. It smells just like a York Peppermint Patty but slightly heavier on the mint side.

The light copper colored tea smells of mint but no chocolate. In flavor, the mint is initially subdued. I can’t fully describe the initial taste but it’s not chocolate; instead, it’s just a flatness. The lingering mint aftertaste is typical of any other mint brew.

H&S does so well with the chocolate flavor in Florence that I would have expected a greater presence in this tea. It was really just a mint tea with a little something extra.