Dark Chocolate Tea

pretty sure that this tea falls into the no thanks category. I think it might actually be the espresso in it that is doing me in. While i like coffee and espresso, it turns this tea into more of a coffee type blend that it does a dark chocolate. It’s not a terrible tea but it’s not somethings that wows me at all. Also, something in the aroma of this one is turning me off a little. might have to toss my unopened sample into the swap box! Hopefully someone else will love it more than me :)

So I’m working from home today, but I guess the emphasis is on working as I really haven’t had much tea today! I poured a cup of this from my timolino and wasn’t sure what it was.

My first thought was that it reminded me of BBQ sauce.

Now that I’ve shaken my head a bit, I can see that’s not the case, but there’s something odd about this blend that I can’t get my head around. It really reminds me of a dark twisty black tea that I’ve had – maybe Ceylon Spring, but oversteeped?

I can smell the chocolate in it though! And if I just relax and drink it, there is a bit of a chocolate taste to it. And honey. And malt. And the slightest bit of honey which is probably from the Yunnan. I don’t trust myself to rate this at the moment though. I"ll post this note and then sip on the rest of the cup, adding more as needed.

Next time I’ll try steeping it for half the time suggested. That might help, but with new teas I like to try their suggestions.

Hmmm….I’m not totally sure how I feel about this tea. Initially it seemed pretty blah, watery & weak in spite of a 6 minute steep, so I added more tea & let it go a few more mins. Still not particularly exciting, so I added sweetening, & the flavors began to bloom into one of those dark chocolate bars that you pay top dollar for, a chocolate bar with ground expresso beans in it. Yep, that’s pretty much it. Even as I was thinking, “this is meh, I should just dump it & make something else”, the flavors were building, getting richer, creating that satisfying sensation of having eaten that expresso chocolate bar. I drank the entire cup.

BTW, I spent the afternoon creating my 3rd blog post @ Terri’s Airy Fairie World, which includes a review of sorts of Butiki’s Khongea Tippy Golden Assam, & a few yummy gluten/dairy free recipes. Here’s the link: terrlangerak.wordpress.com

This has to be one of the most unique chocolate teas I’ve tasted in quite a while. The kukicha adds a slightly smoky dimension to the cup, as well as lightens the body a little bit. The chocolate is not as strong as I would like it to be, but then, I’m a chocoholic that adheres to a simple philosophy: some chocolate = good. More chocolate = better. There is some chocolate in this blend … therefore it is good. But more chocolate would make it better.

As it is though, I find it very unique and interesting. I like the compelling differences between this and just about every other chocolate tea that’s out there. I like the Kukicha in there… I like how it pairs with the Nilgiri black. It tastes rich, but it also has a lovely lightness to it. And the smoky/toasty taste is really a nice touch.

A very interesting cup, indeed. I like it.

I couldn’t wait any longer to try this. The try my sizes are big enough to make at least 2 16oz mugs so I have some left for when I finally kick this cold and can truly taste it.

I’ve always totally disregarded any tea with any mention of chocolate associated with the flavor. I think I had a couple low quality, artificially flavored chocolate teas that made think chocolate and tea were just not a good combo. Seriously, like the left over milk from cocoa krispies mixed with tea. Gross. But then I tried the infamous Laoshan Black and Laoshan black chocolate Genmaicha and whole new world of flavors opened up.

So I decided to give Dark Chocolate Tea a try. The kukicha twig tea is what really sold it to me in the description. The roasty flavor sounded like an obvious compliment to dark chocolate. It’s also got Yunnan and a little nilgiri to add some complexity. And of course cocoa nibs. (I also just read the description again and there is espresso powder, that would normally turn me off, but I didn’t notice it at all)

Yum. I’m so thankful to have gotten over my fear of chocolate tea. This tea is so crazy tasty. Especially once it cools a bit. The chocolate flavor really emerges and the nilgiri and kukicha balance it so well. I’m so glad I have more to try when I can really taste all the flavors.

I wonder if it resteaps as well as cinnamon swirl bread. I doubt it, but I’m off to give it a try.

Well, this tea unfortunately kind of underwhelmed me. It was certainly dark-tasting, but I wasn’t really tasting much chocolate. There was a hint of the molasses taste as there was in the Milk Chocolate tea, but it was definitely less prominent. I’ll have to try a second cup with the recommended brewing parameters (I reduced the infusion time by a couple minutes) to see if I can coax a bit more flavour out of this one.

Thank you, Shelley_Lorraine! This tea is the closest I’ve come to finding a chocolate tea that tastes like chocolatte. I was worried that this would have an artificial, bubble gum taste but it pleasantly natural. The tea not only tastes chocolately, but has a great roasty, black tea taste.

Thank you yet again TastyBrew!

I brewed this one up at the same time that I brewed Jumpy Monkey so that I would have a back up if I didn’t like one. I often do then when trying new teas. I put this one in the larger cup because I predicted that I would like it more, but I actually liked the jumpy monkey more. This isn’t bad, its just so-so. The chocolate tastes a bit off. I’m not sure I can really describe the rest of it. There is a sort of smokiness about it, nothing too offensive though. And it’s just ever so slightly tart. I am happy to finish my cup, but regretting just a little that I chose the bigger one for this tea. Oh well. :)

I bought a lot of sample sized teas from sTEAp Shoppe, but have finally gotten around to trying some of them! This particular tea is good. There is a smokey dimension to it, though it is overall light in flavor. The chocolate stands out, but given the name, I was really hoping for a stronger tea. Maybe I need to increase the amount of tea for the steep? I’ll try it again to see if it helps. If I can find the right tea/water ratio, I might buy the full size!

Thank you DigniTea! I really want to try all of Steap Shoppe’s blends… I’m definitely ordering the amazing Cinnamon Swirl Bread at some point! This sounds like a well thought out blend, but sadly it looks like it isn’t for sale on the site anymore.

Steep #1 // 5 mins after boiling // 3-4 min
A teaspoon and a half and my sample is gone! (“Good” says my cupboard.) This cup was exactly as I expected.. but a little less dark chocolate and more like milk chocolate thanks to the kukicha that I find has a creamy flavor somehow. It isn’t a very dark cup, but I seem to like it more than others here on Steepster. I’m wondering why it is rated so low! I like the combination of ingredients. It’s a nice balance. I can taste the vanilla, chocolate, espresso.

Steep #2 // just boiled // quite a few minutes steep
… But then with the second cup I can see what others might not like about this blend. ANISE. It’s all licorice in the second cup, when I didn’t notice it at all in the first cup! Very odd. I don’t mind anise, but not in this blend. If I had more, I’d just end up steeping it like the first cup.