Coconut Cocoa

Hmmm… this has to be the strangest smelling tea ever. While steeping, it smells kind of like fried food (apparently from the barley in the mix). The tea is a bit savory and buttery tasting. It is quite thick and chocolaty with a bit of coconut. This is definitely a unique tasting tea. I’m not sure whether I would purchase this or not (maybe if it was available loose rather than just in bags). Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

Well, I must say that this one smells divine. Like a Mounds bar, which I enjoy greatly whenever I have them, which isn’t often. It’s making me want one now.

Drinking, it’s a little thinner than I’d really like, considering how rich it smells, but it’s still a nice flavour. I like it.

Oh, this is lovely! I was not expecting to love it so much. I picked it up at whole foods today (can’t leave without tea, you know?) and decided to have it after dinner (which was curry, so I thought the coconut would go well.) The leaves smell like barley – not much cocoa, and no real coconut. I opened up two tea bags, put them in my infuser basket, and brewed 14 oz of tea.

I let it steep for 10 minutes, based on the reviews on Steepster that it needed extra time. The initial aroma was still of barley, but then I smelled some cocoa coming through. I took a sip – surprisingly, this is all about the dark, unsweetened cocoa. I can’t detect much coconut. I added a splash of milk and a dash of sugar, as I do to all dessert teas. This brought out the coconut slightly, but it is still in the background. The cocoa, once sweetened lightly, blends with the barley to make a taste that is really different. I love it – it’s not too sweet or heavy, and it’s a bit exotic. I think it would work iced as well. Republic of teas is a bit pricey, but I do love these “cuppa chocolate” teas!

Imagine the Samoas girlscout cookies in a warm, fuzzy liquid form. That’s what this tea reminds me of. A bit of milk — 2% or vanilla almond and a couple spoons of sugar. The cocoa flavor of it is just enough of a hint, but not so much that you forget it is actually tea. The coconut smell and flavor is very crisp and delightful. I was sad when I learned it had barley, as I’m working toward going gluten free — but I wont let this tea go to waste in that process. I like it a lot, and if I end up unable to finish it I will definitely pass it along to another tea lover to enjoy. It’s great anytime of day, but adds a nice touch as an after dinner treat.

I really liked this dessert tisane. The coconut pairs well with the cocoa. It is a lot like hot cocoa, but with no fat or sugar. You can even kick it up a little by adding milk for that creamy hot cocoa flavor. I was significantly surprised with this one.

It had a very good coconut with a touch of chocolate/cocoa smell to it. When I tasted it, that same smell had a matching flavor that alternated in sips with a old, possibly bad, coconut milk flavor. After 3 or 4 sips, all I could taste was the bad coconut milk and I decided I didn’t want to finish it. The points are primarily for smell.

Enjoyable! This was a surprise because I’m so jaded by so-called chocolate teas. I didn’t have to search for the cocoa or the coconut, both tasted natural and there were no ‘off’ flavor notes at all — smooth sailing. It is a little thin but there’s enough flavor to not be dissatisfying, just give it a good long steep, as my brethren here suggest. Drank with nothing added.

I’m currently attempting to replace sugary sweet foods with dessert teas. I’m also trying to avoid sugar period, so I’m looking for unsweetened teas that I don’t need to sugar up (expect I might cave in to a little honey here and there) to enjoy. I decided to get the chocolate tea sampler box from Republic of Tea to give them a try for my dessert tea mission.

Of all the options in the box I was most excited to try this Coconut Cocoa – and it didn’t disappoint! I made a small cup (right around or slightly below 8 oz) with one tea bag, letting it steep for a little over 5 minutes using boiling water. I find I enjoy RoT much better with two bags and slightly longer steep times though.

The smell definitely is “malty” to me. I definitely tasted hints of coconut and chocolate, but the barley flavor won out, which wasn’t ideal but it didn’t suck either. Will definitely experiment with the other bags in my sampler box (maybe two to a cup next time) though I’m not sure if I’d buy this or use it as one of my go-to dessert teas.

Took a sample of this to my Mom to enjoy. Since Mom is use to drinking Lipton bag tea, this was a real treat that she seem to enjoy.

This tea is just okay for me. I had heard really good things about it, but it wasn’t as delicious as expected. It has a beautiful coconut scent, not so much cocoa included. For me, it tasted a bit watered down and uneventful.