Violet Cream/Bird and Blend -Ashmanra-

A friend sent some samples for me to try from far across the sea! This is my first time drinking Bird and Blend as far as I recall, and this is the B&B tea I was most excited to try! I generally enjoy floral teas very much and violet seems so exotic as violet flavored things are rare where I live.

I am “one of those people” who likes violet candy. The first one I tried was very strong and I didn’t like it. It felt like I ate a bath bomb. But then I somehow missed that flavor. I tried another brand and I don’t know if it was milder or sweeter or if I just developed a taste for it, but I could eat a whole pack in one sitting if I didn’t use restraint. (I don’t, by the way, always use restraint.)

I was so madly excited to try this that I took out my most foofoo china and sat at the dining table with pink camellias in front of me in a silverplate gravy boat and fetched a fancy cookie. I am going for the whole experience here.

Mmmmm, the aroma is divine! This is a soft, sweet violet and somehow like sniffing a very fine, delicate talcum, in the best sort of way. The scent is very dreamy and creamy. It doesn’t assault my senses like cheap bubble bath.

I did not get a strong chocolate aroma, but I have never had chocolate covered violets, so maybe this is spot on. In fact, I wondered where the chocolate was. It seemed to actually smell of cream, not just have a creamy mouthfeel.

The chocolate part of this blend is (hallelujah!) cocoa nibs instead of chocolate flavoring. I dug through my infuser basket and found a nib and ate it. Ah, yes, this is what I thought was the cream. Sometimes cream is really just vanilla added to a blend, but this was legitimately creamy tasting and smelling and now I see it somehow came from the cocoa nibs!

All in all, a wonderful elevenses today and this is a blend I would definitely purchase.


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Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: Bird and Blend

Description

A chocolate box classic with a B&B twist. Sit back and relax with a nostalgic violet tea that will take you back to being at Grandma’s house

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Caramel Brownie/T2 – Super Starling –

I grabbed this bad boy in a T2Tea shop in a bougie bit of Boston. One sniff and I was smitten. It smells like fudge. I added it to my pile. (My husband generously and diplomatically did not comment this pile’s financial end-sum.)

The tea itself, upon brewing, becomes a nice cloudy light brown and still smells great. That’s exciting. I let the anticipation build.

T2Tea promises that the brew is “so mouthwatering it rivals Mum’s homemade brownies!” I mean, how charming is that? “Mum”? They’re Australian.

All right. Time to try it.

Oh my! The caramel! The chocolate! It DOES taste like my Mom (not “mum”) might have made it. It’s warm, gooey, and moist (it’s a hot liquid, so obviously). It’s smooth. It’s basically, yes, hot chocolate; the insides of a cookie; or one of those brownies you stab and the goo comes out.

My American Mom makes her brownies from a box, but let’s not knock the box. There are food scientists calibrating that box. Those are good, brave, hardworking people with focus groups and academic credentials. They uncringingly use the word “mouthfeel”.

They do a great job, and so does T2. Nice work, guys. I like this one!


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type: Black

Where to Buy: T2

Description

A baker’s blend of rich chocolate and gooey caramel – so mouthwatering it rivals Mum’s homemade brownies!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Jaffalicious/T2

One of my all-time favorite teas is DavidsTea’s Chocolate Orange. I have a friend who comes over to my house and only drinks that one, decimating my stash. When I was in T2, I found a similar tea, with a base of black tea instead of pu’erh. WAS THIS MY RE-STOCK SOLUTION?

Sort of. It’s pretty close, but not quite the same.

The DT Chocolate Orange is a POW, with the pu’erh being stronger and the chocolate being darker and spikier in flavor. The T2 Jaffalicious is more like the former, but with milk added. It’s sweeter, lighter, creamier, and more delicate. It’s a dessert tea. It’s tea you’d serve your grandmother to make her giggle.

I served this tea to my friend who keeps stealing my Chocolate Orange, and he didn’t really notice the difference. So I guess, in a way, it serves my needs exactly.


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  T2

Description

Jaffa lovers will agree, chocolate and orange is one of the greatest combos ever created. Lashings of velvety dark chocolate with a twang of sweet orange will take you to a world of all things heavenly.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Chocolate Truffle Organic Pu-Erh Tea/Fraser Tea. . . .

This delicious, sweet, creamy goodness is a mix of rich pu’erh tea, cacoa nibs, and flower petals (mostly for appearance, I suspect). The flavor profile of this is a warm chocolate bar. One that will kick you awake with caffeine.

My husband and I like to walk around on New Years Eve in our town, look at ice sculptures, and drink hot chocolate. This tastes like that night. It tastes like the excitement of a new year. It tastes like a red nose and hand-holding.

It tastes, possibly, like a trip to the ski lodge, though I don’t EVER participate in sports, so I wouldn’t know.

If you’re in the mood for a sweet picker-upper, give this one a whirl!


Want to Know More About This Tea?

Leaf Type:  Puerh

Where to Buy:  Fraser Tea

Description

Decadent Chocolate Truffle is an organic, healthful beverage with calming effects. Delight in the richness of chocolate and comforting cream in your first sip of this high quality organic Pu-erh tea. Fraser Tea handpicks all teas and chose this Pu-erh variety for its ability to improve with time. Often used as a slimming tea for those working to manage weight and wellness, this tea is sought all over the world.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Whisky Chocolate Truffle from A Quarter To Tea. . .

Here are two little-known facts about me, friends: I don’t really drink much alcohol if at all (hashtag my bounce-back time is not what it used to be and all that jazz, hashtag old), and I am SO VERY PICKY about chocolate teas. So clearly, when this whisky chocolate truffle tea arrived on my front door step… well, it already had the odds stacked against it, to say the least.

But y’all: I am nothing if not continually amazed at the tea-magic that Lauren at AQTT is able to create in her flavors on a regular basis. This malty black tea is the perfect vessel for both the slight hint of whiskey, balanced by the not-at-all-fakey bittersweet chocolate notes. I’ve had many, many bad chocolate teas in my life– but consistently, AQTT’s chocolate teas are not among them. Rather than tasting like weird, weak hot chocolate, this brew is almost a touch bread-y and a hint savory while still feeling like a decadent, velvety chocolate treat. A splash of cream really takes this one to the next level, and I feel like I’m in college again, with not a care in the world (and the hangover resilience of a 21-year-old).

Almost 30-year-old Mary, though? She’ll stick to her whiskey non-alcoholic, in a tea latte, please and thanks.


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  A Quarter To Tea
Description

This tea was part of the subscription plan, click below to find out more!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!