Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Della Terra Teas
Tea Description:
A delicious chocolate tea recipe spiked with the perfect amount of chili pepper! Just like the classic chocolate chili recipes from Mexico, this wonderful blend will give you the slight spiciness of chili pepper and the richness of chocolate. This is a must try for every chocolate lover out there!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The name of this tea is very alluring. I love the combination of chocolate and spice. The contrasting of flavors is always something that tempts me, and this tea certainly captured my attention with the promise of spice and bittersweet chocolate.
The chocolate is delicious. It is very much like a dark chocolate, very rich and deep in flavor. There is a slight artificial note to the cup that I notice when I really focus on the flavors, it doesn’t really disrupt the flavor of the cup with a “casual sip” but its when I try to identify the flavors I’m experiencing that this note really becomes noticeable. It is very slight and sort of rests in the background.
It is the chili pepper that is this tea’s best quality, I think. I really like how it plays in this cup. It takes a little while to really develop. It was noticeable at the very first sip, of course, but, it was mild in temperature. But now that I’m about halfway through the cup, I notice the twinge of a burning sensation on my lips, tongue and upper palate, and the heat seems to radiate all the way to my throat.
It is a very pleasurable burn … it isn’t the kind of heat that is sending me to the kitchen in search of something to extinguish the fire … it is more like a warm ember that warns of a fire that may erupt if it is tampered with, and that’s the kind of heat I really like. The type of heat that is just on the verge of getting really spicy, hinting toward that heat, making this sipper anticipating and even hungering for the flame and encouraging me to continue to sip.
The black tea is a mellow tasting tea, and I think it works perfectly for what this tea is. A stronger or bolder tea would have possibly interfered with the progression of the heat from the chili pepper. Then again, it may have complemented the chocolate in such a way that it came across as richer or smoother… but as it is, I really like how this tea reveals itself. I imagine that this would make a very interesting latte, too.
An enjoyable tea, one I wouldn’t mind drinking now and again for that exciting flirtation with the chili pepper’s heat.
