Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Naked Teas Galore
Tea Description:
This tea shares aromatic notes with merlot wine – chocolate, cherries, dried fruit and flowers. To taste, this blend is classic chocolate and cherries. Ceylon makes for a light black tea base – the backdrop for a fudge-y chocolate start and cherry on the finish. Add a splash of milk and a little sugar to mimic the whipped cream topping.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda’s Monthly Tea Tasting Box here.
Taster’s Review:
When I read the name of this tea: Black Forest Tea Blend from Naked Teas Galore, I got excited. Black Forest to me means the cake – you know what I’m talking about, right? The dark chocolate cake that’s topped with a glazed cherry topping and whipped cream. YUM.
But then I read the ingredients. Carob? Ick. Why carob? Why not cacao shells? Such an amazing chocolate flavor can be extracted from cacao shells. I’m a chocoholic and I don’t like carob because carob DOES NOT taste like chocolate … at least not a good chocolate. It tastes like carob. It tastes like a poor man’s chocolate. It tastes like imitation chocolate. Ugh.
So, now my expectations are not all that high when it comes to this tea. I’ll still try it and hope for the best. Let’s see what happens.
OK … so this isn’t too bad. It’s actually kind of tasty. The chocolate flavor is a little weak (then again, this is a usual complaint of mine when it comes to chocolate teas, right?) The cherry flavors come through nicely. It’s not a super strong flavor, but, it’s enough to let you know it’s there.
The juniper berries offer a sharpness to the cup, again – not an overly strong flavor, but it does add some “focus” that I think this tea would lack if it wasn’t there. I am also enjoying the rose notes that I taste. Not something I’d normally expect in a Black Forest cake, but, I enjoyed it in the tea.
The black tea base is smooth and flavorful. There is a sort of creaminess to the cup that develops as the tea cools, and I find this particular aspect of the tea quite enjoyable. It is a medium-bodied black tea, so there’s not a lot of gusto to it, but, the flavors and tea meld well together to create a palate pleasing taste.
Overall, it’s not a bad tea. I taste cherry, I taste a creaminess, I taste black tea. I even taste a hint of something that could be chocolate if you don’t try to hone in on that particular note. It’s certainly not as terrible as I thought it might be given that it’s flavored with carob rather than chocolate; I was able to finish the cup without grumbling.
I do still wish that Naked Teas Galore chose to employ cacao shells or nibs rather than carob, but, this tastes alright. Not something I’d buy again, but I’d drink it again if it were offered to me.
