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!
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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.
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Cinnamon Plum Berry Organic Botanical Blend/Storehouse Tea
Tart hibiscus and zesty cinnamon join forces with sweet plums and currants to form Storehouse Tea’s Cinnamon Plum Berry. The result is a very spicy brew with juicy notes in the background. It’s basically a berry chai.
The smell is delicious; however, the resulting drink doesn’t do it for me.
I was hoping for sweetness with a dash of spice — perhaps like a mulled cider — but the spices are like 90% of the flavor.
If spice is your jam, though, this might be the one for you!
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Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Storehouse Tea
Description
Currants, succulent hibiscus, hints of plum, cinnamon and naturally sweet licorice root create a warm, full bodied and soothing Organic, caffeine free tea. Perfect served hot or brewed as mulled tea.
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Lily Yin Hao/Simple Loose Leaf. . . . .
This is a green tea with lily blossoms. The blossoms stand out as a gorgeous orange against the deep, mossy green and white needle twists.
The resulting flavor is light, with a delicate vegetal tang. I think that I can taste trace amounts of the flowers, but this might be in my head because I saw them. The tea is a bit astringent, and leaves a light aftertaste.
I think it’s a pleasant way to start a morning. It’d go nicely with some meditation or the reading of a compelling nonfiction book. (I always associate green tea with spirituals, yogis, and intellectuals.)
Lily-infused tea is “thought to help with blood pressure,” which sounds dubious (SHOW ME THE PEER-REVIEWED STUDIES), but I feel very mellow today as I sip it. Very nice.
This is part of my last box of Simple Loose Leaf’s sample box, and I must say, I’ve been pleased with the offerings overall. It’s a fairly inexpensive box (as they go), with varied options. I feel pretty comfortable recommending the service if you’re interested in sampling a few different options without fully committing to full-size servings, un-tasted.
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Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf Tea Company
Description
This tea was part of Simple Loose Leaf Tea Co’s monthly tea subscription.
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Autumn Reserve Tieguanyin/Verdant Tea . . . . . .
Not gonna lie to you, Sisters: these past few weeks have been QUITE STRESSFUL for me. So I’ve been in Treat Yo’self mode: cookies. cheese. trashy pop music. trips to the zoo. leisurely walks on the treadmill instead of strenuous weight lifting.
And tea. ALWAYS TEA.
Today I decided to try one of the samples I’ve been looking forward to: Autumn Tieguanyin from Verdant Tea. Oolongs are my current favorite, and frankly, I deserve fineries.
This tea is a creamy walk through a spring meadow filled with fluttering buttercups. It’s so light and dainty. If it were an garment, it would be a pastel mint-colored tutu. If it were a voice, it’d be Ingrid Michaelson’s.
The tasting notes I’m picking up are mostly flowery, sweet vegetal, and slightly creamy. The description on Verdant Tea’s site says “pound cake,” which I’m not sure I’m getting. This may be, in part, due to my profound unclassiness. I may not have enough fae in my blood to be able to pick up on everything. But I’m getting the idea, and I’m adoring it.
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Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Verdant Tea
Description
Master Zhang has worked for over four decades continuing his family’s craft growing true Tieguanyin varietal tea high above Daping village in Anxi. He is working to bring back the original habitat of the region by clearing mountainsides and planting trees, bringing back wildlife and biodiversity, for better tea and a better future. He has won awards across China and has been recognized as one of the leading teachers and craftsman in Anxi for his unique approach to grading teas and processing for flavor. Instead of grading solely by elevation or tree age, Master Zhang holds the “Reserve” designation for the few teas that meet his strict criteria of lingering intensive aftertaste, pervasive sweetness, and thick creamy body. This means that only the leaves whose weather, position in the field and processing come together perfectly can be offered as Master Zhang’s reserve. This reserve grade Tieguanyin was hand-picked and hand finished with an exhaustive fluffing and turning process to bring out deep intense florals and creamy texture.
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Purple Jasmine/Simple Loose Leaf. . . .
You know the song “Things that Make You Go ‘Hmmm’ “? This is a tea that makes you go “hmmm.” Its combination of flavors is really unique, in a way that I’m about 90% sure I like.
This tea combines Kenyan purple tea and green Jasmine tea together. I’m not sure what made a person do this. Probably it was a lazy Thursday and the brewer said, “why not?”
Purple tea is known for its antioxidant properties. It’s grown in Kenya; the high UV levels there cause chemical reactions in the tea leaves. It tends toward the green end of the spectrum, in its alleged health benefits, low caffeine, and delicate flavor. The purple tea adds a delicate, sweet flavor to this tea.
Jasmine green tea is a more vegetal and flowery flavor. You probably know Jasmine from going to Chinese restaurants and getting it served to you as the default when you ask for tea.
When combined with the purple, you get a yet-sweeter Jasmine. It’s like Jasmine with vanilla added. It’s really cool, and I’m glad I have some. It’s a smart, refined, sweet blend.
I started with “Hmmm,” and then settled on “Mmmm.”
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Leaf Type: Purple
Where to Buy: Simple Loose Leaf
Description
This tea is currently not on the website but click below for more information about this company!
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