Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Here’s our premium black teas blended with cacao nibs, marigold petals and organic chocolate and toffee flavors. This is a rich, decadent treat.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh yum! Yum, yum, yum!
Well, I had no doubt whatsoever that I’d enjoy this blend. Chocolate and Toffee in a tea? Oh, yes, please! And I’m happy to say that the chocoholic in me is even satisfied with the level of chocolate-y-ness in this blend. Oh, sure, more chocolate WOULD be better but I’m quite happy with what I’m tasting.
I brewed this in my Breville One-Touch, measuring 2 bamboo scoops into the basket and adding 500ml of water to the jug. Then I set the temperature for 205°F and the time for 2 1/2 minutes. This produced a very delicious cup – well, actually, I fill my favorite mug twice with the 500ml of brewed tea – and bonus! The Breville keeps the tea warm for me. No tea cozy needed.
The black tea base is prominent and that just may be why I find this tea so enjoyable. I like it when I taste the tea base of a blend (especially when it’s actually TEA and not rooibos or honeybush.) The black tea here is a solid, full-flavored tea. It tastes rich and there is a hint of malt to it and this complements the toffee notes. This is a bold enough tea that this would make a really nice first cup of the day. (A little treat for breakfast?) There is some astringency to this, but I’m not finding it to be a strong astringency. It falls somewhere between very mild and moderate.
The chocolate notes are really nice here. As I said, I’d love to have more chocolate, but I find that the level of chocolate to be good here. I think that’s because there is a really good proportion of flavors. The black tea is the most prominent flavor, with the chocolate and toffee notes standing at about equal levels – maybe just a little more chocolate than toffee.
The toffee is sweet and buttery. The combination of the chocolate and the toffee here is incredibly decadent. This may just be one of Frank’s best “confectionery” type of teas yet. This is really yum. It reminds me a lot of a gourmet chocolate toffee candy like these from Valerie Confections, all that’s missing is that crunch. And these might even be a little bit BETTER because there’s also tea. And tea always makes things better.
Sweet Cinnamon Maté Tisane from Because UR Priceless
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: Because UR Priceless on Etsy
Tisane Description:
Yerba Matế (pronounced mah-tay) has long been recommended for promoting vitality, clarity and well-being. Not only does it contain 24 vitamins and minerals, 15 amino acids, and a host of antioxidants, but it is traditionally used as a catalyst to help your body take in the benefits of other herbs.
Our SWEET CINNAMON MATẾ combines this wonderful leaf with spicy cinnamon and sweet cacao nibs to make for an unforgettable tea drinking experience.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This tisane is delightful!
The Yerba Mate appears to be a “green” (rather than a roasted) Yerba Mate and it lends a fresh crisp taste to the cup. Yerba Mate is a very invigorating drink and I love the refreshing flavor of the green Mate in this. It is a nice contrast to the warm, spicy-sweet cinnamon and the rich notes of cacao.
The cinnamon here adds a gentle heat. It’s not overly spicy, but it’s warming and it’s especially nice to be drinking on a cool autumn morning like this. Cozy, like a warm fluffy blanket but less likely to lull you into a sleepy state because we’re drinking Mate here! The Mate gives you a swift kick in the butt to get you going and keep you alert!
The cacao nibs are a nice touch. It gives a slight chocolate-y sweetness to the cup to soften the edge of the cinnamon and enhance the earthy quality of the Mate in a favorable way. (Mate can sometimes be a little more on the vegetal earthy side, the cacao ensures a more chocolate-y earthiness which I like much better.)
To brew this tea, I grabbed my Kati Tumbler and added the contents of the sampler packet to the basket. That’s probably a tad more than was needed for a 12 ounce cuppa, but, I tend to prefer my tisanes to be brewed strong because they tend to be somewhat “thinner” in body.
I added hot water (195°F) and steeped the tisane for 10 minutes. I have found that Yerba Mate can become a little bitter if you either: a) bring the water to boiling, or; b) steep too long. If you eliminate one of these factors, in this case, I brought the water to just boil, then you don’t get that unpleasant bitterness from the Mate and you can steep the blend a little longer to ensure a strong flavor from the infusion.
It’s a very satisfying beverage that’s a little sweet, a little spicy and a whole lot energizing!
Vanilla Cacao Tea from Tisano
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Tisano
Tisane Description:
If you love chocolate cupcakes this is the tea for you… In the 19th Century Dutch settlers in South Africa created an herbal infusion from the Rooibos bush. It is a caffeine-free natural source of antioxidants with a milky and nutty flavor profile. Combining Rooibos, Vanilla Beans and Cacao Tea creates a creamy chocolate dessert in a cup minus the calories, sugar, fat and packed with antioxidant goodness.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh. My. Goodness. This is so good. Definitely one of the very best rooibos blends I’ve ever had. And it’s all because of the chocolate, baby!
To steep this tisane, I used 195°F water and steeped it for 12 minutes. I used 2 tsp. of leaf for 12 ounces of water. This produced one serious cup of YUM!
Just as the description above suggests, this tastes like a liquefied chocolate cupcake! The rooibos adds just enough of a nutty, sweet flavor to give this just the right cake-ish flavor. I like that I can taste just a bit of the natural nutty tones of the rooibos without this tasting too much like rooibos. You can taste those nutty flavors but it doesn’t taste so distinctly like rooibos.
The vanilla is a strong note too – sweet, creamy and luscious! YUM! For those of you who like the flavor of a latte but want to limit your dairy intake, the vanilla in this gives it just the right creamy, almost latte-ish like flavor that you don’t need to add milk or cream.
But the real star of this cup is – not surprisingly! – the cacao shells! By now, those that have been reading my reviews enough should be aware of how much I love cacao shells. I think that they’re the perfect component to a chocolate tea. It adds a better chocolate flavor to a cup than cacao nibs do, better than chocolate flavoring oil does, and much better than chocolate chips/chunks do. Cacao shells are the KEY to a chocolate-y tea!
And this is chocolate-y! Rich and decadent and absolutely SINFULLY chocolate. So yum! The vanilla gives it just enough of a “milk chocolate” sort of flavor and enough of a creamy texture to satisfy that craving of a chocolate-y dessert (like that aforementioned chocolate cupcake!)
I don’t usually offer a “highly recommended” recommendation to a rooibos blend … but this one has earned it. I highly recommend this one! Two thumbs up!
Mint Cacao Tea from Tisano
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: Tisano
Tisane Description:
Tisano is redefining mint-chocolate. Our CACAO MINT TEA is pure and simple, we take our signature CACAO TEA and artisanally blend it with organic Egyptian peppermint, creating a rich yet refreshing chocolate experience that lingers on your lips. Great for early morning or as an after dinner delight.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Yummy!
Yeah, I say that a lot. That’s because I’m surrounded by so much delicious tea! And this … is not so much “tea” as it is a chocolate tisane, but, without getting technical, I’ll just say that I’m really enjoying this Mint Cacao Tea from Tisano! It’s so yummy!
Every time I lift my teacup to my lips, I’m greeted with a strong aroma of CHOCOLATE! That smell gets my taste buds all excited for what they’re about to experience – a deliciously decadent, sinful taste of dark chocolate and crisp, cool peppermint. Sweet, just a little bit bitter (as in bittersweet chocolate), and minty. So good!
The combination of chocolate and peppermint is a classic one, and Tisano has taken this classic combination and created a really delectable “tea” that can be steeped in water or if you really want to go for the gusto, you might try steeping it in hot milk. Personally, I don’t like steeping tea in milk because it makes a mess. I like my tea brewing experience to be as carefree as possible, and this means the less mess, the better. But if you do choose to steep it in milk, I think you’ll be rewarded with a very satisfyingly rich, “hot cocoa” kind of cup.
Me, I steep it in hot water – 195°F to be exact. This tends to be my go-to temperature setting for tisanes, as I find the slightly lower than boiling temperature works best to extract the best flavor from herbs. I let it steep for 12 minutes as there are no Camellia Sinensis leaves in this – so I don’t have to worry about oversteeping or tannins. Rather than just 1 tsp. of dry leaf for 12 ounces of hot water, I go with 2 tsp. because the way I see it, more chocolate = better. These parameters produce a very flavorful cuppa that satisfies this chocoholic when the chocolate cravings set in. It’s a little like a thinned hot cocoa that’s full of dark chocolate flavor with a refreshing note of mint.
And even though this is not a true “tea” – this beverage definitely brings a smile to my face. It’s sweet and chocolate-y and just … oh-so-good!!!
Original Cacao Tea from Tisano
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal Tisane (I wasn’t sure how I should categorize this!)
Where to Buy: Tisano
Tisane Description:
Tisano CACAO TEA is an award winning herbal chocolate tea. We don’t use artificial flavorings – just 100% of world’s best organic cacao – creating a rich, natural and one-of-a-kind chocolate experience. Tisano is the innovator behind real chocolate infusions – join our adventure.
This healthy addiction is rich in antioxidants and has zero fat or calories. Cacao Tea contains Theobromine, a natural mood booster and with less caffeine than green tea or decaf coffee it is an ideal healthy alternative. Give it a try and unlock the wisdom of cacao, the original fruit of the gods.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
One word is all that is needed to really describe the flavor of this tea: CHOCOLATE! Yes, I said chocolate.
I previously reviewed this tisane on another tea review site – unfortunately, the archives are not available at this time (I don’t know if this is a permanent situation or not!) so I can’t route you there with a link. But, even though I’ve already tried this tisane, it doesn’t mean that I’m not willing and eager to sample it again and write more about it. I mean, hey, we’re talking CHOCOLATE here! Well, cacao shells. But once they’re brewed, they taste like a great big mug of sweet, sinful, indulgent hot chocolate.
The consistency of this drink is a little thinner than my “usual” hot cocoa because I like to make my hot chocolate with hot milk rather than water. But, this has all the rich, chocolate-y flavor of a hot cocoa. In fact, I prefer the flavor of this to a hot cocoa because it is more like the dark chocolate that I prefer. I get that dark, bittersweet flavor of dark chocolate that I love and there is a wonderful contrast between the bitter and the sweet.
If you prefer a creamier or (milkier) chocolate, you can add a splash of milk or cream to the cup. I would recommend brewing this a little stronger if you plan to go latte though so that you get a stronger impact from the chocolate. Because let’s face it, if you’re going to be drinking a product that is 100% cacao shells, you’re looking for some decadent chocolate flavor!
And that’s exactly what Tisano delivers. This product is 100% cacao shells – nothing else! – and it delivers a rich, delicious chocolate-y flavor that’s sure to please even the most particular of chocoholics out there.
There are few things out there that I love more than chocolate. And this Cacao Tea from Tisano makes me a very happy chocolate lover.