Chocolate Mint by The Love Tea Company. . . .

by Sensiblyscript

Today we have a wonderfully minty black tea up for review!

This company’s website states that they donate 25% of their net profits to the Flagg Foundation for Mental Wellness, so buying this tea supports a great cause!

Another great thing about this company (in addition to offering great tea) is that their tea comes in cute little plastic canisters that you can either reuse or recycle. This is great if, like me, you’re getting tired of having to throw all those loose leaf tea bags in the trash because they’re made of paper (or plastic) fused with foil so you can’t recycle them or wash them out–or even if they’re just simple plastic bags, your city won’t accept them and you have to somehow recycle them separately (biggest inconvenience ever!). So this company is socially responsible and their tea packaging is eco-friendly (or at least convenient to be eco-friendly with . . . )!

For this tea session, I steeped 1.5 teaspoons of this chocolate mint tea in about 8oz of water (at just under boiling) for about 4 minutes. It smells nice and minty even before steeping, with a smooth creamy undertone from the chocolate.

While steeping, a reddish-brown cloud settles to the bottom of the cup. It starts to smell warmer and chocolatier. By the end of the steeping process, it’s reddish cedar-y in color, darkish but still see-through.

First sip: Very minty–like actual mint tea. There’s a distinct difference between a mint flavor from mint extract/flavoring and the actual flavor of actual mint leaves (mint leaves have some vegetal undertones and the possibility of bitterness if you oversteep, which the “extracts” don’t have). And sure enough, the ingredients list specifies that there are mint leaves in this, so kudos for that–we have actual mint here. And because the tea comes with bits of chocolate in it, this is a very naturally flavored chocolate mint tea.

 The flavor profile is excellent; creamy chocolate flavor is swimming underneath, with the sharp fresh mint above–steeping stronger might make the mint bitter, so be careful about that, but it’s not bitter at this strength. It’s friendly and welcoming, and does the chocolate-mint thing quite well. I can detect a teensy bit of tea astringency and black tea flavor.

With milk: it’s creamy, no surprises here. I use whole milk, which tames the mint quite a bit. It doesn’t bring out the chocolate as much as I was hoping, but it’s still quite yummy. I think next time I’ll need to be more careful to actually include chocolate bits in my spoonful of tea leaves.

In conclusion, I really enjoyed this tea and we’re basically friends now. And I really appreciate the Love Tea Company’s social efforts and recyclable tea packaging, not to mention that their branding is really cute–I love the colors! 

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  The Love Tea Company
Description

Did you know that February 19th is chocolate mint day?  The combination of chocolate and mint is one of the most delectable pairings known to human kind.   Its origins are unknown, but surely it was created a long, long, long time ago.  This scrumptious Black Tea Blend is a real treat, just don’t steal all of the chocolate pieces before steeping!  Brew up a nice hot pot and add a splash of milk and a dash of sugar and enjoy all of that chocolaty, minty goodness.  Surely February 19th must be the tastiest day of the year!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sensiblyscript

Hi! My name is Tabitha and I'm an uprooted PNW native living in the South with my husband and my cocker spaniel. My favorite teas are usually dark and strong and go well with milk and sugar. I like to combine tea-drinking with all of my favorite activities, such as listening to music, reading YA fiction, knitting, and writing blog and website content for businesses. Because I'm a well-rounded person, I also have other interests, such as wearing mismatched socks and pretending to be ambidextrous.

This post was posted in Black Tea, The Love Tea Company

Rocky Road from 52Teas. . . .

by Sophia

When I first saw this tea I will admit that I was not 100% interested. Of course I love chocolate, but I don’t love, love chocolate in my tea. I don’t mind a little, but if it’s too much I feel like I cant drink it because it is too dessert-like. Regardless, I decided to buy a taster/sample size just to try it out. Because of this tea being an ice cream flavor, I was not too enthused with brewing it hot. I wanted to try it cold and as an iced latte. I figured that the milk would give it a more creamy component and that it may resemble a milk shake!

I was certainly right! I couldn’t believe how delectable this tea was as an iced latte! It tasted like chocolate milk, but not overly chocolatey because there was still that nutty almond component which was completely driven home by the addition of sunflower seeds which I LOVED. After the third sip I caved and got onto 52 Teas’ website and ordered more before it was gone. The black tea itself was very mellow and in the background, not bitter or astringent which I appreciated.

The second time I tried this tea I tried it hot because, honestly, I was way too lazy to make a latte! I brewed it hot with a splash of milk and some agave. I am sipping on this hot blend as I right this and it is just as delicious as it was as an iced latte! You can smell the chocolate and almond and even the sunflower seeds. I don’t know why, but to me the sunflower seeds and almond really stand out and I absolutely adore that about this tea. Hot brewed the marshmallow is more prominent as well. Before, with the iced latte, the marshmallow sort of got lost. This tea is smooth and yummy and NOT overly chocolate. It has just enough of each ingredient and it is definitely addictive, so watch out!

Kudos to Anne for this blend. So good!

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black Tea
Where to Buy:  52Teas
Description

I’m pretty sure that Frank had a Rocky Road tea at one point because I recall asking him to reblend it several years ago – I had never tasted it but I had found the tea description in his archives and I wanted to try it so I do remember asking him to reblend it. He never did.

So since I can no longer retrieve any of those archived teas and it doesn’t show up at Steepster, I’m just going to call this my blend.

I started with Laoshan black teas from Verdant for their chocolate-y character. Then I chose a rich, malty Assamica tea from the Jingmai Mountains. Then I added some Golden Yunnan tea to round out the flavors. To this, I added roasted cacao nibs, cacao shells, marshmallow root, sunflower seeds and vegan dark and white chocolate chips.

And yes, I’ve said it before and I’m going to say it again now: YUM!

Taster size is approximately 15g

ingredients: black teas, roasted & salted sunflower seeds and vegan white & dark chocolate chips

organic ingredients: black tea, cacao nibs & shells, marshmallow root and natural flavors

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Sophia

Hi, my name is Sophia. I am a first time mother to a beautiful little girl who will be 1 in July 2017. I spend my days at home with her and when I get a minute to myself, I usually spend that time making, drinking, or researching tea! My love for loose leaf tea is relatively new. When I was pregnant with my daughter, my mother (a tea addict herself) brought me to DAVIDsTEA. I enjoyed a cup of their Coconut Cream Pie Oolong and was instantly hooked! Since then, my addiction has grown to fill entire cabinets, and shows no sign of stopping. I am the creator of the Facebook group CommuniTEA where we have one big tea discussion. It is a great group for those new to the tea-world. I feel strongly about spreading the joy of loose leaf tea. I like making instructional videos and helping those that are new to the art of tea-making so that they, too, can share in the happiness that tea brings. I am excited to see where this hobby takes me and I will continue to spread the joy!

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea