Jiri Horse from teabento. . . .

by VariaTEA

A few months back on Steepster, a little company called teabento just blew up. Reviews upon reviews were suddenly popping up for this company I had never heard of and people were loving it. One tea that seemed to be quite the success was this tea, Jiri Horse. The term “milk chocolate” was used a lot to describe it and for many it was a reminder of another popular tea on Steepster, Laoshan Black by Verdant Tea.

Now, Laoshan Black was THE straight black tea when I first joined Steepster. It was the winner or all winners for so many people and for that reason even I, as someone who basically only drank flavored teas at the time, was intrigued. Of course some kind soul was generous enough to send me a sample of this beloved tea but alas it was wasted on me because even though I could appreciate it was a nice tea and I enjoyed it well enough, it wasn’t my flavored teas and so I quickly moved on.

However, the more you drink and explore tea, the more you realize your tastes change. Many make the transition from flavored teas to straight teas and then become purists who will only touch the non-flavored stuff. I am not that person. I still love my sprinkles and my chocolate bits and my fruit chunks all mixed up in there but my tastes have developed so that I enjoy straight teas now too. So basically I am in the very expensive phase of the transition where I will drink and enjoy anything so no sections are left ignored when shopping for tea. I have been in this position for quite some time which my wallet doesn’t love but I have endless options which is nice.

Anyways, what this long rant brings us to is that when I read about this tea and all the love it was getting, I just HAD to try it. I didn’t truly appreciate the Laoshan Black but hopefully I can appreciate this tea which I steeped for 3 minutes in 190F water, after a quick rinse.

After my first sip, I can clearly see the chocolate connection. It definitely has that hot cocoa sort of vibe to it that’s a little bit creamy, a little bit milky and a whole lot of chocolate. I don’t know if I am fully getting as much “milk chocolate” as I thought I would and if I am being honest I am a bit saddened by that, however, I am still happy with the flavor here. To me, it is like a powdered hot chocolate mix that was made in water as opposed to milk – just a little watered down and leaning just a touch towards cocoa as opposed to actual chocolate, but it still hits the sweet spot. If this was powdered hot chocolate I would be mad that it wasn’t creamier or sweeter but since this is tea, I am impressed.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  teabento
Description

An absolutely unique and amazing black tea! We were totally surprised by its prominent, deep, rich chocolate aroma and taste as we tried this tea at the first time. We could hardly believe that what we drunk was not a hot cocoa, but a 100% pure black tea. An outstanding gastronomic experience!

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in Black Tea, teabento

Mayan Hot Cocoa from The NecessiTeas. . . .

by VariaTEA

Mayan Hot Cocoa implies chocolate and spice. Lots of cinnamon and cayenne pepper. That is what I am looking for with this blend: the perfect balance of creamy cocoa and hot spices to make for a comforting treat. I want this to take me back to my childhood when I would come in from playing in the snow with my siblings to find a tasty cup of hot chocolate, with sometimes just a bit of a kick, waiting. Boosting that nostalgia factor is the addition of mini-marshmallows in the dry leaf that puts this off to a good start.

I decided to prepare this latte style because, if you ask me, a hot cocoa needs its milk. I brewed this for 3 minutes in 200F water and topped it with warm frothed milk. As this brewed, my brother walked into the kitchen and commented how the air smelled of cinnamon – yet another good sign.

Drinking this now, I will say it is a flavorful tea. It’s got a silky chocolate flavor made all the more creamy by the latte preparation and the gooey melted marshmallows. There is also no lack of cinnamon here, which seems as though it should be a good thing but as you continue to drink, the sweetness of this builds and takes over, a sweetness that is probably aided by the excess cinnamon. Sugar crystals in the dry leaf also play a role in taking this tea with great potential to a near cloying level. Add to that the marshmallows and you got a whole lot of sugar without much spice. Personally I think either the sugar or marshmallows would have been enough, whereas both, combined with cinnamon, makes this just too much.

If I am being honest, I think my younger self with the crazy sweet tooth would have been all over this. Though I still love my sweets, this is just a little over-the-top for my tastes now. I want more of the spice implied by the title and though the cocoa/cinnamon combination does provide a nice flavor, the sugar just takes over.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:  The NecessiTeas
Description

This tea is no longer available. Please click below for what teas are available.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

VariaTEA

Hey there! My name is Rachel. I’m a twenty-something from Toronto, Ontario, Canada who loves dogs and has a bit of an obsession with tea. As a child I hated the stuff since all I ever knew was Red Rose (no offense to Red Rose). However, a few years ago that all changed. I was on a diet and desperate for new flavors without adding calories and that’s when I turned to tea. I started off by going to DAVIDsTEA and Teavana for all their dessert-inspired flavors, and since I didn’t know any better, I bought 100 grams each of about twenty-something different teas. This was okay for the teas I liked but for those I didn’t I needed to find some way of getting rid of them. Enter Steepster.com. This is where I met some incredible tea friends, discovered tea swaps, and learned of so many amazing tea companies. My desire to try all the teas grew and since joining three years ago I have tried over a thousand different teas. I have learned what ingredients I love and I have learned what flavors I don’t like. I determined my go-to brewing method is Western-style with no added milk or sweeteners, though I also enjoy cold brewing, iced teas, teapops, lattes, and smoothies. I have yet to brew gong-fu style but I hope to do so just as soon as I get the proper teaware to do it. About a year ago, I actually stopped drinking tea but as my stash of over 200 teas started aging I decided I needed to respark my interest. I chose to take a 365 days of tea challenge on Instagram in which I post a new tea picture every day. So far it has been rather successful as I find myself drinking (and buying) more and more tea each day. Plus it enabled CuppaGeek to find me and invite me here to SororiTea Sisters.

This post was posted in Black Tea, The NecessiTeas

Chocolate Chip Pancakes from Bumble Tea. . . .

by SuperStarling

My doctor told me to drastically decrease my caffeine intake, which means less tea. I got until 3:30 pm (right now) before making myself my one daily cup. I’d been hoping to cold turkey it and try talking about decaf teas for a while, but I crashed.

Today’s feature: Chocolate Chip Pancakes! YUM!

When you open this up, the chocolate powder puffs out. The majority of the mix is solid (tea parts, etc), but the powder is exciting. It smells REALLY amazing.

This is a malty, dark chocolate flavor. Like the pancakes have been a little bit crisped. The shimmering perky chocolate is a great contrast to the deep assam. Neither overpowers the other. It’s yin. It’s yang. It’s… CHOCOLATE CHIP PANCAKES, GUYS. And oh god, thank goodness, it has caffeine.

I think if you put a splash of milk in this, it’d be GOLD, but we ran out of milk in the office, and it’s my turn to buy it. It’s not a finance issue; it’s a “can’t be bothered to go to a STORE” issue.

I probably can’t be bothered because I have literally no energy in my veins. Caffeine, I miss you.

All of my reviews from here on out will have a certain joy in them because they’re the only times in my day when I am allowed to have my previous zip-juice.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type:  Black
Where to Buy:   Bumble Tea
Description

Wake up with a decadent blend of black assam tea leaves, with carob & real dark chocolate. Best enjoyed with cream & sugar!

 

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in Black Tea, Bumble Tea Shop

Chocolate Eclair Black Tea from 52Teas. . .A Chocolate Dessert Treat!

by SuperStarling

My darling tea-ple, before we get into this post about the wonderful 52 Teas Chocolate Eclair blend, I want to introduce you to Mr Nibbles:

He sits on my lap when things go Hilariously Awry. I need to explain this to you to give you a glimpse into today’s State of Mind.
I’m clinging to this plush and this tea like Rose on that door after the Titanic sunk. This is an exaggeration, but not much of one.
It helps that this tea is really great. It’s a creamy, chocolately, slightly nutty flavor. There aren’t any nuts in this blend, so I’m probably mis-interpreting the cacao shells or something.
I’m not sure if this tastes like eclairs because I’ve never had one. It’s just one of those holes in my flavor knowledge. What’s an eclair? DUNNO. I had to do a Google Image search to even get to the bottom of that. It’s this:
This confection appears to be a high-end Twinkie with chocolate on top. I’d probably like it.
I imagine that people probably like eclairs and then try the tea. But I like this tea, and might now try an eclair.
The blend is lovely to behold:
That shouldn’t matter, but we all know that it does. I am always secretly judging the appearance of the loose-leaf. This one passes muster. Everything about it passes muster. You should give it a whirl. It might help you out on a bad day, too.

Here’s the scoop!

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

A month or so ago, I went through a bit of a Chocolate Éclair obsession – which fortunately seemed to coincide with a sale that my favorite bakery was having with the delightful pastry. I’m not sure which came first, my obsession or the fact that they were on sale but as you can see, the obsession became part of this week’s tea of the week. 

I started an organic Assam tea and blended that with a Fujian black tea. Then I added some organic roasted cacao nibs and shells for a rich, dark chocolate flavor and minced some organic vanilla bean and combined these ingredients with some organic natural flavors to create a creamy base with hints of pastry. I also tossed in some organic calendula petals for a little color.

The result is a lusciously creamy, sweet custard-y overtone with notes of dark chocolate and a subtle undertone of pastry with a distinct black tea flavor – with this tea you can enjoy ‘dessert’ for breakfast and not worry about all the fat and calories of the real thing.

YUM!

organic ingredients: black tea, roasted cacao nibs & shells, calendula petals, vanilla beans and natural flavors. 

ingredients: black tea

Oh. My. Goodness!

This is so good!

It starts off with a really strong black tea flavor with prevalent dark chocolate notes. But as the tea continues to cool (or as I continue to sip?) the creaminess of the vanilla custard emerges and provides a lovely “cream filling” type of taste to this pastry in a teacup followed by a hint of pastry.

It’s kinda like eating the real thing – when I get an éclair, I first taste the chocolate that’s coated the top of the pastry and then I get that creamy custard that’s oozing out of the éclair followed by a hint of pastry. The flavor of the pastry is always sort of in the background while the custard is front and center and the sweetness of the custard is cut slightly with the bittersweet notes of the dark chocolate.

This tea has a serious yum factor going on! I hope everyone else loves this as much as I do!

To brew: Don’t overleaf this one – a slightly rounded teaspoon of tea to 12 ounces of boiling water – steep for 2 1/2 minutes and strain. Just as you won’t want to overleaf, you also won’t want to oversteep because the Assam in this can take on a bitter tone to it if you steep it too long. Let it cool for at least 10 minutes before you start sipping!

This tea i sno longer available but these teas are!

SuperStarling

"Hey, everybody! I'm Leah, a graphic designer from Pennsylvania, United States. I live with my husband and rescue mutt in a house with colorful walls. I love fonts, colors, animals, flowers, novels, illustration, geeking out, and -- obviously! -- tea. I've only been heavily into tea for about a year, but I've found I tend to prefer loose blended black dessert teas. I normally drink them hot western style without anything added; if I add in some vanilla almond milk or honey, I promise I'll mention it! When I'm not blogging here, I'm blogging at leahlucci.com/starling or posting to Instagram (super_starling), so come say hi!"

This post was posted in 52Teas, Black Tea