Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: White Two Tea
Tea Description:
The 2000 Chocolate Mini Shu Puer bricks are so named for their small shape, rather than their flavor, which is more of a fruity sweetness. Each tin contains 100 grams of tea, which brews up dark and smooth. We recommend breaking the bricks apart and giving them a rinse, as some still have very tight compression and take awhile to open up.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
These little Mini tea cakes do look a little bit like a square of chocolate! They don’t really smell like it though. Dry, the aroma is earthy. The brewed liquid has a softer scent, still earthy but the aroma is not quite as strong.
To brew this, I grabbed my gaiwan! I broke the brick off into layers with a knife – this is a very tightly compressed brick! Using 195°F water, I did a 15 second rinse and discarded the liquid, and then I filled the gaiwan with more hot water and let it steep for 30 seconds. Ordinarily, I would steep it for 45 seconds but after 30 seconds, the liquid was quite dark so I decided to go ahead and strain off the tea at 30 seconds.
And I’m glad I did! This first infusion was perfect!
The flavor is sweet! Just as the description above suggests, the flavor has a fruity sweetness. I taste notes of sweet plum and even a hint of peach. The sweetness is profound, with notes of molasses along with the sweet fruit tones.
The flavor isn’t really chocolate-y. There are notes of earth – but they are far more subtle than the aroma of the dry leaf and even than the brewed tea might lead you to think. It’s a gentle earthiness that evokes thoughts of mushroom. It’s a very smooth tasting tea with no astringency or bitterness. It has a pleasant mouthfeel.
It’s a really enjoyable pu-erh.
And of course, with a pu-erh, I’m treated to many wonderful infusions! The second infusion I steeped for just 30 seconds as well, and it was a very deep, full taste. Very mellow! In later infusions, the earthy flavors developed and I started to pick up on some woodsy flavors that evoked thoughts of the damp wooded areas up here in the Pacific Northwest.
The plum and peach notes seemed to subside a little bit, or maybe I should say that the fruit flavors developed into more of a date and fig flavor with notes of dark raisin. I liked the way these sweeter fruit flavors tasted with the notes of molasses. It was quite an enjoyable experience.
A really nice tea with which to spend an afternoon!
Banane Chocolat Flavored Black Tea from Lupicia
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Lupicia Tea
Tea Description:
Banana and chocolate flavored black tea with bright yellow petals.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The aroma of this tea is delicious! I can smell the banana and the chocolate and it’s making my mouth water! Mmm!
And this is certainly tasty! The chocolate notes are a dark chocolate note, reminding me a bit of dark, unsweetened cocoa powder that you’d use to make brownies. Not bitter like that, but the chocolate flavor reminds me of that deep, rich cocoa flavor.
But the banana is the real star of this show. The banana comes through strong with a really good banana flavor. It tastes very true to the fruit. It’s sweet and I can almost feel the creamy texture of the banana in this.
One of the better banana teas that I’ve yet to try.
The black tea is more of a background flavor here – and if I were to offer any complaint about the tea, that would be it. I think that a slightly stronger black tea base might be nice. Maybe a malty Assam (I would love to see how that malty flavor tastes with the banana notes!)
I found that this tea is best served hot. When it’s still fresh from the teapot hot, I found that the flavors were less distinct. The banana was strong but I didn’t get a strong chocolate-y presence. So let it cool a few minutes, and then taste it again. The chocolate notes start to come forward, and the banana is really well defined.
This one might just end up being my favorite from Lupicia! Or, at the very least, this belongs in my top five of favorites from Lupicia.
White Chocolate Raspberry Shou Mei from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
This is a blissful blend of premium Shou Mei white tea, freeze-dried raspberries, white chocolate chips and organic flavors. I’m pretty sure even the Grinch would like this one.
Learn more about this blend here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
I brewed up a big pot of this tea for my daughter and I – she loves raspberry and white chocolate, so it was as if this tea was custom designed just for her. As for me, I’m not as crazy about white chocolate as I am about dark chocolate. But, I like it alright.
And her verdict? She really liked this one. When the tea is still quite hot, the white tea is difficult to detect. It’s very much a raspberry tea when the tea is fresh-from-the-teapot hot. But after the tea has had a little time to cool, the white chocolate starts to come into focus. It’s a creamy, sweet note, somewhat vanilla-y and soft.
That said, this is still very much a raspberry tea. The raspberry really comes through strong and is especially focused in the aftertaste when the tongue tingles from the sweet-tart notes of berry.
And you’d think that maybe with as strong a raspberry flavor that this tea has, that the delicate quality of the white tea would be overpowered, but no. I find that the white chocolate notes seem to enhance the Shou Mei. The Shou Mei seems stronger here than in many of 52Teas recent white tea offerings.
Overall, this is a pleasant cuppa.
I infused the leaves a second time and I drank a small cup of that tea hot and chilled the rest. I actually preferred the second infusion to the first. The raspberry notes have mellowed a bit with this second pot of tea, and the white tea notes are more balanced with the berry. And it surprises me to say this, but I think that this is even better as an iced tea than as a hot tea. I usually prefer my chocolate blends to be hot, but this is really good iced.
Please take a moment to visit my Kickstarter Campaign to Take Over 52Teas! Please help me achieve my goal and make this dream of mine a reality!
Blueberry Cordial Iced Black Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
After sharing some blueberry cordials with a friend, my helper, Shante wanted us to create a blueberry cordial tea. So here it is: our premium Indian black teas blended with organic chocolate, blueberry and brandy flavors.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about how to subscribe to Southern Boy Teas here.
Check out Southern Boy Teas Indiegogo Fundraising Campaign here and consider supporting this small business!
Taster’s Review:
I’m starting to notice that I need to drink at least a full glass of iced tea of whatever flavor I’m reviewing from Southern Boy Teas before I’m able to make a proper assessment of it. I need to finish the first glass and be about halfway through my second glass before I’m able to really offer a fair evaluation of the tea.
That’s because the flavors don’t really reach out and grab me from the first few sips. It isn’t until I reach the end of the first glass that I’m starting to notice the flavors. Then with the second glass … I notice that the flavors are still developing on my palate. By the time I’ve reached the mid-glass point of the second glass of iced tea, then I can really taste the flavors clearly.
And this is really a tasty iced tea!
I don’t know if it’s a “blueberry cordial” exactly, though. I find myself still searching for the chocolate notes. I can taste the blueberry very clearly. I get a strong sweet yet tart blueberry flavor with that familiar tingly berry sensation at the finish. That tingling, tart note lingers into the aftertaste.
I also taste notes of brandy. The notes of brandy are subtle but they’re there and they seem to accentuate the flavors of the blueberry rather than try to stand out on their own.
The chocolate is there too, but it’s something that I find myself needing to really focus on the sip to taste. Once I do focus on the sip – by sipping slowly with a slight ‘slurp’ to aerate the liquid on my palate – I can really taste the chocolate. So, I’m not saying that the chocolate notes are too delicate, I’m just saying that when taking a casual sip, they aren’t as noticeable as when I’m really trying to focus on what flavors I’m experiencing with this tea.
The black tea is also tasted in this. It’s not an aggressive flavor, but it’s tasted. It’s smooth and brisk. No bitterness and I’m not detecting any astringency either. It’s just smooth and pleasant. It isn’t a particularly bold tasting tea, but it isn’t something I’d call muted or even drab. I think it’s offering just the right amount of flavor for this particular blend: allowing the flavors of the blueberry cordial to shine through while still reminding me that I’m drinking black tea.
Overall, I think that this blend is a win. It might not be my favorite to come from Southern Boy Teas, but it’s one that I wouldn’t mind having again. I enjoyed it!
Berry Mocha Truffle Black Tea from Octavia Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Tea Information:
Let’s keep this simple. This blend smells and tastes exactly like dark chocolate covered fruit. It’s seriously good. You get the mocha & dark chocolate first, a fruit blast in the middle and a slight bitter chocolate and floral finish. To make it more indulgent, stir in some milk and sugar.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
It’s also part of Amoda Tea’s Holiday Box!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As I’m sitting here with the aroma of this tea wafting through the air, I find myself in total agreement with Amoda Tea’s description above: Yep, it smells exactly like dark chocolate covered fruit. My mouth is watering right now. It smells SO GOOD.
It’s the cocoa husks! (Aka cacao shells!) I’ve said it before, but it bears repeating: tea companies should use cacao shells if they want a strong, true flavor for their chocolate teas.
As for the taste: Yum! I get the mocha notes up front, and as the sip continues, I pick up on a strong berry note that lingers into the aftertaste.
This has a really pleasing chocolate note. I love the dark chocolate flavor of this tea. Bittersweet! It’s a really nice contrast to the sweet-tart flavors of berry.
My one criticism of this tea is that the black tea seems just a wee bit lost in these strong flavors. Yes, I taste the black tea, but I don’t think it’s quite robust enough to be with all this chocolate mocha and berry flavors.
I don’t know what type of black tea is used as a base for this blend, but I think that an Assam or a Nilgiri would have been a good choice for it because I think that those malty notes that Assam and Nilgiri teas are known for would taste amazing with these chocolate mocha notes. My taste buds are “mmm-ing” just at the thought of a malty, rich Assam tea with the mocha flavors.
But as it is, this is really a nice tea. I can taste the tea – and I find that the tea flavors come through a little stronger as I make my way down the cup (and a slurp now and then doesn’t hurt!) But this really tastes more like a mocha than it does a tea.
The berry notes brighten the cup in a really nice way. The sip starts out with the strong mocha-esque flavors and then all the sudden, a bit of bright, berry flavor hits the palate. Nice!
This is the tea I’d recommend to someone who is a former coffee drinker and decided to turn to tea because the caffeine of coffee is harsh on them (it was on me!) but they still miss that mocha flavor from their favorite coffee shop! This tea will help them miss their mocha less – or perhaps not at all – because I’d rather drink this than a $5 mocha any day!