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.
Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Iced Tea from Southern Boy Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
You can also learn more about Southern Boy Teas here.
Taster’s Review:
I love a bowl of Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream! So rich, creamy and the crisp, cool mint flavor really makes it a perfect summer time treat. And hey … let’s not forget the chocolate chips. Mmm! Chocolate!
So I was looking forward to trying this new flavor from Southern Boy Teas: Mint Chocolate Chip Ice Cream Iced Tea!
It is a tasty iced tea. There is a palate-pleasing balance of mint, chocolate and creamy flavors along with a backdrop of black tea notes.
That said, I do have a little issue with it. My one complaint is that the chocolate notes are just a bit on the “fake” tasting side, but this is something that I found an easy fix for: just add a little bit of sugar.
But because this tea is already on the sweeter side, if you sweeten your iced tea while it’s still hot (so that the sugar melts!), you might want to use a little less than you usually would, or you might want to hold off altogether and make a simple syrup to sweeten to your taste once it’s chilled.
I found it to be rather tasty without the sweetener but as I said, the chocolate tasted just a little off. I then made a simple syrup: I just add a teensy bit of boiling water to about a half teaspoon of water and stir in a coffee cup until the sugar is dissolved, and then add it to my tea. The simple syrup enhanced the flavors nicely and improved the flavor of the chocolate.
Even without the sweetener, this is still quite tasty. The chocolate notes don’t taste bad, but, there’s just a little something not quite 100% perfect about it either. The sweetener does improve this issue with the chocolate, but I am not thrilled with the fact that I need to sweeten my tea to make it taste right.
I liked it, but I’ve liked other teas from SBT more than this one.
Nutty Mocha Mate Blend from ArtfulTea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Yerba Maté
Where to Buy: ArtfulTea orArtfulTea on Etsy
Tisane Description:
The indulgent taste of chocolate and hazelnut, plus mellow chicory, give this mate blend a rich, roasted, mocha flavor. Yerba mate is an herbal infusion, but unlike most herbal teas, mate contains a stimulating caffeine-like compound.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
It’s been a while since I’ve had some Yerba Mate, and this is a great tisane to get myself back into it! This is really quite tasty!
It actually reminds me a lot of a tisane that I used to make back in my blending days! I made a mocha flavored Mate, mostly because I was looking for something that would satisfy my craving for coffee back then because I was still missing coffee. As I’ve said before I couldn’t drink coffee any longer, but there were still times when I missed the flavor of coffee. I certainly didn’t miss the sick feeling I’d get a few hours later though!
Since that time, I’ve come to really love tea more than I ever loved coffee. That’s probably pretty obvious, huh? But I still love it when I find a tea or tisane like this one that offers a taste that is reminiscent of that rich, roasted flavor of coffee that I used to enjoy.
And this satisfies that craving! This tastes very much like a rich, delicious mocha that you might find in one of those super expensive coffee shops, complete with the sweet, nutty flavor of hazelnut and even a touch of chocolate. I am wishing there was more chocolate flavor to this, though. It’s got some chocolate, but as I have been known to say, more chocolate is always better, and that’s true with this tisane too.
As it is, though, I found this to be quite enjoyable and I’m really glad that I got to try it. Another tasty offering from ArtfulTea.
Product Review: Tea Assortment of Hard Candy from Raley’s Confectionary
Product Information:
Where to Buy: Treatsie
Product Description:
Tea-flavored hard candy. Flavors include Lemongrass Green Tea, Chai Latte, Arnold Palmer and Mango Black Tea.
Learn more about Treatsie’s Subscription Box here.
Product Review:
I know I’ve confessed it before, but, I’ll confess it again: I have a sweet tooth. And I find myself particularly attracted to sweets that are tea inspired, like these yummy hard candies from Raley’s Confectionary. While recently perusing the Treatsie website, I came across this tea flavored hard candy assortment, and you know I couldn’t resist!
I recently discovered Treatsie, and they’re a subscription box (similar to the box that I get every month from Simple Loose Leaf), so every month, I will get a box full of yummy treats. (And chocolate. Did I mention chocolate?) You can also shop for the products individually and there are some really interesting curated boxes that you can buy at Treatsie too. I bought these tea flavored hard candies separately, because as I said before, I couldn’t resist when I saw the words “Tea Flavored Hard Candy.” Um … yes please!
My separately purchased products (not the Treatsie subscription box) arrived this afternoon, and I’m really pleased! It was packaged beautifully, and I even got a “thank you” treat tucked inside – another package of Raley’s Confectionary’s hard candies – these little “thank you” candies actually say thank you right on them, and they’re pomegranate flavored! Yum!
These tea flavored candies are really tasty. The Mango Black Tea candy has a very distinct mango note and I can taste a softer black tea note in there too. The Lemongrass Green Tea has a lemon-lime-ish sort of flavor to it, with a background of a sweet, grassy green tea note. The Arnold Palmer tastes more of lemonade than it does of tea, but every once in a while I taste a slight tea-ish flavor. I like the tangy note of the Arnold Palmer, though, it seems to balance out the other sweeter tasting flavors of the package.
And then there is my favorite of the four: Chai Latte! I think I’d be happy to have a whole package of just the chai latte. They have a gentle spice to them (these aren’t strong in spice! They’re more sweet than spicy!) and I can taste the black tea as well as a creamy note to them – they’re like a sweet little chai latte!
I love that the flavors that are promised are the flavors that are delivered. Sure, they’re sweeter than what you’d experience if you were actually drinking a cup of chai latte or a mango flavored black tea – but they ARE candies, after all! They’re supposed to be sweet. What I love is that these are not just something that satisfies the sweet tooth in me, but also the tea lover in me too.
So, now I’ve found this sinful company that will send me sweet-tooth indulgences once a month … how do I say no to that?