Tea Type: Black Tea
Where To Buy: Upton Tea Imports
Product Description:
Description:
A premium black tea combining the popular tastes of bergamot and chocolate with a hint of lemon. Decorated with flower petals and lemon peel for a delightful presentation.Ingredients:
black tea, chocolate pieces (sugar, cocoa, soy lecithin), cacao beans, lemongrass, lemon peel, corn flowers, jasmine flowers, sunflower blossoms, natural & artificial flavor
Origin:
Germany
Tasters Review:
My wonderful SororiTEA Sister Anne (AKA LiberTEAs) sent me some of this a while back and I thought I would officially add it to our blog as one of our reviews.
It’s been a while since I posted a review about an Earl Grey and I don’t think I have ever reviewed an Upton Tea on SororiTEA Sisters yet…so I figured I would check two items off of my Tea Review Bucket List today!
Chocolate Earl Grey from Upton Tea Imports – first and foremost – smells AMAZING! It’s pure chocolate and Earl Grey just like would would think – or HOPED – it would smell! This sort of takes me back to my obsession with Orange Chocolate as well! Ahhhh!
The aroma changes completely after infusion is complete. It’s still pleasant but not as awesome…I guess you could say. Don’t get me wrong – the aroma is still YUMMY but I can’t pick out each flavor like before. This doesn’t bother me too much because this often happens with flavored teas – as you know.
This infuses very dark brown and has a bit of cloudiness to it…I am assuming from the sugary-chocolate bits.
The taste is different but very good. I would say I can taste the cocoa type taste first then it quickly changes into a chocolate…so almost first being hot cocoa taste but then more of a chocolate bar taste. From there you can taste the black tea but then quickly changes into more of a bergamot and chocolate type taste. It ends more of a chocolaty-black tea flavored taste. Thru-out the entire sip it’s very smooth and the flavor changes intrigue me.
This is the first cup in a long time I have had to think about it with each sip (more than just a few sips, that is). This one kept my attention going strong the entire time.
As it cools at room temp for a few minutes I can taste a chocolate-woodsy-black tea type taste for the after taste more. This certainly isn’t a bad thing (in my book).
Anne told me to try a 2nd infusion with this one and I never pass up a 2nd infusion especially on a great cuppa! So for the 2nd Infusion…it smells like a gentle earl grey and cream.
The taste is still very smooth with a bit of sugary-ness to it and orange, floral, and cocoa hints hiding underneath.
This is a great infusion. Still a lovely tea overall…a nice treat!
Chocolate Earl Grey from Upton is an ADVENTURE in a cup! A great way to start or end the day! Wonderful!
Cocoa Caramel Chai from Tea Oh!
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea Oh!
Company Description:
Superb spices blended with sweet caramel and rich chocolate.
Taster’s Review:
When I saw this chai blend on the Tea Oh! website, I knew I had to try it. I love spiced chai teas, I love chocolate, and I love caramel – so I needed to try this chai!
In chai tea, the spices can be very aggressive – aggressive enough to overpower the chocolate and caramel in a blend such as this. Fortunately, that doesn’t happen here. There is a very pleasing balance of flavors – the caramel is sweet and creamy, the chocolate is rich and smooth, and the masala spices are warm and inviting.
I can taste ginger, cinnamon and cardamom in this blend, however, they aren’t particularly spicy or hot… just warm enough to remind this taster that she’s drinking a chai tea. And yes… I can taste the tea too! The black tea base is strong enough to stand its ground with these other powerful flavors. It has a nice briskness to it.
I enjoyed this tea immensely and I’ve just consumed the last that I had! I might just have to put this one on my shopping list. It has a very comforting, autumnal feel to it… like one I’d like to curl up to while sitting in front of a roaring fire in the fireplace and reading a good book!
I do recommend going latte with this particular tea, and adding a splash of milk or cream (or half & half) to your cup. It really enhances the chocolate and caramel flavors and makes it taste just a bit like a gourmet hot chocolate! DELIGHTFUL!
Choco*Late from American Tea Room
Tea Type: Rooibos
Where To Buy: American Tea Room
Product Description:
This sumptuous, caffeine-free, fat-free blend of organic cacao husks, organic vanilla beans and organic rooibos is sure to be an instant American Tea Room classic.
If the color and aroma of our Choco-Laté blend doesn’t evoke chocolate, then nothing does. Rich brown cacao husks, dark flecks of vanilla bean and umber-colored rooibos present a beguilingly sweet dark chocolate aroma that’s backed with the naturally sweet, woody scent of antioxidant-rich rooibos. The deep garnet brew has a seductive aroma akin to European sipping chocolate. Its smooth flavor is a perfect balance of chocolate, vanilla and rooibos that appeals to chocolate lovers and rooibos lovers alike. The lingering, cacao-rich aftertaste is enough to satiate even the most ardent chocoholic.
Drink Choco-Laté on its own as a naturally sweet, fat-free snack or dessert, or dress it up with agave nectar and rice milk for a healthy tea latte. It’s a natural pairing for chocolate, but if you’re trying to be good, sip it alongside fresh fruit instead. Delicious!
Tasters Review:
There has been quite the amount of chatter about this one on Steepster – an online tea community that both Anne and I belong to.
83 is the LOWEST rating for this one here so far on Steepster and there are at least 14 ratings so far. It’s also the #1 Rated Tea on that website! Needless to say – I have been wanting to try this since it was brought to my attention. And recently I was lucky enough to receive a sample of it from American Tea Room!
The aroma is that of a semi-sweet chocolate but certainly not over the top intensely scented. By that I mean it doesn’t smack you in the face when you open the package. You can see the many ‘husks’ within the ‘mix’. The aroma post-infusion seems to be 33.3%-33.3%-33.3% across the board – Semi-Sweet Chocolate and Cocoa combined with Rooibos and with Vanilla.
The taste is VERY smooth and chocolaty with a little woodsy aftertaste. It certainly is one of the better tasting chocolate-type attempts I have had and it works very well with the rooibos.
I think I am in the middle of everyone else’s ratings. Where I wouldn’t give it a perfect 100 I certainly wouldn’t go below the lowest score of 83, either. My fear was, after reading the other reviews on Steepster, that this one was pumped up too much and I would be disappointed but that is far from the truth! This is very good! It does deserve the ratings as I have found it hard to find a sweet, smooth, chocolaty flavored Rooibos that the Rooibos isn’t still overpowering the rest of the mix. The ingredients live in harmony with each other on this one and it’s lovely.
A fellow Steepster recommended tripling the amount of the dry and then infusing. I am going to try this very soon! I also want to point out that this is vegan according to a online friend of mine! A perfect chocolate treat without the dairy!
Royal Lily Bloom Tea by thepuriTea
Tea Type: Flowering White
Where To Buy: thepuriTea
Product Description:
Royal Lily Bloom is a hand-tied white tea that blooms into a gorgeous gradation from muted-green white tea buds to delicate, canary-yellow chrysanthemum petals to a vibrant spray of blossoming crimson lily. This regal, sophisticated tea is a classic “flowering tea” or “blossoming tea” in terms of its appearance, but its flavor is no shrinking violet… Surprisingly full flavors of cocoa, malt, flowers, fruit and chestnuts set this tea bloom apart from other flowering teas.
Short infusions of Royal Lily Bloom are perfect with mild breakfast foods, mild Buddhist Chinese foods or mellow desserts. It can also steep longer over meals or at parties for a White-Peony-like aroma and deeper flavors of caramel, malt, apricots and chestnuts
Tasters Review:
I LOVE Flowering teas…the beauty, the art, the tradition…
I’m not the most patient person but flowering or blooming teas are certainly worth the wait! This one…Royal Lily Bloom Tea from thepuriTea is no exception! This is a real winner!
I did 3 infusions on this bloom! Here are my findings…
1st infusion…
It was YUMMY! It was Sweet but still floral. Weird thing tho…the bloom…bloomed…but upsidedown! I tried to flip it gently several times and it just wouldn’t belly-up! Regardless is was a delight to my palate!
2nd infusion…was still good! It was Floral-sweet and even juicy. The aftertaste reminded me of Chestnuts…a sweet Chestnut more than a bitter-nutty Chestnut.
3rd infusion was semi-fruity and semi-floral and sweet. A bit sugar-like…and still VERY good!
Take TIME for this BLOOM…it’s WORTH it!