Tea Type:
Oolong Tea
Where To Buy:
Shanti Tea
Product Description:
Directions…
2 – 3 min, milk not recommended
Ingredients…
Tea (Camellia Sinensis), Coffee Beans, Cacao pieces, rosehips, safflowers, natural essences
Tasting Notes…
Certification: Conventional
Grade or Quality: full leaf
Aroma: chocolately, smoky, coffee notes
Infusion Aroma: smooth chocolately aroma with mild smokiness and pronounced coffee
Infusion Color: dark amber
Base flavor: chocolate mocha, earthy
Infusion Strength: strong, full bodied
Tasters Review:
Oh.My.Gawd! YUMSVILLE! I know a lot of people are either a coffee person OR a tea person…of course I would say I was a tea person! But any time a company combines the two – I am intrigued!
The aroma of this is amazing! Juicy-sweet strawberry, Smooth and Sweet Chocolate, Hearty Mocha/Coffee! WOW!
The flavor is wonderful, too! All of the above in addition to semi-smoky Oolong!
It’s sweet, it’s juicy, it’s smooth, it’s slighty smoky, it’s coffee-bean, it’s a DREAM.
This is TOP NOTCH and takes you on a flavorful RIDE! LOVE it!
Bolder Breakfast from The Tea Spot
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: The Tea Spot
Tea Description:
This new American black tea blend combines bold flavor, rich color, & full body with hints of chocolate. This robust breakfast blend is made from our favorite strong black teas from high altitude estates in China, India and Sri Lanka. We have combined these black teas with pu’erh, an aged black tea from Yunnan China, and dark chocolate essence. This tea yields a rich, dark liquor and a warm, well-rounded flavor that takes very well to milk and even better in the form of a tea latte. The high caffeine content and robust flavor makes this the perfect tea to help kick your coffee habit!
Features:
50-60 mg Caffeine / Serving
More caffeine than other teas, half of coffee
Ideal morning boost: Makes great lattes!
Satisfying, robust, dark chocolate flavor
Gluten-free & Sugar-free
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A steepster friend sent me a sample of this tea. I already knew she had excellent taste as she buys a lot of tea from another of my favorite tea vendors. Still, I was surprised at just how much I enjoyed this tea. I get a lot of samples to select from, and taste a lot of teas, and I am choosy on which I write reviews on because I want to introduce blog readers to the best of the best. Still sometimes I do feature a tea that is just okay with me, but I know others would enjoy very much as not all teas will be to my personal flavor palate liking. This however is one that is right in my wheelhouse!
First we begin with a very nice pu-erh base. Earthy and sweet, a little fruity but not too much. There is a light incense like flavor such as sandalwood but don’t worry it doesn’t taste like perfume! Then we have a decedent chocolate flavor that is outstanding and I am a chocolate flavored tea snob as many already know. I can’t stand chocolate flavors that taste like cheap Easter egg candy you can buy at the dollar store! When it comes to chocolate in tea it has to be top notch, and this is! Then a light berry note peeks out from behind the scenes just to give this tea a nice bright cheery lift to help you perk up in the mornings.
This tea is deep and rich like coffee and is a great tea to convert your coffee drinking friends over with, yet not too bold that true tea lovers would be turned off. Many reviewers on The Tea Spot site claim that they totally replaced their coffee intake with this tea! And of course there are the wonderful benefits of pu-erh to enjoy!
This tea does have some lovely layers to it yet is blended quite well so no one flavor totally takes over the cup yet with the layers there are some notes that jump out at you now and then just to say “hey, wake up you, lets have a great day!” Each time the fruity flavor peeks through its like a little surprise that perks me up, each time I get a hint of the woodsy flavor I feel comforted and grounded, which can be helpful in the mornings! Granted there is chocolate in this tea but I would not call it a “chocolate tea” chocolate is simply one of the many layers in this tea, soft and delicate to my palate.
Yes I will be ordering more of this tea as soon as my tea budget regenerates! I see myself having this in my morning tea rotation several days of the week!
Be sure to enter The Tea Spots Free Tea for a Year Contest! Info on their facebook page here or go directly to the contest entry form here.
2003 Reserve Four Seasons Oolong from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our aged oolong is sourced from the Dong Ding tea growing region of Nantou County in Taiwan and was harvested in the spring of 2003. The varietal is Si Ji Chuan also known as Four Season. Our aged oolong was crafted by blend master Chen Pei Wen and is re-roasted every 2-3 years to minimize moisture content. 2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong is a rich full-bodied silky tea. The charcoal-colored leaves of this smooth oolong produce notes of honey suckle, bark, and grass and has a natural sweetness with no astringency present. This tea is also low in caffeine.
Ingredients: Taiwanese Oolong Tea
Recommended Brew Time: 4 minutes
Recommended Amount: 1 1/2 teaspoons of tea for 8oz of water
Recommended Temperature: 180 F
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
As soon as I took my first sip of this tea I knew I needed to order more of it right away, and I did!
This has such a depth to it, it would make a wonderful substitute for coffee. The flavor does in fact have some coffee notes so if you are trying to convert anyone, give this a try!
The dry leaf is tightly rolled nuggets of well roasted oolong. It is one of the darker oolongs I have ever laid eyes on. The aroma is reminiscent of a campfire, or an old library, slightly musty, with a hint of leather.
When you drink this tea some of the notes you may find, like I did are, leather, dried leaves, tree bark, carob, rock mineral, coffee, brown sugar, and cream.
The after taste is quite deep and full, with a very fine roasted coffee bean flavor. Yet it is no where near bitter or astringent!
I am a huge oolong fan but have never experienced an oolong quite like this.
The only down side, if there is one, is that it has a lower caffeine content. So if you are trying to please a coffee drinker they may not get the jolt they desire. However as a tea drinker who used to love her coffee, I am in love with this oolong! It reminds me of what I used to appreciate so much in finer coffee yet it has plenty of caffeine for my late morning tea!
Now, if you are not a person who ever enjoyed a good coffee, don’t fear, this is a complex tea that deserves appreciation for its multiple layers of extraordinary flavors!
I find this tea to be very autumnal – it makes me feel like running out and jumping into a pile of leaves. With the change of season coming in my area, being able to do this is not too far off! As people begin to stoke their fireplaces I will be savoring this tea until the last snowfall!
Honey Malt With Chocolate Malt Tea from Malt Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Grain Tea
Where to Buy: Malt Tea
Tea Description:
This tea mixes the intense sweetness and honey aroma from Honey malt with the extra roasted coffee flavor from the Chocolate Malt. Be Advised: Chocolate Malt gets it’s name from the dark brown color that is similar to the color of dark chocolate. It does not taste like chocolate!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
A long time ago I used to do home brewing, so when I saw a tea company offering whole grain teas I had to try it! When I saw the price for this tea, and all the others on the site I was floored at how inexpensive the teas were, and could not help but getting one of their sampler packs! I am so very happy that I did.
I will say this “tea” may not be for everyone. First of all its not technically tea. It is different, and hearty, robust even. This particular grain tea should not be confused with a chocolate flavored tea, be it naturally flavored or otherwise. It does not taste like chocolate. As the tea description says, it is simply called chocolate because of the deep chocolate color of the malt in this tea. It is however decedent, like chocolate.
This tea would be perfect for anyone trying to get off the coffee kick, anyone who appreciates home brewed or crafted beers, or anyone who appreciates a very unusual, sweet, yet savory drink.
I find that this tea is similar for me to genmaicha, which is also sold on the malt-tea site. When I crave it, I CRAVE it and nothing else will satisfy me. I find myself longing for this tea as the weather becomes cooler and cooler heading into autumn, and once winter is here I know I will be keeping a steady supply of this tea around!
There is a very distinct honey flavor to this tea. You can’t get away from that so if you do not care for honey this would not be the best tea to select, however there are other non-honey grain teas you can choose from. The mouthfeel is full and broth-y and reminds me of an asian soup I had recently in a very nice Japanese restaurant – a mushroom like flavor. Of course it also tastes like malt, very good malt. While some may reckon this malt flavor to say, Ovaltine, and I have had my share of Ovaltine flavored teas, from pure experience I have to say this malt is by far superior to that malt taste.
As you swirl the tea in the mouth you find the honey notes dancing playfully around your palate while the malt notes sit more politely and well behaved on the top of the tongue carpeting it in warmth. The after taste is not very lingering which only makes you want to hurry to the next sip.
I will be headed out to the Renaissance Festival over the weekend and this tea makes me feel like taking it along with me! It would fit perfectly into that atmosphere and I fear I won’t find a better drink while there since I don’t indulge in alcohol anymore.
I do feel this tea would also be excellent iced in the summer.
This is the second tea I have tired out of my sampler pack which by the way is adorable! It comes with two samples, in bags, of five different teas. All of their materials are recycled. The box is cute and wrapped in thin twine. The labeling is very simplistic and they include a nice quote as well.
My quote said: “Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evently, without rushing toward the future. – Thich Nat Hahn
I like this quote and will drink my Honey Malt with Chocolate Tea as such.
I Want Some More from Rooibos Suite
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Rooibos
Where to Buy: Rooibos Suite
Tisane Description:
The taste symphony starts with soft creamy notes of Kenyan coffee followed by a fruit crescendo with an Amaretto finale.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
This tisane has a very unusual name … but it certainly piques my curiosity … will it live up to its name? We shall see!
My first impression (my first sip, when the tea is still fresh-from-the-teapot-hot): This is alright. Not my favorite rooibos blend. Not something that makes me say “I want more of this tisane.” But it might make me say “I want more flavor in this tisane.”
The description leads me to believe that I’d taste coffee, followed by fruit notes, and then an almond/apricot finish. I’m not really tasting that. I do get the coffee at the start of the sip, but it doesn’t taste creamy to me. It tastes like black coffee. Just after the coffee taste comes a sort of jumbled taste that possesses some of the left over roasted coffee notes and a woody/earthy kind of flavor. Not at all like fruit. The tail of the sip is sort of nutty, but not amaretto-ish. There is an undertone of saccharine-like sweetness throughout the sip. It’s not really bad … but, it’s not really all that good either. It’s just kind of … mediocre.
But I’m not one to simply give up on something at first sip. I’ve learned that sometimes, good things come to those who wait, so I decide to allow the cup to cool a bit to see what comes of it.
After allowing it to cool for several minutes, the flavor really isn’t improving a whole lot. After reading the ingredient list, I’m kind of disappointed, really. The ingredient list looks promising:
Ingredients: Luxury rooibos, red thistle, sour cherries, yogurt crisps, natural dried mango, natural flavors
But I do not taste mango, or cherries, or even the creamy taste of yogurt. I don’t know that I would really be able to identify red thistle if I tasted it because I can’t really recall tasting it before… so I don’t know about that. Even though I’m not a fan of sour fruit, the taste of sour cherries might be an improvement – it might brighten the flavor of the cup. The mango would add some nice dimension. But I am not getting any of these flavors at all. I taste only a roasted coffee taste that leads into a sort of jumbled taste that resembles coffee and wood and earth. Sort of.
Over on Steepster, I compared this tisane to vacationing at the in-laws (provided you actually like your in-laws) instead of going somewhere fun: It’s nice to get away and have some time off, but, really, there are things you’d rather be doing. This tisane is like that. It’s alright and certainly drinkable, but, there are other teas and tisanes I’d rather be drinking. It’s just very average, kind of boring … and a bit disappointing. I won’t be asking for more.
