Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities is an awesome Etsy store that sells many fandom-inspired goods. There is a big focus on Harry Potter/Fantastic Beasts and Lord of the Rings/the Hobbit inspired teas, post cards, buttons, and other trinkets, though she explores other fandoms as well. Each item displayed beautifully in the images on her site. In fact, that is how I found this company, through the beautiful images strewn throughout Instagram advertising her products.
For weeks I tried to buy her many tea samples but each Wednesday when she restocked, everything sold out so fast that I was unable to make my purchase. That is until one Wednesday when I made sure to be online for exactly when the restock occurred and quickly threw one of each tea in my cart and cashed out.
It was while perusing her site that I realized I had actually tried some of the teas before. How is that possible since I never bought her stuff? Well, before selling directly through Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities, the shop owner offered her blends on the fandom section of the Adagio Teas website.
This particular tea, The Lucky Snitch, is not one I had previously tasted so when I got to brewing, I was excited for something new. In light of the chocolate, peppermint, cinnamon, and creme, I thought this would make for a good latte so I measured out what I needed for that and used the rest to make a hot cup of this tea plain. I steeped both for 4 minutes in 200 degree water.
The plain tea really emphasizes the peppermint. Its the top note that sits atop the chocolate, another flavor highlighted in the cup. The two components, though complimentary, at times seems a bit disconnected. I don’t get much in the way of cinnamon or ginger and though creme is also not a flavor I notice, I believe it helps give the chocolate a silkiness that is more akin to milk chocolate as opposed to more of a cocoa or dark chocolate. So, this tea essentially tastes of a milk chocolate bar that someone put peppermint on.
The latte does something a little different to the tea as it seems to have brought out some more of the cinnamon/spice notes. That makes this heavier. I genuinely thought the milk would make this more creamy but instead it gives a cinnamon weightiness to the whole blend. The peppermint still lingers on top though somehow more harmoniously blends with the other components. Meanwhile, the chocolate disappeared a bit in the mix. Given that lack of chocolate flavor, this makes me think of when you make hot chocolate packets with water instead of milk and everything just feels watered down, which is especially strange in light of this being made with milk. A faint shadow of hot chocolate, except in this case, a shadow of a peppermint mexican hot chocolate given the focus on peppermint and cinnamon. It is not bad, but surprisingly this does better as a plain cup of peppermint chocolate tea.
Does it stand out among all the other peppermint chocolate teas out there? No, so I probably will stick to the ones I can more easily attain in Canada. However, it is a nice take on the flavors and if this blend is one that you can obtain easily and without paying much shipping, it is worth a try.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Riddle’s Tea Shoppe and Curiosities
Description
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Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
