White Chocolate Samoa by The NecessiTeas

Yay, a white chocolate coconut tea! With caramel! And it’s caffeine free, so it’s great as a nightcap.

I approximated the steeping instructions for this tea, noticing as I did so that there’s plenty of coconut visible in the dry tea. It has a sweet creamy smell even when dry. Once the tea is steeped, it turns out to be about the color of apple cider, but a bit darker. It has a light, pleasant flavor and fragrance from the very first sip. I found it to have a creamy flavor and aftertaste (presumably from the coconut).

 As the description says, it’s more of a “spin” on the idea of a Samoa cookie than a total reproduction of the cookie flavor, since it does have honeybush, which is noticeable in the flavor profile (and not present in the original cookie). The honeybush does add a nice touch, though; it complements and melds with the sweetness and creaminess of the coconut, and the caramel flavor adds even more sweetness. I think it’s a great flavor combination overall. As usual, I can’t single out the white chocolate flavor here, but maybe it’s not supposed to stand out.
Both the aroma and the flavor of this tea are lovely. It’s very very sweet (like a cookie) meaning it’s great as a dessert tea. I also tried it with milk, although I decided it’s already sweet enough without sugar. The milk brings out the coconut creaminess and the honeybush tang (almost like acidity or astringency) but muffles the caramel.

Altogether I found this tea very enjoyable, although I don’t think it’ll end up in my rotation for daily drinking. It’s very heavy on the coconut (since it contains both actual coconut and coconut flavor) and on the sugar factor, so it’s a sure winner if coconut is your favorite flavor ever and you take lots of sugar in your tea!


Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Honeybush/Herbal
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
necessiteas-logoDescription:

Growing up I was a Girl Scout and I was great at “selling” cookies. I would polish off a box of Samoas after school while working on my homework. Chock up another “sale” my parents had to chip in for. Gone are the days when it was okay to eat an entire sleeve of cookies. So here’s my guilt-free version of the classic Samoa. As always, I like to put a spin on things so I used white chocolate instead then added sweet caramel and toasted coconut to recreate an old favorite.

Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!

Chocolate Rose Truffle Black Tea from 52Teas

I was looking for something strong today so I settled on this wonderful chocolatey blend from 52 Teas! I steeped 1 heaping teaspoon in about 12 ounces of hot water for 2.5 minutes, as recommended (although I admit I totally failed to do the recommended “wait 10 minutes after steeping for best flavor” thing. I get a little impatient for my tea, lol).

Once it’s steeped, the tea is a medium darkness, not really red or orange but more amber-ish or cedar-colored. It has a few teeny oil droplets on top, which tends to happen when you put chocolate chips in your tea, lol. I can definitely smell both the black tea and the chocolate flavors as well as the rose.

When tasting, the first flavor that stands out is the chocolate (good news!). I also catch a tannic hint of the black tea’s astringency. The rose is, at this point, more of a floral aftertaste than a very present flavor. The tea itself is sweet, as expected (those chocolate chips you know), and the chocolate and black tea flavors are blending quite elegantly.

One thing that puzzles me about this tea is that I was sure I saw a white chocolate chip among the tea leaves, but I can’t taste it at all. Where did the flavor go? I know white chocolate isn’t really a dominant sort of flavor though, so maybe it was intended to just add to the general creaminess without actually showing up distinctly in the flavor profile.  If that’s the case, then it was a success. The flavor is quite rich and truffle-ish. Since the tea has plenty of sweetness already, I didn’t put sugar in, but I did experiment with adding milk. I then became unable to taste the rose flavor, which is unexpected. It still tastes nicely of chocolate and tea, though.

Regarding the disappearance of the rose flavor, it is possible that I failed to evenly distribute the ingredients before measuring out my tea leaves. I did turn the sample bag upside down and shake it in an attempt to ensure even distribution of ingredients, but my efforts may have been ineffective. Or perhaps this particular sample is just less packed with rose petals than normal. I know that when I had a sample of this tea once before, the rose flavor was much more present and was certainly detectable through milk. It was also strong enough to make the white chocolate chips taste sickeningly of rose, which I know because I ate one instead of putting it in my tea.

Here’s the scoop!

Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: 52Teas

52teas3_1430856114__73092Description:

 Blend is no longer available but check out the black teas that are here!

Chocolate Rose Truffle Black Tea from 52Teas

ChocolateRosesmallerTea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy: 52Teas

Tea Description:

The base of the tea is a blend of four black teas: two teas from Verdant Tea, a rich, malty Assam and a rose Congou. To that I added chocolate flavoring, cacao shells & nibs, mini vegan chocolate chips and vegan white chocolate chips. The result is a very chocolate-y tea with just a hint of rose that’s a perfectly romantic tea to give to that special someone this Valentine’s Day – or any day of the year that you want to tell someone you care! 

Learn more about this tea here.

Learn more about subscribing to 52Teas tea of the week program here.

Taster’s Review:

I recently did a review for this tea on my own blog but thought that this blend need another review here!

This tea is one of the best chocolate teas I’ve ever tried. Seriously!

When you first open this pouch of tea, be prepared for the most lushest decadent chocolate aroma you have ever smelled. Seriously. The aroma coming from this tea made me feel like I was going to gain 10 pounds just by smelling it. Cacao nibs and shells, milk chocolate, and white chocolate, all mixed up with a black tea base and rose petals.  Tea Heaven!

I brewed this tea up with fresh boiled water and my french press.  I allowed the tea to steep for about 3 minutes before pushing down on the plunger. I allowed the tea to cool before I took a few minutes.  As the tea was cooling, I was still getting all of those wonderful gorgeous chocolate aromas.

Now I will admit, chocolate teas are not my thing but 52Teas chocolate teas have been delicious so I just had to try this one. First sip in I was preparing myself for this overabundance of chocolate flavorings to hit me at once. The exact opposite. This tea is so delicate and gentle.  The chocolate notes translate into a softer gentle flavor that mingles gorgeously with the black teas and rose petals, allowing each ingredient to sing their own song and make a brilliant cuppa.

The black tea provided a wonderful smoothness with a slight astringent note. The rose petals provided that sweetness that was needed to combat the slightly bitter cacao shells & nibs. The white chocolate was the most pronounced of the chocolate flavors I could really get a good tasting of and it was just heavenly!

Well done 52Teas. This as close to perfection as they come with chocolate teas for me! I have already devoured a few steepings and plan to brew up more! I believe this one is still available. I recommend everyone grab some while they can. Delicious!

Product Review: White Chocolate with Jumpy Monkey Yerba Mate from DAVIDsTEA

White Chocolate with Jumpy Monkey Yerba MateTea Information:

Leaf Type: Yerba Mate/Chocolate

Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA

Tea Description:

Looking for a rich and decadent pick-me-up? Check out this deliciously creamy chocolate bar, a combination of the finest imported white chocolate and our java-spiked Jumpy Monkey tea. With yerba mate, cocoa nibs and coffee beans, it makes for an exotic taste of the rainforest at its finest. Made in partnership with a Montreal chocolatier.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I’ve had this tea before as a latte, and as far as I can remember it wasn’t too impressive. Kind of run of the mill, actually? However I was still pretty pumped to see it in chocolate bar format at the store yesterday because, first off, I love white chocolate though also because even though I’m not a huge fan of coffee I have a special place in my heart for white chocolate coated coffee beans. My Dad used to buy them in bulk, and late at night I’d sneak into the kitchen (when I was around eleven) and eat small handfuls out of the bag in the pantry. And of course, I’d have problems falling asleep after that…

However, this is a slight let down if I’m being honest. I mean, the white chocolate is really good! I love the white chocolate that DAVIDsTEA uses for these chocolate bars. The problem, for me, is that it really over powers the flavour of the tea/coffee. It doesn’t help part of the profile of this tea is white chocolate in the first place. I’m conflicted by this. One thing I dislike about DAVIDsTEA’s chocolate bars is that the infused chunks are often too large but in this rare occasion I really wanted more large pieces because without them the tea is lost. I wish there was a better way to ensure a more consistent size for the pieces used in these chocolate bars, but I don’t know what the best way to go about finding it would be. However, it does at least seems like DAVIDsTEA is trying to do that because these newer bars do at least seem to consistently use smaller pieces and I know that was something that was really being criticized prior to the change. So I commend them for that.

But without the flavour of the tea, this is just a super expensive white chocolate bar.

Minty Winter Wonderland from Tiesta Tea

Minty-Winter-WonderlandTisane Information:

Leaf Type:  Rooibos

Where to Buy:  Amoda Tea

Tea Description: 

Tastes just like the ingredients would suggest: white chocolate, vanilla and mint… yes! It came as a surprise to us that the natural flavours of rooibos made their way through all that mint. The honey and almost woodsy characteristics are definitely there. Of course though, that peppermint keeps going and going and going.

Learn more about this tisane here.

Taster’s Review:

I’m a bit behind on reviewing some of my teas … this tea came in my Amoda Tea Tasting Box for December.  The 12 Days of Christmas thing threw me for a loop, and then there was that nasty head cold … but, enough with the excuses.  Let’s talk about this delightful Minty Winter Wonderland from Tiesta Tea!

This is really yummy.  It is a rooibos blend, but I don’t taste a lot of rooibos here.  There’s a nutty sort of flavor – something between nutty and woody – that is definitely rooibos but, it is such a small part of this tisane.

Mostly what I taste is MINT!  Crisp, cool peppermint!  And the way this tisane has been composed, it tastes very much like a candy cane.  The white chocolate gives it a sweet, creamy note … and the touch of vanilla enhances that sweet and creamy note.  It is so yummy … it tastes like someone may have melted a candy cane in a cup of rooibos.  There is a honey-esque tone too … something I don’t usually attribute to rooibos, but, it’s there.

Overall, a delicious cup of tisane.