Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: 52Teas
Tea Description:
Mount Wuyi, in Fujian China is primarily known for oolongs, but this rare black tea is harvested only a short time each year. It is naturally low in tannins, giving it an exquisitely smooth finish which, combined with its natural chocolate notes, earned it the nickname “Black Silk”. We’ve upped the ante by adding some organic chocolate and marshmallow flavors, cacao nibs and marshmallow root.
Learn more about this tea here.
Learn more about 52Teas’ subscriptions here.
Taster’s Review:
When I read my SororiTea Sister Nichole’s review of this Black Silk Chocolate Milk Qui Hao from 52Teas, I was eager to try the tea out for myself! If you’re a frequent reader of our little blog here, you may have picked up on the fact that I’m a little bit of a chocolate freak! So this tea is right up my alley!
Mmm! The Qui Hao black tea is a delightful choice for the base of this tea. It is a rich, satisfying, well-rounded tea and it compliments the flavor of the chocolate notes. There is a creaminess from the marshmallow but it seems a little subtle. But that’s alright, because for me, this tea is about the chocolate.
The combination of the rich, malty Qui Hao and the chocolate flavors creates a dark chocolate type of flavor and the hint of marshmallow enhances the overall sweetness of it. I don’t usually add milk to my teas these days, but after sipping on this for a while, I decided I’d see how it tasted with a splash of milk.
I have to say that I think that this is even better with the addition of dairy. It brings the marshmallow notes forward a little bit without obscuring the chocolate notes. It adds just a hint of the milk chocolate flavors that I think that this particular tea needed because I wasn’t really getting “chocolate milk” until I added the dairy. The milk just brought it all together very nicely.
Overall, a really pleasing chocolate tea. If you’re a chocoholic tea lover – you should definitely give this one a try!
Canton Chocolate Tea from Canton Tea Co.
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Canton Tea Co.
Tea Description:
Specially created for the Chesterfield Hotel in Mayfair, this luxurious blend of Indian Assam, Chinese Yunnan black, Madagascan vanilla pod and Peruvian cocoa nibs is served daily with their famous Afternoon Tea., It is deep, rich and moreish with a velvety mouthfeel. Extremely satisfying with smooth, malty Assam and a hint of plum from the Yunnan black adding an additional layer of dark fruit. The cocoa nibs and vanilla pod provide the depth and sweetness which complements the heady flavours.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This Chocolate Tea from Canton Tea Co. is one that I’ve been wanting to try for a while! Let’s face it, whenever I see a new-to-me chocolate tea from just about any tea company, my interest is piqued, but when it comes from a company that I associate with high quality, top-notch teas like Canton Tea Company, then let’s just say that my interest sizzles into very lusty desire.
Yes, I lust for chocolate.
And this tea lived up to my crazy high expectations that I put on it. This is deliciously chocolate. Even with the hint of Madagascar vanilla in this, the flavor is still delightfully dark chocolate-y. Rich and decadent and sweet. Mmm!
The black tea base is rich and satisfying. The combination of Assam and Yunnan is a thoughtful one. The rich, malty notes of the Assam add to the sweetness of the tea. The fruit notes of both teas play to the deep berry notes of the cacao nibs. The slightly spiced notes of the Yunnan enhance the overall experience. The black tea base tastes robust and it’s a solid background of flavor, allowing the flavor of the key ingredient (the chocolate!) to really come out and express itself in a sumptuous, seductive, chocolate-y way.
So good!
The chocolate is a rich, dark chocolate-y flavor as I mentioned before. It has a luscious, creamy taste that Canton describes as velvety and I find myself in complete agreement with that assessment. The vanilla is not overly done, there is just enough vanilla here to add that velvety texture and taste. There is just enough to give the cup some dimension and depth without diminishing that deep, dark chocolate flavor.
If you’re a fan of chocolate teas – put this at the top of your must try list!
Chocolate Marshmallow Spicy Chai from 52Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zoomdweebies
Tea Description:
Following the success of our Spicier Chai, one of our faithful customers requested a version with chocolate and marshmallow. How could we not do that?
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Yum! I’m loving this Chocolate Marshmallow Spicy Chai from 52Teas. It’s the perfect tea to enjoy on a cold, wet afternoon!
If you read this blog regularly, you’re probably well aware by this point that I’m trying to raise funds so that I can take over 52Teas. And if you aren’t yet aware of this, please check out my Kickstarter campaign by clicking right here. (Remember, every little bit helps!)
Anyway, after taking my first sip of this tea, my immediate thought was, “oh yeah, I have to reblend this one!” In fact, I just finished posting a comment on the campaign, stating that I nominate this for a reblend for the next vote!
Every time we reach another $2,000 in pledges, we vote on a new reblend. So far, we’ve reached on $2000 in pledges and the winner of that vote was the Raspberry Cream Cheese Danish Honeybush. If you want to get in on the next vote, you need to contribute and help me reach my goal!
So, yes, I guess you could say that I like this tea. I like it a lot!
The black tea base is rich and flavorful. That in itself is quite an accomplishment because the spices are spicy and the chocolate and marshmallow are both strong components to this cup too. To be able to be tasted beyond the bold spices and the strong flavors, that’s impressive to me.
I also appreciate that the black tea isn’t astringent or bitter. It’s smooth and robust, but not aggressively so. It stands strong amid the other strong flavor profiles in this cup without having to be too harsh tasting.
The spices are very reminiscent of the Spicier Chai blend that 52Teas introduced a few weeks back. And there’s a good reason for that. It would seem that the Spicier Chai was the inspiration behind the request for a Chocolate Marshmallow version. Genius. It sounds like something I’d think of. I didn’t. But, whoever did think of it, you’re a genius.
The spices are spicy! Peppery! Zesty and invigorating! It’s a good, strong, BOLDLY spiced chai. It not only warms you from the inside out but it’ll feel a little like someone started a tiny fire in the back of your throat. Yeah, it burns, but it burns SO good!
And then you have chocolate and marshmallow! I’m usually quick to say that more chocolate is better, but I really am enjoying the level of chocolate in this blend. It’s not SUPER chocolate-y but I think that more chocolate might have interfered with the spices a little bit and I like the balance as it is right now. Spicy and chocolate-y deliciousness.
And the marshmallow is light and fluffy.
What this tastes a bit like is that someone brewed up a cup of that Spicier Chai, and then added a scoop of hot cocoa powder to it and stirred it up, and then topped it with a marshmallow that is now melted into the beverage, making it creamy and sweet and delicious.
So, yeah … totally yum. Please help me save 52Teas so that I can reblend this one!!!
Raspberry Cocoa Flavored Black Tea from Tippy’s Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tippy’s Tea
Tea Description:
A bold, malty blended black tea with a taste of raspberry and dark chocolate notes at the end. We highly recommend sweetening slightly to bring out the chocolate and raspberry. Delectable.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Hmm … after experiencing their wonderful Not so Vanilla Tea, I had high expectations from the Raspberry Cocoa Tea from Tippy’s Tea. And while it didn’t quite live up to those expectations, I still found this tea to be quite enjoyable overall. And based upon some of the tasting notes for this tea on Steepster, I think I might be a minority in my thoughts on this tea.
To brew this tea, I used my Kati tumbler. I measured a bamboo scoop into the basket of the tumbler and poured 12 ounces of boiling water into the tumbler. Then I let the tea steep for 3 minutes. I let the tea cool a couple of minutes before taking a sip. That very first sip was not only still quite hot but also a little ‘muddied’ so I let it cool a few more minutes.
After the tea had cooled to a drinkable temperature, the flavors were much more distinguished. The raspberry is strong. It’s sweet with notes of tart. But it doesn’t taste quite as authentic as I would want from a raspberry flavor. It seems a little contrived, and I’m not sure if that’s because of the Keemun’s presence in this blend.
The black tea base is a blend of Assam and Keemun. I’m getting lovely notes of malt and I like the way these notes play with the chocolate-y flavors. The Keemun offers a hint of smoke to the cup as well as a hint of wine-like flavor. The wine notes interact with the raspberry and I’m not sure that it does so in a good way. I’m not sure if it’s the raspberry flavoring itself or if it’s the way the Keemun tastes with the strawberry, it just tastes a little bit off to me.
The smoke from the Keemun adds some interest to the cup as well, although I can’t say that it’s my favorite thing about this tea. It adds interest, but does it improve the flavors? Not really. It almost seems like an odd note, standing out a little in the crowd, it’s just kind of different and doesn’t seem to meld with the other flavors quite right.
So, maybe it’s the Keemun in this tea and not so much the flavoring? I’m not quite sure.
As the tea cools slightly, I pick up on more chocolate-y notes and that’s a plus. The chocolate reminds me of a dark, powdery cocoa, as if it were derived from Dutch powdered cocoa. I can taste the bitter and the sweet. I think I’m just wanting more of it.
Interestingly enough, I needed to leave my cup for a while and when I returned, it was quite cold. I found this to be a much tastier cup of tea when it was cold than when served hot. I don’t usually find this with a chocolate tea (and maybe that’s my own perception because I think of “hot chocolate” when I think of a chocolate drink).
Overall, it was an enjoyable beverage, but there was something just a wee bit off with either the raspberry or the Keemun … or possibly both. I’m still unsure.
Chocolate Frost Black Tea from Petali Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Tea Information:
Of all the mint chocolate teas we’ve tasted, this one is at the top. This is a dessert tea for pure tea lovers. The mint is gentle and the chocolate is natural. Think rich dark chocolate rather than sweet milk chocolate. Simply delicious.
This tea is available from Amoda Tea.
It’s also part of Amoda Tea’s Holiday Box!
Learn more about subscribing to Amoda Tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m trying the second tea from the Holiday Box that Amoda sent me. It took a lot of willpower to save this tea for second instead of trying it immediately, but because I didn’t get the mail until after my ‘black tea’ time in the day, I decided to hold off and try this when it would be more suitable for me to drink a black tea.
I have found that when I drink black teas late at night, I end up lying in bed awake and unable to drift off. I can drink some other teas without experiencing this so I’ve come to realize that it’s the caffeine level of the black tea that keeps me more alert at night and unable to get drowsy. So, I find that I need to stop drinking black teas about four or five hours before I plan to head to bed.
But this is one of the teas in the Holiday Box that I was especially eager to try! Chocolate! Yes please!
And when it comes to chocolate teas, I find it difficult to wait until the tea cools. I have to have just a sip of what’s to come! So I took a small sip and even though it was too hot to keep on drinking, I could definitely taste chocolate and mint. Mmm!
This is very crisp and minty. A bit more minty than it is chocolate-y, in my opinion. But there is a nice amount of chocolate to this tea. If I were to adjust anything about the tea, it would be to lighten up on the peppermint just a tad and add more chocolate.
But what I’m enjoying most about this is that the black tea base is solid. It’s a strong background of flavor. It’s well-rounded and the flavor of the tea complements the flavors of mint and chocolate nicely. The chocolate is rich and tastes of dark chocolate to me. It’s smooth and has a deep, deliciously chocolate flavor.
The three components all work very well together and it’s a well crafted cup of tea. It’s strong – robust enough for early morning if you need a flavorful boost. But it’s also flavorful enough that it tastes like dessert. So it’d be like having dessert first thing in the morning and as far as I’m concerned, that would make everything right with the world so early in the day!