Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: The Rabbit Hole
Tea Description:
White chocolate melts into juicy raspberries to deliver a smooth and creamy drop. This tea is delicious hot or iced and is a refreshing alternative to fat filled desserts.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Oh wow! YUM! This Organic White Delight tea from The Rabbit Hole is true to it’s name, it is definitely a delight!
The dry leaf looks really appealing with its large shreds of coconut and dried raspberries tossed with white tea leaves. It brews up very light in color, but certainly NOT light in flavor!
Yes, it is a delicate tea (most white teas are!) but, that doesn’t mean it’s flavorless … just the opposite! There is a whole lot of yummy going on in this teacup! The overall flavor is sweet and creamy, with notes of chocolate (YES, chocolate!) and raspberry. The coconut adds more of a creamy tone to the cup than a strong, distinctive coconut taste. That is to say that this doesn’t taste strongly of coconut … although if I really focus on the sip I can taste a very faint coconut-y taste. Instead, the coconut seems to enhance the creaminess of the cup.
The chocolate is distinct, however, and you know me … I like it when the chocolate is THERE. And it’s there! The description suggests a white chocolate flavor … and yes, I do taste white chocolate, but, the chocolate tastes just a little richer than white chocolate. Imagine white chocolate with creamy milk chocolate. That’s what I taste here. And it’s delicious!
And you might be thinking that the white tea is overwhelmed by these other flavors – but it isn’t! I taste the creamy, sweet, slightly vegetative notes of the white tea here. There is a really lovely balanced taste with this tea. It is flavorful while maintaining its light, refreshing taste.
This is really good served hot, but I allowed some of it to cool because I was in the mood for some iced tea (It’s getting warmer!) and it tastes AMAZING iced! This tea is a winner. I’m not surprised – The Rabbit Hole seems to offer nothing BUT winners! If you love chocolate teas – add this one to your shopping list!
Xocolatl From Bird’s Eye Tea
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Herbal/Spice Melangé
Where to Buy: Bird’s Eye Tea
Tisane Description:
This lovely blend will get your day off to a great start or can be perfect for an afternoon pick-me-up. It satisfies a chocolate craving without overwhelming your body with processed sugars. All it takes is a little honey or agave added to the brewed tea to create a healthy treat for yourself. Calming chamomile and mints in the blend help relax and calm the nervous system while the chocolate gives its characteristic energy kick and mood boost. Rose petals were added to bring out the subtle floral character in chocolate. Chipotle powder increases circulation and adds a slight smokiness to the overall tea flavor. Cinnamon, ginger, and star anise add a dessert like quality, but also support healthy immune function.
To learn more about this tisane, click here.
To learn more about subscribing to Bird’s Eye Tea, click here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently, the SororiTea Sisters were introduced to a new tea company that is LOCAL for me – well, kind of local (the same state, anyway!) and I was so excited to learn about them! The company: Bird’s Eye Tea!
They are a subscription tea service – which means that for just $22. every month, they send a box with several different selections of teas in it. This Xocolatl is from the October box, and it is a yummy blend of raw cacao powder, chamomile, rose, mint, cinnamon, ginger, star anise, chipotle powder and roasted cacao nibs. I know, it sounds amazing, right?
Because the ingredients are so different from any other tisane that I can remember drinking, and because it LOOKS so different too, I followed the directions precisely … I even got out a measuring cup and spoon! I measured 3/4 cup of hot water to steep with 2 teaspoons of the tisane, and I steeped it for 10 minutes. Meanwhile, I heated 3/4 cup of milk, and I added the steeped liquid to the warm milk and I frothed it a bit with my handheld frothing tool. I did add a little bit of turbinado sugar to the cup just to enhance the spices, and it created the most delightful tasting cup of Xocolatl!
Oh, my… I have GOT to get some more of this! This is amazing. This tastes so much like the hot chocolate that my Latina friends would serve in their homes! Sweet and chocolate-y, but with just the right amount of warm spice. The rose offers hints of flavor and an interesting dimension to the overall cup. It isn’t too spicy, and it is a gently comforting heat rather than an invigorating spicy-hot taste. Every one of the ingredients is represented in the flavor, but at the same time, they all come together to form an amazing taste that is greater than the individual parts.
Like I said, I want more. MORE of this, please!!!
Coconut Truffle from Inspired Leaf
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black Tea & Honeybush
Where to Buy: Inspired Leaf
Tea Description:
Cocoa nibs and indulgent flavors of the islands. Brew up a vacation!
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
YUM!
This is the first tea that I’ve tried from Inspired Leaf, but I must say that I’m a fan. My experience with them has been very positive, and this tea is like the cherry on top of the sundae! I would say coconut on top of the sundae but that didn’t seem as illuminating as cherry on top.
The base is a blend of black tea and honeybush which I find enjoyable because I have the rich flavor of the black tea – lightened somewhat by the presence of the honeybush, but not too much. It is light enough to enjoy the complexity of the tea while adding a delicate sweetness from the honeybush. There is a hint of nutty flavor to this as well, and this compliments the coconut in this blend.
The chocolate flavor is at a pleasing level, but, I (being the chocoholic that I am) still find myself wanting MORE chocolate. Some cacao shells would give this more of a truffle-ish flavor, I think. As it is, it is quite delicious, but even more chocolate would make it over-the-top indulgently awesome. (Remember my simple equation? more chocolate = better)
The coconut is creamy and sweet and luscious … and definitely the star of this cup. Sure, I love the chocolate, but, its the coconut that makes this so remarkably good.
And that’s exactly what it is!
Organic Turkish Delight from The Rabbit Hole
Tisane Information:
Leaf Type: Fruit/Herbal Tisane
Where to Buy: The Rabbit Hole
Tisane Description:
Exotic rose and luscious chocolate mingle to create a decadent herbal brew worthy of your harem. Go on, treat yourself to a little luxury and for a completely decadent hit, add honey.
Learn more about this tisane here.
Taster’s Review:
Mmm! This is really good!
This seems to be a fairly simple blend of cacao nibs and rose. But out of such simplicity comes a true delight. Upon opening the pouch, my olfactory sense was greeted with a heady fragrance of rose and the tempting aroma of chocolate. The brewed tisane offers mere hints of the rose but a very delicious chocolate scent.
I recommend steeping this for at least ten minutes – and longer would probably be even better. Since there are no tea leaves in this blend, there is no threat of bitterness by over-steeping, the flavors will just intensify with the longer steep time. I would also recommend adding a little more than the recommended 1 teaspoon of leaf per cup, and I will explain why.
After steeping according to the recommended parameters, I found the tisane to be a bit thin in flavor. Yes, the chocolate and rose flavors were there, and they were INCREDIBLE; however, I – being the chocoholic that I am – happen to think that more chocolate = better. And I think that a richer chocolate flavor here would have been much more satisfying, and this can be easily remedied by simply adding an extra teaspoon of leaf before infusing, and be sure to infuse it a minimum of ten minutes, and fifteen would be even better, if you can wait that long!
As it is, it is still very delicious. The cacao nibs give the cup a tasty bittersweet, dark chocolate kind of flavor. The rose adds a touch of exotic flavor to the cup, tasting floral but without tasting like perfume. The finish has a dry cocoa powder kind of taste, with lingering notes of rose.
This combination of flavors reminds me very much of a decadent chocolate truffle that I might find in a high-end chocolate shop … even though the flavor is thinner than I would like, I still consider this to be a highly enjoyable cup.
Cacao Chai from Zhi Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Zhi Tea
Product Description:
Our Zhi Signature Blend Organic Cacao Chai has been lovingly hand-crafted to satisfy the most discerning chai aficionados and dark chocolate lovers.
Organic Assam Black Tea with cinnamon, cardamon and ginger, pure vanilla and an abundance of organic Peruvian cacao nibs.
This Chai loves whole organic milk and turbinado sugar! We created this blend due to overwhelming demand – at home!
Join us in a steaming cup of this sumptuous delight.
Taster’s Review:
This is yummy. It reminds me a bit of my homemade hot chocolate – made from scratch – which I really don’t make often enough. Now I don’t have to make it at all! I’ll just brew some of this chai instead.
This has a wonderful chocolate flavor. It is a deep, dark chocolate flavor that is bittersweet. The Assam base provides a solid backdrop of flavor, and seems to propel the flavors of chocolate to the forefront. Assam typically is a strong, malty and substantial tea, and while it isn’t front and center of this particular blend, it is an essential part of this tea because it helps to bring the other flavors to life in a really delicious way.
After the chocolate notes, what I notice is a spicy cinnamon kick, which is enhanced by the peppery flavor of ginger. The cardamom adds a warm, citrus-y note to the background.
This combination of cacao, spices and tea makes for an incredibly warm, comforting and indulgent cup. A must try for all you chocoholics out there!