Charlie and the Chocolate Factory

Trick or Treat! This is a tea I picked up from a trip I took to San Diego back in fall of 2017 now, where I had High Tea at a quaint little shop that also sold tea and British collectibles and food called Shakespeare’s Corner Shoppe. Most of their tea blends were wholesaled, but they had a handfull that were unique blends they created that were named after famous British royalty, characters, or pop icons, and this is one of the ones I picked up.

This is probably one of the most chocolately teas I own, so it fits in nicely with my dessert tea theme this month! It’s a Ceylon black base, but they’ve added both milk and white chocolate, cocoa nibs, maple syrup (there is a certain maple sweetness mixed with the strong chocolate flavoring of the tea from the aroma), blueberries (because Willy Wonka!), vanilla, orange peel and lemon balm for a touch of citrus, and safflower and cornflower petals. It sounds like a lot going on, but the flavor comes out as chocolate blueberries! Which probably still sounds very odd, but somehow works, if you are in the mood for a very sweet, quirky dessert tea.

I can still make out just a hint of the black tea base, and it probably would be a hint bitter with some astringency if this tea wasn’t so darn sweet, but since I don’t like harsh, bitter Assams/Ceylons, I’m fine with that. This isn’t a subtle chocolate tea; it’s very rich, sweet, and fudgy in flavor, and the sweetness does have a maple note to it which I really like. About midsip and then lingering on the finish is a really sweet blueberry flavor, that mixed with that touch of maple really reminds me of blueberry pancake syrup, a really syrupy sweet blueberry note. I’m not really getting any citrus, though I wonder if they are helping bring the black tea base to the forefront a bit more, since Ceylons tend to be a bit citrusy.

Black teas aren’t the sort of thing I indulge in late at night when I tend to want a sweet-tooth hit, so I think my place for something like this is for those Fridays when I know it isn’t donut day at work… like today.

Thanks so much for sharing some of this one, Mastress Alita! I am the biggest fan of the original Willy Wonka movie. I had such high expectations for Tim Burton’s remake (I am also a huge Tim Burton fan, the earliest movies mostly… I dressed up as Beetlejuice for Halloween when I was five, though now I can appreciate that Beetlejuice himself is not what makes that movie so great.) Anyway, the Burton Wonka remake was such a disappointment to me that I stopped watching his movies until now. But now I’m reviewing a Tim Burton book and have watched or rewatched most of his movies recently. The older movies: even better now, the other newer movies: not as bad as I expected. Will be rewatching Charlie & the Chocolate Factory tonight! ANYWAY. This tea is quite a combo from a small tea shop that just sounds dreamy. Chocolate, blueberry, maple, vanilla. The blend itself is gorgeous with yellow and blue flowers. Honestly, a chocolate and blueberry combination doesn’t sound TOO good to me, but I can understand why they are included (chocolate factory, ‘Violet you’re a blueberry!’) Somehow I taste mostly equal parts blueberry and chocolate. The end result is certainly unique and tasty anyway!
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep