Well, my belly was feeling a little iffy (this may be a common theme in my tea notes, my belly hates me and tries to stage a coup for control of my body at least three times a week) so I was thinking of grabbing the Moroccan Mint from Golden Moon, but then I noticed that this had mint in it and I was like, close enough!
So when I smelled the tea leaves, I was really encouraged, it totally smelled like mint and chocolate – I, in fact, specially went out and got some chocolate covered pretzels today to make sure that I remember what chocolate tastes like (i suspect that is what angered my belly), so I am pretty confident about it this time. Anyway, I was pretty optimistic since this tea actually smelled like what it said it was.
I let it steep for five minutes, poured myself a cup (the bamboo strainer that comes with this set comes very handy for catching stray rooibos!), leaned down to smell it and got…sauerkraut.
Note to self: either move slow cooker away from teapot or move teapot away from slow cooker.
Ok, so when I actually smelled the TEA instead of DINNER, I got…not much actually, a light feeling of chocolate and maybe some mint. This seems, at least from my initial impression, to be the most subdued of the dessert teas, with the rooibos actually noticeable from the beginning. The mint is also obvious, and the chocolate…is there definitely, especially in the light sweetness and the aftertaste. There MIGHT be vanilla there somewhere. I think. Sometimes I sense it underneath the mint, and sometimes in the aftertaste with the chocolate. The rooibos is definitely dominant here followed by mint. To tell the truth, after the caramelized pear its almost a relief. And the predominance of the mint means that my belly is being pacified, so that’s good. And it’s not like the tea is BAD, it just doesn’t seem to have quite the same amazing…totality of flavor that the other teas have. It just tastes like a blended rooibos.
So, I’ve tried all four teas in the sampler, and right now Caramelized Pear is in first place, followed by Chocolate Monkey (even thought it’s weird), followed by the Vanilla Berry Truffle, and then this. I’m sorry Velvet Tea! Please don’t feel bad…you were just up against some really tough competition!
