Perhaps not the best way to try a tea for the first time, but I made this as a latte and added a touch of vanilla extract to my whole milk before frothing. Actually, I did taste this before adding the milk and it was like a standard cacao shell tisane, loaded with cocoa notes, and there was something smooth at the end. A bit vanilla-ish, but I swear I didn’t get any mint from it? I’ll try to pay more attention next time.
Nevertheless, with the added milk, this tasted like creamy cocoa vanilla. Not necessarily like hot chocolate/cocoa. Even with the milk, it has that distinct flavour from cacao shells. They are also so prominent that you wouldn’t even know that there is Ceylon in here.
This reminds me of how I have to retry the Tisano teas I have sitting in my cupboard now that I finally have them back after they were packed away for two years. Funny cacao shell tisanes were the rage a few years ago and I don’t see anyone drinking them anymore?
I’m waiting for room in my cupboard to get some more :)