Orange Rum Truffle Black Tea

And it’s another (sample) sipdown!

#long time ago internet hiatus sipdown

Sample Sipdown! (15)

I love that these samples from A Quarter to Tea are perfect for a large single serving. That way I get to try the tea, and it’s an instant sample sipdown! Perfect! And they’re very inexpensive, too.

I am a lover of chocolate orange, so I’ll almost always take the opportunity to sample a chocolate orange tea when one is available. So, of course, this found its way into my order!

Wow, this smells sharply of tangerine. Hmm… This one is not for me. The combination of the rum and the tangy citrus is reminding me a bit of citrus floor cleaner. There’s a strong alcoholic or chemical note, and I’m not sure whether it’s coming from the rum flavor or just the added flavoring in general.

I do taste creamy milk chocolate here as well, but it’s not very harmonious when combined with the more acidic tangerine.

Oh well, another reason to be happy for the small sample size! :D

Ooooo, I’m liking this one! It has a nice orange flavor that makes me think of Butiki’s Three Friends. I’m getting a little chocolate, but not a ton. It could go way heavier on the chocolate IMO and get some of those base notes filled in. I don’t know that I can pick out the rum though. I added cream and feel like I might be getting the rum now in the finish. I’m likely to go through this sample quick!

Prep: Used the whole sample pouch in boiling water steeped for 4:15 minutes in a 12oz mug.

I can only smell the orange from the dry leaf.

Taste wise this is definitely a pleasant tea, though the name isn’t quite accurate. I noticed that others tasted chocolate and kept searching for the chocolate in my mug and the rum and found none. The predominant flavor is orange which blends nicely with the assam. This pairs very well with milk and doesn’t require sweetener. Orange isn’t one of my favorite flavors per-say so I really was missing the other flavors in this cup but still thoroughly enjoyed it. I was able to get 3 tasty 12 oz cups out of the sample. Which is more than the other’s I’ve tried so far. I don’t have much else to say about this. If your someone who likes orange marmalade and black tea you’ll definitely love this.

Sipdown (488)!

Little bonus sample in my most recent AQTT shipment!

I’ve definitely eyed this one up before on the site, but always skip over it because as nice as it sounds the whole orange and chocolate pairing is so easily accessible that I usually opt to focus on the more unique offerings that Lauren has.

Steeped up, sure enough this is basically just chocolate and orange. It channels the same delicious, smooth and sweet “Terry’s Chocolate Orange” flavour that I’ve experienced with so many other company’s take on the pairing and while it definitely IS really well done and balanced I’m also finding that the rum notes are missing for me and that was the only element to this tea that would have put it a notch above similar teas.

Definitely tasty, and if you’re looking for a good chocolate orange blend for your cupboard and already placing an order with AQTT then you’re not going to be doing yourself a disservice picking up this one, but it’s not the kind of tea that I think someone would go out of their way to get specifically from AQTT when they have so many other equally tasty but more unique offerings.

The first time I had this I got one big orange slice and no chocolate. It tasted like juicy-sweet marmalade with astringent malt.

Today I have no orange slice and a lot of chocolate. Now it tastes like one of those chocolate Christmas oranges, especially after I added milk. Sweet tangerine notes to finish.

I’m not the biggest fan of marmalade or orange chocolate, but anyone who is shouldn’t hesitate to give this tea a chance. The malty raisin-rose assam/nilgiri blend makes the tea even fancier and gives it a rounder profile.

This tea is way too potent right now – the orange is very strong and cleaner-y, and I struggled to finish the cup. I think this is a good sample to “lose” in the bottom of my bin for a year or so… I remembered it being better.

I can’t find this in my cupboard anywhere. Wahhhhhh!
Must do a thorough investigation. When nobody is home so they don’t see all the tea things everywhere while I sort

Sipdown number 8! This isn’t my favorite AQTT blend but it’s not bad. Basically it tastes primarily like black tea with an overlay of dark chocolate orange. Not a restock for me.

A very mellow, unobtrusive tea. I typically like aggressive teas that show up and throttle you and yell things in your face while you’re trying to live your life, but a chill tea has a time and a place, too. It’s a nice ease-into-the-week blend.