Choco Nut Blend

1000? How’d that happen? Somebody’s spending too much time flitting online, huh?

This was my treat to myself after nearly breaking my back loading up building plans and blueprints for Fed Ex. It was like wrestling a flat, contentious moose.

And a treat it is, thank you, ashmanra. The chocolate-peanutty against apricotty-marigoldy is unusual, but mighty tasty!

I need to work on some of my older tea bags so I pulled this one out of the cupboard this morning as well. I find that the strength of this one isn’t all that great so i usually double up on the tea bags. overall, not a bad brew but nothing i need to restock when in finally finish up!

This was the second tea I shared with my friend today. She loved the aroma – it is very rich.

The chocolate aspect of this tea is not milk chocolate but rather unsweetened cocoa or one of the really dark chocolates. The peanut flavor isn’t peanut butter-y, but roasted peanut. The tea has a double personality. It is rich and dark and deep, and then something happens… the apricot adds a lingering taste that is sweet and sunshine-y.

We had a moment like the pie scene in the movie “Never Been Kissed.” We were going to try to make some additional notes on the tea and when I opened the lid to sniff the aroma again and peered in the pot it was empty. WHERE DID OUR TEA GO??? I was shocked that it was all gone! My friend burst out laughing. Apparently, we were really throwing this one back!

This was her favorite tea today. Apparently, that sweet and lingering aftertaste really won her over! As a former coffee-only drinker, the dark notes also held a lot of attraction for her.

I tried this again today and it is definitely better with a LONGER steeping time of around 5 minutes, that helps to bring out the flavor. Raised the rating a few points this afternoon.

I liked it so much I made two cups… :)

Hmm, perhaps I understeeped this one at… 2.5 minutes, but it’s not super flavourful, and I’m not a huge fan. There’s chocolate, and maybe some nuttiness, but it’s really nothing special, which I guess I kind of expected it to be. Ah well – I’ll steep bag #2 a bit longer next time and see if that improves it.

Thanks for the samples, Sil!

ETA: Reading ashmanra’s note… apricot?? Yeah, I could believe that… kind of puts a different perspective on it for me. Tastes a bit better now, haha.

ETA again: Bleeehhh, second infusion was way cardboardy. I dumped it.

Here’s today’s sipdown! I like doing one a day if I’m drinking multiple cups – feels like I’m making progress trying things out and shrinking my cupboard down to 100! (Wow. I can’t believe that a few months ago 50 was my limit of teas. Now I understand that quantity doesn’t really matter because I don’t have A LOT of each tea- it doesn’t take that much more room than it did when I had 40 teas. Except now I’m buying more tins. So… that will change. Eep. Slippery slope anyone?)

This is rather good. It smells strongly of chocolate and nut, although the tea itself is milder than I’d expected. It’s very soothing and comforting though.

Thank you Sil!

I was disappointed with this one, as it sounded like it would be such a hit. It tasted slightly smokey, with a hint of peanut…and then a SUPER weak chocolate note. The base tea was oily, which helped the peanut note, but it was just “meh” overall.

Tried sweetening with sugar – ehn. Didn’t improve it.
Tried with milk – brought out the nut note a bit more.

I have a couple Harney teas in my cupboard that involve chocolate that I like, so was a bit mystified at this blend. Maybe my sample was old? Who knows.

Tea of the morning….

Thank you to Russel of Harney & Sons Millerton shop for the chance to sample this one! Oh my, it is like a candy bar in a cup. Notes of chocolate, peanut, caramel for sure. I do catch a little something fruity sweet in there, too. Must be the apricot. One thing that really stands out is the tea base is a little more hefty than most dessert tea blends. A little malt, a slight briskness. The mouthfeel is quite notable….it is heavy for sure, and this adds to the rich desserty feel of the tea. Yum. Very well done, Mr. Samulesson and Mr. Harney!

Usual mug method.

I need another Harney Logo mug when I order a few of these tins. The mugs stand up so well to the temperature extremes of brewing tea. Unfortunately, most of my regular mugs have become a safety hazard from making tea in them all the time….the bottoms were cracking out of them and I had to get rid of 5 of them as a consequence of my tea habit (and of course they are discontinued, too). So, this is a PSA! Check the bottoms of your mugs for cracking if you make tea in a mug very often! The cracks weaken the structure of the mug and it will eventually break. Plus, it probably harbors bacteria, which is not good, either.

Marigold petals, dark black tea, and dried apricot create a beautiful blend to look at. Aromas of chocolate and nut are prominent both in dry tea and brewed liquor. The flavor is rich and velvety, the apricot bolstering the nuttiness, and the smooth black tea adding to the chocolate. A sweet treat with honey!
-RA

Backlog:

This one is really yummy. I’ve been wanting to try these teas for quite a while so when Harney offered free shipping a few months back, I grabbed a small tin of each of the Ambessa teas.

This one is deliciously chocolate-y and it’s a dark chocolate note. The nutty tones are sweet and accent the dark chocolate flavor very nicely. There are some caramel undertones and a hint of apricot in this blend. The apricot came around about mid-cup. A wonderfully complex and delicious blend.

The only thing I don’t like about this line from Harney is that it’s only available in sachets. I want loose leaf!