Hazelnut Rocher

Bird & Blend Advent Calendar 2021: Day 7!

Lovely concept, but it didn’t deliver for me. I couldn’t detect any hazelnut (nor any nut flavors, really!) and the chocolate notes were the fairly standard ones so common in blends like this (i.e., disappointing). My cup was pretty flat, weak, and generally disappointing.

Maybe I got a dud, though, because other folks seem to really enjoy it! I also have a cold, so perhaps that’s wreaking havoc on my tastebuds (although everything else tastes fine to me, and my partner was equally unimpressed by his cup). I even stole his teabag and steeped both of ours together for my second cup… still nothing. Meh.

I don’t know about this one. I love the hazelnut/chocolate combo, but I don’t think this quite nails it for me. It’s also now tasting rather stale, even though it actually has a best before date listed on the package of Jan 28 2022. Surprising, considering I have much older teas that are just fine…

Sipdown! (60)

I think I may lower the rating for this a bit, because I really never felt like drinking it and it was a bit of struggle to finish the 20g packet.

It’s not that it’s bad per se, but the chocolate side of it is somewhat artificial-tasting. But as I’m sure you all know, I have a hard time with chocolate teas in general. I do think the level of almond here is really perfect – I’ve found that I no longer enjoy strong marzipan/almond extract flavor in tea, but here it’s such a lovely rich and sweet supporting note to the chocolate. And it almost comes out tasting like chocolate-covered maraschino cherries!

Bye, tea! Sorry I didn’t love you!

Discovery Advent Tea #4
Give me hazelnut and I will instantly pick it out among the other nuts. I love love love hazelnut. Good chocolate and hazelnut flavors though a bit too sweet for my tastes.

AJRimmer Advent Day 13

Hazelnut?! I’m in! Definitely getting a nutty flavor. It’s strange to taste hazelnut without it’s siamese twin, chocolate. Hmmm… how did we come up with that term for conjoined twins in the first place? Was the first widely known set of conjoined twins from Siam? Do people even use that term anymore? I see an internet rabbit hole before me!

The tea is nutty, but it almost has a chicory or mate kind of flavor. Something about it reminds me of both. I noticed little sparkles in it and put it in my clear mug to watch them, but since some time has passes they have sunk to the bottom. As my cup cools there is a flatness that creeps in. I’ve been dissatisfied with my water quality lately and watched some scale recently grow in my kettle. I have a filtered pitcher ordered, but that doesn’t help me today when I suspect the water may have something to do with this taste that pops up in the middle of each sip. I’ll have to wait to break in the water pitcher when it gets here and give this tea another go!

Update: Ha HA! My guess was right about Siamese twins! Chang and Eng Bunker were conjoined Chinese twins who lived in Siam!

Bird and Blend Advent Calendar 2020 – Day 5! This tea, dry, smelled absolutely divine to me, and I could hardly wait to tear into it! I’ve never had a tea that featured hazelnuts predominantly, but I am partial to a hazelnut ganache in a chocolate come December! Or a Ferrero Rocher, which I imagine is exactly what they were aiming for here.

I’d say that once it was brewed up (with a splash of milk, as I nearly always add) it was too smooth for me to associate with a Ferrero Rocher, however. But I was put very firmly in mind of hazelnut ganache enrobed in chocolate – though perhaps less of the outer chocolate than the ganache itself. (Purdy’s signature Hedgehog chocolates leapt to mind pretty much immediately on the first sip!) There were moments where I kind of wished the chocolate flavours sang a little more loudly, but I couldn’t complain at all when the rest was so lovely. After all, I’ve had many chocolatey teas – I kind of feel I know how that’ll go by now. But the hazelnut was the main attraction here, most certainly. It wasn’t a thin or watery kind of hazelnut flavour, but a beautifully well-rounded, creamy hazelnut experience that I could absolutely find myself luxuriating in time and time again. And as an alternative to scarfing down a box of GuyLian seashell molded chocolates, this is probably better for me. It felt like all the decadence of doing just that, but the sweetness was implied, rather than explicit. I’d probably need to stop gobbling the chocolates from sweetness overload long before I’d want to take a break from this cuppa – although I’ll err on the side of caution and make no promises!

B&B Advent 2021 Day 7

This tea is quite tasty. It tastes like a hazelnut Ferrero Rocher.

I don’t like the candy that this tea is named for, so I’m not sure what my reasoning was for buying it. The flavor is pretty similar to other B&B blends that contain chocolate. With sugar and milk, it’s pleasant. I don’t taste any nuttiness, but the cocoa shells are nice. It’s a mild, tasty blend. Nothing about it really stands out from other blends though, and as I mentioned, it’s quite light. Maybe overleafing this would make it more interesting. I made my resteep in a much smaller mug, and that actually tasted better than the first steep – like a dark chocolate hot chocolate. Yeah, I’ll definitely be overleafing in the future. I wish I tasted some nuttiness!

Mastress Alita’s sipdown challenge – December Theme: Holiday Teason Tea #10

Additional notes:  The tea for B&B today!  I’m glad they brought this back.  Today though, as mine is aging, I’m noticing the stevia more.  I thought it was just sugar gold bars… guess not. Or maybe it’s just an oddly brewed cup and the combination of ingredients seem like stevia?  I wanted to stock up on this one again as I’m almost out, but I doubt it will be available.  It sells out quick.  It’s on the vip page right now though, if anyone wants it!
Also recent:  Davids  – Nutty & Spice (11)

Another tea from VariaTEA – pretty much anything that isn’t 1 of 3 teas is going to be courtesy of her or roswell strange via her haha. I’d forgotten that she gifted me with a larger sample of this one. I pulled it out today largely because the little one was trying to eat the package and shake it at the same time. As it turns out, this reminds me of something i can’t quite place but i am still a fan. If i think about it come the holidays and it’s back, i’ll need to pick some up. Just the right chocolate/tea ratio without being too astringent or that weird chocolate taste i don’t like. thanks lady! for sure making my first week “back” at work better.