Three Friends (Orange, Marshmallow, Chocolate)

1100 tasting notes down. An infinite number to go!

I’m logging this one under this tea since it’s essentially “my” version of 3 friends. By that I mean that one of the other wonderful surprises Stacy sent along to me in my last order was a small sample of 3 friends tea, sans marshmallow. Yes people…she’s paying attention and being awesome!

I’d remarked in one of my notes that perhaps it was the marshmallow flavour that was giving this a bitterness that i just can’t get behind no matter how much i want to love this tea.

So the verdict? I DO much prefer this without the marshmallow flavour. One of the other samples that stacy sent me had marshmallow flavouring in it, and though it balanced quite nicely with that tea, i could taste the same taste as what makes me frown with 3 friends. Soooo note to self, I have a hard time with Stacy’s Marshmallow flavouring. That being said, it’s not really a “flavour” that i’m in love with anyway. I want the whole package…the texture, the way is poofs in your mouth, that artificial gooeyness… not just the taste :)

Thank you so much for this stacy! I really do like this version a great deal! (not changing the rating though since 3 friends original is what i rated here)

this seems like a good tea to drink on the day after Halloween! I’ve been trying to curb my cravings for chocolate but a dessert tea is healthier and pretty tasty too!

So, pretty much Sil (and Stacy!) are awesome, because I get to try “Sil’s version” of this tea, which is just chocolate orange assam.

This tea pretty much smells like a dark chocolate Terry’s Chocolate Orange. Absolutely perfect. However, teas don’t always taste as they smell, and chocolate orange seems to be a particularly difficult flavour. This one though?? OMG OMG OMG!!! This is by FAR the best chocolate orange tea I’ve had. It tastes like a liquid chocolate orange. There is even sweetness in this… not that it’s a sweet tea, but there is a sweetness to it. Ahh. It’s like orange hot chocolate minus the calories.

I kind of regret drinking this without my boyfriend around – maybe this tea he would have liked?

Anyways… I really think that this should become a new tea on the website… this is amazing. It would be getting a rating of 95+ from me, but I can’t do that here because my rating here is for the real version of this tea, which has a different base, and marshmallow. This is my perfect Orange Chocolate tea, no question. Thanks so much for sharing, Sil!

ETA: Second infusion is less chocolatey, but still has delicious orange flavour. I’m getting serious raisin notes in the aftertaste though, which kind of doesn’t go with the whole chocolate orange theme (but I love the flavour, so don’t care!) I didn’t get them in the first infusion, so they were likely masked by the flavouring then (and it’s only in the aftertaste that they are appearing now).

It’s been quite a while since I had this – and it’s a backlog from at least a few days ago.

Followed the recommended parameters on this and added some milk and sugar. The orange has faded from this but the chocolate is still there. It tasted a bit thin even with the milk and I didn’t get much marshmallow in anything but texture.

Wasn’t a terrible cup, but I do think its lost something to age. I really need to drink my stash faster…

I have so many notices in my Dashboard, I can’t access them (over 1400!) This is why I’m struggling to keep up and reply to folks on here. Bleh. I apologize to any and all that I’m seemingly avoiding. Really, it’s just my feed! :$

Marshmallow hits me first, then orange, then only a touch of chocolate. Subtle and lovely. I love the marshmallow in here!

OMGsrsly and I met up today so I could grab my part from the massive Butiki group order we did. Wow, that was a lot of tea (back up to 113 from 86)! Thank you, Stacy and OMGsrsly, for the lovely packaging (and repackaging) of that crazy amount of tea.

The loose leaf smells exactly like chocolate oranges, a seasonal favourite of mine. I’d forgotten that Zhen Qu is the base for this; it’s a neat tea to see and deliciously chocolaty.

Steeped, the chocolate orange aroma becomes a little more subdued and the marshmallow comes out. The orange, chocolate, and marshmallow flavours are all easily distinguishable. The chocolate in particular is dynamic. Through the course of the mug it went from being as strong as cocoa nibs to being as creamy as milk chocolate, with the wax and wane of the prevalence of the marshmallow and tea base. There’s a subtle hint of nuttiness, that when coupled with the citrus, suggests a bitter intonation.

Not that this tea even needs it, but I gave the last of the sample the soy milk treatment. I think it may have multiplied the marshmallow flavour by a hundred. The orange is toned down too, and the chocolate is now strictly milk chocolate. This cup is insanely rich and indulgent.

Mmm, I see myself picking up more of this near the fall, as a healthier alternative to marshmallows, chocolate, and chocolate oranges.

This time, I’m getting marshmallow. This was a really nice cup of this tea. Bright orange, rich chocolate, sweet fluffy marshmallow, all on a tasty, interesting base tea. Thanks again to MissB for a sample of this one!

Last night I was torn between drinking this or maple pecan oolong. Maple pecan won so as soon as I opened my eyes this morning I started making this to take to work.

Oh, it comes in the cutest little tin. I’m a sucker for miniature versions of any ol’ thing, really. It’s not like the tin itself is cute, it’s just the size of it that makes it so. I was surprised to find it too, I’m used to the butiki bags. But yay!

The tea leaves are brown and curly with chocolate chips throughout as well as small dried orange rinds. If you touch it, you’ll feel it damp and I realized just now it’s probably from the citrus oils found in the rind. Maybe. It smells exactly like those chocolate oranges from … Who makes those… Terry’s?

Steeped, the flavour matches the aroma, the citrus stronger than the chocolate and yes, the orange rinds lend a slight bitterness. Not unpleasant but if you’re not expecting it you get taken by surprise. So yeah, the flavour is more orange rind than orange juice. Not sure this makes sense but I’m doing my best! If you’ve ever peeled oranges and cooked the rinds for a dessert or whatever, you know the taste I’m taking about.

I sweetened it and it was really good, however the creamer I added was a mistake. Won’t do it again. It was vanilla creamer and it just confused things, maybe even enhanced the citrus which I was not shooting for. I was going for the creamsicle effect but failed on that account. If you’re into adding dairy, don’t add it to your cup, just pour off a bit and try it that way in case you’re not a fan. Especially since it is quite good without milk/cream, it would be a pity to wreck it.

My headache last night turned into a full blown migraine, and by the time I got home I was craving something chocolatey and comforting quite badly. A cup of this hit the spot, along with some of my normal pain killers. I think this is one of those teas that I’m going to notice more about each time I drink it. Unless it was just my imagination, I think the tea base itself has something a little chocolatey about it. I added a splash of milk about half way through the cup, just to compare, and I think that definitely helped the highlight the creaminess of the marshmallow. An intriguing tea, and one I know I’m going to look forward to drinking time and time again!

I was talking to myself recently “Hey self, why don’t you ever drink flavored tea’s anymore? you’re getting to be out of touch and boring!”
(I’d probably be boring anyway, but to the point…)

It was true! I had slipped down the slope of tea mental-pause and was boring even to myself!
I love my Black Tea’s, Oolongs and Pu-er…but now and then I want DESSERT! (No umpteen steeps and no Gaiwan!)

So who do you call when the sweet tooth needs to be satisfied…
STACY at BUTIKI that’s who! (I know there are others you can call but honestly, if I have a choice on interesting (sometimes funny) flavors that are natural and ones I can count on, it’s Stacy!)…besides…she’s a hoot and nice!

If I melted down an Orange Creamsicle, and added a little chocolate it would taste like this. PLAIN AND SIMPLE!
(Hope ya’ll got that!)

I HATE tea that is so artificially flavored that it makes your tongue feel furry and the aftertaste goes sour…yuck! Gives me a migraine! Not Stacy’s tea’s and not this one!

It’s dreamy creamy…(not sour), orangy and fabulously good.
The chocolate is there but not the star. Creamsicle is the star!

Great Dessert Tea