Cinnamon Chocolate Brownie Organic Black Tea

Tea of the afternoon….. (SRP #3……..Sample Reduction Plan)

This one was included in my foodzie box from LiberTEAS. This sample box that she sells on teatra.de.com was a great way to try several kinds of tea from a multitude of vendors for one low price (yes, I am sounding like a commercial, but actually, I am just very happy with the contents!) I have been contemplating an order at Simpson & Vail for some time, but it is always nice to try a few things just to have an idea of the quality offered by a new-to-you vendor.

This is a good one. Light cinnamon, then the notes of chocolate hint, and then a cakey note. I do think the chocolate and cakey notes are somewhat from the flavorings as well as the tea base. The cinnamon still seems very much a part of the tea. It is strong and thick enough that it kind of reminds me of coffee. I do know that if I am ever in the market for flavored tea, I will place an order at Simpson & Vail. Right now, I think I am maxed out for cupboard space until I finish a few things, or several ;).

Usual mug method.

Not tasting the flavours as much in this tonight, for whatever reason, but I’m digging the base. It’s just… malty and complex and just barely astringent, which is really working for me right now.

Although on that note… I really should stop drinking caffeinated teas so late at night, or at least, in the quantities I’ve been having. I’ve generally been a pretty good sleeper in recent years, with only a few nights of insomnia, but last night was kind of rough – I just couldn’t fall asleep, despite definitely being tired. I blame having a matcha latte and loads of other caffeinated teas right before bed, which I thought didn’t affect me, but perhaps I overdid it…

I used more leaf than I normal would (2 tsp for 8 oz), as S&V teas sometimes seem to come out watery to me. And then I got worried, because the liquor seemed to go auburn almost immediately and only get darker from there. I still stuck it out for three minutes, though.

What I got came out smelling cinnamony with hints of cocoa and bread (and definitely tea).

Flavor wise it tastes like a cinnamon black with hints of unsweetened cocoa in the back. The extra leaf definitely gave it a stronger flavor with a kind of thick mouthfeel, it, however, also made a really astringent cup. I feel like I need a glass of milk to add moisture back to my tongue. The flavors here are also kind of muddled and I don’t get any sort of baked goods taste or anything that even makes me think brownies.

I won’t review until I try a couple different brewing parameters, but this one didn’t do much for me.

I was hoping for something tasty but all I could really taste was cinnamon. I am also really tired of writing after writing two made up informal reports (my trucking company had an unfortunate tire blowout where $200 in Cabbage Patch dolls were lost) so I have nothing else to say, other than needs more chocolate.

Tea #13 from the Here’s Hoping TTB

This is my first tea from Simpson & Vail, so I was really excited to try it, even though it was a chocolate tea. I’ve pretty well given up looking for a tea with chocolate in it that I like. While steeping, this smells very heavily of cocoa, which gave me hope. My #1 dislike when it comes to chocolate teas are unnatural smelling and tasting chocolate. This ended up tasting a lot like it smells, which isn’t a bad thing actually. I don’t mind the unsweetened cocoa powder flavor, it just leaves me wishing for something a little sweeter. I think this has potential as a tea latte, so if I have time to go buy milk I’ll try that later.

Another tasty sample from Kittenna! Thanks!

I definitely oversteeped this one so I will try it at work tomorrow before judging it. I wanted to do 3 min but got distracted and it was definitely more than 5 minutes…. It was a cinnamon tea with a hint of chocolate. And it was not very full bodied at all, pretty weak aside from the cinnamon.

I am reserving my rating until after my second try, but so far I’m disappointed because it doesn’t taste nearly as delicious as it smells.

Stay tuned!

I came home to Hubby sitting on the couch with a tea he selected from the generous box from MissB. I asked him what he was drinking… he’s like, “Why?” Um… I’m curious. I smell his cup… Chocolate?!?.. I say in disbelief because he always asks where the fruit teas are when he’s looking for tea. He says, “no”. I ask again what he is drinking… I don’t think he wanted to tell me. Finally he says that the package is on the counter… Cinnamon Chocolate Brownie… ? You picked chocolate over fruit? “Um.. well, it just sounded good.”

I managed to get a sip from his cup and I think he was afraid I would steal it from him. I was nice and didn’t, but could have! Yum!

Dry leaf smells sweet and mostly black to me, but steeped.. it transforms to rich chocolaty goodness. I didn’t find the cinnamon in this cup, but that is fine with me as I’m not often fond of the mix of the two. Probably because I’ve had too many chocolate sheet cakes thinking they were like my mom’s recipe only to find them with excess cinnamon.

I told Hubby it’s like dessert in a cup… without all the extra fat and calories.

Hubby and I will have to share the amount that’s left…I’m certainly not letting him finish it all himself. I will likely give some of mine to our son who I’m afraid will steal it away, but I think he would like this one… Now, if I can just get him to try it.

This was such a good smelling tea. I used a lot of leaf but it still came out a bit watery to me. I could taste the cinnamon and chocolate though. I like it but wished it were thicker/malty and stronger tasting to enjoy it more. Thanks to moraiwe for the swap.

Sipdown

This is one of the many teas given to me in December by my daughter in my advents. I am surprised to see that I haven’t reviewed it yet and here we are at the Sipdown.

This is exactly as advertised. Cinnamon first, chocolate second. The black tea base and the color of the steeped tea and medium light and let the flavors show off. Since brownies and chocolate are hard for me to separate, I will say that I don’t know if I taste brownie or if I am tasting chocolate that clearly isn’t intended to imitate a bar of chocolate, so either way I would have to say it is spot on to its name.

Sipdown! (20 | 236)

This is the last of my old Simpson & Vail teas, yay! Now I can break into the new ones next month without feeling guilty he he. :)

I agree with Courtney, this does taste a bit like an oatmeal cookie. I’m not sure if it’s because this tea is a couple of years old (not really old enough for flavor degradation in my experience) but I’m not really tasting any chocolate or brownie… It’s actually reminding me a little bit of Lupicia’s Cinnamon Cookie Puer, because the black base has a rich earthy flavor and the cinnamon tastes like a baked good. So definitely not a brownie for me, but still tastes like dessert.

Anyway, was pleasant enough to try, but not one I would reorder. But these days, I mostly avoid chocolate teas anyway.