Decaf Chocolate Hazelnut

I like this tea. It does smell a bit fake in bagged form, but I didn’t taste that in the cup. The hazelnut flavor was mellow, and the chocolatey flavor was a bit weak, but a teaspoon of sugar helped this tea immensely. Usually I use honey, but I thought it might be a bit odd in this tea. I can’t drink caffeinated tea in the evening, so this was a nice change from my usual herbal tea routine.

I don’t hate it.

Chocolate Hazelnut… fabulous flavor combination. Who doesn’t love some Nutella? But this isn’t nutella… it’s decaf black tea. Hmmm. A lot of chocolate teas suffer from a weak flavor or an identity crisis.

The good news is that tea does not skimp on the flavor. The sweet hazelnut-vanilla-chocolate flavors impart a surprisingly creamy impression to the underlying black tea all by themselves, but this cup just begs for a splash of some milk or alternative creamer. The initial impression is intriguing, but then the lingering flavor feels more than a little artificial, like I liberally poured some flavored coffee creamer into my cup of black tea. I can imagine people who love flavored coffees lapping this one up with enthusiasm, but to me this just tastes a bit… trashy. Like the tea equivalent of junk food.

I only drink black tea when it’s decaffeinated, and because some decaf teas have funny flavors, I’m often disappointed. This tea did not disappoint me, however! There is a slightly odd artificial scent to the bagged tea, but it tastes fine when you drink it. I drink it with sugar and almond milk for a rich, sweet confection that’s reminiscent in some ways of a hazelnut coffee drink.

Sure Stash teas seem to come out really weak (wouldn’t think it’d be a problem when I’ve got an electric kettle and the water is bubblin’), but even still this one is yum-tacular!
Choco-hazelnut + milk + 1xsugar => nirvana.
If I thought the teabag was capable of it, I’d like to be like Garfield and get into a big warm cup of this :)

It’s not awful, but it’s not the best either. I think it’s difficult to have a good chocolate tea on its own, and this one definitely benefits with milk or cream. Chocolate and hazelnut is a good combination, but I don’t know how well it works with tea.

This black tea is pretty weak and not full of delicious depth like a high quality black tea would be, but I guess that’s not too unexpected from decaf. I don’t taste hazelnut specifically, but I get a mild chocolate. It makes an okay drink sweetened with sugar, but I wouldn’t buy this.

My manager gifted us a Stash sampler last Christmas, so I have one or two bags each of about 25 or 30 different Stash teas. This is one I probably wouldn’t have purchased on my own, simply because I get tired of the hazelnut chocolate combo. Even though I like it, it just seems to be everywhere and has been for the last fifteen years or so. But tonight I did want something chocolaty and since this is decaf it seemed a good pick. I read through some tasting notes to get some ideas and came across Caitlin and her recipe for a chocolate hazelnut latte. I made it just as instructed, except I used six ounces of water instead of Stash’s recommended eight. Steep according to package instructions, add 1/3 cup frothed milk and one tablespoon chocolate syrup.

I’ll admit, my first thought was that it tasted like watered down hot chocolate. My husband tried it and remarked that at least it was better than what you get at hotels, the stuff from the hot chocolate dispensers. That’s not saying much. It does taste like chocolate at least, but I don’t taste any hazelnut. Or anything nutty for that matter. The milk makes it creamy, which I enjoy, and the chocolate syrup adds some sweetness. I wonder how much chocolate I would taste without it. It did have a strong chocolate scent before steeping, so that’s something. I guess.

Also, I just remembered that this is supposed to be a decaf black tea (or it is a decaf black tea rather). I’m not tasting any tea at all! Such a disappointment now that I think about it, because it really does just taste like a watered down chocolate herbal. I know it’s just a Stash tea bag, so maybe I shouldn’t have high expectations, but I was hoping this would be a good one. Surely there are some Stash blends that are decent or even excellent. Maybe I’ve tried one, I’ll have to go back and look at my notes. I have several more Stash teas to go through though, so I hope some of them are good at least.

This is tea 7/50 I bought in a Stash Assortment. It smells amazing nutty and sweet. The taste falls short of that with a hint of hazelnut and very little chocolate. My search for a chocolate tea continues.

I have diabetes, so tea is my secret vice now. When I heard of a chocolate hazelnut tea with no sugar, I jumped at the chance. Decaf just means I can drink it any time of the day.
Long story short, when taken hot and freshly brewed, the chocolate taste is more of a smell than a punch. Don’t expect the taste to be anything like a choco hazelnut spread or something similar.
If you have had cocao nib tea before, you would find this very familiar. The taste is rich on the back of the tongue when hot or warm, but if left to cool, tends to taste a little oily, which borders on unpleasant if taken cold without sugar.