Decaf Chocolate Hazelnut

Finished a writing assignment today—the last hitch was like Sisyphus (a middle-aged, slightly out of shape one) pushing the boulder uphill, but we pushed it over the peak. I was too tired to invest much labor in a fancy cuppa, but this looked a little treat-worthy.
Not much chocolate flavor, but it’s reasonably smooth with milk. I see that other reviewers spoke of it more favorably when they doubled up on the bags. Will give that a go when I’m not too tired to lift my arms.

One of my guilty pleasures is a cup of Stash’s decaf vanilla nut, so I saw this flavor on sale (never have I seen it before) and I had to buy it.

I’m four cups in and can say it makes a good latte. I haven’t tried it cold or plain yet, but it really works with a splash of vanilla silk and a long steep. I find the flavor a bit weak, but the hazelnut and vanilla are tasty (but subtle) and the black tea isn’t as strong and malty as it could be. There isn’t anything stand-out about t, but I like desserty teas and it is so difficult to find decaf flavoured teas that aren’t EG or chai.

This one sounds so good, but now that I’ve tasted it, I kind of wish it wasn’t decaf. I don’t know if it actually makes a difference in taste, but I think it does. I do taste the chocolate and hazelnut, but there’s also a fake element to it… Not sure what that is. Not a bad tea, but it kinda tastes washed out.

I love this tea while reading and listening to music at night. It just may be my favorite.

Here’s Hoping TTB

I don’t think I’ll be trying any more of Stash’s decaf teas, as both of the ones I sampled from this box were a huge disappointment. This one had the same unpleasantly sour aftertaste as the vanilla one I tried. The hazelnut flavor was weak and the chocolate really didn’t come through at all. Not a fan!

I know all tea technically tastes like damp leaves but this one especially does. It’s a chore to finish the box.

I was so excited to try this! I bought it on my break and had it ready in the next five minutes. It smelled very nice, a little like chocolate with a slight nutty scent. It’s flavour though was completely lacking. It had a bit of a strange paper-y taste, not terrible to drink, just to have a cup of tea. But completely missed the mark for chocolate and hazelnut. Probably not going to repurchase.

Eh, this one not so much. If decaf tea just tasted like weaker tea, I could live with that, but somehow it always comes with this weird mulchy flavor — a by-product of the de-caffeination process, I assume — along with a hint of acid. Anyway, this one is no exception; while I do taste the chocolate and hazelnut, the mulch flavor is stronger.

I tried the bagged version of this. It’s a pleasant chocolate tea, but I couldn’t taste the hazelnut at all, which disappointed me. It is decaf, which is a big plus for me, since I’m extremely sensitive to caffeine, but it didn’t taste as good as Stash’s Black Forest Cake – it was a bit bitter, and didn’t have as complex a flavor. I’ll probably buy this again though, unless I find a decaf chocolate tea I like better.

So the office water comes out to about 165. Not great for black teas, but I think I’ll bring in cheaper teas, and flavored black teas. And of course, there are teas that like that temperature.

I tried steeping this one a little longer to make up for the water temperature. I’m not sure if it was that which caused this tea to not go so well, or this just isn’t a great tea. It left a bitter, tart, almost metallic taste in my mouth. I won’t rate this, or any tea I try at the office, bad just in case its the waters fault and not the tea.