Crème au Chocolat

I already have a plain chocolate tea that I loooove (The Tea Spot’s Organic Chocolate “O”), not to mention some others kicking around my cupboard, but still this one called out to me to order it when I was trying to use my groupon. This time the ingredients lists match on the website and on my pouch, but they don’t seem to match what is in the bag… a whiff revealed something nutty, scratch that, coconutty, and little white shreds in the mix seem to confirm. I don’t have any problem with it and think it sound (and smells) like a good addition, but coconut haters might not agree. It does make it smell really similar to the sample of Carribean [sic] Flair from Praise Tea that I have. Enough that I would stick this in the coconut-chocolate, mounds-in-a-cup category instead of the plain chocolate category, at least by the aroma of the dry leaf and the steeped tea.

I am honestly not sure why this company directs it’s customers to steep their black teas at 195°F. I mean, I thought it might be because of a slightly bitter base that doesn’t come through when you steep it at a low temp, but I steeped this one boiling and there’s not a hint of bitterness (and it’s way better of a cup of black tea than the Victorian Earl Grey which I steeped at 195°F). In the end the flavor of this blend is like it’s aroma: very similar to the Praise Tea version, and very coconut-chocolatey. What I wish I had from this is some depth from the black tea base; right now it just kind of sits there and doesn’t contribute much to the overall flavor. I may be kind of ruined on chocolate teas by The Tea Spot’s. Still, I won’t have any problems drinking this, but it may take me a while since I probably won’t be craving it either.

I had the urge to try something gut-bomby without the guilt. Why not a black tea blend with a double-dose of chocolate? This here blend possessed chocolate chips and cocoa nibs to create something that tasted like an unrefined French pastry. With sweetener, it really shined. And I’m sure it could latte well. No subtleties here.

Full Review: http://www.teaviews.com/2011/02/05/review-tiesta-tea-creme-au-chocolat/

My go to morning tea. I’ll do this as a latte or do half Créme au Chocolat and half an english breakfast to tame it down a little bit. Great tea by itself, just more my taste with the english added. Highly recommend.

From my Tiesta Tea order. I had to grab a sample of a blend called a “bold chocolate black tea”. Probably because I miss so many chocolate teas that are no longer sold. But this isn’t really bold… I was really hoping for a DEEP DARK full chocolate tea but this doesn’t quite meet my expectations. I’d love if this was a murky black cup, but the brew is mahogany. The flavor is definitely chocolate, but with a weak black base, I can’t be too thrilled. The ‘creme’ in the name is also misleading… I wish it was a creamy chocolate tea. I wasn’t seeing too much chocolate in the blend: the description says both “cocoa shells and chocolate chunks”. My sample looks like mostly black tea with coriander. The coriander is interesting… I haven’t seen that in too many blends, but I have no idea how coriander should taste anyway. Wiki says “lemony” so I guess I’m glad I wasn’t tasting lemon with the chocolate. I guess the expectation of anyone can’t be matched with this one…
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 minute steep

HGTTB

At first this didn’t smell like much in the bag, but the second the water hit the leaves, a strong aroma of rich chocolate with a bit of coconut wafted up from my cup. I had high hopes for this one from that smell. Unfortunately, the taste doesn’t live up to that scent at all. I taste mostly a kind of weirdly sour black tea. There is a little bit of cream, and I can taste a little bit of chocolate, but its more like the taste you would get from a month old Easter bunny, as opposed to the high quality Swiss chocolate I was hoping for. It also doesn’t seem to be playing well with my stomach. I finished this one off. I`m glad I got to try it, if only to cross it off my list. Maybe I`ll stick to Della Terra for my dessert blends, just so good!

HGTTB Pretty sure that tiesta teas just don’t work for me. If there isn’t coconut in this, then something has gone off like coconut sometimes does. This isn’t very chocolatey to me…it comes across largely as a creamy coconut tea…there’s a hint of chocolate but i’ve had other chocolate teas that i vastly prefer. good to try out though!

I guess tonight I have a sweet tooth; I keep picking desert teas. This one was very strange. The chocolate is incredibly light, and the dark tones of the tea are lightened. I brewed western with a slightly smaller amount. The aroma was enticing. I could hint at coconut and silk chocolate. The flavor is a whole other story. Its not a terrible tea, but its not that great. This brew tastes like a chocolate milkshake with very little chocolate. The milk flavor gave my stomach a bit of a turn. This isnt my cup of tea.

I’m reviewing this with a new set of contacts in and I’m not really convinced that my prescription is right…

Anyway… this tea is good but not great. Slight hints of cream and mellow hints of chocolate. Clear dark amber color. I’m honestly not sure on what the base is. A 3 min steep time seems to do better with the flavoring.

Hidden Gems TTB #5

I think I may need to stop trying chocolate teas. I already have one that I LOVE (David’s Chocolate Rocket…thanks carol who!) and none of the others I’ve tried quite measure up. This one wasn’t terrible, but I found the flavor a bit weak and watery. Maybe it would be better with milk?

This tea was all right. I hate saying that, it’s non committal and boring. However, so was this tea.

It was… sort of chocolatey. I don’t expect it to taste like fine milk chocolate, but it tasted like the dregs of dark chocolate mixed with harsh, black tea. Just brewed, it was bitter, and simply tasted ugly.

Upon the addition of milk, it was all right. With honey, it was drinkable and more pleasant, almost like some of the other chocolate teas I’ve had in the past.

I’m not about to throw out this tea because I hate to waste perfectly good tea when it can be made drinkable, but I really hate that it requires the addition of milk and honey. This is not a tea I would drink on its own or buy again.