Mint Chip Cookie

So if you get Deb’s newsletter then you probably saw that her upcoming Winter/Holiday collection is cookie themed and while I was initially really excited when I looked at the list of blend names I wasn’t super enthused about most of them – though a couple piqued my curiosity, so we shall see…

It did prompt me to go and dig out this untried blend from my group order with VariaTea and Sil earlier this year, though!

I know VariaTea liked this one as an iced latte because it reminds her of mint chip ice cream, so I will definitely have to keep that in mind for the rest of the sample. This time around I just tried it hot and plain, and I wasn’t feeling it. It’s not particularly cookie like, but that wasn’t what lost me. I just really didn’t love the combination of a a more refreshing and menthol spearmint with the chocolate. Plus, it was a lot of spearmint. I enjoy spearmint teas, but when I think “mint chip” my mind definitely goes more towards creamy peppermint with chocolate than crisp spearmint.

It was just a bit of a disconnect for me.

Hmm, I’m a bit underwhelmed by this one. I felt the urge to try it after I saw it on Deb’s Instagram earlier today.

But mostly I’m just getting mint with a little bit of creaminess that could possibly be vanilla? Or white chocolate? Although I am known to have trouble with chocolate in tea. Don’t ask me why I continue to buy chocolate teas… :P

Anyway, this is an enjoyable sweet and creamy mint tea, mostly peppermint. Maybe I’ll try a bit more leaf next time to see if that changes the flavors!

I tried this hot. I enjoyed this blend! I love refreshing flavours, so peppermint and spearmint are definitely some of my favourite herbal tea blends. This smells very minty, with the slightest hint of chocolate.

I would say this tea tastes expensive and fresh. Obviously, I think that is because Deb does not use any artificial flavourings in her tea. I even took a bite of the chocolate pieces and the cacao nibs, and they tasted like organic, antioxidant-rich chocolates I would eat when I was on my health kick!

The mint is very strong in this one, which I love. I would say the chocolate is more so in the background as opposed to being a prominent note.

I also liked that the rooibos in this blend was in the background. In fact, it does not taste like rooibos at all! I would have never guessed it was in here (which I like, since I am not a huge fan of rooibos teas).

Although I enjoyed this tea, my one piece of constructive criticism would be that it needs more chocolate. Mint is a strong flavour, so I think adding additional chocolate would have amplified this tea so much more!

But overall, I liked it. It was simple and refreshing.

Having this hot tonight or at least it was hot before I lost an hour online looking at bird and bunny videos. Sometimes you need something fluffy to soothe the soul! I’m liking this hot. It has that cooling mint flavor with darker chocolate like notes behind it. It’s slightly sweet. The rooibos isn’t too prominent, which I like. This would be a nice one to have around for an evening cup.

I’ve been off of mint for a while now, but can honestly say I was ok with it in this cup. I love a good mint chip ice cream, so I can get behind this tea. Accurate, nice balance of both mint and chocolate. Maybe it’s the vanilla rounding things out that pulled it all together?

I don’t generally like rooibos, cocao or chocolate in teas, except when they are all together and paired with mint and vanilla, apparently. This is not the first chocolate mint rooibos I’ve enjoyed and it won’t be the last. I may like Silk Road’s more herbal Chocolate Panda slightly more because of the chamomile and anise; the maple syrup here makes this a real dessert and I don’t always have that much of a sweet tooth!

As always, this rooibos tastes best when it cools a bit (or completely).

I’ve been going nuts checking my tracking for this package from a new-to-me company, Dessert by Deb, for over a week now. It’s a Canadian company out of Toronto that specializes in dessert blends. For anyone that knows me, you know that’s my jam so I’ve been excited and it was supposed to arrive Wednesday last week so my family and Roswell Strange and Sil have all gotten basically daily updates about why hasn’t the package arrived yet! Well, it’s here and I’m excited. Also, surprised. Surprised because RS and I talked about how this company seems to be blowing up on Instagram but then I come to Steepster and it’s not even in the database yet. So, Steepster meet Dessert by Deb. Dessert by Deb, meet Steepster.

I made this as an iced latte (I asked RS which tea to start with as an iced latte and she suggested this) and while this doesn’t scream “cookie” to me, as the latte with a slight chocolate drizzle and whipped cream, this screams mint chip ice cream. At times I get a dark cocoa that reminds me of the cookie part of an Oreo so maybe that’s what they were going for. If that’s the case, then it’s some Oreo cookie crumble over mint chip ice cream. It’s just so smooth, creamy and decadently mint chip. Great introduction to a new company. Hopefully it’s not just excitement making things seem better though.