Another one from Wombatgirl and one I’ve been curious about since first I took it out of the box. Wombatgirl sent me a nice little tin with the sample in it, which is definitely air-tight. And child-proof. And very nearly Ang-proof as well, so prying it open resulted in a little spillage (and some air turning blue).
What we’ve got here are some flakes of something that I’m guessing are cacao bean shells or husks or something. I feel we’re kind of stretching the term ‘herbal tea’ with this one. I mean I know that the definition of a herbal herbs and plants steeped and prepared as a tea, without it actually being tea. And I know that cacao beans are also plant parts so it’s still covered by that definition.
But at the same time, aren’t we really more like moving into hot chocolate territory with this one? I’m posting about it because it’s already on the site. If it hadn’t been, I don’t think I would have added it and just sent Wombatgirl a pm about what I thought of it instead.
It tastes like a cup of cocoa too. Slightly bitter though for the absence of sugar. I’m reminded of that sort of hot cocoa where you’ve got a powdered mix and put hot water on it. This tastes a bit like that made with only about 20% of the proper amount of powder. If I were to add a little sugar (and I shall try this once there’s better room in the cup for stirring) it would come really close to a cup of thin, watery hot cocoa. If you make this really really strong and add sugar and milk, I’d wager you were nearly there.
If what you’re looking for is an actual herbal tea that tastes like cocoa, then this is a very good bet for it. I bet it’s also really great for mixing in with other things, adding a little flavour to an otherwise slightly dull tea.
This is pretty good for what it is. But I’d really rather have some real hot cocoa.
What I like to do with it – take this and then regular black tea to get my own chocolate black blend.