328 Tasting Notes
I got on this Chocolate tea kick this week after French Vanilla asked me about Chocolat Au Charlott from D. Freres. Anyway,,,after trying several , this is still one of my favorites. Nice cocoa powder flavor comes thru w/slight , very slight vegetative ooolong in the background. The inside of the tin and the oolong itself is visibly coated w/cocoa powder.
Decided to steep this again. All I can say is this is a delightful chocolate blend. May even say I prefer this one to Florence. As others have said, this is milder than Florence. And I agree. Sort of the typical subtle French tea. But as I am trying to limit sugar…that Florence with it’s bitter notes from the hazelnuts requires soooo much sugar to smooth it out. This chocolate tea only needs 1 tsp per 16 oz. For a delightful sweet tea.
Love this tea. Coconut and vanilla is a perfect combination w the vanilla sweetening the coconut. No need for sugar w this tea. And oddly it can be steeped twice w/full flavor each time.
mmm…this one I’ve gotta try!
How is that odd?
With some flavored teas, the flavoring is much weaker on a second steep; artificial flavors often wash off on the first steep. I’ve found Adagio particularly bad on this score, and TeaFrog unusually good.
I haven’t had many flavored teas that I’ve bothered to try re-steeping, but that’s interesting. And definitely makes sense.
Teabird- I haven’t found that… and until recently my white tea experience was limited to Adagio. Could steeping parameters affect that? I use a shorter steep w/ lower temp and a lot of leaf.
I was thinking more of Adagio’s flavored black teas, which I’ve found no good for a second steep. The flavoring did seem to last better on the whites, and yes, steeping parameters probably have something to do with that.
Thanks to Ashmanra for this sample!
I sampled this w/o knowing the contents in the blend. So my first impressions were: mild breakfast tea, smooth, not astringent, no need to add sugar, no bitterness. After checking out this site, I learned the secret: the oolong must be masking the bite of any assams. Really, I did not detect any chocolate notes present in the keenum.
Also, really not very smoky either.
As I have been on a sugar avoidance kick and am looking for morning alternatives to assams (which in my opinion just need sugar and milk), this is a pleasant alternative. But I still miss my sugary, milky assams…..
Lori, my favorite teas for no sugar are Golden Monkey, Tower of London, Cranberry Autumn, and Golden Mudan. Have you tried those? Also, I sometimes drink Queen Catherine without sugar. For breakfast, though, I haven’t really tried giving up the sugar! I usually just go sugarless in the afternoon! Oh, and don’t forget Eight at the Fort!
Agreed that Golden Monkey is great w/no sugar. And, I am sooo tempted to bring back my sugar in the morning. I really miss my milky, sugary AM tea…
This has been my go-to tea of late. I like the roasty ness in the foreground and the whisper of vegetal green in the background. And this tastes like coffee w/o the jittery effects.
This sounds so good.
All their coffee blends are amazing. I wanna compare this to their espresso oolong.
I need to buy some of their tea sometime.
Still need to try the espresso! These have really been my favorites…
I agree a lot of their teas are amazing and I also like the positive vibe that Dr. Tea exudes….I check the website weekly because you can get some amazing deals on their top notch teas
Yep- I get the newsletters. :) Wondering if the espresso is really that different from the coffee.
I thought the same thing about the esspresso but it sold out quick….I wonder if they would ever consider a coffee tea sampler that would be awesome!
Thanks to Ashmanra for this sample. This is a delightful tea- malty and not astringent. And of course, no milk and sugar needed. This almost seems like a high quality yunnan….
Lori, When I go back to Southern Season I will ask them the origin of this tea. I don’t know where it comes from, but it is without a doubt the fuzziest, softest, fluffiest golden tip tea I have ever seen. It reminds me a little bit of Golden Monkey in that aspect…
