Chocolate Boozer

On to the Luhse flavoured blends. I only picked up two full bags with my first order – this and Dorian Grey. I’m a fan of flavoured black tea in general, and I was pretty sure these two would suit my tastes. Thankfully, I was right. The first thing I noticed about the full bags is how unique and well thought out the branding is. Everything from the colouring (midnight blue), to the white, searchlight-like logo, through to little things like the font and bigger things like the slogans is spot-on for the 20s, prohibition-era theme. Luhse are really sorted from a brand perspective, and that’s a nice thing to see. The “story” somehow makes their blends more than just tea, and it adds a lot to the appeal, that’s for sure.

Chocolate Boozer is a chocolate and rum flavoured black blend, with absolutely huge chocolate chips scattered throughout. The black base is a mixture of CTC pellets and quite small leaves – possibly Ceylon or Assam. I was a little surprised to see the CTC, but it definitely adds body and strength to the cup without imparting a lot of overpowering flavour, so I’m not against it. Chocolate teas can sometimes seem quite thin and watery, so a stronger base perhaps isn’t a bad idea. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3 minutes in boiling water. It brewed up quite dark (no doubt thanks to the CTC), so I added a splash of milk.

To taste, this is almost how I imagined it would be. I’ve learned to be cautious in my expectations where chocolate tea is concerned, so perhaps that helped a little. The chocolate is rich and sweet, with a hint of bittersweet dustiness in the background – a taste I associate with cocoa. The stronger flavour by far is the rum, which adds a heady tang that works really well with the chocolate – almost like an expensive truffle. It’s hard to describe rum as anything other than rum, but it’s pretty flavour accurate and adds a pleasantly boozy edge. The black base is smooth with no astringency, and carries the flavours well. It’s fairly strong and substantial so the cup isn’t at all weak, thin or watery. At the same time, it manages not to overpower what could be fairly delicate flavours. It’s a good balance.

I’m impressed with this one. It’s one of the few chocolate teas I actively like, and I would definitely consider repurchasing if I were to order again from Luhse in the future. I haven’t been particularly struck by their rooibos blends or their plain black teas, but perhaps I’ve found my nadir with their flavoured range. A wonderfully decadent cup.

Sipdown (131)!

From a few nights ago; finished this off in my timolino with a little bit of milk added into it last minute. I also increased the steep time by a little over a minute in the hope that it’d possibly draw out the flavour a little more. Normally I’d just increase the amount of leaf but given that this is a sample and my last cup of it I only had about a cup’s worth of leaf to work with in the first place. The extra milk was also an ‘insurance policy’ of sorts to level out any roughness/bitterness from a longer steeping time. The result of all of this? Slightly richer and creamier chocolate notes but otherwise the exact same flavour.

Still tasty. Still not quite what I want.