Chai Chocolate

Received as part of a swap on Ravelry. Not sure what went wrong, maybe I steeped too long or it expired, but it’s bitter and watery.

So for this tasting note I am doing a 1 to 5 scale. 1 being horrible and 5 being amazing! I will analyze before and after cupping.

Before Cupping:
Appearance: No comment – 0
Aroma: Dark Chocolate, Black Teas, Black Pepper, Cardamom, Cinnamon – 5
Body: No comment – 0
Taste: No comment – 0
Finish: No comment – 0

Overall, before cupping, the tea smells amazing and makes my mouth water. Wonderful aroma of dark chocolate and chi tea.

After Cupping:
Appearance: Define line, not mixing or blending properly with Belgian Rock Sugar, cloudy, caramel brown in color (expected for chi tea) – 4
Aroma: PERFECT! Smells just like before cupping! Yummy! – 5
Body: Smooth, silky, not a good balance though! Really only activated my sweet taste buds. Not really spicy or smokey, like many chi teas are. – 3
Taste: It’s alright. Chi is over powered by the chocolate. Sweet. Yummy dark chocolate after taste. Can’t taste the pepper, cinnamon, or cardamom unfortunately. – 4
Finish: TASTE LINGERS! THANK YOU JESUS! Nice and smooth and leaves me wanting to drink more! – 5

Overall score: 21/25 84% B

This tea can be delicious. It leaves the chocolate flavor as an aftertaste on the back of your throat. I have to be in the mood for it, however.

I’m not going to try steeping this bag again, as there wasn’t enough flavor to hold my interest on the first pass. The chocolate is there, but without the other notes that most chocolate blended teas encourage, it reminds me of making hot cocoa as a kid when I first learned that you can’t add just one packet to an oversized mug.

If you are looking for a spiced hot chocolate flavor, look elsewhere. If you were hoping to find a black tea with some complimentary chocolate notes, move along. Whatever you are seeking, what you’ll find is a rather watery chocolate dissapointment.

Another one to be donated to the staff break room stash. As others have said, there is almost nothing reminiscent of Chai in this tea – it tastes like hot chocolate mixed with a lot of water and a tiny, tiny bit of bagged tea.
I vow to always check steepster before impulse buying tea at my local grocery store in the future.

Chai tea-where’s the spice?
Sickly sweet licorice sits
In my down-turned mouth.

At the beginning of the sip, I mostly taste the cocoa. So thumbs up for the chocolate coming through! At the end though, the licorice takes over. Were they trying to sweeten it with gross?I don’t pick up most of the other spices, so this just tastes like a weird chocolate tea to me. Interesting, but as I don’t like licorice, I think I’ll pass up a second cup.