Country of Origin: not given
Leaf Appearance: small, very dark
Ingredients: black tea, chocolate chips, cocoa kernels
Steep time: 5 minutes
Water Temperature: 195 degrees
Preparation Method: Breville One-Touch Tea Maker
Liquor: reddish brown
This tea wasn’t exactly what I was expecting but in a good way. It was subtly bitter sweet and reminded me of a very dark chocolate. I abhor chemically and artificially flavored tea so I was pleased to see that this tea didn’t have anything extra added in that department. The base tea was brisk and somewhat malty so my guess is that it was an Assam. I’m not one to sweeten my tea (gasp!) but I think that adding a little sugar would round out the flavor profile nicely. It tasted better as it cooled so it would probably make a very nice iced tea. Whether or not someone would enjoy this tea would depend on how they like their chocolate.
I like to brew hot chocolate using unsweetened cocoa powder…so by contrast, this blend tasted far too sweet to me…mellow, mild…weak. It didn't do it for me. It reminded me not of a very dark chocolate, but rather, of an overly sweet, very low cocoa-content chocolate bar that I might pick up at the checkout line in a supermarket.
It's interesting to me, I usually seem to perceive teas somewhat similarly to you, based on your reviews, but this one I seem to have perceived at the complete opposite end of the spectrum!
Perhaps I've just grown to love very bitter chocolate…I can eat baking chocolate without cringing, and 70% cocoa content stuff tastes plenty sweet to me.