Steeped a few cups of this today. It’s such an interesting blend… I love the idea of an orange-chocolate tea, but I haven’t tried many yet. The orange in Three Friends is delicious, very sweet—but with just enough sharpness to make it stand out among the other flavors. I can smell orange and chocolate very clearly here, both in the dry leaf and once it’s steeped. They smell “real,” if that makes sense—no artificial sweetness, which makes them feel richer and more present.
The taste has a lot of orange flavor, with chocolate notes beneath it, and a sugary creaminess from the marshmallow. For me, the black tea base has strong honey notes, with a touch of malt. It seems to be on the lighter side, for a black. (I was a little surprised I didn’t get any cocoa notes from the tea itself, for whatever reason… Might explain why I found the orange flavor to be stronger than the chocolate.) This is a really sweet tea, even without anything added. For my second cup, I let it steep for four minutes. The honey notes became even more prominent, giving it a kind of orange/honey/cream flavor. Delicious, even though it’s not quite the balance of orange and chocolate that I expected!
Surprisingly, I think I prefer this tea with honey or sugar—even though it’s already so sweet. A little extra sweetness seems to help all the different flavors blend together. This is a fun tea, really unique and delicious. I’m sure I’ll enjoy the rest of my tin.
