Michelle Butler Hallett Send Message

Sweet, almost too heavy on the papaya, and grassy. Potent kick through the bombilla. Gives at least four good infusions. For all the sweetness, I find I still need to add stevia to it or the blend upsets my stomach. Not an everyday cup for me, but it certainly delivers what it promises.

Trying the ‘Improved’ version of this today, ‘improved’ apparently meaning new, mostly white box and individually wrapped bags.

I don’t smell anything cuminy, thank GAWD. Eugh. I do get minor spiciness, some decent carob with a distant whisper of cocoa. They show ginger and clove on the box, and list ginger in the ingredients, but I’ll be steeped if I can taste any.

Lessee … roasted chicory root (ah, bitterness and barkiness), carob pods, spices (how mysterious), natural flavour (of what, I should like to know), cocoa shells, ginger, licorice root (gag — except I can’t taste it, either), stevia leaves, cocoa.

Usually I run away from anything ‘Chocolatey,’ as it tastes fake.

This is not a disaster. It’s not brilliant, either. A bit like spicy cardboard with carob rubbed into it. My teabag’s been in the cup now 8 minutes and cooling off. It might be better brewed in a pot and kept hot. It gets sweeter and deeper the longer it’s steeped. The carob smells medicinal to me, but then I’ve also encountered it in various health tisanes, like Traditional Medicinals’ PMS Tea. The Chocolatey Chai tastes better than PMS Tea, but then one expects mediciinal teas to be a little harsh. Yeah, cardboard. I go back to cardboard from the back of the spice rack with some carob and cocoa on it.

Okay, at the 9-minute mark it gets bitter and barky, probably from the cocoa shells and carob. I know, 9 minutes is a bit extreme …

I expect I’ll finish the box, if only out of a sense of duty and to ration out my dwindling stash of Super Chocolate from David’s Tea, but I wouldn’t recommend any of my buddies waste their time on this one, ‘improved’ or not.

Maybe if I steeped the box instead …

I think this stuff is helping me beat back a cold. And it gets better every time. Try being generous with the amount of tea; I use 1 TB for 450mL. Tastes of cocoa, apples and cinnamon, yet it doesn’t. Like no other tisane I’ve tried. I steep this one a long a time, keeping the leaves in the infuster basket of my travel mug as I sip it. Not candy-bar chocolate.

Tastes mostly like real bananas and nuts, though there can be a strong sweet-banana aftertaste from the banana chips if you steep is too long. (I’ve left mine in the travel-mug infuser 15 minutes now.) I like the balanace of the nuts and currants, too.

A really good bagged black tea, probably the best of the supermarket teas. Doesn’t get bitter. I know women who make a pot of this, drink some while it’s hot, leave the bags in and then microwave subsequent servings — and it’s still decent. Not too much Assam, so other flavours play out. Not fancy, but not to be despised, either.

My first-ever tea, steeped strong, with evaporated milk added. My parents still keep King Cole in their kitchen. Malty. Hoo boy, is it ever malty. Sta-RONG. Can get bitter, but forgives a longish steep. I drink it plain these days, when I have it, which is not often. Sentimental favourite, though. Not fancy but certainly dependable. More robust than Red Rose, and miles better than Tetley.

Sweet, a bit chocolate-y, a bit marzipan-ish. Tastes a bit like flavoured coffee smells. I don’t taste either coffee or tea, but something delicious. It gets better with each sip.

Gets bitter fast, probably because the green tea base is not the best. But I want that jasmine hit, ooh baby, want it baaaaddd … can’t find a happy medium for steeping this one.

Sharp, minty and a bit fruity. Quite a different fusion. I feel creative after drinking it just because of the creativity that went into it. Needs a really long steep to get all the flavour.

An excellent and truly different mint tea. I love the wintergreen and orange.