I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again I love chocolate; it’s the main reason that I wanted to try out DT’s chocolate tea gift pack but there were a few teas in the pack that I just wasn’t sure about for one reason or another and this one was one of them. Black tea, excellent! Chocolate, oh yeah! Strawberry, even better! Red rose petals, gre… wait what?? Now don’t get me wrong I love the flower and it can have a great smell but I’ve always struggled with rose petals (even more so than rose hips) the, sometimes overwhelmingly, powerful aroma and scent typically doesn’t work for me in teas. But I thought I’d give it a try anyways… and was I surprised.
The scent of the dry tea was my first shock; the chocolate and the strawberry really shone through with just hints of the black tea peeking out. But the rose petals… now those really threw me for a loop, they added a whole other level to the scent profile that I had to take a step back and give my head a shake to get rid of some of my preconceived notions. Not too flowery but just enough to compliment the strawberry, they just changed the whole tea to something completely different.
Brewed the liquid comes out a deep yet clear red-brown. The fruity/flowery aroma is toned down some, but deeper and richer at the same time. I get more notes from the tea at this point and they combine nicely with the chocolate scent to field some nice dark notes. Just make sure you leave it lots of room to expand :)
Flavor wise this tea hits all the right spots… chocolate dipped strawberries are elevated by the earthy notes from the black tea. The rose petals come in at the end, bringing in some highlights to what is overall a moderately dark mouthful. And though the scent does have quite a bit of sweet to it there isn’t much sweetness in the flavor profile, just enough to complement the overall flavor of the tea. The only downside is that it can leave a bit of a funny aftertaste. Oh and careful, when over steeped it also can be quite bitter.
