Chocolate Orange Rooibos

Another non caffeinated 52Teas favourite: chocolate, orange, and a hint of cream. The rooibos nicely underscores the flavours.

Yesterday, I had one of my very favourite ice creams in the city—roasted marshmallow— and as I was making my way through my two scoops, I made a note of mentioning it to Anne because boy oh boy would it make a fab tea. I don’t know how one would get that slippery sticky marshmallow flavour in a tea though. The smokey crispy marshmallow bit, I think are manageable, likely with a lapsang but that gooey centre part. And then, the ice cream creaminess. Oh boy. Just parking it all here.

I predict another visit to that ice cream parlour in my near future.

Latte and plain tea sipdown (236)

I used the entire sample of this to make both a latte (after asking Sil if she thought this would curdle and she said no and was right) and a plain cup. Then I got distracted by instagram and the internet and the 10 year challenge so everything is just warm and not hot. Oh well.

The steeped tea smelled like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange (which is good or bad depending on how you feel about those…I am fairly neutral). When I drink the latte, I get milk mostly at the forefront but the end and after taste is Chocolate Orange…with some earthiness from the rooibos and cacao and a touch more brightness from the orange. It is like if someone tried to make a Terry’s Chocolate Orange at home but added a touch more orange zest and cacao instead of the more processed milk chocolate. Again, that could be good or bad depending on your feelings for those things. Personally, I don’t love them and adding that to my neutral feelings towards chocolate orange in the first place, this latte is good but one is enough for me.

The plain tea is a lot less Terry’s Chocolate Orange than the latte. It lacks the creaminess from the milk so instead I am getting cacao and orange. Not chocolate orange but cacao and orange. A seemingly minor distinction but one that makes a lot of difference. Cacao is more earthy and dark chocolatey and it stands out from the orange which is a little sharper without the creaminess of milk. The two flavors are distinct from each other as well instead of working together to create the beloved chocolate orange profile.

This one just is not a favorite. I think it is a nice enough latte but I wasn’t much of a fan when it was plain. Mostly I found myself missing Butiki’s Three Friends which is the chocolate orange tea that got me enjoying the chocolate orange flavor profile.

This is freaking delicious. The scent of the dry leaf truly smells like a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, probably more than any other chocolate orange blend I’ve had. Even more than Butiki’s Three Friends? I swear.

With 2% milk, I pick up on the orange notes more so than the chocolate, but it still works. That orange note reminds me so much of Cointreau, and takes me back to when I bought a bottle of it nearly ten years ago for a dessert, didn’t know what to do with the rest, and ended up getting into the habit of making hot cocoa with Fry’s, milk, and sugar, then topped off with Cointreau. I was initially wary of the rooibos in here thinking it was going to take everything over but this was a rather mild rooibos, not too woody in flavour at all.

I shared the last mug with my boyfriend, who also highly approves, and we agreed that this deserves an 85 rating. I’d love for this to be remade so that I could grab a full size. The taster just wasn’t enough.

EDIT: Whoa, the full size is currently available after all. Uh oh…

My Black Friday order from 52Teas arrived yesterday! Boy, am I excited to try all these nummy looking teas. This one was one of the generous free samples that was sent along with the small order. Since i’m always on the look out for a nice dessert non-caffeine tea for evening relaxation, I was glad to see this one.

My sense of smell is almost entirely gone again, but when I first opened the pouch a delicious whiff or orange burst on me. It was like the squirt of orange when you first crack the peel. It is gone again now, but for that split second it was heavenly. I plan to get my kenalog shot next week (which shrinks the polyps in my sinuses enough to allow me to smell for a few months) and I can’t wait to really smell this one. Just from that one whiff I bet it is divine.

I love those chocolate oranges that are so popular around Christmas. The kind that look like a baseball wrapped in foil, and when you smack it, it falls open in chocolate wedges. That is what this tea reminds me of. It brews up a nice dark amber color. I like the flavor best when it is on the edge between hot and warm. Not so hot that you burn your tongue, but not mildly warm. As it cools the rooibos woodiness is more prominent.

I am looking forward to trying this one again in ten days or so when my sense of smell and taste are back. I bet this one is just lovely to smell. Even without a full sense of smell the flavor is smooth and mild. Definitely a hit for me.

Thank you for sending me this free sample, I had a few delicious lattes with it. I finished it this morning and enjoyed my morning brew very much. Some nice orange zest, sweet rooibos, and dark chocolate (cocoa bean)

Normally I enjoy rooibos teas, especially because usually you can’t really detect it much. But there is something very herbal tasting or maybe savory tasting about this blend that I’m going to attribute to the rooibos. I personally think it would be better with honeybush. The smell of the dry leaf is literally as if I’m smelling a box of chocolate orange truffles. So dang good. But there is something in the taste, I think the rooibos that is off-putting to me. I think the orange is there, and I think cocoa is there, and in that respect its good. I just think the rooibos itself is bothering me. Maybe ill play around with the steep times/leaf amount next time!

UPDATE- i used a little less leaf the next time, added milk and some agave and that weird taste I was experiencing definitely faded. I must have been having an off day lol. I give this a thumbs up, when brewed correctly and mixed with milk & sugar!