Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong

So, as some may have already read, I hate cherries! However, my mom really likes cherries and keeps asking me to make a cherry tea and I’m like: “heck no mom, I have no idea how cherry could taste good so I’m not going to try to make something I dislike”

So thankfully this was made and I was able to make my mom a cup…. like a huge 16 ounce full. Upon seeing the brew of the liquid and aroma, I had to try it because I figured a cherry oolong with some coffee bean would smell much stronger and be a bit darker than it was. The taste came out as smooth and balanced, but that is all I will say.

From my perspective: The mixture is 95% in contact/full. That speaks volumes in regards to tea blends because the majority are around 75% that I’ve noticed. I’m just picky because I hate flavors being added to leaf of low quality to offset the actually leaf taste. The oolong used in this blend is nice so that makes me happy.

I’ll get to my teas from Q2T soon and should have more positive remarks.

I love this time of the year. Some people are bothered by all the Christmas already out to see, not me. I listen to Christmas music from Nov. 1 on and enjoy walking down the decoration and candy isles. Chocolate covered cherries are a weakness.

I think I found a low calorie substitution in this incredible blend. YUM!!

My education in the fine art of Magic the Gathering continued today. I decided to stop geeking out over the lore and crushing on Jace Beleren (what, I can have nerd crushes) long enough to work on actually playing the game, running my Red Black Griefer deck, destroying all the lands because that technique is just sexy. Something about playing a card that destroys my opponents hard earned lands and destroying their creatures is really satisfying, especially when it involves lots of undead…see I really do have an unhealthy obsession with liches.

Today’s tea is a step into an older love of mine, from my younger days working at a tea and coffee shop…chugging roasted oolongs and eating chocolate covered espresso beans like crazy. This blending of two worlds is none other than A Quater To Tea’s Chocolate Cherry Latte Oolong, a blend of Organic Quilan Oolong Tea, Hojicha Tea, Coffee Beans, Dried Cherries, Mini Chocolate Chips, Chicory, Natural Flavors…as someone who loves blending unusual things, it is safe to say this tea got my attention. As a gesture of awesomeness, use the code GEEKERY10 to get 10% off a purchase of $5 or more, just be sure to use it by December 15th. Ok, tea, and coffee, and other fun things, the aroma…ok wow, this smells like coffee alright! Roasted coffee with creamy chocolate and sweet cherries, it has an underlying smokiness to it as well. The roast is very strong, which I love, it was always my favorite thing about coffee, alongside that intense bitter taste.

The brewed tea smells so good, man, it is intense, strong notes of rich chocolate and creamy sweet cherries with a nice heavy roasted coffee and just general roasted smokey finish. Not a tea sniffing experience for the faint of heart. The liquid is quite roasted and nutty, with notes of cocoa and coffee, gentle smoke, and a nice creamy sweet chocolate finish.

Surprisingly I decided to not make this into a latte, no cream or sugar…mostly because I was out of milk (can you tell I just never drink the stuff? I pretty much get it when I need it for cooking) so if you were hoping for a frothy return to my coffee shop days, sorry about that. I am glad I did not sweeten it though because this tea is sweet! The combination of the chocolate and cherries, with the sweet notes of Hojicha and Oolong make for a quite sweet cup of tea. There are strong notes of coffee, and roast which balance out the sweetness, and the lingering cherry notes add a wonderful finish. Out of the three samples I tried, this one was my favorite, definitely one I plan on getting more of for when I crave coffee on those rare occasions.

For blog and photos: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2015/11/a-quarter-to-tea-chocolate-cherry-latte.html

My order arrived today!!!! YAY!!!! I placed that order because of the reviews of this tea.

I’m just going to agree with the others. ABSOLUTELY FRICKEN’ FANTASTIC

3tsp/16oz 95C 4.5 minutes That’s what I did.

Dark chocolate, coffee, cherry – that’s what I’m getting – in that order. Lots of slightly bitter dark chocolate, some coffee, and then a really nice hint of cherry at the back. And it’s CHERRY not cough syrup. I’m not getting much oolong, but there is some roasty toasty goodness in here – that could be the oolong or it could be the hojicha. Doesn’t matter, it’s well balance and so yummy. I’m a very, very happy camper.

(Having to stop myself from rushing back to the site to order more – need to try the others I got first – there may be others that I will need more of….)

So even though I’m on a tea buying hiatus (a BIG one) everyone on Steepster has been seriously tempting me with their tasting notes from Quarter to Tea and so I decided to bite the bullet a week ago and treated myself to a small package of seven different samples and upon opening the bag this morning I’m oh so glad that I did!

I overleafed this and maybe thats where I’m seeing the difference but this tea is FAN-FRIGGIN-AMAZING Like drink it forever and I’d be happy amazing!!! Authentic cherry and chocolate flavors with a kick of coffee – this may just have replaced Cocoa Amore for me as my go to cherry tea because (1) its seriously delicious and (2) its actually available unlike Cocoa Amore!

Buying more right now!!!

Yum! Coffee + cherry + tea. Yes Please! I am really digging this blend. The flavors are well balanced. The cherry doesn’t scream cherry, but you know it is there. The coffee when it was really hot was a tad bitter, but as it cooled it blended really well with the mix. This tea also gets a huge A+ in my book for creative/unique flavor. I mean I would have never thought these flavors would go so well together. Love it.

Sipdown to make first class of the week awesome, and it did. I finished it off in my Urban Tea Tumbler and it was the perfect combo yet again. Chocolate covered cherries with coffee roasting in the background indeed making my morning that much better, and my classes that much more enjoyable. 5 or 6 grams yielding three strong steeps in 16 ounces, 15, then finally 11. Goodbye, and I look forward to meeting you again…

(Waiting for people to gag at my cheesiness.)

My samples from A Quarter to Tea came today! And I just couldn’t wait to dig into them!

That said, getting into the tea itself this smells AMAZING. I was totally expecting more of a coffee/chocolate with a subtle cherry because most blends that attempt to do cherry blends in which the cherry isn’t the sole flavour never really nail it. Instead, the smell is indicating this will be the opposite: cherry tea with more subtle coffee and chocolate. I am SO on board with that idea!

And I am so gleeful right now because the taste of the infused tea IS very strongly cherry! And it’s not some kind of gross cough syrup cherry either! Instead it’s sweet, dark cherry. So yummy and indulgent! Of course, there’s more going on here aside from the cherry even if that is the element of the tea which I’m most excited about. The chocolate notes come through well too and the pairing is a match made in heaven. However, it’s a little thin and I think that’s probably because this blend uses chocolate chips. If I could make one suggestion it’d be to use either cocoa nibs or shells instead. I think that’d kick the chocolate factor up a lot and also make the mouthfeel a little cleaner. Finally, the “coffee”. Personally I think this is the mildest element of the blend but I’m more that ok with that. As much as I don’t hate coffee and am cool with the flavour being in my tea I still prefer the tea itself to be the most dominant flavour. On that note I definitely taste the hojicha more than the oolong. I really love the idea of pairing the hojicha with the oolong as well; it ups the roasty notes up quite a bit and adds a whole new layer of flavour into the tea.

This tea is absolutely phenomenal! I’m very impressed, and I really look forward to trying the rest of my samples from Lauren. As far as first impressions go, this was a really good one.

I really wanted to love this one, it just sounded so good… and am wondering if maybe my sample just wasn’t enough for my mug… but even brewing it for a while I wasn’t getting a lot of taste… that hasn’t been an issue with anything else I’ve tried from QTT, so I’m hoping this was a fluke, so am refraining from rating this one.

This one is especially inspired —had to try it! (I could say that about most of A Quarter To Tea’s blends though!) THIS IS THE BEST CHOCOLATE CHERRY TEA!! No contest – this puts all other cherry teas to shame. The cherry tastes identical to the cherry in chocolate covered cherries, even though actual cherries weren’t overflowing from my brew basket – I didn’t notice them. But the best cherry flavor (nothing fake or cough syrupy about this) fills all three steeps of this tea. I’d say cherry is the dominant flavor with wisps of milk chocolate and coffee. So decadent and divine. The tea bases are perfect as well. You’ve got a great blend of a dark wiry oolong mixed with hojicha green tea, fresh coffee beans, dried cherries, chocolate chips and chicory. Amazing. I’m a little sad I used all of my sample up for a full mug (2 1/2 teaspoons) but it’s perfect. I wish I could have this tea exactly like this every time. If you are looking for a cherry tea, you have to try this! This one is definitely Butikiesque. :D
http://www.etsy.com/shop/AQuarterToTea
Steep #1 // 2 1/2 tsps for full mug // 15 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 4 min
Steep #3 // just boiled // few minute steep