Chocolate Monkey

Tea type
Fruit Rooibos Blend
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Not available
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Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Jason
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 15 sec

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From Our Community

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26 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Well, I have to say, nothing gets through my “need beer nao” haze, quite like the sudden arrival (at 9pm, wtf UPS?) of my Art of Tea dessert tea sampler. So now I am totally like “need tea, go away...” Read full tasting note
    80
  • “Ah, a pot of tea finally. Have been out of town, and was kept quite busy. It’s nice to be home and relax with a nice, yummy pot, and go through the mail to see what came (goodies!!).” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “This was one of the 60 plus samples I received in my box of goodies from LiberTeas via Tea Trade. It seems similar to a few chocolate teas I have come to love so I was really looking forward to...” Read full tasting note
    64
  • “This tastes like foam banana sweets today. I had the first steep plain, and I am now sipping on the second steep as a latte since it is a miserable cold and rainy day here. I have made this as a...” Read full tasting note
    90

From Art of Tea

Chocolate, banana, rooibos and pink peppercorn blended together with apple bits to create an incredible dessert tea. Great hot or iced.

Water Temperature: 206 F degrees
Caffeine Content: Low
Steep Time: 5-7 minutes
Ingredients: Organic Fair Trade Rooibos, Organic Cacao Nibs, Organic Apple Bits, Organic Banana Chips, Pink Peppercorn, Chocolate, Natural Flavors
Origin: Art of Tea Blend

About Art of Tea View company

Art of Tea is a tea importer and wholesaler based in Los Angeles, California. We hand blend and custom craft the world’s finest organic teas and botanicals. Our teas are carefully selected directly from growers, each one offering a unique story.

26 Tasting Notes

80
382 tasting notes

Well, I have to say, nothing gets through my “need beer nao” haze, quite like the sudden arrival (at 9pm, wtf UPS?) of my Art of Tea dessert tea sampler. So now I am totally like “need tea, go away beer.” Ah, how fickle is woman, etc, etc.

Naturally, for my first pick from the sampler, I randomly drew one of the packets and this is what I got. Now, I have to say. Banana and I have a relationship that is even rockier than mine and Vanilla’s. You see, outside of tea, I am generally fine with vanilla. Whereas A. I have never HAD tea that involved banana and B. I am just not a huge fan of bananas. Unless I am in a banana mood. Which happens like, once every two months. Still, I was willing to give this tea a chance. Also, I am pretty sure someone else mentioned this, but monkey in the title! How can you go wrong?

Even before brewing, I am pretty impressed. This tea smells like a banana split! It has been ages since I had a banana split! I shouldn’t even remember how one smells! Which probably means that this smells like banana split should, not how it necessarily does.

The taste however…hm. I mean, don’t get me wrong, it’s tasty! So tasty, that I suspect Art of Tea of witchcraft, but it’s also kind of…confusing. Sometimes, I totally get chocolate and banana. But sometimes I also got this tang that puts me more in mind of a Polish dessert called kisiel. Which I am never in a million years going to be able to explain, so Wikipedia to the rescue: “It consists of sweetened juice, thickened with arrowroot, cornstarch or potato starch, and sometimes red wine or dried fruits are added. It is similar to the Danish Rødgrød or German Rote Grütze.” So, there you have it. It is usually tangy, has the consistency of custard (basically) and is super tasty with cream.

Anyway, which of the two things it’s gonna taste like varies basically from sip to sip, although the chocolate banana seems to be gaining the upper hand as it cools. My aim with ordering this sampler is that I want to find a dessert tea that I can use to full my sweet tooth into thinking that I have had dessert when nothing of the sort has actually occurred. I am unsure if this will serve the purpose. Further steepings are required! With milk! and possibly some sort of artificial sweetner! The more calories I can free up by avoiding dessert, the more beer I can consume! Yes, I have a one track mind, leave me alone.

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec
__Morgana__

Dude, when you find a dessert tea that fools your sweet tooth “into thinking that [you] have had dessert when nothing of the sort has actually occurred” please PM me immediately with the details!

Ewa

man, don’t shatter my illusions. it COULD happen!

__Morgana__

I hope so, I hope to benefit from the discovery!

Cofftea

haha weird… well at least it was 9pm instead of 9am the next morning.

Lori

This sounds like a fun deal- the dessert tea sampler……I will need to try it!

SoccerMom

Lori, I agree this sampler does sound appealing.

Ewa

Yeah, I’d had my eye on it for a while, and then one of the steepster selects involved $5 off Art of Tea stuff, which essentially gave me free shipping, so…YOINK!

~lauren.

Just adding my two cents worth – we drink Kusmi Caramel or Harney & Son’s Florence as our post-dinner tea when we didn’t have dessert at dinner (that happens more than it should, sigh). Sweet. Decadent. Yum.

Ewa

Hmmm, Florence looks quite intriguing. Looks like my next batch of samples is come from Harney & Sons! Not to sure about the Kusmi, mostly because I’m not too keen to buy a whole tin of it without trying it.

SoccerMom

Florence IS yummy!

Ricky

Florence…. yummmm ….. Caramel…. Kusmi…. drools

Anyone who signs up for comment notifications, SORRY for the spam you just received from my edits!

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100
902 tasting notes

Ah, a pot of tea finally. Have been out of town, and was kept quite busy. It’s nice to be home and relax with a nice, yummy pot, and go through the mail to see what came (goodies!!).

Preparation
Boiling 8 min or more

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64
709 tasting notes

This was one of the 60 plus samples I received in my box of goodies from LiberTeas via Tea Trade. It seems similar to a few chocolate teas I have come to love so I was really looking forward to trying it. Like Fusion Tea Room’s Chocolate Mint Rooibos, this seems to have some fruit pieces in it (I am assuming Apple?) which lend a distinct “natural” sweetness to the blend. I also spy some red peppercorns, though I don’t ‘feel the burn’ so I don’t know how much they are contributing in terms of taste. As for that taste, I get sweet chocolate, with the fruit pieces really standing out on the sip. That said, it is a bit sweet for my tastes but still yummy to taste. Sort of like chocolate covered raisins, only without the raisin. I almost feel it might have done better with a stronger base – I am partial to flavoured blacks – though I can see the advantages of using rooibos with this.

As a fun aside, I am typing this up in outlook as I don’t have time to log in to Steepster at the moment and Outlook doesn’t think that rooibos is a word!

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90
223 tasting notes

This tastes like foam banana sweets today. I had the first steep plain, and I am now sipping on the second steep as a latte since it is a miserable cold and rainy day here. I have made this as a latte quite a few times and it always comes out very sweet and syrupy, even without the addition of sugar. I was craving sweet today, so I am glad I chose this.

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24
911 tasting notes

Much thanks to teaplz for the chance to try this tea! Honestly, since it is rooibos and banana, I never would taken the risk of buying this on my own. But is has ‘monkey’ in the name, so I really wanted to.

Right off the bat I’m a little nervous. The leaves smell like it has gone off. I don’t think it has actually gone bad. I think that’s the rooibos. And the fright grows once I pour the tea into my cup. I was hoping for some chocolate or even some monkey. But instead it looks like I get full on rooibos. I’m scared. Hold me.

Sipping it’s not quite as horrible as the smell. There is… taste… before the rooibos hits. The problem is, when the rooibos hits, it hits hard. And it doesn’t blend with or accentuate the other flavors that pop up at the beginning of the sip. It battles against them and kicks their collective butt. The initial smell is now banana and rooibos and then the sip is banana and then rooibos and then ROOIBOS. Where’s my chocolate? And I can’t pick out the apple (though maybe that’s some of the sweetness at the beginning with the quick banana taste) or the pink peppercorns (and they are pink! I wanted to pick them out!)

Ultimately this is too much rooibos for me. The other tastes in the tea are too mild to make the rooibos step back so it just ends up being too much for me to deal with well. I’ll be able to finish the cup but I don’t think I’m going to be crying out for more rooibos monkey.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 6 min, 0 sec
takgoti

Completely unrelated: the thumbnail of the picture of this tea looks like an insect that is leaning to the left.

Also, too bad about the tea. I mean…it’s chocolate! And monkey! Come on, tea!

fcmonroe

I have that same problem with rooibos. I’ve only tried a handful of blends that have it that I really like.

Auggy

@takgoti – Your mind scares me sometimes but I mean that with love. And you are right… it’s a leaning insect. And I can’t stop staring.

@fcmonroe – Can you suggest some blends that you’ve had luck with? I like the idea of decaf rooibos (or other) blends to have at night, I’m just having trouble finding things that I’d actually want to drink.

wombatgirl

Auggy, Lena may also have some suggestions for you too. She’s got some that she likes, I think. :)

Auggy

Thanks! I will go stalk Lena for some ideas!

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1112 tasting notes

Another delicious one from Jaime!!! Banana candy! I don’t get chocolate, but that’s just fine. I’m perfectly happy with banana candy. I also put a splash of milk in it which made it super dessert-y! I am really loving these for a sweet treat after dinner. I have not even thought about a cookie. I am extra pleased that my husband is absolutely crazy about this one too :) I don’t need to be psychic to see an Art of Tea order in my future!

Thank you once again Jaime!!! I love it!

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 0 sec
Jaime

This was one of the first ones I had from Art of Tea…got me hooked early! So glad you like, and that hubby does too!

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66
259 tasting notes

I wanted to like this more than I did. The description is tantalizingly delicious. I’ve had several cups of Chocolate Monkey and it’s nicely subtle. It’s quiet, aromatic, and has a great banana aftertaste.

It’s naturally sweet and very laid-back. The monkey seems to be napping and not up to much mischief here.

I realize more and more that I like big, brash, arrogant teas and that the subtle delights often pass me by because I want an enormous flavor whallop. Chocolate Monkey is a bit sedate and lady-like for me. Maybe if I crush the peppercorns? I’ll try that next.

Preparation
6 min, 15 sec
teaplz

I have this as well! I’m a big fan of banana and chocolate (and the two together as well!) so I was pretty excited when the boyfriend gave this to me for Christmas. Loved your log, and can’t wait to see what my experience is like!

LENA

I would love to try this tea. adding it to my shopping list I’ve been on a black tea binge lately, so when I recently tried a white tea, I really had to concentrate to taste anything.

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53
187 tasting notes

This tea is monkeying around with me.

HAHAH, so punny.

Anyway, yeah, this one is messing a bit with my taste buds, and I’m sort of getting confused and frustrated as a result. The smell of this dry is really banana-ish, in a Banana Laffy Taffy or a banana chip way. Not the freshest banana smell, but more like candied banana. Or banana candy.

And the dry leaf is ridiculously pretty, with the contrast between the deep red of the rooibos, the poppin’ pink peppercorns, dark cacao nibs, and the yellows of the banana and apple bits.

So I steeped this one up, and the infusion sort of only smells like rooibos. There’s notes of banana in there, but I’m really not getting any cocoa or anything.

Here’s the problem with this one: it feels rich, but tastes bland. If that even makes sense. The tea feels weighty in the mouth, and substantial. Like a lot of flavors are going to burst out and be really tangible. But then the flavors never really develop into much of anything. It’s like a powerhitter that you put in in a pinch, and he strikes out. The anticipation builds, but it leaves you frustrated.

This tea is the tease.

I’m getting hints of good stuff! Banana is definitely the dominant flavor in this one, and it’s fairly nice! There’s only the really, faintest taste of cocoa, but it’s so fleeting I’m not sure if I’m imagining the taste because I want it to be there. I feel a slight tingle in the back of my throat from the pink peppercorn, or at least I think it’s from that. Or else I might have a sore throat coming on. Who knows? There’s sweetness, but I can’t really identify if it’s coming from the rooibos or the apple/banana bits.

At the bottom of the cup, when it’s cooled off, I’m getting a really strong, delicious strawberry flavor. Where that is coming from, I HAVE NO IDEA. Well, it tastes good!

That’s the other problem with this tea. It’s muddled and subtle at the same time. I don’t mind tea where the flavors mesh together so perfectly that I can’t pick them apart, but this is more like that person who chronically speaks low in class and you can never hear. You can pick out some words, but in the end, it’s just frustrating. That’s this tea. It’s not a bad tea, per se, but it just could have been so much more!

Preparation
Boiling 6 min, 0 sec

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34
788 tasting notes

Steep Information:
Amount: 4 tsp
Additives: none
Water: filtered boiling 1 cast iron teapot full
Tool: Cast Iron Teapot with Mesh basket strainer
Steep Time: a little over 7 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: Banana (MilitiaJim Fake banana) chocolate if you look for it
Steeped Tea Smell: woody
Flavor: woody, banana, sweet
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: banana
Liquor: deep cloudy reddish brown

This was a gift from Teaplz

I am sadly not getting any of the chocolate, very little of the banana (it might be a brief flirt at the beginning but then gone), the apple I think just sweetens it.

In summary, smells better than it tastes, it doesn’t taste bad it just tastes like rooibos and after that smell you expect and want something more.

I have enough left for another pot, perhaps more, I think I’ll try a shorter steep.

Post-Steep Additives: none

images: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2010/03/art-of-tea-loose-leaf-rooibos-tea.html

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 7 min, 0 sec
teaplz

Sorry this is ick and you didn’t like it either!

AmazonV

oh it’s not ick! just disappointing, I tried not to get my hopes up after reading all the reviews but it just smells sooooooo delicious.

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431 tasting notes
Back logging. This is another one I got from Meghann M thank you. I used a fairly short steep time. This has a light to medium banana taste with something else. Luckily the roobios is only subtle here. This is a fairly good tea but not close to a dessert to me.

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