Terry's Tea

Working through some older Advent teas to make way for the new ones. I haven’t found a way to like this blend yet. It’s chocolate and lemon (is it supposed to be lemon or orange?) and tastes a little too much like floor cleaner, to be honest. Also, I made the mistake of adding cream so it curdled. I see others who seem to really like it so not sure what I’m doing wrong here.

Holiday Tea-son! Decided to try this chocolate orange tea based on Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, since that candy is marketed pretty heavily around the holidays (though I would gladly enjoy them anytime!) I love the smell of the dry leaf, which does smell quite sweet and orange, with some noticable cocoa notes.

My first cup was very bad. The tea had a faint orange color, with a mild chocolately aroma, but the orange aroma wasn’t nearly as potent as it was in the dry leaf. The flavor was actually quite citrus, with very little chocolate flavor showing through. It felt like there was no black tea base present at all, so the tea felt very weak and watery, so though I was getting a strong tangy orange, citrusy flavor, it felt like there was nothing to properly hold it and I felt like I was drinking an oily warm orange water. The cocoa note was also extremely subtle, hardly showing through beneath the citrus. The balance of the tea was just completely off, coming off as an herbal tea with a weak base, not a black tea, and Ceylon black tea was listed as the first ingredient. So I decided to dump the cup and try again, thinking perhaps I didn’t get a decent ingredient mix in the 3g I’d measured out for my cup.

The color looked a bit darker from my second cup, which was a good sign. The flavor has also improved a lot, so that had seemed to be my problem. This cup doesn’t have that “watery” feel to it, there is definitely more of a black tea presense now, and it makes a huge difference. The orange flavor is still quite strong, and has that tart citrusy note, but it is tempered a bit by the black tea base. The cocoa also tastes a little more present, though I still feel it tastes a little too subtle against the orange. Also, the orange flavoring seems to have the same problem I’ve had with other orange flavorings before… it tastes a little overly artificial or alcoholic to me? Though at least I’m not getting a metallic aftertaste…

So even after getting a better blend of the ingredients in my cup, it’s still not my favorite; the orange is a bit too strong/artificial tasting, and the cocoa is too subtle. I will probably try using up my 20g sampler pouch making lattes with chocolate almond milk, since that will add in the chocolate component that I’m not really feeling here, and will hopefully tame down the overly-strong artificial note I’m feeling from the orange.

You know, I really want a good chocolate orange tea, but every one I’ve tried so far I’ve had this issue. Too strong/artificial orange, hardly any chocolate flavor. Surely there is a good one out there?

This tea is giving me the hibbie jibbies, which is to say it has hibiscus in it that I can taste, which means it tastes gross. It smells great, all chocolate orange like, but all I get on the sip is tart hib. I wonder if hibiscus hate is similar to cilantro hate where it’s actually something in your brain that registers the taste in a way that the majority of the population doesn’t and it’s all you can taste while it overpowers any other flavors. Anyways, I’m done trying to make friends with this tea.

Home – 7:30 PM

Chocolate & orange is one of my favorite combinations, so of course I had to grab a 20g packet of this in my Bird & Blend order!

I’m not sure what they were thinking with this blend, to be honest. It’s too tart from the hibiscus and rosehips. In fact, it’s downright sour. I can taste some orange hidden behind the tartness. The chocolate is actually quite nice, it’s milk chocolaty and somewhat creamy.

So I feel like if they had just left out the stupid hibiscus, it would be a good tea.

I think next time I’ll try picking out the hibiscus and rosehips and see how it tastes then…

Thanks for the sample Nattie!

This tea is really growing on me. At first I didn’t think that hibiscus and chocolate would work, but the sip opens up with the tartness of the orange and hibiscus and finishes with the nice, roasted sweetness of the cocoa.

I’ve been putting off reviewing this tea for a few days, in the hope that it would grow on me. After several cups, I guess it’s time to accept that it hasn’t, and that I’ve found the first tea that I actively dislike (sorry Bluebird Tea!) Out of the five teas I bought from them, this is the only one that isn’t amazing, so I guess they’ve still done pretty well!

I am a huge fan of Terry’s Chocolate Oranges, so obviously I had to try this tea as soon as I saw it. Unfortunately, the dry tea smells nothing like a chocolate orange, but almost exactly like a chocolate orange flavoured alcohol shots drink I bought a year or so back before I stopped drinking. I say unfortunately, because that was possibly the worst drink I’ve had in my life. The smell is very citrusy, with just a hint of sour dark chocolate in the background, but the citrus smell is very artificial and I have a feeling it might be the smell of orange oil. When brewed, the smell becomes more pleasant and smells more of real oranges, although there is an oily sheen on the top of the water which I think comes from the theoretical orange oil.

I forgot to mention, on the plus side, the tea is super pretty. There are chunks of orange rind and little twirly things (I seriously have no idea about the twirly things) that make it really gorgeous to look at, which I’ve found to be a common theme in bluebird teas!

I’ve tried this tea many different ways (plain, with sugar, with honey, with sugar and milk, with honey and milk and as a latte, as well as in a protein shake) and the flavour is kinda similar across the board, which unfortunately means I didn’t like any of them. It tastes like I remembered the alcohol to taste, only hot. Definitely orangey, with a dark chocolate note playing around in the background somewhere, but the orange doesn’t really taste fruity, I’m sorry if that doesn’t really make sense, but I was expecting a sort of warming, tangy marmalade sort of orange, but instead it tastes artificial, which I sad ‘cause there are definitely chunks of real orange in it! Also when brewed, the tea is kind of a browny-pinky colour, which I found odd. Not sure what to say about that, so I’ll just leave it there…

Not for me, I’m sorry Bluebird, but I’m sure there are some people out there who would enjoy this.