Umber

Skipping my advent tea since it is another repeat and am reaching into the depths of my cupboard instead.

It’s a rainy day which is perfect for staying inside with cups of tea, although that doesn’t seem to stop the hummingbirds from chirping their little hearts out. On days like this I wish this house were better insulated so I could feel cozy inside, but that isn’t the way of 140 year old Victorian homes.

This cup of tea is changing a bit as I sip along. The coconut was prominent on my first few sips, then the roasty flavors took over after that. If I sip too quickly there is a flash of something sour at the start of the sip, a similar tang that dark chocolate sometimes has. Something in this blend is making my throat feel scratchy. I’m trying to ignore it, but it’s getting stronger. It’s a very dark deep tasting blend. Roast flavors with chocolate and the coconut filling in with cream. I’m not finding jasmine at all. It’s warm and comforting if I ignore the throat thing. It’s not as bold as I was hoping for, but it would be perfect if I was in the mood for something more mellow. I’m glad to have tried this, but it isn’t something I’d restock.

I finally got my 50 grams, and Chroma was extremely kind when I contacted them about my order. They fully refunded me, and got my tea about three days after. I wasn’t upset, but I deeply appreciate it.

I’ve only had the tea western and tumbler/grandpa. The aroma steals the show reminding my of an almond joy, or a coconut stuffed piece of dark chocolate. Flavor wise, it’s pretty close, but it’s more savory and buttery. I mostly taste the Laoshan and don’t get to much of the other ingredients in flavor, but some. I get more of the rice and coconut in the mouthfeel and aroma.

I can see why people rated this lower and wrote about liking it. It’s not quite as complex as the original blend was, and I think it’s due to the lack of oolong and a few other ingredients. Otherwise, this tea is a frickin’ deal and a good way to get Laoshan for cheaper. I’m clearly into it, but I’m not ready to rate it quite yet. I also got to comment-this tea is pretty to look at even steeped. The black tendrils accented by the white coconut is really cool.

This tea is a prime example of why you shouldn’t mess with a good thing. The base of this blend is Laoshan black which is naturally very chocolately. The cacao nibs slightly accent the chocolate but don’t really enhance the base tea.

The coconut and toasted rice lend a delicious aroma that’s reminiscent of chocolate coconut date balls but I can hardly discern either in the tea. For a tea that’s billed as black chocolate genmaicha, I wish the toasted rice was more prominent.

Don’t get me wrong, this is a very good dessert tea. It just doesn’t differ enough from Laoshan black tea to be compelling. I think I would have been more impressed if I hadn’t tried Laoshan black on its own first.

Okay, now this one is tasty.

At first I was concerned by the coconut – there’s quite a bit of it. And there wasn’t coconut in the original blend. But I actually can’t taste much of it, so that’s interesting. What I do taste is yummy malty, cocoa-y, slightly savory black tea with a sweet and creamy milk chocolate note swirled in. Maybe it’s the coconut giving it that creaminess? The rice is actually a bit subtle, I would like more of it. But I suppose that’s also down to the mix of ingredients in my scoop.

I agree with Kelly, it does remind me a bit of haystack cookies, although I think those usually have peanut butter. It reminds me more of a Japanese chocolate-coated cornflake treat I had recently. Either way, very lovely.

(Short tasting notes today because I have a killer migraine.)

Stylistically this is so, so very different than any other Chroma blend – but I loved it. Reminds me a lot of haystack cookies but with more of a “raw” cacao note to them. Plenty chocolate-y still though. The jasmine comes out more than expected and desired, but still good.