Chocolate Covered Strawberries

Labor-intensive curriculum writing project done. Microwave, stand, and everything on it swabbed down. Living room vacuumed. Fresh sheets on the bed. A celebration is in order.

And, boys-a-dear, this is the tea to celebrate with! Upon opening and contemplating the bonanza of dried strawberries, chocolate chips, and rose petals in this CuppaGeek blend (dare I say masterpiece?), I couldn’t decide whether to steep some or use it for potpourri. The scent of real chocolate and real fruit (not syrupy candy flavoring) made me giddy.

The actual cup did not disappoint. I expected it to be a little oily due to the chocolate, but there’s just a little opacity. The strawberry is real, the chocolate (to me, anyway) leans a little to the dark side, and the rose petals just add a lovely element of fancy-pants.

I anticipate it to make a perfectly acceptable second steep, which is going to be needed very soon. This cup’s gone!

Once Christmas is over, my mind goes to pink and red and frilly and lacy VALENTINE’S.

Nichole at Cuppa Geek mentioned that she was doing a special Valentine gift bag called the Valen-Tea Party, and this will be the featured tea, although there are others you can choose and honestly that Vanilla Rose Cake is taunting me from afar because it sounds so ever loving good! I will be getting some of that for my friend who loves green teas!

The first time I served Chocolate Covered Strawberry tea was with brownies and strawberries. I don’t usually serve like-with-like and Ashman even questioned it, asking if I thought it would be too much together? But once he sipped the tea, he declared it a perfect pairing.

You may have had this in your advent calendar teas, or you may have had the Vanilla Black or Peach Vanilla Black. This seems to be the same base. I would call this a very adult tea, that is dessert-like without being candy-ish. There are a few teas that seem like they would be delightful for a little tea party with children, and others that make me feel like a very dignified grown-up (now there’s a laugh) and this one has the grown up feel. It isn’t astringent, but lightly brisk, assertive, and resteeps very well. The flavors seem natural and not overdone.

We had our tea by the fire on this chilly, rainy night and ate our strawberries, saving the green tops for the bunnies who frequent our yard. We drink it sans additions but you could add milk and sugar if you like it that way. It can definitely handle it.