Chocolate Orange

Gosh its been such a crazy day! A horse got out by my house and we had to try and get it off the highway! So now im sitting drinking this.

Its good but I don’t really get too much orange. I was hoping for more. But its still a nice rich cup.

It’s been soooo long since I’ve put up a review! Gaahh

So, I’m drinking a Christmas tea in July… yes my bag is still one that says “Oh Christmas Treat” on it… and it is messing with my head. I want to be wearing a big sweater and watching the snow out my window! Early winter/late fall is the best time of year, I think. But I feel like whatever time of year it is, I’m often wishing for something else.
So, I guess summer really isn’t that bad. Lots of produce is in season and the summer thunderstorms are awesome. And I love iced tea, even though I go through so much more tea so quickly. I’m sure there were times in the winter when I said “I wish it was summer!” so I should appreciate it while I can.

UM ANYWAY… this tea is still awesome. It’s like a grown-up chocolate orange. It came out a little bit weak/watery this time though, but still enjoyable.

Only one of two more cups of this one left. I may give them to Robyn, or see if I can throw them into a swap or something…

This smells really foul today – oily and fishy and gross. However, it’s not nearly as rude as far as the taste goes. In fact, it’s fairly light in comparison to the highly aromatic smell that’s filling my kitchen. So that’s not so bad, I guess.

Right now I’m just killing time while my nail’s dry – and then I’m out for the day! I have to go fill out some forms and stuff at the bank, and then I’m meeting a friend downtown at DT before we head to a metal concert. I’m gonna be pretty out of my comfort zone there, heh…

I don’t really do things, and specifically I don’t really do things in loud concert settings. Plus, I know next to nothing about metal music. But, she invited me and it is a chance to get out of the house so I guess why not?

After my first pu-erh, I decided to try a somewhat different aspect of the tea.

This is the second sample I’ve tried out of the ones sent to me by Bonnie. The dry leaf smells somewhat earthy with a nice pop of sweetness.

I took a few sips and decided to add a little bit of stevia to sweeten it up a bit. Very good! I can taste more orange and the chocolate adds sort of a creaminess that makes the tea nice and rich! The earthiness of the pu-erh adds a nice contrast to the sweetness.

Very good, thank you again Bonnie! I heard that this tea was being added to the permanent collection but I can’t find it anywhere…. If anyone has any info, please tell me, because I would LOVE to have this tea in my cupboard!

So I started drinking this one plain, and while I enjoyed it like that (it’s earthy dark cocoa and bright but not bitter orange, and very good), I was struck by a thought.

I made homemade hot cocoa mix for Christmas gifts this year, and we definitely had a good deal left over. So, I mixed a scooper of that into my tea. And now I have something creamy, sweet, and deliciously chocolate with a subtle undertone of orange.

Thanks for the sample Shmiracles! This was fun!

bum bum bum …. the last cup of Chocolate Orange until my recently placed order arrives.
for the time being, this tea is in my top 10. easy.
i made a cup for My Boyfriend the Animator too. and previously he declared that he doesn’t like chocolate teas. but tonight he declared that he likes this one.
win!
i went to the gym tonight. i’ve run maybe 2 times over the past 5 weeks. no wonder i’m so depressed. hopefully tonight’s run will be the start of a solid and steady effort for the next 3 months.

So with my buds being absent has an upside… I can tolerate pu’erhs now! yay :)
This was amaaaazing when hot, not so much as it cools. The chocolate and orange work really well though. Next time I’ll try it with a splash of milk!
It smelled and tasted a tad fishy, which made me a little sad. It could have been so perfect!
and it was why I didn’t bother with a resteep. So… big points for the flavour when hot… but less so when cooled down. Ah well! I’d definitely have this again. In fact I may buy a small sample once I get through the other newbie teas

Ugh welcome to Monday morning… I think my brain is still stuck in Saturday. I meant to bring a sample from the GCTTB with me to work today but totally blanked on that this morning. Oh well.

I really enjoy this tea, it was actually the first ever pu’erh (straight or flavored) that I tried and I love how the dark, rich earthy tones mix with the dark chocolate and the brighter orange notes. I think in my first tea log I described it as kind of a dance that the flavors were doing and it’s still so true for me. Every time I take a sip another flavor, or combination of flavors, is sitting at the forefront for me to try. Yum!

BTW, if anyone knows someone who is attempting to sell a Royal Albert Old Country Rose teapot lid (approx. 3.75inch/9.5cm in diameter which I think is for the 9cup pot) let me know… I’m trying to find a replacement for my mother’s lid (it’s cracked into 2 pieces) and given the age of the pattern it’s been a bit difficult (she’s got the original.) I’ve already tried and failed a few times, one was the wrong size and the other had a crack in it that the seller didn’t notice at the time of posting the sale. :(

Thank you, Bonnie, for yet another interesting sample. I would not normally choose a flavoured tea when there are so many flavours of unflavoured tea, but Bonnie sent me a sample and it would be rude not to try it! ;-)

Opening the bag, I am met with a strong chocolate and orange smell. Interesting. So, the liquor is a beautiful orangey-red colour, becoming close to a dark chocolatey brown as it fills up the cup. It smells of chocolate. The orange is almost an undertone. Tasting it, the chocolate dominates once more, but this time the orange and the earthy notes of the puerh are more dominant too. There is even a slight hint of chilli spice. I like this. It is like drinking a Terry’s Chocolate Orange with added puerh. Yes, I don’t think I would want to drink this every day but I could definitely see getting some of this in for an occasional treat.

I’m going to be one of the very few people to say this, but I don’t care for this tea at all. I find it to be… strange. The first steep, I didn’t know that you were suppose to rinse the leaves. I almost never drink pu’erhs and I didn’t see the rinsing thing anywhere on the packaging or on the website. But now that I’ve looked around a bit online, I see that, and I gotta say… that’s kinda weird.. haha
Anyway, so I tossed my first steep after I saw that, and resteeped it for a few minutes. The second steep is definitely better, but I still don’t really care for it at all. I think the earthy-ness is too much for me, and I definitely get the fishiness that someone else was talking about. I get that smell pretty good.

This came in a sample pack that I got as a gift, so I only have a little. I don’t think I’ll be keeping what little I have left. It’s too bad, ‘cause so many people rave about it. I think it’s just my personal tastes. I’m not for the more earthy smelling/tasting teas…
Sorry Oh Christmas Treat… I just can’t do it… :(