Stormy Night (Organic)

Almost but not quite knocks Chocolate Macaroon Tea off my ‘best chocolate tea’ pedestal.

My cup is creamy and I can taste vanilla and cocoa, but it’s overwhelmed by way too much cinnamon. Take some of the cinnamon out and it would have been perfect.

Tastes best, to me, with milk and some sugar — not because the tea isn’t already sweet, but because sugar brings out the chocolate flavor. I just want the cinnamon to go away so I can taste the chocolate…

Steeping is easier than it is with Chocolate Macaroon. I used 1.5 tsps and steeped for less time, perhaps because this one doesn’t have rock sugar in it.

I can see why this is a Halloween tea, because it’s basically Halloween in a cup. That being said, I’m not sure if that’s a good thing or a bad thing. I certainly can’t see myself craving this outside the month of October.

But this is October, so it’s not bad. It brings back nostalgic feelings of the fun Halloween is when you’re a kid. The flavour itself is a strange mix of every Halloween candy I can think of — chocolate, caramels, gum, Rockets… There’s also a hint of apple and cinnamon that just gives it a general fall vibe.

The biggest downside is that there’s kind of a chalky aftertaste, particularly as it cools, that’s really off putting. If it weren’t for that I’d give it a higher rank because while it really only is good as a Halloween tea, it does Halloween tea VERY well.

I don’t know what to think about this one. It sounded better than it is. Perhaps it needs some sweetener or milk which I don’t use.

This one reminds me of an oatmeal cookie. I like it best while watching a thunder storm, or watching Lost. I wish they’d bring it back. (TOTM DT? Pretty please?)

I like this tea. I can taste the cinnamon and vanilla and the combination is very appealing. I didn’t really notice the coconut though although you can smell it in the bag.

My absolute favourite that I’ve had over the years since I got into the whole tea loving experience. Was quite sad when it was discontinued at David’s! When I got the email this month that they were “raising it from the dead” for Halloween I was so excited. I immediately ordered 250 grams of it online but now that it’s out of stock again, I’m regretting not ordering more. I’ll just have to slow down and savour what I bought over the next year. Hopefully they raise it again for next Halloween or consider relisting it.

So why do I like it sooo much? I think it’s the complexity, there’s so much going on in it. With chocolate, vanilla, coconut, nutmeg, cinnamon, allspice, chipotle and ancho chilli ingredients there’s a lot of different flavour accents. Even the appearance of it is awesome. It has a deep amber colour brewed that has a really nice sheen on the surface and the cinnamon and spices are suspended and happily swimming throughout the liquid. In the bag dried, it smells completely decadent with prominent chocolate, vanilla and coconut aromas. Once brewed, the cinnamon and spice aromas come out wonderfully. I love all the different distinct flavours as well as how they mingle and merge.

Only 1 tea receives a score of 100 from me. This is the one.

I’m not entirely sure what I think of this tea. Before it arrived in my order, I stumbled upon the reviews here and kept note of what everyone was saying. Once it arrived, I noticed that the smell of the dry tea reminded me of oatmeal raisin cookies. I made the tea, and sweetened it with honey. The resulting taste reminded of me burnt chocolate and I definitely understand where everyone is getting “muddy” from. The strong flavors I hoped for all blend together in one big slightly cinnamon and chocolate cup of tea. I don’t even taste the coconut. I might try with light agave nectar to see if maybe that’ll bring out more of the flavors. If not, I’m going to hope that the taste grows on me the more I drink it.

Edit: Ok, I was right. The more I drink this tea, the more it grows on me. I also had to change me steeping time and sweetener. I found that if I steep it for the full 7 minutes and then sweeten it with light agave nectar, it’s actually fairly sweet and delicious. I actually really enjoy this tea now and am quickly powering through, which makes me sad because this tea is limited edition. Overall, now I would recommend the tea, BUT you have to play around with steeping times.

First time (literally) trying this tea since DAVIDsTea brought this back for Halloween 2015.

Trying too hard not to let ‘Hocus Pocus’ distract me from reviewing this tea.

I’m getting more of a cinnamon taste to this than anything else, but there is a slight after taste that I’m really trying to place, it’s either the chocolate or the coconut or a combination of both.
I can taste the chocolate and the coconut as well as the black tea. The chocolate is a bit bitter, like Dark Chocolate Delight, so I think that masks the coconut taste a bit. (ie: I LOATHE the smell and taste of coconut, but if it’s disguised well in something, I’m usually ok).

The taste isn’t horribly strong, but you do get a punch of flavour with every sip, although I do not like it when it starts to get cold…blech.

It’s not bad, I ordered the Tombstone box with 100g, but I’m not gonna miss this when I finish it.
I loved and miss Swampwater 100x more than I do this, also I was disappointed when they only brought this one back this year, when last year they brought back 3.

I won’t be restocking this tea any time soon and I won’t miss it when it’s gone,

Final tea of the night, Stormy Night for what has turned out to be a very personally stormy night. But this tea is like an old friend who will always be there for me, the spicy vanilla goodness soothing to my very soul.

A sample from Shmiracles. This is an interesting one. Judging from the name and a couple of ingredients, I was expecting quite a dark, moody tea. Instead, it’s actually quite light and refreshing — more summer rain than dark winter, strangely. On the other hand, this would be a good tea to curl up in the warm with on the aforementioned dark, stormy winter night. Its ingredients might even be a pleasant reminder if warmer wather to come.

The initial sip is mostly cinnamon, which is followed by satisfyingly creamy coconut and vanilla. The chocolate comes out last, and lingers long in the aftertaste. It’s milk chocolate, rather than dark, and it seems to bind all of the other flavours together fairly effectively — like a friend in common. Taken together, it actually works better than I expected it to…spicy, sweet, creamy, chocolatey. It’s a warming, comforting cup…perfect with a splash of milk.

I was hoping for something a little darker and more brooding, but I’m pleased with what I actually got. An unusual combination of ingredients, and a pleasant tea to have tried. Thanks again to Shmiracles for sharing this with me!