Chocolate Orange Pu'erh

I notoriously dislike pu’erh tea, so I was leary – but I love chocolate and orange together. I really enjoyed this – it was rich and actually chocolaty, with the definite orange peel flavor. I saw someone compare it to the chocolate covered orange peel candy (which my son always gets me for every birthday because he knows I like it and he won’t steal that one), and I’d agree. It definitely is the drink version of that. It is earthy but pleasantly so, and definitely dark chocolate as opposed to milk or cocoa. I did pick out some of the chocolate chips from the steeping basket and put them directly in my cup. Added some rock sugar and this was enough to get me to avoid the chocolate doughnuts on the counter. (But now the tea is gone, and the doughnuts are not…)

The first few tried, I had this hot steeped and I really didn’t like it. It was bitter and burnt, without much of a chocolate or orange flavour.

However, adding hot water to the tea an cold steeping it over night, and then diluting the tea with hot water the next day really helped bring out the chocolate flavour. I did have to scoop out the frozen lipids from the chocolate chip.

The new way of drinking this made it tolerable, but I would not re-order.

Got this from the ‘christmas treats’ sampler. Meh, it’s ok, I’ll have the other half of it another time, but it’s not going on my list to buy.

Disclaimer: I’m far from a tea connaisseur/enthusiast. My notes are not meant to be a review for the tea community, but rather for myself so I know what to buy or not buy again (I wish there was a way to keep notes private).

Thanks to Super Starling! for a sample of this.

For someone who very rarely drinks flavored/scented teas, I have to admit that I love the smell of this. Citrusy orange, rich chocolate, and earthy puerh are all evident in the scent of both the dry leaves and the steeped liquid. It almost has a children’s fairy tale scent to it. Something nostalgic. I’m not sure why that is what it evokes but it does.

On first sip, that orange chocolate hits you up front and then at the last second gives you a glipse of the puerh. I’m not sure if anyone has ever had candied orange peel? And further yet, I’m not sure if anyone else has ever had candied orange peel dipped in dark chocolate but this is what it reminds me of. It’s actually… pretty good. Coming from a purist like me, I’m a little shocked that I like it so.

So, congrats Leah. You have already partly converted me to being open to the world of flavored teas.

While driving into work, I actively craved this tea. It’s a rich, robust little number.
Upon arrival, it totally hits the spot on this murky, ambivalent morning. The weather isn’t tough enough to commit to rain, wind, or sun. It’s just an overcast with a ruffly, apathetic breeze. So frustrating.
But the tea is DEFINITELY the liquid equivalent of a dark chocolate orange break-apart ball from Easter. That much is certain.

I wasnt expecting to like this, because generally I havent liked chocolate flavored tea. But I was looking for orange flavored stuff and this actually smelled really nice so I gave it a try. And it ended up becoming one of my faves this winter! If you’ve ever had orange flavored chocolate, this really tastes JUST like it. Its a perfectly equal blend of chocolate and orange flavor, and the pu-erh works well with it, not overpowering, and allows the two other flavors to come through instead. Works absolutely fantastic as a latte as well, its like a perfect low calorie orange flavored hot chocolate.

so i’m like sitting here looking out the window and I can see three fluffy white clouds. it just gets me thinking… why are there only three? then I think of this tea. it has two flavours: chocolate and orange. why aren’t there three? so yes, I do like this tea. but it needs something else. milk? sugar? i’ll never know….

I love this tea! I can’t have it by itself with a splash of milk, though. It’s a little too strong for me like that. What I do is do a milk to water ratio of 3:1, so I heat up my water and slip it into my brewer while I have the milk on the stove. Once it’s finished brewing, I pour the tea into the milk on the stove with a tsp of cane sugar, and it is fabulous.

Received this from EmilyGee to try, thanks Emily!

It smells more chocolate/orange dry than it does when brewed. I don’t sense the orange anywhere except maybe a slight hint of citrus right at the end. But it’s ever so faint, I miight even just be willing my tastebuds to notice it.
The chocolate is there, but in a very earthy sense as opposed to the sweet commercial sense. Or it could just be that I’m not familiar with pu-erh tea and the earthiness is from that.
I don’t think it’s orangy enough for my liking, so I doubt I’d buy it in future.