Venetian Tiramisu

2025 TTB #23

This didn’t really taste like tiramisu, but it did have a pleasant, light chocolate and vanilla flavor, with the hojicha adding a bit of nuttiness and depth.

There just isn’t much flavor in this tea at all. I’ve given it several tries and I wonder if I got an old tin? Mainly a flavor of cardboard and dust. I’ve tried increasing the amount of tea, and that didn’t help. Out it goes.

Huh, this was very different tasting that I expected it to be.

Not bad, though! Definitely not bad. It’s crazy how clearly the aroma and taste remind me of the sweeter liqueur soaked lady fingers that make up the base of Tiramisu. That’s so not the element I would have thought to focus on with this profile. I would have absolutely expected there to still be a more liqueur like element but either chocolate or coffee to be the main flavour. Both of those are present. Barely. It’s like an ethereal whisper or thought of coffee/chocolate.

The overall body is lighter too, from the base choices. I wish there was more hojicha, not necessarily for taste (though I like the gentle golden roast) but for depth. This feels almost “fragile” for such a decadent concept.

Without a name to guide my interpretation, I probably would have called this some kind of generic chocolate pastry. Not sure what. The boozier notes likely would have thrown me for a loop, truthfully.

Love m some hojicha. Tiramisu…. kinda. Not a big coffee flavor fan. I like to smell coffee, but not a fan of drinking it. Actually, I’m a bit surprised they didn’t add any coffee anything to this. The flavor is fairly reminiscent of tiramisu. It really hits the most in the aftertaste. This blend really could have benefited from just a hint of coffee extract because the main flavor, as it sits in your mouth, is kind of… meh. But perhaps what it really needs is more leaf? A spot of milk? Maybe the flavor was ruined by an offending tea in the bunch of this TTB. I shall steep it longer. 5 Mins later. Reveals some bitter notes from coffee but does not increase the overall satisfaction of the drink.

Sipdown! (25 | 299)

Mastress Alita’s Sipdown Challenge (October) – “A coffee tea”

I seem to remember liking this one much more than I actually do… Honestly I’m not tasting much other than a mild hojicha and a bit of chocolate flavoring. Or maybe it’s the brandy, I can’t tell, it tastes a bit boozy. There’s a cardboardy taste as well.

It’s not terrible, I’m just finding it quite bland? And I’m not getting coffee at all, though judging by the ingredients I guess they’re counting on the hojicha to convey that note. Anyway, happy to be finished with the tin. Maybe I’ll get a fresh sample the next time I order from Harney to see if I feel any differently about it…

2022 sipdown no. 43

I would say this has the essence of tiramisu. You know it’s there somewhere, but is it just imagination? Thanks Cameron!

I may have messed up my sample with the brewing. The base is white and the second Hojicha, so I brewed as for white with 5 minutes brew time and 1.5 tsp to 8 oz. Still a bit mild, but the color was nice and the flavor smooth. My son couldn’t taste anything – he did a sample with me – but he’s used to black teas. My sample is a bit older so it’s also possible age hurt it a bit. I found it soft but pleasant and enjoyed the cup. I don’t think I enjoyed enough to order a full tin but this is a pleasant tea.

Really wanted to like this one and was really looking forward to having it. I tried it hot several times and now I’m trying it iced. Still not that great. It tastes really artificial, the end of the sip has a flat cardboard taste and the finish keeps me wavering between thinking I like it for a second and sure that I don’t. I’m pretty sure that I don’t.

Great aroma, a lot of chocolate and vanilla flavor. Seems accurate to what they’re going for, just not really my thing.

2025 TTB.

Yoink! I love this blend and I’ve been out of it for two years, so I’m going to selfishly keep the bag from the TTB. Just a bit of brown sugar makes the flavors pop even more. Chocolate, vanilla, coffee, and I could swear there’s a whiff of alcohol at the end of the sip. Not alcohol in the “this tastes like rubbing alcohol” way, but in the “this has a liquor flavor” way. Hands down the best TTB blend I’ve had today.