Spicy Chocolate

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Chinese Black Tea, Chocolate Flavor, Spices
Flavors
Chocolate, Spices, Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cocoa, Creamy, Sweet, Peppercorn, Clove
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
High
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by sherapop
Average preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 10 oz / 289 ml

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67 Tasting Notes View all

  • “Tea of the afternoon here. I am not having a stellar day. I went to occupational therapy this morning for my hands/wrist which was good, but then my arm and shoulder have been really bothering me...” Read full tasting note
    90
  • “This one is going in the TTB (take 2) box that will be sent to Jason tomorrow THANKS TO AMAZONV!!!! She told me I could sample it before sending off! Woot! Thanks girl! It smells like a...” Read full tasting note
    87
  • “Yes. I approve! Also, this is really especially good if you take a sip of it right after taking a bite out of a chocolate bar. I suspect this is a secret that applies to ALMOST every tea. But...” Read full tasting note
    77
  • “Finishing and decupboarding this one today. It remains my favorite among the Kusmi chocolates, but the Kusmi chocolates remain not my favorite Kusmis as subtlety and chocolate do not go together in...” Read full tasting note
    72

From Kusmi Tea

Black tea from China flavored with natural essences of chocolate and spices.

About Kusmi Tea View company

Company description not available.

67 Tasting Notes

81
7 tasting notes

This tea has a pleasant chocolate smell, and I like the spicy taste, but I like it even better with just a little bit of spiced honey in it. mmmmmm

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2965 tasting notes

I’ve got to catch up with my advent tea logging! Whoops!
I don’t really like chocolate teas, and so this tea works out for me, as I don’t taste too much chocolate.
The spices taste rather bitter to me, so this is not my favorite blend. Not bad to try, but I’m not going to bring it in permanently.

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83
379 tasting notes

Sipdown. I had received a cute little gift set that included this. The little tin cans are adorable. Girly girly moment I guess.

I liked it as suggested but it was far better with splashes of milk and ice cubes. Is that a latte? I know nothing about how you all prepare your lattes… Etc. lol I just know that the cardamom, cloves, cocoa… Etc. melded together better with a little milk and ice cubes. Maybe because it is so hot outside.

Alone, it was good too. I wouldn’t classify it as rich though. Very light taste. Unflavored black teas have stronger notes. I could taste (as usual) only a hint of the cocoa. The cloves were more prominent. It’s a light tea though, no matter how long I brewed it. Desert tea, for sure.

Flavors: Cardamom, Cinnamon, Cloves, Cocoa, Spices

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML
Kittenna

I think a lot of people do the classic hot milk/froth/extra-strong shot of steeped tea sort of latte. I’m too lazy for that, and only do the infuse-directly-into-hot-milk type, and the add-a-splash-of-milk type. Neither of which are likely technically lattes, but IMO has a similar effect?

Kawaii433

@Kittenna I’m too lazy for all that too. Guess I’m a “Add-a-splash-of-milk” type here. I agree that it all has a similar effect. Thanks for some clarification. Always love feedback :)

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60
116 tasting notes

Overall, a balanced tea. Usually, I don’t like spice in my tea, however, in this case this tea does a good job of managing the spices so that they are not sharp. The chocolate is not as strong and has a subtle darker flavor. This was a gift and I was not excited with either chocolate or the spices but I am surprised that this tea was able to deliver a flavor that was not overpowering.

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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76
105 tasting notes

I taste some cinnamon, … But where’s the chocolate? In my opinion, Chocolate Chili chai from Davidstea does a better job in the same kind. It’s a nice tea still, I’m just disappointed because I had some expectations.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 45 sec

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82
4169 tasting notes

I had this one a few days ago and I forgot to write a note! Thanks so much CHAroma! I like this one – it has a caramel flavor to me more than chocolate. Usually the Kusmi black tea base isn’t my favorite, but it blends really well here. It might be a different black tea than usual though. Since it is a Chinese black tea, I’m sure the caramel/chocolate notes are from the tea itself. Just enough spice added to make it interesting.
Steep #1 // just boiled // 3 min

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65
3986 tasting notes

This sample came from Roswell Strange. I’ve liked most of the Kusmi teas I’ve tried so far, so I asked for this one even though I’ve been underwhelmed by most chocolate teas. There are a few pieces of what I assume are cinnamon stick mixed in with the generic-looking black tea. I didn’t get a lot of smell from the dry leaf, something vaguely sweet and spicy. I steeped it for 3 minutes

The brewed tea smells kind of spicy with maybe a little bit of milk chocolate. Meh… I’m finding this tea very underwhelming. I don’t really get much chocolate out of it, just a vague sort of sweet creaminess. And I guess there’s a hint of spice, but it’s nowhere near as present as I would expect. So mostly it just tastes like a mediocre black tea with a bit of cream to me. Sad day… I sometimes appreciate subtle flavoring but this one is too subtle for me I guess. :P

Flavors: Creamy, Spices, Sweet

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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72
15575 tasting notes

Sipdown (140/147)!

Thank you VariaTEA for the sample! I ended up splitting it so I could send a cup worth off to Cameron B. in the swap we just did, but first I made my cup! I think I’ve had this one for quite some time; I honestly don’t remember when you send it to me/which packaged you sent it in, but I forgot I even had it until Cameron requested it.

I had to fish it out of my sample bag stored in the closet! Honestly I probably put it off because of the spice. Oops! It really wasn’t so bad though.

I added milk to my cup, and the resulting brew ended up tasting like really weak hot chocolate or watery chocolate milk, with this odd spicy/peppery aftertaste that tickled my throat. I wish I knew what spices specifically are in this one; I didn’t taste cloves, ginger or cardamom which are “common offenders”, but I did get some cinnamon-ish notes (another common guy). More interestingly though, I got peppercorn/chili pepper spice, but I didn’t see anything in the dry leaf that would indicate that. There was also a really faint bitterness to the black base, but I think I may have oversteeped it a little bit, and that could be what was contributing that taste.

Overall, I think I just wish it was a tad bit richer in the chocolate department, but on the whole it was better than I was expecting it to be. I hope Cameron enjoys it!

I still have 17 more tasting notes to write, but I’m really tired and it’s three in the morning, and what I’ve done tonight feels like an accomplishment, so I think I’ll pick up where I’m leaving off in the queue tomorrow when I get up. Hooray for having the day off and not having plans/errands to run!

Flavors: Chocolate, Cinnamon, Peppercorn

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80
303 tasting notes

Actually, I was quite afraid of how this tea would turn out, so the first sip was a “delicate” moment, but it tasted alright. Spicy (in the sense of the Xmas teas) whereas the chocolate blends everything well together, without giving it too much sweetness or bitterness. Very forgiving as well when leaving the cup to cool down a bit…

Flavors: Chocolate, Spices

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 300 ML

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37
278 tasting notes

I’m going to stop drinking the Kusmi teas for awhile because every time I open the little tin, they smell amazing, but after steeping, there’s not much aroma, and not much overall flavor. Maybe these need to be sweetened to bring out more flavor. I will try that next.

I do think that if something is called “Spicy Chocolate”, then it should taste like chocolate which is also spicy. When I saw this tin, I had visions of either a chocolate chai or a chili chocolate bar kind of flavor. But no.

Preparation
Boiling 5 min, 15 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
ohfancythat

When I first started experimenting with lots of new teas, I was disappointed by Kusmi. 6 months later I came back around and now a year later I really appreciate the subtle flavoring and smooth base vs the overpowering chemical flavoring some other companies use.

Caramel and St Petersburg and the chocolate orange mate energy one (I forget the name) are my favorites.

Maybe come back to them later and see how you feel!

SarsyPie

Absolutely! Do you sweeten them or do anything differently with your brewing?

I am going to try the four red fruits again today with a little rock sugar, just to see how that goes. If there’s no improvement for me, I will put these aside, play with other teas, and go back later. :)

ohfancythat

I don’t sweeten them but I don’t sweeten anything anymore…however when I first got my Kusmi teas I was drinking a lot of DellaTerra and Davidstea sweet dessert blends, so Kusmi tasted very pale and dull in comparison.

Now I find I’m a lot more sensitive to sugar and additives in that the sweet dessert teas have become too much for me and I prefer something subtler… But sweetening would definitely help bring out the flavours!

SarsyPie

Thanks for the comments! I think my taste buds just need some time. Right now, when I taste a flavored tea, I think they expect to taste the fruit, spice, etc, but I think they’re also programmed for sweetness. Hopefully that will pass, but for now, I think I’ll lightly sweeten, if needed.

I don’t think I ever sweeten unflavored teas anymore, but I just added a little to my Tao of Tea Black Mango this AM and it’s much better. The mango definitely shows up to play now. I’ll try using a little less each time, until my taste buds stop being little whiney babies screaming for sugar! :p

boychik

i would try steeping in milk(almond,coconut, any) sweeten and see if flavors will come out. i bet it will

SarsyPie

I don’t drink cow milk, but I could try with almond or soy milk. You just heat the milk to the same temp as you would heat water and then steep the tea in that? Never tried that before, but I’m willing to give it a shot! Thanks!

Skulleigh

I generally drink the black Kusmi teas as lattes, and quite enjoy the Russian ones that way. They do tend to kind of blend together (in that I can’t tell much difference between all the essentially Earl Grey variations they have) except Prince Vladimir, which is my favorite. I loathe their Energy tea though. It tastes like an ashtray, bleargh.

ohfancythat

Euphoria, that’s the one I love. First one I fell for, actually

boychik

I would simmer it gently in milk for maybe 5 min, maybe more. Terri does it in crockpot for several hrs. It needs sugar too to bring out the flavors( or maple syrup, any sweetener of you choice)

SarsyPie

Thanks for all the suggestions! I am off work tomorrow, so I’ll try this in the AM!

ohfancythat

I will have to try this too!

SarsyPie

I got distracted with other teas, but I did finally try this one gently simmered in almond milk instead of water. I added some rock sugar, too. It was better, but I still wasn’t getting any chocolate flavors. Just a nice tea flavor. I tried it with the usual tea amounts, and even ended up adding more tea hoping to bring out the flavors. Oh well! It was worth a shot!

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