Chocolate Puerh

I got this tea as a sample for following Numi on Twitter. I am a little scared on Puerh and I had never tried it before, but I must say that I am very glad I got this sample because this is one of the best chocolate teas I have ever had.

The tea did have kind of a weird earthy smell and I don’t think I would want to drink it cold but when hot this tea has a wonderful depth. The chocolate flavor has so many rich dimensions that I could swear I was drinking something bad for me.

I had this tea plain but it had a wonderfully creamy and sweet essence. There was also a lovely hint of cinnamon in the background that really enhanced the flavor. I am definitely gonna have to get myself some of this in the future!

Had this tea this AM w/a little bit of milk and lots of sugar. This is the perfect way to start the day w/ a bold and assertive flavor and the brewing times aren’t too picky…. The tea tastes slightly spicy and slightly earthy…..It really is becoming my favorites and it is a bagged tea!

Sipdown no. 52 of 2016 (no. 263 total).

The last of the Numi Puerhs is no more.

I have been swilling this at work like there was no tomorrow for the past week. It still reminds me more of gingerbread than chocolate. My favorite of the Numi puerhs and with the rest of them, a helpful starter puerh.

I may revisit it at some point in the future, but for now, too many other teas, too little time, so no immediate restock even though I quite like it.

Today has been a good day, I have spent it sipping very strong black tea, avoiding the cold with a lap cat, finalizing some perler project plans, and watching Let’s Plays for the new game, Starbound. I am certainly going to play it (assuming my computer doesn’t laugh at the mere thought of me attempting it, much like it did with Minecraft) next time I have money to buy a new game. You all know me, I am a sucker for games with amazing pixel sprites, it is one of my passions. Of course you are all here for my other passion, tea! Welcome to day five of Pu Erh week!

Today we are looking at Chocolate Pu Erh by Numi Organic Tea. I actually first tried this tea almost two years ago, but that was in the dark age when I didn’t review teas so I remember next to nothing about it except that I liked it, so it is time to take another look at it. The aroma is very chocolaty with a slight touch of vanilla and spice. The aroma is more like a truffle than a tea since I do not detect any aroma of the Pu Erh, I am suspecting this will be a potent dessert tea.

Once I introduce the teabag to its nice hot bath I start to notice the aroma of tea, it comes through as earthy and a touch malty. There is of course still a very strong aroma of chocolate and spices, primarily nutmeg, and a tiny hint of vanilla. The tea is still very reminiscent of dessert and there is still not much of the tea aroma in this tea. I should note that even though the Pu Erh aroma is very faint the tea still smells really yummy.

Tasting time! Feel free to play the Final Fantasy VII Victory Fanfare in your mind in celebration of a successful steep, I know I do. The taste is chocolaty and creamy, like a mix of chocolate and vanilla truffles with a hint of a spiced aftertaste. It is not all just rich chocolate and vanilla though, there is an earthiness that is there under all the other flavors adding a weight to the sipping. The mouthfeel is brisk and the flavor is bright. I will call this a dessert tea but it is not overwhelmingly sweet, similar to dark chocolate, so it is good to drink alongside a dessert without having a sweetness overdose. As it cools I notice notes of roasted nuts and biscuit. Not bad, I wish there had been more of a Pu Erh taste, but this would be a great way to introduce a newcomer to the world of Pu Erh.

For photos and blog: http://ramblingbutterflythoughts.blogspot.com/2013/12/numi-organic-tea-chocolate-pu-erh-tea.html

So, we took this week off for our anniversary, and we did a day trip to Carmel and Monterey yesterday. I was a little sad to be away from all my teas, but we stopped in at a little place in Carmel for breakfast, who are known for their famous french toast, and I had some of this tea. The French toast was amazing…battered and fried like a funnel cake and served with homemade cinnamon maple syrup! Yum! I had some fresh fruit to help offset the heaviness.

I asked for tea and she brought out a basket piled high with mostly Numi tea bags. I decided to try the chocolate puerh, and it was pretty good! Does anyone know if they sell this tea loose leaf? The teabag, though, would be great to take on travel. Anyway, the tea reminded me of the bready quality puerh in sTEAp shoppe’s cinnamon swirl bread tea. Very nice, with added chocolate flavor. Not bad when you’re away from the stash!!

Hi again fellow Steepsters! Long time no see! I’ve been incredibly busy with end of semester projects, graduation (eek! Well, and yay!) and getting ready to move. I have still been drinking tea though! So some of the reviews to come may be from a bit ago or impressions from a bit ago and the present. Soooo… Here we go!

This was sent to me by Jaime! Thanks a ton! I’ve been wanting to try this forever.

The first time I steeped this, I used the water from my Sparkletts water jug dispenser (the hot side). Well, apparently it didn’t get hot enough that time and/or I was pretty impatient to make my tea (also likely), because after it steeped for about 4 min I tested the water and it was only lukewarm! I figured that I would try the tea anyway, but even as it cooled it still only tasted like water with some spices and pepper. Not too pleasant. I’ve never had a pu-erh tea before, but I figured that that couldn’t be right.

After chalking the first steeping experience up to user error, I tried it again yesterday. This time, I made sure that the water was hot enough, then steeped the tea bag for 4 min and then gave the cup a good stir to mix everything together (as recommended by Jaime). I could pretty much just taste water spices again while it was hot, but as it started to cool, I could really start to taste and smell the chocolate as well as the orange, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This is totally different from cocoa. If you are looking at this to be a replacement for that, then I think that you will be disappointed. But if you just look at this tea as being a different kind of beverage “option,” then you might be pleasantly surprised. This was a totally different tea experience for me, but you know what? I think that I liked it! I am going to try it one more time before I rate it and decide if I want to buy a box once I am finished with the samples.

Chai is that you??? this one taste like a Chai tea to me and smells like a Chai to me too, It’s really good but i dont taste much chocolate in here there other things cover it if its in there, I got this one in a Swap from someone who isnt on here on steepster so i didnt have to buy it and i’m glad because i almost bought some but now i wont cuz it’s pretty much puerh chai its still good but i want one that taste like chocolate for real maybe i can find a different chocolate puerh.

It’s spicy. Quite spicy. Not very pu-erhy though. Definitely not very chocolatey.

It’s not bad, but I was expecting something else. Earthy notes of chocolate with deep foresty cooked puerh… nope. It’s mostly just a spicy tea. I can appreciate that it’s well enough made, but I’m just not a fan of the genre.

I’m curious about what will happen if I add milk to this, which is my general practice with black teas and some cooked pu-erhs. I’ll report on that later.

I love teas naked, but chocolate or chai teas I need some milk or cream in them. I loved it with this tea. This is a nice, earthy tea. This is my first experience with pu’erh. This tea has coffee like components. It actually reminds me of freshly roasted Ethiopian coffee they serve at some good Ethiopian restaurants. Dark, smooth, and no bitterness. Not an everyday tea for me, but an every now and then kind of tea.

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 teabag 2.6g
Additives: none
Water: hot spigot water, 1 mug (12 oz?)
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: chai-like, spicy
Steeped Tea Smell: chocolate, nutmeg, vanilla
Flavor: chocolate, nutmeg, rooibos, earthy
Body: Medium
Aftertaste: nutmeg, cinnamon, warm spicy
Liquor: dark cloudy reddish-brown

Steepster Traveling Teabox Tea

It doesn’t have quite enough kick to be a chai. With all the rave reviews I was expecting something a bit more amazing. It is a nice spicy chocolate tea, but not something I am going to go out of my way to try. I am very glad I got the opportunity to give it a try via the teabox as I am not sure I would have been pleased to end up with an entire box of this tea. There are so many teas out there I want to try that i don’t want to be stuck with good tea, I want to only stock up on amazing tea.

Post-Steep Additives: none