Brunch in Paris Black Tea

Tea caption claims: “Transport yourself to a dreamy place in one sip”

Plum Deluxe has a lot of delightful, flavored bags of tea and a nifty sampler system. I did a three tea sampler today with three cups of similar teas from a tea sampler order. Brunch in Paris Black Tea, Comfort Blend Black Tea, and Rainy Day Puerh. All three are similar enough in ingredients and taste.

Like many Plum Deluxe teas, despite the advertisement and the smell, the tastes are mellow and weaker for flavored teas. Brunch in Paris was surprisingly the darkest of the three cups, with the other two being lighter and golden. I did the samples with 1/2 tsp in slightly less than 4 oz tea cups at 200 temperature and 4 minute steep, 1/2 tsp. sugar per cup.
Brunch is Paris comes across as calming, mellow, non-bitter, mild black tea with a touch of orange and a smidgen of honey memory. The cocoa nibs disappear. The flavor does not fully match the color nor the description. Brunch in Paris is drinkable, but not memorable. Fortunately the orange is there without the rind and this one doesn’t have an astringency pucker. It blends together well and naturally, just not strongly.

Makes a good tea latte.

This was one of the teas provided to me for sample by Plum Deluxe, thank you so much Plum Deluxe! I have been curious about this tea because I love chocolate orange as a flavor pairing, but have yet to try a chocolate orange tea that I really like (Terry’s Tea from Bird & Blend really didn’t do it for me, not having much chocolately flavor and the orange coming off with that very artificial flavor that I typically find of the orange flavoring used in teas). I was very curious to see how this one would go over with me, or if I’d find the same problems I tend to find with chocolate orange teas.

The smell in the package definitely reminds me of those dark chocolate covered orange gummy candies I got once at Trader Joe’s and loved; brewed, the orange aroma is presenting a little more of that “artificial flavor” orange I’m used to in teas, but I’m surprised how strong the chocolate is coming off the top of the cup, since I’m used to chocolate notes not presenting well in tea. The flavor is actually surprisingly nice; the chocolate notes are coming through well, more of a dark/bittersweet chocolate but there is some sweetness there as well. The citrus is a little artificial, but not overbearingly so compared to some orange teas I’ve tried, it is on par with some orange sweets I’ve tried. There is a pleasant citrus zest tartness on the back of my tongue, likely from the actual orange peel in the blend. The tea base, a blend of black tea and honeybush, is nice; I’m wondering if a naturally chocolately Chinese black is used (it isn’t specified), but I think the honeybush adds a touch of rounding sweetness to some of the tart citrus notes. There is a good balance. While I haven’t tried a lot of chocolate orange teas, this one definitely holds up as the best of the onest I have tried, and certainly one I wouldn’t mind having again.

Oh, I love this one!!! I love anything chocolate and orange, and this one actually has enough of both flavors to balance out well. As always, I love the black tea and honeybush mixture that gives me the black tea flavor and backbone without as much caffeine. I brewed this at a lower temp for longer and that seemed to really bring out the flavors. Definitely will order more!

Well hit my feet and call me Brenda………..this is a very, very good tea! Sweet, mildly orange with the scent of cacao EO, giving the slightest hint of bitterness to keep it rounded. The brew is a dark, rich mahogany color and it smells phenomenal.
I added some sugar and a small dollop of cream (yes cream, not milk) and it hits all the right notes for me to make it a dessert like experience without being cloying or artificial. The ‘higher’ notes……orange and chocolate…..dissipate a bit as it sits but the flavor isn’t overly affected by that. The orange and chocolate are still present as you would find in perhaps a tea bread……..not too sweet, dense and satisfying. This would be a great crowd pleaser for the holidays….Thanksgiving comes to mind as it doesn’t exactly scream ‘Christmas’ but crisp fall weather.

The 16 year old says: “if my school actually had tea this good I would order it there.”