Chili-Chocolate Black Tea

I was pretty excited to see this one in the box o’ teas teaplz sent me. Not so much because I think it will taste fantastic or anything. Just because it seems funky and fun. And oh yeah, hopefully good.

The dry leaves smell nice. It doesn’t scream chocolate to me but that’s probably because I’m looking for a more cocoa powder smell when it comes to tea and chocolate notes. It reminds me more of… vanilla bean. Of which I don’t think there is any in the tea so I might be insane. The smell of the dry leaf carries across pretty faithfully to the tea. But it smells… richer, a little deeper. It brews up pretty light for such a powerful smelling tea. But at the same time, it doesn’t seem overpowering or too unnatural of a flavor. It just smells like strong tea.

Now on to the taste. This tea is different and it’s going to be hard to explain this right. Based on the smell, I expected a POW of flavor and I didn’t get that. The flavor seems to be more in the feel of the tea. The smell and the taste it leaves on my tongue after I swallow. The warmth of the chili that seems to build as I sip. It’s a soft flavor. It’s truly tea with the flavor of chili and chocolate, not a flavored tea. Does that distinction make sense? Okay, okay, my brain still reads that chocolate taste as vanilla bean. But the point stands that the main thing is that this is a tea. And oh yeah, it’s flavored.

It’s totally not what I was expecting especially based on the smell but it is pretty fantastic. Subtle and soft but obviously there. It’s simultaneously energizing (hello chili!) and mellowing.

It makes me want to drink this sitting by the fire in a nice lodge after a long day of skiing. Which actually, any day including skiing is going to be long because I can’t do it. At all. I can only snowboard moderately well but this tea isn’t a in-the-lodge-post-snowboarding tea. It actually makes me think of gourmet hot chocolate. Or as a gourmet hot chocolate substitute. And it makes my tongue burn a bit – it a good way. Yay chili! So yeah, this tea is funky and I really like it!

My 1st TeaGshwendner tea! Got this one from teaplz. =D

The raw leaf smells sooo good! Like liquid chocolate w/ just a hint of spice. I was quite shocked at the steeping time, but decided to follow it. The resulting cuppa was much more red in color than brown and the perfect combo of chocolate, chili, and black tea.

In spite of the short steeping time, the flavor is just like the scent. The chili is much less potent than in 52teas Mayan Chocolate Chai, bit it is definitely there. It rounds out the other 2 flavors and warms the mouth. So good!

This one is so bizarre.

So this is the last of my TeaGschwendner teas to taste, and I really haven’t been enjoying any of their offerings. This might be near the top of the pack, however.

I actually really love chocolate with heat and spice. Lindt makes a pretty awesome chocolate and chili bar, and I’m sure other companies do as well. So why not a chocolate and chili tea?

This one is actually very beautiful dry. There’s red pieces of chili, and the seeds, all against pieces of bean and black tea. It pretty much smells like chocolate, but mixed with a bean-like smell. Maybe it’s because the chocolate flavor is mainly coming from the pieces of bean and nib and other random cocoa pieces?

Anyway, after this one is steeped, the color is a very brilliant orange-red color. It’s surprisingly lighter than I thought it would be, and smells almost like a watered down version of H&S’s Florence, without the hazelnut. Which was a pretty good sign!

The taste… is really actually different than I thought it was going to be. There is a black tea taste, but it’s fairly subtle. In fact, all of the flavors are a bit subtle. I wish it was a bit more robust, but… it’s definitely serviceable. The chocolate actually tastes better than I expected it would. I wasn’t thinking that it was going to be a real true milk chocolate-type taste after I had read other people’s tasting notes. But I was surprised that it didn’t taste like that fake, cheap dollar-store chocolate. It’s more of a savory chocolate taste than a sweet one, which I think is a bit fun.

Now, onto the chili. I immediately felt a bit of the tingle on my tongue. I’m hyper-sensitive to this stuff, so… yeah. I’m the one that orders mild. It was a nice tingle, though. It’s less of a chili-specific taste, and more of a heat that builds. I felt it in the back of the throat as well. Luckily, it wasn’t overwhelming!

The tea becomes a bit more tasteless as it cools, which was disappointing. But overall, this one’s fairly good. Definitely not the best chocolate tea ever (for now, that spot is held by Harney’s Florence), but the chili is a nice little twist. I can’t ever see myself ordering this again, as it’s a novelty thing more than a lasting thing, but it’s good for what it is!

Now it’s time to watch the Amazing Race and laugh at the fact that that silly beauty queen idiot is on! Happy Valentine’s Day, Steepster!

Auggy was drinking this a couple of days ago, and so I decided to drink it as well, as I’d also gotten some from teaplz. [Folks, it took me literally five minutes to structure that sentence to a point where it made sense so please bear with me today. I also just typed out “sentence,” as esetnce, senetence, setence, sentece, and pony. I don’t know what’s going on this week, I’ve got a really bad case of the mental klutzes.]

I was expecting something like Decaffeinated Chai Agni. That, this was not.

I should have been expecting it after reading Auggy’s review [which I am now perusing again and is bringing me to realize I’m about two days behind on logs]. First of all, at times it smelled like Red Vines [best red licorice ever]. Red Vines, but also…peanut brittle? Maybe? It was something specific, but I couldn’t quite place it and whatever it was that I was smelling was not matching up with what I was expecting to smell.

When I started sipping it, all I could think at first was, “Yep. This isn’t chocolate.” When I began to try and place what it was, all I could think of was that toffee, caramel-like, brittle-taste. I’d almost call it butterscotch. Somewhere in that general family of tastes was where this landed for me.

And then the chili started to arrive, like a train approaching in the distance. I could feel its presence in little pwiffs on the tip of my tongue, and then it grew in volume where it was undeniably there. Luckily, it remained at a volume where it was enjoyable. In that aspect, it reminded me quite a bit of the Decaf Chai Agni [and thankfully, not of the Mayan Chocolate thing].

I’d like to say that I was able to find some chocolate in the tea, but I don’t think I did. At times, I thought I might be tasting it, but it never grabbed me enough to be able to say anything definitively. What I did taste, when I thought I was tasting it, wasn’t a dark chocolate, or a cocoa, or a good milk chocolate taste. It wasn’t Godiva, and it wasn’t even Hershey’s, it was like…Russell Stover. Or Fannie May. Not that I want to rag on those two companies, but in the hierarchy of quality chocolate I’d pin them near the bottom of the totem pole. It’s not that they’re bad, they’re just…no Scharffen Berger. So I’m going to officially unofficially declare that this tea had no chocolate taste for me.

When these two things came together [and it’s possible there were more components to it that I just wasn’t able to pick out], I didn’t really know what to think. Forgiving the absence of chocolate in a supposedly chocolate tea [which was a bit of a high hump to climb over] the tastes did not marry well in my mind. When I think butterscotch sprinkled with chili powder, I do not think, “Oooh, NOM.” And that is what I was essentially tasting. To repeat the mantra that I seem to be using for many of these types of teas that fall in this category for me, “It wasn’t bad, it was just…not good.”

The chili on its own was nice. That was at a good level. I wish I had gotten some vanilla bean from it like Auggy had, because I can see vanilla and chili possibly working together well-ish.

I can’t paint my face and jump up screaming in the stands for this tea. I’m not even sure that I’d sit there and half-heartedly wave a flag. But I’ll go to the game and drink a beer. And if they want me to hold up one of those colored cards to make some kind of picture message at some point, I’ll do that, too, even if mainly because no one likes the dead-pixel-a**hat who refuses to do even that. This metaphor is out of control. I’m going to end this log.

I’m visiting my family and my tea materials are somewhat limited. Yesterday, we did do a little grocery shopping so we had chocolate soy milk in the house. Since that was my only “creamer” option, I added a little of that and a little sugar. And this is an amazing cup of tea! The chocolate is clearly pronounced and the chili kick is really there.

Also, I noticed today that there are chili seeds in the tea as well!

This is a GOOD tea. This is one of those really unique blends that should have been put into the classic tea lexicon a long time ago. Imagine how much more sensual and interesting the world would be if the British were drinking this instead of Earl Grey!

The black tea is standard TeaGschwender fare, the same good quality tea they use is most of their flavored blends. There are a lot of chocolate-flavored teas out there, but the American trend is to do it with chocolate pieces…that is: chocolate chips or flakes of a chocolate bar. While that adds a little creaminess, it also adds sugar and milk to the extraction. TG uses cocoa bean giving the extraction a much more pure chocolate flavor without the extras. Because of this, this tea is for real chocolate people. Its not bitter or harsh (but gets that way quick if you steep it too long).

The best part? The chili. If your liquid is still too hot It doesn’t hit you right away. Of course, if you are scalding your tongue with the liquid, the heat from the chili is reduced. Wait a few minutes before you drink it. The chili snaps out at you fairly quick and lingers through the after taste. Great stuff here! The chocolate and chili compliment each other fantastic way.

This is not a weak or mild flavored tea at all, this one is strong and satisfying. For a tea time that almost qualifies as a meal, drink this tea along with one of the great chili-chocolate bars that have been popular in recent years.

Tea Gschwender has some of the best and most detailed brewing instructions in the industry. Each tea has its own recommendations – this comes as a result of the enormous amount of testing the company does in their labs. This company is a favorite of the Leafbox staff because of this, we’ve found no other company that prepares and tests their products as thoroughly as TG does.

This tea should become a staple for chocolate and chili lovers. Keep this one handy for those mornings when something exotic is needed.

Ah! Aha!
Alright folks, this is it. They did it. . . this tea gets me, I mean it really understands me deep down. (Drink this.)

Its spicy, like chili spicy. And friggin cocoa! It’s obvious to me now that TeaGschwendner knows how to blend. As has been said, maybe not for the purist. However if you are in any way adventurous you must try this tea.

I was disappointed in this tea to be quite frank. It is not bad by any means, but for me, I was not to fond. For me, the black tea was too mild and it could have used more robustness to pull me in. I think there are times in which I will be able to enjoy this tea; however, it will not be a regular staple for me. Overall consensus: some people will love this tea and instantly fall in love, but for the tea purist, it may take little while for you to appreciate.

Addendum: photos (http://twitpic.com/ri495 http://twitpic.com/ri4rp)

This was quite fantastic- a very good black tea with what at first seems a slight taste of rich cocoa bean and chili. The chili and chocolate flavours build slowly and wonderfully as you drink and leave a long rich finish. Really plays beautifully with your taste buds- and stays in your memory. I want more! An unforgetable tea.

1400th tasting note!

Sipdown no. 38 of 2018 (no. 394 total).

Last time I wrote a note about this, I mentioned that I didn’t get any heat from the chili. I want to correct the record on that a bit. Toward the end of that cup, after I’d written the note, I did start to notice a bit of heat, enough to cause some tongue tingling.

Today, I’m getting the same. So there’s definitely some heat here. The fact that this does live up to its name isn’t enough to change my overall impression, though.