Chocolate Coconut Lime

I wasn’t intending to write about this one yet since I tried it for the first time this morning during a rush to get the kids ready for swimming lessons, but I had to change my mind because of the comments coming from the breakfast table after I poured the water over the mixture.

Picture the mixture (there’s a photo at the top of the page of the black tea leaves, white coconut strips, chocolate chips). In the packet it has a v. strong scent of “lime,” a really acrid smell that borders on chlorine, with some not sweet chocolate underneath and some sweetness that may be the coconut in the corner. It’s on the kitchen counter having just had water poured over it.

Now picture the scene. Two boys, ages 4 and almost 6, eating microwave French toast from Trader Joe’s and drinking orange juice, and the boyfriend about to sit down with them while I am puttering making my own breakfast.

Boyfriend: “What’s that smell?”

Me: “Tea.”

Boyfriend walks over to cup and sniffs. “Caramel?”

Me: “No. Lime, chocolate and coconut.”

Boyfriend: “Ahhhh. It’s the coconut.” He starts to sing: “Put the lime in the coconut and drink it all up, put the lime in the coconut and call me in the morning. Wasn’t that Harry Nilsson, the same guy who did The Point?” He sits down.

Boyfriend: “God, that smells awful.”

6 Year old: “I can smell it from here. I don’t like it.”

Me: “Really? I don’t think it’s so bad.”

4 Year old (Mama’s boy, bless him): “I don’t think it’s so bad either.”

Boyfriend: “Who thinks it smells bad, raise your hand.” Raises hand. 6 year old raises hand.

I take a sip. It’s identifiably lime, coconut, and chocolate, but mostly the acrid lime that tastes a lot like it smells and is throwing the mixture off kilter. I put some milk in it and try again. Slightly better, still way too heavy on the lime. I look at the packet. Chocolate Coconut Lime. I am wondering why it isn’t called Lime Chocolate Coconut?

Me: “It doesn’t taste that good.”

4 year old: “Can I taste it?”

Me: “No.”

4 year old: “Is it tea?”

Me: Pause. Is it tea? Answer. “Yes.”

Sort of.

I have to say that this is one of the most unusual tea flavor combinations I’ve come across that I’ve actually been willing to taste. (I still won’t try peanut butter tea, sorry Frank)

I ordered it because of the word Chocolate in the name. That should come as no surprise to anyone who is at all familiar with my likes and dislikes when it comes to tea. But I felt.. somewhat confident that I might like it… I mean… I like chocolate. I like coconut. I like lime. I like lime and coconut together, and I like chocolate and coconut together. I don’t know if I have ever tasted chocolate and lime together… and I know I haven’t tasted all three together.

It’s a little weird… a little outside of my comfort zone… but I’ll give it a try.

OK… the first flavor I’m noticing is the lime. I wish the lime flavor was a better lime flavor because it is a little off. Not a lot off, but it is a little… I don’t know. It’s not so off that it’s putting me off on the tea all together, I’m thinking it might grow on me.

The coconut and chocolate together are quite a nice pairing and they hit right at mid-sip… it’s like… ok, you’ve just tasted that weird lime taste so now here is your treat, coconut and chocolate. I wish there was more chocolate… in fact, I think that this particular blend if mixed with the Tisano’s cacao tea would be astonishingly good.

This IS growing on me, and now that I’m about midway through my cup the lime doesn’t taste quite as weird now as it did at the start. It’s decent.

If you have this tea, go out and buy you some NesQuik chocolate milk. Seriously. It helps calm the lime flavor down, and enhances the coconut flavor. Normally I don’t abide by add-ons (I want to taste the tea), but this combination is really nice, and makes this tea something that I’ll definitely be putting on my shopping list.

I could see how the flavor combination might not appeal to everyone, and I was a bit hesitant myself at first, but it’s an interesting combination, one I hadn’t thought would work well – especially with the addition of milk and sugar. The lime is subtle, and builds: The more you drink, the more lime you can taste. The coconut and chocolate are in fairly equal parts, both complemented and made a bit stronger by the addition of milk and sugar. (The lime remains the most subtle of the flavors.) The aroma is equal parts lime and coconut, with the chocolate being the most subtle of the three. An interesting tea!