This is a herbal blend from Tea forte who describe it as “a rich, chocolate reward, nearly as gratifying as a velvety truffle”. Well, I don’t know if it’s all that but it is very good.

Being a chocoholic I prefer the real thing – dark and melting on your fingers. I’ve been disappointed many times by teas that promise a real chocolate taste and deliver only a hint. I was pleasantly surprised by Coco Truffle; not only by the sweet aroma which with eyes shut could make me believe that it was a mug of hot cocoa rather than tea, but the rich almost milky taste had tons of real chocolate flavor.

The ingredients are listed as cacao, cinnamon, fennel, licorice root, cardamom, ginger, cloves, black pepper. The flavor from the cacao beans was the most pronounced. I suspect that the cardamom gave the tea it’s creamy characteristic but the other spices, fennel and licorice root only came through as an aftertaste. I think that either fennel or licorice root and not both would have been sufficient but overall the combination was a success.

I followed Tea forte’s guidelines and brewed it for 5 minutes in water that was just short of boiling. A second cup made with the same tea bag had very little of the coco flavor left but the other ingredients came through and it was almost like a weak chai. Tea forte’s signature pyramidal tea bags are very elegant looking and the design seems to give the tea plenty of room to steep but they are very expensive at $1 per bag so it’s unlikely I would be buying these regularly but perhaps as a special treat or as a gift.

You can purchase Tea Forte Coco Truffle Tea directly from their website, and in various high-end establishments around the world.

I was very excited to receive a shipment of samples from Tea Forte. I have seen them in our local Chapters stores (bookstores along the lines of Barns and Nobel), and despite the high price, I was always intrigued by the different pyramid design of the tea-bags. Given the high price, I thought that for SURE it was a premium tea!

As I cracked open the box, immediately the Coco Truffle caught my eye, and I knew that would be the first review. So I dutifully opened my tasting notebook, and started observations.

First of note, is that unique pyramid design, with a stiff string and signature leaf at the top. It is unique, and different in that the tea-bag was a stiffer silk materiel, not too pliable. This allows it to stand in your cup, and you do not have to chase it around.

As with all tea-bags, I was dubious about the quality of leaf – but in this case there was no leaf to mention, as it is a herbal blend. You can pick out the fennel and licorice and cacao pieces in the tea, but I could not find hide nor hair of the cardamom, black pepper, cinnamon, ginger or cloves. I attempted to smell the tea though the tea-bag – but there was nothing of note, perhaps a vague chocolate-ish smell, but I really had to strain to find that.

Everything changed when water was added. First steep was 5 minutes with boiling water. As soon as the water touched the tea-bag, the chocolate was unleashed. Not your regular chocolate, this was a creamy, real hot-chocolate smell, like Mom used to make when I was a kid – not the powdered sugar kind! It was a rich and inviting scent that I could not wait to back up with a sip.

The taste of the tea did not disappoint. Chocolaty notes with a creamy smooth, almost silky taste. Heck, not chocolaty notes, it was pure chocolate. With the initial few sips I could not detect anything other than the cacao. but as I drank more, slight notes of fennel and licorice emerged. In this first cup, I did not detect the cardamom, other than a vague sweetness to the cup, nor did I detect any black pepper, ginger or cloves, which is a good thing as I think that would have given more of a chocolate chai taste rather than the amazing flavours that I had here.

The first cup quickly disappeared, and I decided to brew a second. This one was boiling water for about 7 minutes, to see if I could coax more licorice and fennel or a bit of spice out. The second cup did indeed have more of the fennel/licorice flavour, tho still muted and not overwhelming. The chocolate flavour all but disappeared, and still no other flavours. I would pass on the second cup, as it was more akin to a blandly flavoured water than infused tea.

This does not however, mute the fact that this is a truly excellent cup of tea. It would be amazing served as a dessert tea. The cost is very dear, at about a dollar per bag, however Tea Forte does offer it as loose tea in a canister at $15 for approx. 35 cups.

A truly gratifying experience, if this is what Tea Forte has to offer with all of their teas, then the rest of the Its All About the Leaf reviewing staff may never get a chance to even taste it themselves

You can purchase Tea Forte Coco Truffle Tea directly from their website, and in various high-end establishments around the world.