Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Chocolate Taste’

Dawn, by Simple Leaf Co, is one of my favorite orthodox black teas for its distinct chocolate taste making it a perfect treat in the afternoon. Dawn has no added flavorings (no cocoa nibs or chocolate chips) and is sourced from a single plantation estate that expertly coaxes the tea’s inherent chocolate flavors via the farm’s cultivation methods, processing, and geographic location. So, I say “Bravo!” to the farmers of Dawn for growing such a fantastic tea. On the Simple Leaf website is an interview of the plantation owner and lots of photos of the farm, farmers, and its tea making.

Simple Leaf identifies each tea by strength: bold, mild, and delicate. Dawn is designated as a mild black tea as this is not a brisk morning tea to be smothered in milk. On the other hand, don’t be misled, the flavors of this tea are powerful. Opening the package, my nose is greeted by a powerful cocoa aroma. Each leaf is well-formed, long and beautifully hand-rolled. Immediately, I am impressed by the quality. As directed by the package, I steep this tea for 5 minutes and it brews to a tan liquor with a definitive chocolate fragrance. Upon tasting this tea, no astringency or bitterness is noted, but instead, I note smooth flavors of chocolate with subtle caramel undertones. In fact, this tea tastes very similar to one of my favorite chocolate blended teas. How is it possible that Dawn, a humble tea leaf, can mimic the flavors of chocolate?

The Simple Leaf Tea Co. sources its limited (with only 14 teas, including Dawn) but high-quality line directly from Indian and Nepalese tea farmers. When cultivating single estate teas, growing conditions, such as altitude, soil, and temperature, directly impact flavor. To experience this, I would recommend sampling a specific tea type (such as Indian darjeeling) from two different estates and noting the taste differences. To facilitate tastings, Simple Leaf sells 1 oz. packages in re-sealable ziploc bags at an affordable price of around $5.

You can purchase the Dawn directly from the The Simple Leaf website.

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.