Reindeer Fuel

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 17
Theme: Santa’s Reindeer
My pick: Cereal Lover Caramel from Dammann Frères

Ooh! I’ve been curious about this for a while. It’s one of those teas that sounds good to me in theory – a chocolate mint black tea and maté blend – but that I’m hesitant to actually purchase in order to try. Chocolate flavoring and I don’t get along, plus Adagio and I often also don’t get along… So thanks Marjorie, for picking this so I get to try a sample!

As I expected, it’s not my favorite. The peppermint is very murky-tasting, and something else is very, shall we say, earthy. Maybe it’s the ginger? And then the chocolate flavoring is quite prominent, and has that fake, almost alcoholic chocolate taste. It’s all very sharp together, and a touch bitter (though it has also now cooled). Drinkable, but very, very muddled for sure.

But super happy to have tried it, now I don’t have to be curious anymore! XD

Adagio Advent Day 1

This one was fun and festive. Right after the brew it was stronger in mint and ginger with a general creaminess I wouldn’t have identified as chocolate (though the smell gave more mint cocoa). As it cooled I lost the ginger, but it became a clearer mint chocolate with an excellent balance. Both versions were tasty.

Will definitely need more of this in December. Gave some to a friend. It is one that can bear over five minute brews and Reindeer Fuels is sure super charged for me with some extra sugar to enhance the flavor.

I got this for free and wish I had ordered more. The blend of mint and chocolate is delicious. Smells super strong but tastes smooth. Added chocolate oat milk, which enhanced the flavors

Ever since someone introduced me to DavidTEA’s Hot Chocolate Tea I’ve had a fascination with well-blended chocolate teas. Well made, they’re all the joy of hot chocolate with bonus caffeine, and YOU control the calorie count. Made a strong British style cup today, and it really helped get the ball rolling. I’m not even usually a mint guy, but the blend on this is MARVELOUS. TBH, the only truly compelling reason to reorder from Adagio anymore…

I got this free with one of my orders and I am so glad I did! The subtle notes of ginger and the hint of mint and chocolate blends so well together. I love it as is, but I also tried it with a splash of almond milk and a couple drops of stevia which took any bitterness out of the cup, so smooth and delicious.

I actually enjoy the hint of astringency/bitterness in tea so I will continue to make this as is, but for a special treat, I will make it latte style. Delicious!

Beautiful tea as long as I don’t over steep. The mint and chocolate balances better than I’ve ever tasted in a tea. Definitely didn’t order enough of this and now I’m out in April with no similar tea.

Bought this tea with my points. Doesn’t look like it is available for purchase right now.

It’s pretty good! I steeped per instructions on packaging.

I’m actually not a big fan of mint teas, but this one wasn’t too strong. The chocolaty flavor balanced it pretty well. Tried it plan and it was good. Added two TBSPs of heavy cream and it was really nice.

This was included as a sample pouch in my recent order, so I’m going to start this off by admitting that I’m not generally a fan of cocoa/peppermint as a combination in my drinks…but I’m oddly enticed by this one.

The aroma is mostly mint, but the taste…is surprisingly complex. Earthy in a way that makes me think of dirt (dark, loamy topsoil) and deep without the bitterness that I often get from black teas. The cocoa isn’t heavy and doesn’t feature prominently, though I think I can catch hints in the aroma and aftertaste.

Overall I’d consider this a surprisingly good tea. I’ll admit I should probably avoid it due to the caffeine, but it may become a cabinet staple regardless; it just reminds me of growing up in the mountains, strange though that may sound.