Bon Bon

3/5 ESP Emporium Teas

I tried this twice before reviewing and rating. I really wanted to like it. I did. But I’ve had similarly flavored teas that were much better. It’s like the difference tasted between a Hershey’s kiss and a Lindt truffle.

I tried this sans additions and it wasn’t very flavorful. It pretty much requires milk and sugar. But the overall flavor is like plastic infused chocolate. It’s slightly chalky too. Definitely not milky, creamy, mocha goodness.

The tea base is really weak, and I had even doubled the recommended leaf amount. The brew is very light brown, almost muddy brown. There’s a bit of oil and scum from the artificial additives. I tried a second steep too, and the chocolate was much quieter. It was mostly weak tea with coconut, even though I steeped it for about 8 minutes. Maybe it’s just the fact that they’re artificial flavors that makes me not like this? I’m not sure.

It’s not bad tea that I would turn down, just like I wouldn’t turn down a Hershey’s bar if I really wanted chocolate. But would I seek this out over another chocolate bar? Probably not. I’d probably go out of my way to get the Lindt because I’d enjoy that more. That’s exactly the way I feel about this tea. It’s good and I’ll drink it. But I won’t re-stock it.

It was pretty cheap though, so no complaints there. I’m open to swapping it if anyone is interested. I know others have enjoyed this much more than me.

bear with me i’m writing from my phone. but i wanted to make some progress on my tea notes before i get too super behind.
i actually enjoyed this tea! before i put it away in the cupboard i recommended it to my sister for when she’s in the mood for a chocolatey tea. i can see that CHAroma didn’t like this tea not only from her note but also from the generous amount she mailed me hah. and i’m glad she did! win win!

Sadly I have to agree with CHAroma.
This tea is okay and all but its flavored more like those cheap chocolate eggs you get in your easter basket as a kid, or adult, whatever floats your boat.
The aftertaste is artificial and it coats the top of your mouth in a cloying way.
The coconut is decent though as I have had my share of bad coconut flavorings – its just that there really wasn’t much OF it so maybe if it had more of a presence it would have tasted bad too.
I should not say BAD as this is not BAD – I too would not pass it up but I would not seek it out and won’t re-order it.
No offense to ESP as they have many blends I have tired and enjoyed thus far with my first order from them.
IF this had been the ONLY chocolate tea I had ever tired I am sure I would like it a lot more but I would still identify that fake chocolate flavor no matter what yet needing a chocolate tea fix is what it is so I would like it more if I had not tried better such as Butiki’s DELICIOUS Raspberry Truffle!
http://steepster.com/teas/butiki-teas/22052-raspberry-truffle
I’m just confused by this blend. Dried coconut and coconut flavoring yet the cocobut really does not stand out.
Chocolate chips AND white chocolate chips. Makes me wonder if I stuck a piece of white chocolate in my mouth with regular chocolate (no indication here if it is milk or dark by the way) if I would even taste the white chocolate. Now I need to try this WIN a reason (excuse) to go buy chocolate (again).
Seems to me that the darker chocolate would cancel the white out.
I had to investigate … I dumped a bunch of the dry tea into a cup.
Very large shavings of coconut .. tasted pretty old, lack of much flavor other than just slightly nutty.
Chocolate “chip” more of a fanning of chocolate! I mean TINY – almost did not identify it in the blend at all! Tasted of very bitter milk chocolate EWEEE.
White chocolate – although white in a black tea base was even more difficult to find these “chips”! They are dry and powdery and chalky. SO tiny I could barely pick one up and they mushed between my fingers easily when I did! It did not taste that bad though.
So what we have here is a half hearted attempt at what could be a very nice blend but sub-par ingredients were used.
ESP is going to hate me probably with this review and I cringe to think of that but I have to be real.
I am getting more and more discerning as I try more teas and while I hate to sound tea snobbish … I don’t know how to end that sentence.
So now the cup has cooled a bit and I thought maybe more flavors would come out however it is the opposite. Its as if they took a nap on me.
And this is after munching on chocolate chips and coconut – I should be getting some of that residual flavor but no.
I will rate this low – I would rate lower due to just being completely disenchanted with this tea as a whole but because it is not NASTY and I am not duping THIS cup although I will dump the rest sitting in the pot due to just not wanting to fill up on tea I don’t care for and keep room in thy belly for those that I do – I won’t rate TOO low.
Into the trade box you go Bon Bon!

I got this in a swap from Azzrian. Thanks!

Basically this breaks down to a chocolate, coconut tea. They seem to be balanced pretty well. They show up holding hands instead of brawling for my attention. I remain unimpressed with the actual tea here. It’s gotten lost. It must be a pretty mellow tea. I did use an extra scoop in the pot. I tend to do that because I have a funny sized pot. It’s 42 ounces instead of 40 ounces.

The real problem with this tea for me is I have a tea that is much like it but better in my opinion. I get more tea taste and support flavors with the Buccaneer from SerendipiTea. I’m glad I got a chance to try it though. So, thanks again Azzrian.

Killing off this tea right now – phew 50g is hard to get through! Though happy I finished off an older tea!

I used to think this was a very chocolately tea, but thinking back to Della Terra’s Dubbele Chocolade and The Persimmon Tree’s Coconut Cacao, this isn’t as chocolatey or as well executed.

I like the coconut smooth finish. The chocolate adds also a nice smoothness, but the black tea has stepped into bitter zone adding a funky taste. The funky taste is also the coconut, tasting more of the cheap fake kind of coconut.

Thinking back from being new to teas (when I got this) to now, I’m totally spoiled, lol!

I cannot resist a tea deal so when ESP Emporium popped up on my Kindle, I had to go for it. Before ordering the deal I scoped out the tea and made sure there was stuff I’d want and this tea immediately caught my eye. If you follow me you know I’m a bit of a chocolate teaaholic. AND I love coconut so this was a no-brainer.

I opened the bag this morning and the tea smelled so fantastic I was expecting it not to taste as good. Holy heck though does this tea deliver! It’s fantastic! It’s almost like a combo of chocolate tea with Teavana’s Cha Yen Thai (another one of my favorites).

Like the other reviewers mention, the black tea base is very mild. I was a bit concerned about the long steep recommended on the bag because I often find black tea gets bitter if you do a first steep longer than 3 minutes but not this one.

It’s smooth and delish and wonderful. I even ended up putting in a bit too much brown sugar splenda, which can often ruin tea, but this weathered it well. Looking forward to a second steep tomorrow.

I placed an order with ESP Emporium about a month or so ago for teas for a swap, but, of course, I had to order something for myself too! This is one I wanted to try.

Mmm… chocolate and coconut! Deee-lish!

The black tea is strong but not bitter … and there is very little astringency to this too. It’s a nice base for the chocolate and coconut … sweet, creamy, and decadent. YUMMMMM!

It’s been a very crazy week for me, so I needed one of my favorite comfort teas. I love this tea so much! It’s chocolatey, creamy, and has just a bit of coconut flavor. This is a very flavored tea (you can’t actually taste much of the black tea, but that’s okay). Prepared with milk and stevia.

On a personal note, please send your best wishes and prayers to Minot, North Dakota and the surrounding areas. Thousands of us lost our homes this week due to record breaking flooding. Sometimes just knowing that others are thinking of us makes picking up the pieces a bit easier.

I won’t rate this tonight. I feel like my taste buds weren’t working. I just wasn’t tasting the ingredients. Here is to better luck tomorrow.

I got a sample of this (and a few other teas) from Rachel (RachanaC) from her teatra.de site. Thank you so much Rachel – they got here so quickly and I’ll be going through them in the next few days, I’m sure. :)

This smelled almost coffee-like when I pulled it out – and since I’m doing some studying for end of the semester finals I figured I could use this to keep me awake for the night! The smell actually seems reminiscent of the Javavana Mate from Teavana. That is strange to me, because the ingredients are quite different. I see some coconut and chocolate shavings (yum!) in the dry leaf.

I used 3 tsp. of leaf to 500 ml. water in my Breville, per steeping instructions. Once steeped the aroma turns more to the chocolate side of things – a dark chocolate smell to be specific. After the cup has cooled a little, I taste the black base and get the coconut and chocolate more on the swallow/aftertaste. I think there’s a faint hint of coconut but it’s not too strong considering the huge shavings that were in the sample. The black tea is strong but not bitter, which is always a plus for me.

This is a pleasant tea. There isn’t anything that stands out about it, so I probably won’t be buying more when there are so many other teas out there to try, but it is nice to sip on while trying to cram a semester’s worth of information (back) into my brain…