Cacao

This ‘herbal’ and I are sorting things out.

I have a hard time calling it an herbal, even though I know that, by way of tea terminology, it’s entirely the right word. It just seems so strange. It’s comprised entirely of shredded cacao shell — little flakes of it — and seems even more of a stretch for the term than usual, to me.

Oh well!

I was pretty excited to get it. For four dollars you get a pretty impressive 4oz bag! This is good, because they want 3 teaspoons of the stuff per 8oz. of water.

Opening the bag, the scent is heavily, unapologetically, mouth-wateringly chocolate. Tea isn’t the only heated beverage that I love a little bit more than I should, as it happens — I’m also quite fond of artisan hot chocolates, and there is nothing quite like that rich, real-chocolate smell.

I steeped it up with glee. Steeped, the aroma is even better — like rich drinking chocolate.

And then…I was sort of disappointed. It was quite bitter. I actually would have expected this, given the product itself and its unaltered organic authenticity, if it weren’t for the tasting note and description, which suggest it’s quite sweet. Which is not to say that I wanted Hershey or Swiss Miss sweet; as I say, I like good chocolate, and am quite fond of some bitter, fruity dark chocolates, and I can say with authority that I wasn’t looking for the over-sugared chocolate thing we’ve got going in this country.

This is not a terrible thing, though. I can work with this. I am just going to have to play with it in order to figure out how best to coax the chocolate flavor into a creamy, tasty state…because the aroma promises it, and I desperately want the flavor to come more into line with what the scent is.

In the first effort to figure out how to do that, I prepared it tonight on the stovetop, like a chai — boiled/simmered for a few minutes, topped with milk, heated again, strained. I added a bit of turbinado sugar, but not much.

I was also sort of naughty and used whole milk, just for over-the-top indulgence.

It is quite good. There’s still bitterness, but it’s pleasant, the way that chocolate bitterness can be, and the chocolate flavor is rich. A lower-cal option to actual hot-chocolate, but prepared this way, I’m not sure it’s much better, and so will be continuing to play with this one for a while.

Yeah, twist my arm, right? ;)

Leaving a rating off until I’ve played with it some more.

Oh. My. Goodness.

This is freaking AWESOME.

Because Teagasm doesn’t adequately describe what I’m experiencing at the moment, I’m going to say ChocolaTeaGASM.

So good. So very very good. I am sad that I only got a sample packet of this from Tea Review Blog (going to write my review of this tea for the blog in a few moments) because I could drink this every day. I will have to hunt this down and buy some.

Rich. Chocolate. Sweet. Chocolate. Delicious. CHOCOLATE. This is better than any sipping chocolate or any hot chocolate. Oh… yum yum yum yum yum.

The boss man is out of town for the weekend with his cycling team doing a training camp of sorts. I’m at home. On the sofa. It’s totally quiet. The kids are in bed. I need something incredibly indulgent to celebrate. Enter Tisano Cacao “tea”.

This is a funny drink to call tea, but I’m not one to argue semantics, it’s a plant product, so cool, it’s an herbal tea. It also gets the title of my new favorite herbal tea. Holy smokes. I love super duper dark chocolate, think one notch sweeter than baker’s chocolate. This tea is actually a little sweeter than even that, but it is so rich and smooth with absolutely no additions. The only addition I added was some Hojicha in my second cup to add a little extra roastiness to it.

Ahhh… alone on my couch, the tv all mine, no one making any requests of me, and this cacao tea in my hand. Shhh…. I’m savoring.

Another one from Wombatgirl and one I’ve been curious about since first I took it out of the box. Wombatgirl sent me a nice little tin with the sample in it, which is definitely air-tight. And child-proof. And very nearly Ang-proof as well, so prying it open resulted in a little spillage (and some air turning blue).

What we’ve got here are some flakes of something that I’m guessing are cacao bean shells or husks or something. I feel we’re kind of stretching the term ‘herbal tea’ with this one. I mean I know that the definition of a herbal herbs and plants steeped and prepared as a tea, without it actually being tea. And I know that cacao beans are also plant parts so it’s still covered by that definition.

But at the same time, aren’t we really more like moving into hot chocolate territory with this one? I’m posting about it because it’s already on the site. If it hadn’t been, I don’t think I would have added it and just sent Wombatgirl a pm about what I thought of it instead.

It tastes like a cup of cocoa too. Slightly bitter though for the absence of sugar. I’m reminded of that sort of hot cocoa where you’ve got a powdered mix and put hot water on it. This tastes a bit like that made with only about 20% of the proper amount of powder. If I were to add a little sugar (and I shall try this once there’s better room in the cup for stirring) it would come really close to a cup of thin, watery hot cocoa. If you make this really really strong and add sugar and milk, I’d wager you were nearly there.

If what you’re looking for is an actual herbal tea that tastes like cocoa, then this is a very good bet for it. I bet it’s also really great for mixing in with other things, adding a little flavour to an otherwise slightly dull tea.

This is pretty good for what it is. But I’d really rather have some real hot cocoa.

This is the gold standard of chocolate tisanes. As it is 100% cacao nibs and no honeybush/rooibos fillers, this is 100% chocolate taste. Does this taste like a hot chocolate? Not as rich – but it is extremely chocolatey with a hint of sugar. The addition of milk would only improve this. I also blended my previously infused sampler w my Zhi Tea Gongfu black (similar to Premium Steap’s Red Empereror). Now I finally have the perfect black tea. The richness and syrup-i-ness of the gong fu was a perfect match for the cacao nibs. I highly recommend this.

Yum. Drinking a cup of this with some half and half and simple syrup. Wonderful evening treat.

So, I think this is the one TastyBrew sent me as a surprise, especially since she’s reviewed it. This is really good. Great chocolate flavor!! A little thinner than I would like, but delicious! And a great herbal to have later in the day! Thanks, TastyBrew!!!

I finally finished this little sample up! There was a lot in there. I love chocolate, especially dark chocolate. This one tastes like a watered down dark chocolate. So delicious! I added sugar and milk to this.

I have been stalking the “shop” button on the Tisano site ever since I saw LiberTEAS’s review of it. So when I saw they were giving away samples, and you just had to pay shipping, I jumped at the chance. Got it in the mail today (yes, 4 out of 5 weekdays this week, I got tea in the mail), and almost immediately brewed it up.

The dry “leaf” smells soooo good!! Got a tin of Hersey’s Cocoa? Go sniff it, and you’ll know exactly what this tastes like. Not kidding, I did a side-by-side sniff test. And after it brewed, it smelled better. Seriously wondering if that stuff is edible, or if my insides would really get messed up if I tried it.

Okay, just realized I totally didn’t follow directions (then again, when do I ever?), and only used 1 teaspoon per cup (instead of 3). Yes, I could have read the package, but again, when do I ever do that?

Okay, even brewing it at 1/3 the suggested volume, this is still pretty darn good. I love the dark chocolate taste that’s there. Yes, it’s a smidge weak…but, honestly, I could drink it like this and be perfectly fine and happy. Yes, I’ll try it the way it’s supposed to be done next time. But seriously, the smell of this stuff is amazing!! It’s like I’m baking a chocolate cake and the smell keeps wafting out of the kitchen. I’d love to have a whole tin of this to experiment with; I think it’d be great to blend in with other teas to give them a chocolate edge!

If I closed my eyes and took a sip of this without knowing it was tea I would think this is hot chocolate! This is really really good! I just ordered a free sample from the company (had to pay S&H charges of $4.95) which was a great way to try this tea. Although I think it is just a tad bit pricey because you are supposed to use 3 tsp per 8 oz. But for a special treat I could definitely see ordering a tin of this! It is super yummy!