Company: Art of Tea

Type: Rooibos

Cost: $12.99 for 3oz

Velvet Tea does not actually contain any tea.  Instead it is a chocolate dessert tea that contains organic fair trade rooibos, organic mint, organic apple, organic cacao nibs, chocolate and natural flavors.  And let me tell you this rooibos smells absolutely divine.  Completely indulgent.  It reminds me of a rich chocolate dessert.  There are plenty of chocolate pieces and mint leaves in the mix which in my mind meant I was in for a treat.

To steep this I used 1 teaspoon of the blend per cup of water whose temperature was ever so slightly below boiling.  Steep time was 5 minutes and then I poured my cup.  The color was a typical rooibos red color and the aroma in the cup was soft and chocolaty.  I was terribly surprised to find that when I took my first sip I tasted only rooibos.  There was a hint of the chocolate in the aftertaste but this tisane did not taste anything like it smelled.  I couldn’t taste any mint which is really surprising considering mint is a pretty strong flavor in teas.   And I was pretty darn disappointed.  I tried steeping this at 7 minutes as well and found the flavors a bit more pronounced but still nowhere near what I was hoping for.  However, there was much more flavor in the aftertaste.

I did add a little bit of sugar which helped tremendously.  The sugar helped bring out more of the sweet chocolate flavors but it still didn’t have the punch I was looking for.  Using sugar at the 7 minute mark brought out the acidity of the apples which I thought was really interesting.  It did not taste bad at all, please don’t get me wrong.  I found the aftertaste is incredible at the 7 minute steep mark and seems to be the place this tea shines.  However, compared to the aroma the dry tea omits I was expecting a truly wonderful dessert tea.  I will need to add sugar any time I drink this but it still doesn’t live up to its tantalizing aroma.

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.

Name: White Coconut Crème

Company: The Art of Tea

Type: White, loose

Cost: $8.00 for 2oz

Oh goodness.  I like this.  A lot.  White Coconut Crème is a White Peony that is blended with cornflower, safflower, coconut bits and creamy essence of coconut.  I don’t really know what creamy essence of coconut is, but it sure does sound nice.  The blend looks beautiful and smells incredible.  There are actual pieces of coconut in it!  The fragrance is chocolaty with coconut mixed in.  Very, very sweet smelling.

I prepared this with water that was about 190 degrees and steeped for 3 minutes.  The color of the tea in my cup was a lovely pastel yellow and the fragrance was much, much softer than the dry leaves but still gave off an inviting coconut scent.  My first sip of this brought a smile to my face.  I could taste the coconuts and it was refreshing.  The white tea is not covered up at all which I was thankful for.  In fact, it was very interesting to experience the white tea and coconut flavor intertwine.  It was creamy and smooth.  Neither one was competing for my attention but they were not hiding behind each other either.

The taste was very pleasing and was not bitter at all.  The flavors are dead on making this a wonderful blend.  Not many teas make me truly smile when I drink them, but this one does.  I don’t know why I enjoyed it so much, but I really did.  I wish I could describe it better but all I can say at the moment is it is tasty!

The product(s) included in this post were sent to me to be considered for review by the company mentioned or by a PR agency that represents them.