Tea Review Tuesday - A Review of Teas Etc's Orange Vanilla White Chocolate Black Tea

After last week's review of Adagio Teas' Tiger Eye, which tasted like dessert in a cup, I found this week's tea in the spice area at a Whole Foods Market. Giving it a smell, I knew I had to review it. This week we are tasting Teas Etc's Orange Vanilla White Chocolate black tea. Sounds like more dessert, right? Time to get steeping!

While I steeped a teaspoon and a half of this tea in twelve ounces of just-boiled water for three minutes, I inspected the dry leave themselves. Small-cut black tea leaves seem to be mixed with what look like pieces of orange peel and white chocolate. The aroma is definitely orange and vanilla, and it reminds me of an Orange Creamsicle. Despite a heavy sweetness, the tea smells smooth and not at all sharp or cloying.

When the three minutes of steeping finishes, the tea looks cloudy with oils floating on top, likely resulting from the oils in the orange peel and the pieces of white chocolate. (I have had other teas with chocolate in them steep cloudy cups like this.) The steeped cup releases aromas much like the dry leaves - orange and vanilla - but now the black tea has taken a stand behind these sweet smells and makes itself known.

My first sip tastes like such a mixture of flavors, suggesting a good blend. In fact, I find it hard to distinguish the individual parts from the whole of the orange-vanilla-white chocolate concoction. A minuscule astringent note finds its way into the background of the flavor, but the black tea can also be tasted beyond that note. The orange, especially pleasant, lingers on the tongue for a long time after the tea has been swallowed. The overall flavor of the tea is sweet but not cloying, heavy but not thick. Rather delectable, I think!

Currently, the listings for Orange Vanilla White Chocolate are out of stock on the Teas Etc website and on Amazon. However, Teas Etc told me that this should be back in stock, soon! Look for it via the link to their website, below. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would rate this tea a 4.



Photo credit to Built from Ink and Tea.
Teas Etc's Orange Vanilla White Chocolate black tea is available from their website, here. I found this tea at a Whole Foods Market in the spice area.
This review was unsolicited and uncompensated.
You can read more about my Personal Enjoyment Scale, here.
Text is copyright 2016, Built from Ink and Tea.