Chocolate Mint Black Tea (52teas)

I haven’t reviewed one of Frank’s teas in a long time. It’s time I got to it! This time I’ve got one for you you should still be able to buy! Sadly my review process makes it difficult to get my posts out before Frank sells out of his latest batch of product. But this tea proved so popular that Frank made it a member of the 52teas Permanent Collection!

52teas is pretty well known for Frank’s creative undertaking of making a small hand blended batch of tea for limited release every week. That’s a new tea every week for 52 weeks a year. And he’s been doing it for three years now. He’s coming up with some spectacular teas!

The loose leaves are decidedly BOP with small broken pieces the only size seen. You can guess whether the tea with be strong or not. Nice sized cacao nib chunks are strewn throughout the blend. Fresh cut pepper mint can also be seen if you’re looking closely enough. The liquor is one of the darkest copper-red I’ve seen.

The dry leaf aroma is remarkably reminiscent of a nice Andes Mint. The brewed aroma is more astringent with unsubtle notes of dark chocolate bitterness.

On the palate the Chocolate Mint Black Tea starts out smooth but quickly dries the palate. There’s little left to the imagination, but I didn’t seem to mind. The dark chocolate bitterness from the cacao nibs comes through well and pairs just about right with the mint.

This tea is pretty strong. Astringent almost to a fault it dries the palate quickly and doesn’t let go. You end up drinking more and more to stay hydrated, but it never works. Somehow, you never really mind that much.

Fans of  dark chocolate, andes mints and CTC Black Teas may enjoy this tea.