Hey there Teacups! I’m back today with another Let’s Talk Tea post and this time around I’m going to be reviewing Whittard’s – Chocolate Popcorn (Herbal Infusion w/ Green Tea). They very kindly sent me this blend and their other Halloween blend (that I reviewed a few days ago) to try out. As you all know I’ve been a huge fan of Whittard and their teas and tisanes for a long time now so I’m sure you will all understand when I say that I’m still in shock that they approached me and asked me if I wanted to collaborate. Its never ever something I expected to happen and I really hope it happens again in the future.
If you have been reading my blog for a while now and you know me well you’ll know that I have a very love hate relationship with ”chocolate” teas there has only ever been one or two that I’ve actually enjoyed and every other one I have tried over the years has just missed the mark. So going into this tasting session I was a little bit nervous that just like most other chocolate blends out there that I’ve tried it was going to let me down and fall flat when it came to the chocolate aspect of the blend. Luckily I was completely wrong and in fact this blend pleasantly surprised me with just how delicious it actually is.
Here’s what Whittard have to say about this blend over on their website: ” Need something to keep the ghouls and goblins at bay? We’ve blended green tea with toasted rice, coating it in Matcha and cocoa powder and adding a generous scattering of whole cocoa pieces and coconut. It’s the perfect companion in front of that extra scary horror film…”
Ingredients: Cocoa Husk 20%, Cocoa Beans 19%, Barley Malt, Roasted Chicory Root, 10% Genmaicha Matcha (roasted rice, green tea, green tea matcha) 9% Coconut, Carob fruit, Cocoa Powder 5%, Flavouring (suitable for vegans and vegetarians)
Tea Tasting Notes
Like I said earlier in this post I’ve only ever enjoyed a few chocolate blends and that’s because chocolate blends are really hard to get right they are almost always either hit or miss some companies get them spot on and others don’t well luckily Whittard are on of those companies they gets them right because this blend is amazing. I was so worried going into this session that this was just going to be another chocolate blend that had really weak chocolate notes and was very one note in terms of it flavour profile but I shouldn’t have been worried because this blend more than delivers in terms of its chocolate element and it as far from one note as it could possibly be.
In the first tasting session I did with this blend I instinctively steeped this tea for as long as I normally would steep a green tea thinking that anything other that that would result in a bitter brew but as soon as I took my first sip I knew I had made a mistake and that this particular blend is one that needs a much longer steeping time. Because there isn’t much green tea in the temperature of the water and the steep time don’t really effect it and you can actually steep this for quite a while. I would recommend steeping this for at least 5-6 minutes to get a intensely flavourful cup of tea.
I did my second steep with this tea for just over 6 minutes and it was much better than my first steep. My first steep was really weak because I didn’t steep it for too long but this was much more flavourful and I enjoyed it much more. The longer steep time made the chocolate notes and the roasted rice much more prevalent and each paired together perfectly but it also allowed the coconut to come through which I didn’t really expect as I expected the chocolate to drown it out. The coconut mostly came through in the aftertaste towards the back out of the mouth but finished every mouthful off perfectly.
On the Whittard website it describes the chocolate notes as dark chocolate but honestly it tastes much like milk chocolate to me which I’m glad about because it if had have been a dark chocolate note I wouldn’t have enjoyed this blend at all. It deffinelty has a malty undertone to it but its not very strong at all which works well and keeps this very light and smooth mouthfeel wise. In terms of preparation suggestions I would suggest that you drink this on its own or if you want a treat add a little bit of honey but honestly anything other than that would ruin it. I can see myself ordering so much more of this throughout 2020 as its a really good light replacement for hot chocolate.
Overall Teacup Rating: 5/5
If you want to find out more about Whittard and purchase some of this blend for yourself, you can do both here. As always if you have any questions at all either stick them in the comments or send them to me on Twitter/Instagram @teaisawishblog and I’ll answer them all as soon as I can.
Speak to you all again soon. Happy Steeping – Kimberley
*The tea featured in this post was gifted to me for the purpose of this review | All opinions are my own and have not been paid for*
Kimberley's Kyusu 
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