Colonille black tea

Today I’m trying a new kind of tea, Colonille black tea which is made by serendipiTea.  I usually don’t really like black teas, and recently I think I figured out why.  Its the same reason I don’t like coffee: I think that its the fact that both of these drinks are roasted before you brew them, and I think the roasting puts in flavors that I don’t like. But back to Colonille.  On the website it is described as being

Sumptuous, graceful & inviting. A tea that kindles elegant evenings, sweet thoughts & long walks. Beautiful bouquet with a distinct chocolatey taste coupling the vanilla, finished with a full red color, rich palate & distinct memory.

It was given to me by my friend Elizabeth, so I figured I should at least give it a chance.  I brewed it for about 2 and a half minutes, which is what Liz recommended.  When I first smelled it after brewing it, it kind of  smelled like it was a semi-weak hot chocolate; I think that’s the vanilla flavoring. Taking the first sip, it seems to have a pretty mild flavor; not very much roastedness, which is good, but also not a lot of sweetness, which is kind of what I expected through the smell.  I think I’m going to have to try it with milk, sugar, and milk and sugar. Adding sugar makes it taste even more like hot chocolate, and adding milk to the sugar makes it taste even MORE like hot chocolate.  Its really quite strange.  The flavoring helps cut the roasted taste of regular black tea and makes it quite drinkable.  I can’t decide how I best like it, straight up or with milk and sugar. I think I’ll have to try more of both to determine. This is definitely a very pleasant tea.