Tea Forte Advent Calendar: Day 9 - Raspberry Ganache



 Yes, I realize this post is out of order - no you are not missing anything.  In playing catch up with my teas, I decided to drink them out of order for several reasons - 

  1. I wanted to drink the heavily caffeinated teas in the morning instead of later in the day
  2. Day 7 is a Ginger Lemongrass that I REALLY was not in the mood for
  3. Day 9 is a Raspberry Ganache which I am distrustful of, but Day 8 is a Jasmine Green which I'm pretty sure I will enjoy and thus is my safety in case the Day 9 tea is as bad as I expect it will be.

So then - Day 9 Raspberry Ganache.  Ganache meaning chocolate.


Yup, the write up mentions chocolate..... ung.  If you have ever read my tea reviews from previous years, you will probably remember (as my roommate does) that I almost always DESPISE chocolate flavor in my tea.  I may have finished a full cup of chocolate tea.... once.  Ruins a good cup in my opinion.

I had hope when I smelled the tea bag because I couldn't smell the chocolate, even though my roommate said he could.  Those hopes were dashed when I steeped the tea and had another sniff.


Such a dark beautiful color, but the nose was ALL CHOCOLATE.  *groan*
First sip... was weird raspberry.
Second sip was raspberry on the top note, tea in the mid note, and then ALL CHOCOLATE in the end note and the aftertaste.
Third sip was tannin chocolate with a slight raspberry taste on the edges.

The shortbread of the day was a lovely thistle round (which has some additional sugar on the top).  I was afraid to ruin the shortbread with the tea - so instead, I tried it with one of those sewing cookie tin Danish short breads instead - one of the rectangles with the rock sugar grains on top.  The danish shortbread actually helped cut the chocolate a bit and brought the tea flavor more forward.  An improvement.  So, I decided to risk the Scottish shortbread.
MISTAKES WERE MADE!!
The higher butter content in the Walker's shortbread intensified the chocolate flavors in all the wrong ways.  
I switched back to the Danish shortbread, but the damage had been done and all my palate could taste was the chocolate.

I threw the 2nd half of the cup down the drain and brewed myself a nice safe cup of jasmine green.

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