Chocolate and orange is a great combination all year round, but when it hits December time, it just gets even better. For Christmas 2020, the Whittard Spiced Chocolate Orange tea is one of my favourites. Whittard of Chelsea always create some interesting blends for their annual Christmas Emporium and I was lucky enough to stock up on several before the UK went back into lockdown.
This is my full review of their Spiced Chocolate Orange tea, which you can buy separately in a mini caddy or part of the 3 mini caddy set.
Whittard Chocolate Orange Tea at a Glance
- Blend: Cocoa husk and orange peel with herbal and fruit ingredients
- Flavour: Rich, dark cocoa with a fiery ginger spiced aftertaste
The orange is a little lost in this tea, but the cocoa and spices are deliciously rich and strong. You will love this tea as a luxurious Christmas treat.
Full Review – Whittard Spiced Chocolate Orange Tea
- Type: Loose leaf mini caddy
- Ingredients: Cocoa husk, ginger, orange peel, roasted chicory root, beetroot, cocoa nibs, orange blossom, flavouring
- Flavour Notes: Rich cocoa powder, Bourneville dark chocolate, ginger and Christmas spices, hint of orange
- Aroma: Musty dark chocolate powder, orange zest, Christmas spice blend
- Milk or Lemon: Milk, if desired
- Where to Buy: Whittard Official Website or Amazon UK
Opening the mini caddy, there’s no way you could mistake the aroma for anything but chocolatey. It’s rich and dark with notes of orange zest and spices tingling your nose until you sneeze.
The tea it brews up is just as luxurious and extravagant as the aroma. And yes, it’s an ugly brown murky tea to look at… but when you can smell the sweet aromas swirling from the cup, you really won’t care what it looks like.
The first sip you take is a little watery, but after it sits on your tongue for a few seconds you get this incredible rich cocoa flavour that only grows stronger. It’s dark and hits the back of your tongue with rich Bourneville dark chocolate notes. The orange (which is very subtle) and the gingery spices (which really aren’t subtle) kick in next.
You’ll find fiery notes sticking to your throat and a rich chocolate note swirling around your mouth long into the aftertaste.
Altogether, it’s very extravagant and rich. Even though I adore drinking it, I can only manage one small teacup at a time.
How to Brew Chocolate Tea
As this is a caffeine-free herbal and fruit infusion, you can use boiling water for this tea. For drinking it black, a 3-minute brew time is about right.
If you’ve got some time on your hands, you can try brewing this tea directly in milk at a simmer on the stove. The richness and spices of this infusion make it very chai-like so I imagine brewing it in a traditional chai way will do wonders for it.
Taste it before adding sweeteners or sugar – you’ll probably find it’s already plenty sweet.
Why Whittard of Chelsea Christmas Emporium?
I don’t know about you, but my Christmas is never complete without a set of Christmassy teas to drink throughout December. For the past few years, the Whittard Christmas Emporium has been a one stop shop!
This year, they’ve got the usual Christmas spice and black tea blend, plus two caffeine-free infusions, in their cute golden mini caddies.
The Whittard Spiced Chocolate Orange caddy only contains 40g of loose leaf, so following their 4g (2 teaspoons) of tea per cup, you actually only get 10 cups out of this one. For that reason, it’s seriously expensive and not a tea you’ll be drinking daily. Save this one for special occasions.
Summary
I do recommend this tea, even though it’s a bit too intense as a daily cuppa and is quite expensive as well. Christmas is often a time for extravagance and especially in a Christmas lockdown, sometimes you need a luxuriant tea like this to really treat yourself and relax.
At the time of writing this review, it’s cheaper to buy directly from Whittard rather than through Amazon.
Tea Recommendation
During the first UK lockdown for coronavirus back in March/April 2020, I wrote a little article about how it would impact tea. At the time, I don’t think any of us anticipated lockdown lasting so long! Check out my Tea and Coronavirus article to find some great tea vendors still selling yummy teas online throughout 2020.