Name: Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Tea

Brand: Stash Tea

Type: Black tea, decaffeinated, flavored

Form: Paper-bagged tea

Review: It’s 3:00pm at the office. You last ate about three hours ago, and you have a few more hours of work before you can leave. In the break room is a vending machine full of chocolaty snacks. Around your hips are three extra inches that you’ve been trying to get rid of.

What to do?

Tear open a foil-wrapped pouch of Stash’s Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf Tea.

No, it isn’t quite the same as a candy bar, but it does a darn good job of helping you to cope with those chocolate cravings. Plus, since its decaf, it won’t get you too wired and unable to sleep later on in the evening. Stash blended decaffeinated black tea, vanilla nut, and hazelnut to make this blend. The hazelnut flavoring helps to keep this tea interesting: Decaf tea isn’t so much bad as it is boring. The hazelnut and vanilla notes work to combat the inherent flatness of the black tea used in this blend. Stash Chocolate Hazelnut Decaf isn’t a Belgian chocolate bar, nor is it a sublime tea. But it does a dandy job of getting some chocolate into your mouth without it landing on your hips.

(And sometimes, that’s all that matters.)

Stash recommends adding a bit of milk and sweetener to the hot tea to bring out the hazelnut flavor, though I find that it is quite obvious without any additives. A bit of milk and sugar does work if you are looking for a decent hot chocolate substitute, but I don’t think that either are necessary to make this tea work as a snack/desert tea.

Recommendations: Try serving it with an assortment of other teas at holiday parties. Makes a great tea for the office as well. Try tucking it into your purse in case of chocolate-related emergencies.

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