Chocolatey teas

[.m.]

Has there been a growing trend for chocolate tasting teas lately, or is it more of a coincidence that i'm tasting so many of them lately? I'm talking about teas like Jinjunmei and its various iterations and copies, which often seem to have taste-wise ok base leaf material, except for an obnoxious chocolate note over it.

[LeoFox]

https://www.pageoftea.com/smart-tea-drinker

From beginning is good idea to focus on processing first ( since this is what mostly influence the taste of the tea ) , means trying black teas by different ways / levels of processing. Light oxidized like golden tips Dian Hong – Ji Si ( the small or big yellow / gold tipsy tea ) , then full oxidized ( roasted ) black tea , which u can see that tea leafs are really dark black. Some of them have applied final high temp. roasting for short time , called “ti xiang” or “gao xiang” , that makes cocoa – chocolate hint in flavor spec. of the tea. There is also “shai hong” ( Sun dried ) processing of black tea, which is different from the previous two and it’s suitable for further ageing for certain time.

[.m.]

I know it's nothing new, and that in the better cases it is achieved by a processing rather than scenting, it just why is there so much of it lately? Like I go to a local teastore, ask for a good hongcha, get offered jinjunmei, which i politely turn dow, just for the next tea, which seem to be some kind of zhengshan xiaozhong, turns out to be nevertheless processed like JJM. The same story keeps in some variation happen again and again. Its like any random chinese hongcha that is processed in thinly rolled strips, chances are high it will taste like chocolade.

[LeoFox]

I know it's nothing new, and that in the better cases it is achieved by a processing rather than scenting, it just why is there so much of it lately? Like I go to a local teastore, ask for a good hongcha, get offered jinjunmei, which i politely turn dow, just for the next tea, which seem to be some kind of zhengshan xiaozhong, turns out to be nevertheless processed like JJM. The same story keeps in some variation happen again and again. Its like any random chinese hongcha that is processed in thinly rolled strips, chances are high it will taste like chocolade.

Maybe ask for shai hong.

[aet]

Like I go to a local teastore, ask for a good hongcha, get offered jinjunmei, which i politely turn dow, just for the next tea, which seem to be some kind of zhengshan xiaozhong, turns out to be nevertheless processed like JJM.

It might be the case of local wholesale supply chain. Somebody purchased big amount of this kind of tea ( for whatever reason ) and now it is offered in every shop in your area.
Also this year was very dry ( spring ) so not much tea at that time. More tea appeard to be now in summer ( sold on market as spring of course and some producers even claim the quality is better ...of course )) , but in fact the deeper oxidation and darker roast can cover some downsides of such a tea. So might be the case of that very very cheap container of this kinda processed tea being sold and imported to your country.
That's only an idea what it could be.
Of course it could be just based on trend / market research ( not many people understand shai hong , not many people can brew golden tips , so easiest and dumb-resistant tea is anything what is very dark roasted ) .
JIM and similar , are sweet at the very beginning so I can imagine more appealing to majority , who probably just put it in some infuser and make only 1-2 infusions.

[TeaLoverJuang]

Hello!
Yes, the real boom in the world of tea lately is undoubtedly chocolate teas. It seems that this impression applies not only to you! Recently, I have also noticed the increased popularity of teas such as Jinjunmei and its varieties, which are striking in their flavor variety, but at the same time have this wonderful chocolate note.
This may be because chocolate teas have a unique combination of aroma and flavor that attracts many tea connoisseurs. Especially when the base leaf material is of high quality, and the chocolate note brings an interesting and unexpected accent.
This may be part of a broader trend toward experimentation with flavors in tea culture. For me, it's an exciting discovery, and I'm amazed at how chocolate can enrich the flavor profile of tea, making it even more interesting and memorable. Do you have a favorite chocolate tea or a variation that you want to try?