The Sunday Chocolate Review - Montezuma's Black Forest Gateau

Hello there!

Another Sunday.....another chocolate review!

Last week we took you to New York, this week we're heading to Germany for Montezuma's Black Forest Gateau pudding bar! Black Forest Gateau originated in Germany (and the real deal is so so good), but became popular in Britain in the 1970s when families would enjoy a pudding of chocolate sponge, cherries and lashings of whipped cream. Montezuma celebrates this pudding within their Great British pudding bars (which also includes Eton Mess and Treacle Tart).

Unlike Godiva who we featured last week, Montezuma is a relatively new chocolate brand, starting its production in 2000. This is a small British family business of self-taught chocolatiers, who wanted to reinvigorate the British chocolate making industry. 

This chocolate bar is nice and simple and features only two things......dark chocolate and cherries! Two of my favourite things - I love making cakes inspired by black forest gateau so I was really looking forward to trying to this bar!

Slightly more robust than the Godiva chocolate from last week, this chocolate had a really good snap when you tried to break it.  I was pleased to see the cherries throughout the bar - this was both aesthetically pleasing (the pink against the dark chocolate) and also meant that the bar had a good chance of tasting of cherries!

The dark chocolate is rich and bold, something I really like in a dark chocolate and its really well balanced with the cherry flavour. Its quite reminiscent of black forest gateau….the only thing missing is the cream! The cherry flavour is authentic and doesn't taste artificial. 

All in all I really enjoyed this bar of chocolate and would probably by it again. I found this bar in the sweet aisle of my local supermarket, it was on offer at about £2.00 for the bar. Because its a rich chocolate you can't gobble lots in one sitting (I tried) and therefore it will last you a little while (unless you are sharing....but I wouldn't recommend that!).

Have you tried this chocolate bar or any of the others in the pudding range? We'd love to hear your thoughts!

Thanks for popping by today and don't forget to pop back next Sunday for another chocolate review!

Rachel 

The Friday Review....Bluebird Tea

Hello there,

It's Friday again and that means one thing here at Tea With Me and Friends.....yes it's time to share our latest tea tasting. This time we have something rather special to share with you from the lovely people at the Bluebird Tea Co.

The Bluebird Tea Co had been recommended to us by some lovely people Twitter and when I heard their teas had names like Strawberry Lemonade Tea and Honey Bee Beautiful Tea I knew we had to try these teas for ourselves!

Krisi and Mike set up and run the company, and they are clearly passionate about how innovative, fun and versatile tea can be - their motto is ‘spreading happiness, one cupful at a time.’ The Bluebird Tea Co  specialises in developing unique and creative flavours of tea.

We were sent a lovely variety of teas...including some perfect for an afternoon tea blog....take a look at these....

Bluebird Tea Co

Yes, that is Black Forest, Vicky's Sponge Cake and Cherry Bakewell! I couldn't wait to try these three! So I got some of my pretty teacups out and got ready for a cakey tea experience!

I began with the Black Forest tea....

Bluebird Tea Co - Black Forest

Now I have spent quite a bit of time in Germany, visiting the Black Forest a couple of times and yes enjoying real Black Forest gateaux and so I was really keen to try this tea out. So, whats in this blend I hear you say....well it has a black tea base but also features.... Cocoa shells, Hibiscus, Apple pieces, Elderberies, Raspberry pieces,Strawberry pieces, Blackberries, Cranberry pieces (cranberry, sugar, rice flour, vegetable oil (sunflower) Vanilla pieces, Sunflower and calendula petals, Blackberry leaves.

As you open the packet you are immediately hit by the mouth watering aroma of cherries....honestly my mouth watered! I allowed about a teaspoon of this pretty blend to brew for about four minutes and then I enjoyed the tea without milk.....

Bluebird Tea Co - Black Forest

Once brewed I had a lovely reddy-brown coloured tea that smelt of chocolate and cherries - the boiling water really brought out cocoa shells. Each mouthful is full of flavour - it's a sweet, chocolaty, fruity tea...in fact I forgot that it is actually a black tea at heart!

Next I moved onto Vicky's Sponge Cake....

Bluebird Tea Co - Vicky's Sponge Cake

Inspired by a good old fashioned Victoria Sponge cake this blend includes Ceylon black tea, Coconut, Strawberry granules, Freeze dried raspberries, Raspberry leaves. When you first open this packet you can smell the delicate aroma of vanilla and coconut...again my mouth watered!

Again I used a teaspoon of leaves and drank the tea black (I'm not a fan of milky tea)....

Bluebird Tea Co - Vicky's Sponge Cake

I love this tea...there I've said it out loud...this light golden brown brew was sweet and refreshing, with a light coconut aftertaste. 

There was nothing overpowering or artificial about this cuppa and I found it to be a really comforting cup of tea.

Finally it was time for the Cherry Bakewell...

Bluebird Tea Co - Cherry Bakewell

Just look at that pretty blend - the colours are just lovely and the aroma is sweet - full of almonds and cherries!

Now this is slight different to the first two as it's a white tea which has been combined with Apple, Rosehip, Hibiscus, Cornflowers (red + blue), Almond pieces, Currants, Cranberry pieces, Flavour.

I brewed this for slightly less time and ended up with a rather pink cuppa....

Bluebird Tea Co - Cherry Bakewell

Once brewed I could still smell the almonds, but the taste was much more fruity. There was almost a sweet and sour taste to this cuppa, I think this might have been the apples. It definitely reminded me of a lovely cherry bakewell and I would like to try this as a cold brew.

Bluebird Tea Company tea tasting

What a wonderful selection of teas to try! Plus we have three more to share with you in another Friday Review in a couple of weeks time! If you'd like to know more about these teas or discover some of the other 50+ blends that they have created please visit the Bluebird Tea Co website. If you are feeling really inspired and fancy having a go at creating your own mix you could try a mixology class!

A huge thank you to Bluebird Tea Co for sending us these scrummy samples. Please note that although we have received complimentary samples, they have not affected our taste buds and all opinions expressed here are our own.

So, over to you....have you tried any of the Bluebird Teas? Which is your favourite?

Thank you for popping by today,

Rachel