On sight of their "site" alone, I would normally write off a place like Sanctuary T as just another trendy New York eatery. And to some extent, it is. Their goal is fine dining, leisure, and specialty blends amidst a primarily polished wood interior; or so I garnered from the photograph. In other words, a place I'd never be able to afford. What tickles me, though, is their tea section. Not because it's formatted differently from the paradigm, but rather their tea descriptions. I'll use the write-up for their Chocolate Honeybush as an example

"We're not even sure where to begin with this tea. This blend brings its best foot forward by pairing the honeybush with tantalizing flavors. Nothing calorie-free should taste this good."

Deprecatory, dry, and delicious-sounding. They sold me on syntax alone. That and the ingredients listed for this blend mentioned no flavor agents, just honeybush, chocolate and rose petals. The last one threw me off a bit, but who cares? It smelled like - uh - honey-filled chocolate. I wanted to snort this dry!

Brewing instructions were on the simpleton side of simple. Steep for five-or-six minutes. That's all it said. I loved that. Probably would've appreciated some measurements, but I kinda knew what to go with; 1 tsp per 8oz cup of boiled water.

Now I seriously wish I had my usual Wiki color spectrum "token smart word" to use here to describe the liquor palette. But I don't. There is no poetry to this. It looks like honeybush - which usually brews up red - that had chocolate syrup droplets added. Seriously, it was honey-cocoa brown. The aroma also lacked any such subtlety. It smelled like the innards of a s'more. Marshmallow melted to a Snickers bar with shavings of graham cracker.

The taste was...and I swear I've only used this word twice before...badass. Sheer badass. My brother/roommate even commented that soon I won't be drinking tea altogether, instead opting for peanut buttercups dipped in dark beer. He may not be too far off, either. I'm glad a "tea" like this came around. I was starting to feel snooty, commenting on floral notes, botanical ingredients, cultivars, leaf shading, and all those fancy-schmancy terms. This was a working man's mouthful of awesome. I grunt in gratitude, even though I'm still wearing a tie.

— To purchase Sanctuary T Shop Chocolate Honeybush, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular tea, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

Geoff Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Geoff's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Geoff.

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