Lotte – Tea Royale Brandy Chocolate

I ended up buying a whole bunch of alcoholic chocolates on a whim. Not because I’m an alcoholic. Nay, in fact I generally dislike alcohol enough that I don’t worry about peer pressure and just drink water or a soda instead. I did it mostly because I was bored and wanted to try reviewing something out of my usual purview. There are some flavours I am generally more excited to try, but brandy is sadly not one of them. Alcoholic tea seems interesting though, so here we are.

Like the other “adult” flavours I’ve tried, these come in a nice plastic tray that keeps all the little morsels safe and sound until I get my grubby hands on them. The foil wrapping that contains them helps to keep the smell at bay, but once you open that, the secret is out – you have some boozy chocolates on you.

Each piece contains 2.6% alcohol, and it’s quite evident. It has a strong flavour and there’s no mistaking that distinct black tea flavour. I actually think the combination of black tea and brandy works quite well. I know tea and alcohol is not a new thing, but it’s the closest I’ve come so far to trying it and I have to say, I get the hype. That dark, rich flavour of black tea mixed with the burning after taste of brandy is quite an experience. It’s fragrant while also rich and boozy, all the things you look for in a cougar. Side thought – why has alcoholic bubble tea not caught on at all? I would have assumed the intersection of fans for those two products would be huge.

The chocolate itself is just milk chocolate, nothing to write home about. It’s main job here is to hold the liquor back from escaping until it’s time. It does quite a good job of it too because boy does that liquid spill out easily. I tried to bite it in half and the liquor got everywhere real fast. The inside is very flowy, and it’s like a slightly more watery version of a syrup.

I don’t know whether I would enjoy this if it was just brandy, but the mix of black tea helped add some complexity to this which I honestly enjoyed. Would I get this again? If it was on sale yes. I feel like I would still prefer the rum or fruit liqueur flavours, but this one is unique and interesting enough for me to want a round two. Either that or I’m getting buzzed from the alcohol content.