Happy holidays! Every year, I promise myself I’ll get a festive tea, and this time, I got two! I found this tea at a little shop that sells French chocolates, cookies, and other treats, and the other one, Christmas in Paris by Stash, was a gift from my mom. I steeped about 1.5 teaspoons of leaf in 355 ml of 185F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.
The dry aroma is of vibrant cherry and almond. The first steep has notes of cherry, almond, amaretto, caramel, ginger, and faint malt. The cherry is a little artificial tasting, but also fresh and distinct. Combined with the cherry, the almond leans toward amaretto, and shorter, cooler steeps bring it out. The next steep has a bit more ginger and malt, though the cherry and almond are still prominent. Not surprisingly, this tea is sweet, though not as sweet as it could be. The final steep is less strongly flavoured and I can taste the black tea base a bit more, but the tea is still pleasant and not bitter.
This meets all my expectations for a French tea! I enjoy almond things (amaretto, marzipan, those hickory smoked almonds), and this very much falls into that category. Though it probably won’t convert me into a flavoured tea drinker, it made my Christmas a little brighter.
Flavors: Almond, Amaretto, Caramel, Cherry, Ginger, Malt, Sweet
