Amandine Rose

I went into teavana yesterday, hoping to try the almond biscotti. I walked right up to the counter and asked for it, as I was advised by fellow steepsterites, in order to avoid any hassling salespeople. It worked wonders! When I asked for the Almond Biscotti the sales lady told me that they it was now Amandine Rose, since it was still a Ceylon Almond tea I didn’t mind. (I had a scrumptious tea from a little boutique in Spa that was a Ceylon black tea with almonds. However, I finished it off before I found this website, and so thinking I could never have it again I threw away the packaging without writing down what it was.)

Anyway, they brewed it up for me and allowed me to smell the dry leaf. YUMMM! The smell was exactly what I was looking for, a rich Ceylon with comforting almond tones. Once I got my cup I was pretty stoked to try it. Like some other reviewers I got no rose out of it whatsoever, but I did enjoy the almond flavors. It’s a very comforting tea, but I’m glad I only bought a cup, and not any loose leaf to bring home. On a side note, I was pleasantly surprised by the price, she didn’t give me a receipt, and along with what I’ve heard of them I was a bit concerned. When I looked at my credit card statement it was only $3.18 or so, considering they gave me a very large cup I was pretty content especially when that’s a pretty normal price for something at starbucks.

Teavana, you’re not fooling anyone. Amandine Rose is just Almond Biscotti with a less appetizing name and a slight hint of something different (probably the rose).

That said, I preferred the almond biscotti, but this is close enough that I’ll mix the two just to save storage space.

Final verdict: yummy, but not as cookieliscous as it used to be.

This was tea #4 from the TTB.

I’m a sucker for anything rose flavored, and this tea was certainly rosey! Rose and almond seems like an interesting combination, and it smelled really good, but I didn’t get as much almond as I would have liked in the taste, except for the last few sips… I’m thinking my half cup wasn’t really enough to judge it by, so I’ll try it again a little later, but I think I might like this one… We’ll see.

I’m a sucker for flavoured blacks, and I’ve never had one I didn’t like, but this one is beyond DELISH!

It’s definitely a dessert tea. It’s not lying about the rose either. You can really taste it but it doesn’t overpower the other flavours. It’s slightly nutty, but not so nutty that is the main flavour. All of the flavours balance out very evenly, which is lovely. (That’s kind of my biggest peeve with flavoured teas, is when one flavour is kinda sticking out too much to enjoy the others).

If you want something that’s really black tea-y then I wouldn’t suggest it. It’s really floating around in there with all the other stuff so more difficult to pick up on.

It is full bodied, very tasty hot, and if you accidently let it sit for a bit and it cools off too much it is not at all bitter.

Probably my new favourite dessert tea (but nothing will surpass a perfect creamy earl gray).

This was unusual….. I received an online backorder of Amandine Rose from the Teavana website, an order I had placed as soon as the new teas were released. I had gotten what was previously in my cabinet from a retail store (god, what a nightmare that was) and found that it was IDENTICAL in every which way to Almond Biscotti. I opened up the baggies to add to the existing tin, and paused. I smelled ROSE, I smelled something floral. Something not Almond Biscotti.

I peered into the bags and poured the new Amandine Rose into an empty tin. It had pieces of candied violet. It had little bits of cinnamon. It had things that were different than what I was told. I was told, repeatedly, that Almond Biscotti and Amandine Rose were exactly the same. What I bought in the store was supposedly “legit” but now I am certain they were short on Amandine Rose and just poured Almond Biscotti into the tin and labeled it revamped. Teavana’s stance on sales ethics wouldn’t surprise me on that one. They’re not at all the same.

This tea is lovely. The floral flavor is very subtle, and the almond isn’t as prominent as Almond Biscotti. It is a darker black tea and gets bitter easily if oversteeped. The rose scent is noticeable from the dry leaves, but brewed it fades into the almond and cinnamon. Nothing is cloying, nothing is overpowering. It is a delicately flavored tea, and I am enjoying the REAL Amandine Rose.

Mmmmmm. Used up the last of my leaves on this one today, so it came out a little stronger than usual. Still delicious, fragrant, and perfectly energizing.

I always have better luck with the second steep than the first with this tea. I’m unsure why. Perhaps the flavors need to sit in a little bit of dampness so they can mingle chemically before they’re ready to be steeped properly. Kind of inconvenient. In that case, I can see why Teavana decided to discontinue it.

Anyway, I’m on my second cup today, and I’m loving it. The almond, cinnamon, rose, and violet have all blended gracefully into a lovely spicy-floral flavor. The black tea base is almost undetectable. Perfect tea to do Shakespeare homework with. Lucky me!

I like the almond cookie taste here but the rose just doesn’t seem like a good mix with it. Perhaps it’s the hint of cinnamon that the rose doesn’t blend well with. I found there is a strange after taste that is quite sweet but unpleasant.

Ooh, ooh, ooh I love this tea. It’s dark and rich and I love the almonds :) I love having it with milk in the middle of the day when I feel like I’m going crazy and wayyy too many people need me.

Another Heavenly Sale purchase.

My 2oz bag is full of roses. Not a hint, it’s a bag of roses with a few almonds and some tea thrown in. The scent of roses knocks you off of your feet when you open the bag.

I ordered this because a lot of the reviews hinted at a baked goods taste. I didn’t get that without sugar and milk. I’ll be honest, I have a little trouble with heavily floral teas. Without the milk, this was like drinking potpourri. With the milk, I was able to pull out the cookie flavor that everyone else seemed to get, but rose was still at the forefront. (This may be due to the extra petals, or it may just be me…not sure.)

All in all, I liked it, but I don’t see myself reaching for it often. This bag will probably wind up being blended into a Valentine’s Day tea or two.

I would love to try this one at another time, when it’s blended properly.

Edited to add: Just tried to re-steep this. It went from a very strong, almost overwhelming tea to nothing at all. Weird.

I always thought that I’d never like this tea. I tried it once a while ago back when it was Almond Biscotti, and I did not like it. I liked it a lot this time around, but I may never drink this tea without milk/cream, since I believe that’s what was missing. The addition of candied violets gives the liquor a slight tinge of purple (not so much so as Lavender Dreams). I got nice hints of rose, and, of course, almonds.