Vanilla Almond Decaf

Sadly I ran out of Yogi Tea’s Vanilla hazelnut tea, and when I went to the store they didn’t have any. :( I looked around and found this and thought I could try it. The vanilla and almond smell are very apparent. However the flavors are a little muted. I added some cream and caramel to the tea, which made it better. Still miss my vanilla hazelnut though.

I bought this on a whim, wanting a decaffeinated tea with flavor before bedtime. The aroma is fantastic, although the flavor isn’t incredibly strong. Nevertheless, I enjoy this tea; I just can’t drink it with milk because I think that milk overpowers the delicate tea.

After a lot of trial and error, I have concluded that I’ll never find a decaf tea that I love. However, this one is pretty nice. There is a very strong almond flavor and a less strong but present vanilla. The tea just kind of holds it all together and doesn’t have much taste of its own. The aftertaste is really lovely, just clean and like an almond cookie. I do have to steep this longer than it recommends, and if you have more than 8 oz, you probably want to use a second tea bag.

I have been looking for teas to enjoy at night time, and therefore I choose this decaf version of Vanilla Almond. I tend to love both nutty and vanilla flavors and therefore had high hopes. I detected a strong cherry almond smell at first dry sniff, and then while steeping it mellows out to a rounded vanilla/almond essence both in smell and taste. I find adding a bit of soy milk made it more dessert-like and brought out the cherry undertones. I really enjoyed this tea as it has a very natural taste and I find the aroma to be so relaxing. I would def re-buy this when I run out.

The aroma is just like a vanilla almond cookie, and I’m a sucker for great aroma. The taste, however, was far weaker than I expected. Perhaps because it’s decaf? I was surprised that the tin recommended only 2-4 minutes to steep. I think I’ll go longer next time, or maybe use more than 1 bag in my cup. The flavor intensified a bit as it cooled, though (the lady at Sparrow Hawk did mention that it was great iced!). Milk and sugar, as usual.

I actually would like to try a strong brew of this with steamed soy milk (nice nutty taste) for a tea latte- it’d pair well with milk in general. But for the meantime it’s just me and my water. I tend to find RoT a bit pricey for the quality, but their teas are tasty and this is no exception. I don’t find it overly sweet, but the vanilla and almond are definitely there. It’s a sort of nutty tea with a hint of vanilla, nothing cloying or overpowering at all. Tastes very natural. I’d love to try this as a rooibos too.

The vanilla and almond flavors mask the natural taste of the decaffeinated tea, which remains but is barely perceptible. The tea leaves are mixed with a light powder of vanilla beans and almonds, and this clouds the cup.

The taste of almonds is very strong and might remind you of the smell of the"McCormick Almond Extract" that can be found in the “Baking” aisle of your grocery store. The vanilla flavor is clearly present, but not as strong. The tea is free of bitterness, although it has a dry aftertaste as a result of the added flavoring. Neither bad nor good; heavily flavored.

I haven’t yet been able to try this tea with milk and sugar. I suspect its true virtue lies there.

This tea is decaffeinated by a CO-2 process.