I big huge thanks to Dinosara for sending me a sample of this tea!
I’ll start off by saying that Damman and I don’t get along so well. We rarely see eye to eye, but I’m not one to learn lessons easily and am attracted to anything almondy like a magpie to shiny. I steeped this in less water than normal because DF teas always seem to have meek flavors for me. When hot, this tea was so-so. As it cooled it got better. The almond taste is present on the sip and fades out to leave the black base to hold up the aftertaste. At first the almond seems sort of baked marzipan like, but has a flash of raw almond tang. I’m finding that my favorite almond teas are paired with something else, making a more complex mix of flavors. Chocolate, coconut, rose… things like that. This tea is good (really good if I’m comparing to other DF teas), but I’m not captivated by it.
I agree that there are better almond teas out there. Mariage frères has a few.
Which do you like of Mariage’s?