The Secret Tea Room

I’ve enjoyed this tea many times at The Secret Tea Room, and this is the first time that I am making some at home. I don’t know why, but I just really love this tea. Maybe it’s because I’m enthralled with the show of the same name, or maybe it’s because it reminds me of cold, snowy days and having lunch at TSTR with a pot of this to warm us up; I don’t know. The dry leaves smell pretty plain, just very lightly of an ordinary black tea. The tea itself, however, smells warmly of wonderful, fruity jam. This is a very robust black tea that is almost a little bitter, but it’s not quite there. The best part is the sweet and malty fruity aftertaste. I like this tea best with milk and sweetener. At TSTR, I’ve always had this tea with white sugar and milk. At home I always use Stevia and I was a little worried that I wouldn’t love this tea as much without the white sugar. No worries there – it is just as good with stevia! This tea is everything that I like in a black tea – strong, malty and a little bit of a sweet fruit flavor that can stand up to milk. Perfect!

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves and twigs.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of black tea. Tea liquor aroma is of fruity jam.
-Tea liquor is a clear deep reddish brown color.
-Robust and almost bitter black tea flavor and finish. Lightly sweet malty and fruity aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. Perfect black tea with a hint of fruity jam.

Ever have a tea for the first time and know without a doubt that you love it?! Yeah, that just happened.

I got this tea at one of our outings for lunch at The Secret Tea Room. I love marzipan and almond flavored teas, so this sounded like a winner to me right away! It steeps to a pretty dark reddish brown color. The flavor is almondy with a sweet finish. The rooibos aftertaste is different than in other rooibos teas, kind of nutty in a good way. The flavor reminds me of the way almond extract tastes in desserts, but not overwhelming. This is a pretty much perfect cup of tea before bed and hands down my new fave rooibos. I could drink this all day, every day!

I wonder where marzipan originated? The description of this tea says Catherine the Great loved almond flavorings so I wonder if it’s from Russia? Is it odd that I don’t know that?

-Dry blend has fine red rooibos and pieces of almonds.
-Dry leaves smell like rooibos and marzipan. Tea liquor aroma is of warm and nutty marzipan.
-Tea liquor is a clear dark reddish brown color.
-Smooth almond extract flavor with a sweet finish. Light nutty rooibos aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Excellent tea. Perfect almond flavor with very little rooibos aftertaste. Reminiscent of almond extract.

My fiancee noticed this tea one time when we met for lunch at The Secret Tea Room. We decided to go with a black tea instead, since it was such a snowy winter day, but I purchased some of this to surprise him with at home. Not being much of a rooibos lover myself, I never actually made a cup of it. My mom came over for lunch one day and made a cup, and I took a sip. It has a wonderful flavor, so I decided to make a cup before bed tonight. The dry blend is very pretty, with large yellow and orange petals and large sliced almond pieces. I can detect a little of the tobacco leaf smell in the dry leaves, and the tea liquor smells like warm vanilla. The flavor of this tea is a very soft vanilla, which is very nice with a little milk and sweetener. There is almost no rooibos flavor noticeable, which I appreciate, and it may be because all of the flavors balance so well. All in all, a very nice caffeine-free tea. I’m glad the fiancee picked out this one!

-Dry blend has red rooibos leaves, yellow and orange petals and sliced almonds.
-Dry leaves smell of rooibos with creamy vanilla and a hint of tobacco leaf. Tea liquor aroma is of warm vanilla.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium reddish brown color.
-Soft vanilla flavor and finish. Little rooibos aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. Creamy vanilla cup.