Apricot Amaretto

Steep Information:
Amount: 1 single steeps packet
Water: 12 ounces hot spigot water
Tool: kati loose tea system
Steep Time: a little over 5 minutes (http://steep.it/)
Served: Hot

Tasting Notes:
Dry Leaf Smell: nutty, apricot
Steeped Tea Smell: amaretto, fruity, rooibos
Flavor: rooibos, fruity
Body: full
Aftertaste: sweet
Liquor: translucent orange-brown

I love amaretto, so this tea is right up my alley! A sweet afternoon treat.

Rating: 3/4 leaves

Pictures: http://amazonv.blogspot.com/2011/04/tea-forte-loose-leaf-rooibos-tisane.html

This was just not my cup of tea. But I’ve also never really been a fan of amaretto. I just can’t get over how much this reminds me of cherry Halls cough drops, I tried, but with every sip it just tastes to me like liquid cherry Halls cough drops. I swear I can even taste the menthol. And I’ve always had a strong disliking of those, too. I love the scent and taste of almonds, apricots and peaches. But this was the first tea I’ve ever tried that I just couldn’t drink. :/
I’m going to refrain from giving a numerical rating because I’m not saying the quality of the tea is bad, it just does not agree with me!

I finally got around to my last tea forte sample!
You know what, I’m glad I saved this one for last. While I didn’t get a lot of apricot taste, it did have a sort of fleshy texture. That sounds not right, but when I say flesh I do mean apricot flesh haha.

The amaretto flavour and smell was overwhelming and quite sweet, and although this isn’t my favorite tea in the world and I probably won’t purchase it, I think it was one of my faves from the line.

When I first opened the package, the aroma seemed really boozy to me – though I love amaretto, I usually like it mixed in with things, so I was apprehensive about trying this tea. Edited to add: In all fairness, I haven’t been drinking the last nine months, so it smelling especially boozy to me may be because of that.

After brewing, aroma was still pretty boozy, but luckily, upon tasting the “amaretto” flavour wasn’t overpowering. I would have liked a bit more of an apricot flavour, but overall this is an enjoyable tea.

On a whim, I ended up trying it over ice and I have to say, I enjoy it MUCH more iced. It wasn’t really up my alley hot and I also think this tea would probably be lovely sweetened if you like your iced tea that way (though I’d probably stick with sugar, not honey). I think I’ll probably end up buying this tea again to have it iced, but I doubt it will be in my usual rotation. Thanks for the sample Tea Forte!

The delicious apricot zingy scent of this in the bag made me bump it to the top of my list of teas to try. It’s so good, with its almondy and fruity flavor mingling together harmoniously, and giving me the wherewithall to actually get my work done this evening (are not you jealous of my grad student life? admit it!) This is YET ANOTHER Tea Forte blend that is not only more than the sum of its parts, but going on my ‘buy a whole bunch of’ list. Love you, Tea Forte!

This tea looks like creme brûlée from DavidsTea. I love the rooibos and the bright petals. The tea is sweet with that distinct amaretto flavor and a nice bit of peach and apricot (I can’t tell the difference between the two), but the fruit portion is quite juicy! This is a great combination. The tea is very rich and actually makes me wonder if I had eaten a very large dessert. Yum! I am not sure if this will be a purchase for me only because I find it slightly similar to the creme brûlée (richness-wise) and I like that one a bit more. I am so glad to have tried this, though. This is a great treat! Thank you so much, Ottawa Tea!

So I forgot I had most of the tea left over from my Tea Forte’s Herbal Retreat sampler.
I absolutely love the idea of herbal blends reinterpreted as celebrated alcoholic mixes it’s a new idea.Let’s sex up some more tea!!
Smells like Apricot mostly which is nice.
It’s an okay taste doesn’t blow my mind as much as I wanted it to.
Not bad but not particularly excellent either.

NEWS AT 11!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So BEST news ever found out ONE one second ago..the mall about a block from my house is getting it’s very own DAVIDsTEA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I think I’m going to apply since it’s like I work at a DT already with all my stock..wish me luck!!!!

Maybe it’s a sign that the future will start looking up I sure hope so!

I haven’t had many herbal blends that included honeybush and/or rooibos, so was not sure what to expect. I was actually rather pleased, and think this was the favorite I have of the samples I received from Tea Forte. It made a really nice light brew with aroma and taste of both apricot and amaretto. A hint of flowery character, probably from the marigold flowers. Not too sweet, and a nice accompaniment to a piece of buttery shortbread.

This is the second of five samples provided to me by Tea Forte. The first one I tried was the mojito marmalade, which I loved. This one, in contrast, evoked almost the exact opposite response in me.

The smell of the dry leaf alone made me nervous. It was SO vile and medicinal – more accurately, it was reminiscent of Robitussin. It gave me a headache and the memory of the smell lingered unpleasantly for a while after I set the leaves in water to cold brew. I didn’t find any apricot in the scent at all.

After steeping some of the apricot smell was more evident, and the medicinal odor had faded a lot, but that first sip…

Let’s just say I didn’t get past it, because it tasted like it’s original smell and I can’t drink Robitussin. :(

Oh, well. I have three more samples to try – I hope they’re more like the mojito marmalade than this one.

Burried my nose in this one before starting. Really sweet smelling. I mean REALLY. Ever drink flavor syrup straight? I did once. It’s like that.

Now for the drinking part. Yum! I used a bit too much water so it’s a little weak, but It’s nice! Doing a nice job getting the “Cosmo-not” off of my palate. Doesn’t need sugar folks. It’s plenty sweet by itself!