Vanilla Almond

Woah, the reviews on this one are all over the place! I like to browse other reviews before I write any notes on a tea, though I always like to start with a general score in mind first. I don’t want to be affected by other reviews, but at the same time it’s nice to get a general sense of what others think! But this, goodness, I have no idea! It has plenty of 90+ scores but then quite a few lower than 30. Divisive!

I think many people aren’t fans of RoT’s small teabags and steep(ish) prices, but they were my intro into loose leaf and I’ve stuck by them. I have a tiny mug of tea before bed every night and their bags are the perfect size for a small cuppa! This is a blend I’ve been meaning to try and I got a sample from Marcel Duchamp. Thanks!

There isn’t a whole lot of depth here. It’s strongly almond and the vanilla makes it taste like marzipan! The base is strong but kind of one-note. You know, it tastes like black tea! Generic but tasty. Maybe this isn’t the most complex blend and I probably haven’t made it sound that appetizing but I really enjoyed it. For a before-bed, no-fuss tea this is great! I LOVE marzipan and while this isn’t advertized as a marzipan blend it really tastes just like it.

YAY OMG TEA.

It is the weekend and my Finum Brewing Basket came in the mail so there will be TEA at the workplace mmmhmmm. So excited about this development it’s freaky. Tea! Workplace! Yay! Because I’ve seriously missed my tea like a crazy person.

Anyway, I wanted to calm down with some tea from someone other than me. My Rishi order came in, so I’m really excited to try it. However, I really want to be alert and at full tasting capacity to dig into that stuff, so I figured I’d dive into some of this Auggy-sent tea.

I have to say, I’m not a huge fan. The leaves smell very prettily and strongly of almond and vanilla. They’re the normal black size, perhaps a bit more broken, but the little bits of almond in there really spruce up the look of things.

Anyway, the infusion is a very vivid red-orange color, and the smell coming off of it is very, very similar to Almond Cookie! I took this to be an awesomely awesome sign, because Almond Cookie is the bee’s knees. So yeah, very cinnamon-almond-pastry-like. Awesome smell.

The taste however… okay, bizarrely enough, on the first few sips, I didn’t taste anything at all. No tea taste, the tiniest hint of almond. Just… a void. But then the flavor kicked in, and it kicked in hard. The black tea base here is very rough and borderline bitter. There’s a bit of astringency, but the problem is really the bitterness. It just doesn’t pair well with the delicacy of flavors like vanilla and almonds.

I’m not really tasting vanilla all that much, and when I do, it’s more like those fake-tasting vanilla hard candies than actual vanilla bean or vanilla extract. The almond is almost chemical-like. It tastes like someone dumped rubbing alcohol in my tea. It’s got that really rough, almond extract taste that tastes awesome in baked goods, but it absolutely horrible to drink.

There’s a bit of pleasing sweetness at the end, which is probably the saving grace of the entire thing. But it’s really not enough to make up for the rest of it. Overwhelmingly robust and bitter black, accented by very mediocre flavoring.

I had high hopes for this tea after I smelled it – I thought it might compete with Teavana’s Rose Marzipan for a place in my heart. Well, it doesn’t quite make it but it’s close. I feel like it needs just a little extra something to make it really wow me. It’s sweet and I love the almond with the vanilla peeking out at the end but maybe a touch of maple or something would add that oomph I want it to have. Also, it tastes a little thin but I’m not sure how to change that. I made it strong enough that I can feel the affects of the caffeine so I’m not sure how to make the taste bolder without causing someone at work to beat me with a hole-punch due to hyperactivity.

As as dessert tea, it’s not sweet enough for me… as a normal brew that could I drink everyday normally.. it’s great.. the aroma of this tea is absolutely amazing… I love sipping this tea.. not really tasting it.. I try to think that it’s one of my everyday cups.. it’s just black tea that I could drink again.. I cant taste any almonds though… but it’s alright to drink,,

I used one teabag in a liter of water and steeped it for four hours… or so in a thermos. When I finally got to drinking it, it was absolutely divine. A rich almond aroma came from the cup, a vanilla flavor ran across my tongue and a deep, sweet almond flavor remained on my palette. Must remember not to take this to class, it distracted me from running my nuclear magnetic resonance spectra.

It was a nostalgia thing that made me pick this one up. When I worked in an indie movie theatre, I often went for it during my breaks. I thought maybe I just didn’t know enough about tea back then, since it didn’t taste particularly special. Thus I tried it again.

Nope. Same thing. I keep on thinking it will be amazing, because the tin itself definitely smells like, well, vanilla almond. And I like anything with one (or both) of those scents. And the smell tempts me when the mug is sitting on my desk, untouched. But I just don’t taste it in the tea. There’s something in the aftertaste… but if I can’t figure out what it is, well… not a good sign.

For my second journey into the land of The Republic of Tea, I chose their Vanilla Almond blend. I anxiously waited for this tea to finish steeping as the sweet vanilla aroma filled my nostrils. Finally, after five minutes (that seemed like five days), the tea was ready to taste. With my first sip, the full, sweet, vanilla, and nutty properties danced on my tongue. The robust quality of the vanilla joins expertly with the almond presence and the supporting tea flavor to create a delightful taste sensation. This tea instantly became one of my favorite selections. The Republic of Tea continues to create incredible blends that coddle my insatiable sweet tooth.

Definitely one of my favorites, almond flavor is divine and a little vanilla adds the necessary sweetness to make it a tea desert.

Republic of Tea is served in Papa Jon’s in Kyoto and is great with their NY Cheesecake.

I want to love this tea as it has two of my most favorite things almond and vanilla. It smells great in the tin, it smells great brewed but it has a strange aftertaste. I can’t pinpoint what it is but there is something off about it.

This was a ok tea. It did not have as strong of a flavor as I was expecting but it was good. Good cold and hot.

Early on, when I was first exploring black tea, this was one of my favorites. I’ve loved several RoT varieties, and this had an earthy quality I really appreciated. Since however I’ve changed my general impression of this tea. While solid, and still one of my go-tos, it’s considerably less so (more of a back-up). The quality of the flavoring pales in comparison to even many of ROT’s other teas, but it’s also become a bit too weak for my taste. While I prefer black not so bitter, this one just doesn’t have half the kick I’m looking for.

I was excited to try this since I love Republic of Tea, but I’m not a fan of this one. The smell was delightful, almost like vanilla ice cream. The taste is not good. There is a definite taste of black tea, but the sweetness is a bit artificial? Gross? Whatever it was.. I dumped this cup.

This used to be one of my favorite teas before I discovered chai. The aroma of this blend is really lovely. Definitely very vanilla-y, but I get a distinct honey scent from it as well, though that could be from the vanilla and almond mixing together. This tea is incredibly smooth and hard to brew incorrectly (like most teas you buy at a grocery store), so it’s good if you don’t want to fuss with loose leaf or high-maintenance teas that can turn on you if brewed too long.

This tea is very…simple. There’s not a lot of depth or body to it. I feel like the black tea is very strong while in comparison to the almond and vanilla flavors. It just doesn’t blend very well. The sweetness towards the end of a sip kind of saves the tea, but I don’t think I’ll be buying this one again.

Currently my favorite flavored bagged black tea. They sold these tea bags at my school’s cafe, which is where I first tried it. I have had other teas from Republic of Tea (Ginger Peach, Get Happy, to name a few) and was not really a huge fan of them, so I didn’t know what to expect. However, I absolutely loved this one! The bags smell sweet and nutty, and the tea tastes the same when brewed. There is no need to add anything to this one (even though I take my teas straight anyway), since the vanilla makes it subtly sweet. You can also definitely taste the almond underneath the vanilla, giving it a awesome toasty, nutty flavor. Overall, a really good cup of tea!

Heaven. Sipping this makes me feel as though a blanket is being wrapped around me and everything is going to be okay.
I splash milk into it, and when I’m feeling frisky, I add a bit of sugar.
The almond is certainly prevalent, yet none of the flavors are too heavy.

Soothing with milk and honey. Perfect if you like all things almond-flavored. I read some of the reviews and I agree, there’s definitely sentimental value attached to this one. It always takes me back to rainy mornings in college.

I adore this tea. I love vanilla, I love almond—so what’s not to love. It can be weak or bitter (it’s kind of hard to get just right), but I err on the side of strong because I take it with milk and sugar. This tea is comforting to me and I have many good memories of it from college and cafe dining with friends.

This was okay, but not my favorite tea. The smell sort of reminded me of pipe tobacco. Maybe it would be better with milk as a tea latte.

Mmmmmmmmmmmmmm.