40

I have this tea as “Toasted Almond Cookie” by Par Avion Tea; it is sourced from TeaGuys. TeaGuys used to have it as “Toasted Almond Cookie” with the same blend ingredients that are listed on my tin (this was gifted to me in December of 2017, but who knows how long the little knick-knack shop my friend found it at had it before that!), but TeaGuys has since renamed the blend to “Vanilla Almond Coconut” and changed the blend ingredients a bit. I’ve noticed this quite a bit on several of these old TeaGuys blends I’ve had in these Par Avion Tea tins. This just happens to be the OG version of the tea! (Hopefully the coconut isn’t bleh, but I’ll know soon enough. Honestly, I don’t even see any in the leaf, despite it being listed in the ingredients… another thing I’ve noticed about these Par Avion repackages… I almost wonder if they got the… uh… rejects from the TeaGuys factory or something, because several of the other tins have been like that, missing flower petals or having them in when the ingredients don’t list them, weird things like that…)

The steeped black tea smells quite malty; the aroma doesn’t smell all that different from a breakfast tea to me. There is maybe a touch of graham cracker to the aroma? The flavor… The black tea is at least quite smooth and not leaving any astringency, but I’m not really getting any real flavor. A touch of small cinnamon toward the end of the sip, with a slight candied sweetness to it rather than a spicy note, but I’m not getting any nuttiness/almond flavor. Maybe a very subtle marzipan-like flavoring? But it is quite subtle. And definitely no coconut (I really don’t think there is any coconut in this leaf at all). All in all, a completely forgetable cup and I’ll be happy when it is sipped down.

Flavors: Artificial, Cinnamon, Graham, Malt, Marzipan, Smooth, Sweet

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 3 g 14 OZ / 400 ML

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Bio

Hi! I’m Sara, a middle-aged librarian living in southern Idaho, USA. I’m a big ol’ sci-fi/fantasy/anime geek that loves fandom conventions, coloring books, simulation computer games, Japanese culture, and cats. Proud genderqueer asexual (she/they) and supporter of the LGBTQ+ community. I’m also a chronic migraineur. As a surprise to no one, I’m a helpless tea addict with a tea collecting and hoarding problem! (It still baffles me how much tea I can cram into my little condo!) I enjoy trying all sorts of teas… for me tea is a neverending journey!

Favorite Flavors:

I love sampling a wide variety of teas! For me the variety is what makes the hobby of tea sampling so fun! While I enjoy trying all different types of teas (pure teas, blends, tisanes), these are some flavors/ingredients I enjoy:
-Dessert/chocolate/vanilla/caramel/cream/toffee/maple
-Sweet/licorice root/stevia
-Vegetal/grassy
-Floral/lavender/rose
-Spices/chais
-Fruity
-Tropical/pineapple/coconut
-Bergamot (in moderation)
-Roasted/nutty
-Tart/tangy/hibiscus/rosehip

Disliked Flavors:

There are not many flavors or ingredients that I don’t like. These include:
-Bananas/banana flavoring
-Hemp/CBD teas
-Smoke-scented teas/heavy smoke flavors (migraine trigger)
-Perfumey teas/extremely heavy floral aromas (migraine trigger)
-Gingko biloba (migraine trigger)
-Chamomile (used in blends as a background note/paired with stronger flavors is okay)
-Extremely spicy/heated teas
-Medicinal flavors/Ginseng
-Metallic flavors
-Overly strong artificial flavorings

With the exception of bananas and migraine triggers, I’ll pretty much try any tea at least once!

Steeping Parameters:

I drink tea in a variety of ways! For hot brews, I mostly drink my teas brewed in the western style without additions, and for iced tea, I drink teas mostly brewed in the cold brew style without additions. Occassionally I’ll change that up. I use the https://octea.ndim.space/#/ app for water-to-tea ratios and use steep times to my preferences.

My Rating Scale:

90-100 – Top tier tea! These teas are among my personal favorites, and typically I like to keep them stocked in my cupboards at all times, if possible!

70-89 – These are teas that I personally found very enjoyable, but I may or may not feel inclined to keep them in stock.

50-69 – Teas that fall in this range I enjoyed, but found either average, lacking in some way, or I’ve had a similar tea that “did it better.”

21-49 – Teas in this range I didn’t enjoy, for one reason or another. I may or may not finish them off, depending on their ranking, and feel no inclination to restock them.

20-1 – Blech! My Tea Hall of Shame. These are the teas that most likely saw the bottom of my garbage can, because I’d feel guilty to pass them onto someone else.

Note that I only journal a tea once, not every time I drink a cup of it. If my opinion of a tea drastically changes since my original review, I will journal the tea again with an updated opinion and change my rating. Occassionally I revisit a tea I’ve reviewed before after a year or more has passed.

Inventory:

My Cupboard on Steepster reflects teas that I have sampled and logged for review, and is not used as an inventory for teas I currently own at the present moment. An accurate and up-to-date listing of my current tea inventory can be viewed here: https://tinyurl.com/xjt9ptx3 . I am open to tea trades (within the United States only!) at this time. Note that I will not trade teas that I currently have in a quantity less than 50g (samplers, 1oz packages, etc.) or any teas that are currently still sealed/unopened in my cupboard.

Contact Info:

Feel free to send me a Steepster PM, or alternatively, check the website URL section below; it goes to a contact form that will reach my personal e-mail.

Location

Idaho, United States

Website

https://teatimetuesdayreviews...

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