Almond

It’s annual-tea-gifting time amongst my friends and I, and I have been given two four-pack samplers from Adagio. Today’s was Almond. That’s it, just almond.

Given that I really like almonds, I was dubious about this tea – most of the ‘almond’ or ‘almond-marzipan’ teas I’ve had have had a fairly modest almond-ness to them. I was therefore pleasantly surprised to be grabbed by the lapels of this tea as it shouted “ALMOND!!!” in my face.

“Yes, yes you are, aren’t you,” I replied, and the tea subsided a bit, appeased.

This is a very almond-y tea. I like it quite a bit for just that reason! It’s probably capable of assuaging my desire to eat an entire box of marzipan all at once (but I don’t keep marzipan in the house anymore – it’s too dangerous for just this reason – so I can’t test this hypothesis) and certainly it fulfills its name.

I shall be very happy to keep this sampler around. We’re a bit tight on tea-cabinet space right now, so I’m not sure I’ll keep a large amount of this one around long-term, but for the moment, I’m quite enjoying it.

Definitely one I plan to drink again.

I’ve tried a lot of almond teas in the past few months. While not the worst, this is also not among my favorites. There’s some bitterness, which I had to cover with milk and extra sugar. While it was hot, I actually couldn’t taste any almond flavor. It tasted mostly like a malty black tea. Once it cooled, the almond flavors came out, and I’m enjoying this cup. In the future, though, I imagine I’ll continue to purchase caffeine-free almond teas instead of ones like this.

For me, it’s almost too almond-y and not enough tea-e. Still in the bag, the almond scent is overpowering. It is smooth (at least with <1 min steep time).

This tea has a high bar to clear, simply because I already have and love Adagio’s “Chestnut” and “Almond Oolong” teas. This one was sent as a free sample, so I’ve been looking forward to it, but I’m wary if it will live up to the other two “nutty” teas that I already have in my cupboard and am so attached to. And…it doesn’t. Don’t get me wrong, this is fine. The almond/marzipan flavor is present, it’s nicely fragrant, and delivers exactly what was expected. Nice, almondy, but nothing more. I can’t see ever reaching for it instead of the Chestnut or Almond Oolong.

Has a strong almond and marzipan flavor (might be too intense for some), goes well with milk.

This tea smelled AMAZING – just like marzipan. I did oversteep by a minute or two, and would not recommend steeping it more than three to four minutes. Adding simple creamer or milk (nothing flavored) brings out smooth nutty notes. Very slightly sweet, no bitterness that would be explained by anything other than steeping a bit too long.

I’m a big fan of almond so liking this one wasn’t much of a surprise. The flavor reminds me of the almond milk tea I usually get. Maybe not a very authentic almond flavor, but I love it. I wouldn’t recommend steeping this one any longer than 3 minutes.

I got this as a sample and will probably order more.

Sipdown. Cold-steeped for two days. I’m sorry I didn’t think to try this sooner. It toned down the dominating base and allowed the nutty, natural almondy goodness to come out.

I won’t restock because it’s still not a favorite.

Thank you TeaTiff for swapping some teas! I always love to try the Adagio flavors… they are usually spot on. This one is no different! At first, the flavor is like I’m chewing actual raw almonds, the nuttiness that they have. Then at the back of the sip the flavor shifts to a marzipan. So it’s almost like I’m drinking a tea with two types of almond! No actual almonds are in my sample that I can see. I guess Adagio wanted to be double accurate with the flavors this time. The black tea itself is never too terrible, this time it seems a little cardboardy, unless that is the almond itself but I’m not going to complain when I usually love the flavors. I’ve had better almond/marzipan teas though.
Steep #1 // just boiled // 3 min

On occasion, I get a hankering for the flavor of amaretto or raw almonds. I blame it on my sister-in-law, who fixed me my first amaretto sour, when I went to visit she and my brother in the very flat lands of North Dakota (to this day, one of my favorite vacations…EVER). I’ve been obsessed with the flavor ever since; gobbling down raw almonds is a luxury I rarely afford myself, but I do appreciate adding amaretto-flavored creamer to my weekend coffee. Naturally my interest was piqued when I discovered Adagio sold an Almond Black Tea. Finally! An opportunity to marry two of my food obsessions.

But, this is where the excitement ends with Adagio’s Almond Tea.

My experience with Adagio teas that have artificial flavoring has been positive. I could practically bury my face in a pouch of Adagio’s Chestnut tea. The same could not be said for the Almond Black tea. First sniff was alright, and I definitely smelled the sweet, raw almond scent I hoped for. But, with each intake of breath after, it got worse. After a while, the Almond Tea started to have the bitter or sour scent of chemicals, which was obviously unpleasant. It was so off-putting that I almost ditched the bag because I was certain this would affect the taste.

Flavor-wise, the Almond Tea wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t what I was expecting. When sipped at a temperature slightly less than piping hot, all I picked up was the flavor of the black tea. Not until the tea cooled down did the almond flavor seem to stand out. Then, instead of tasting the sweet, cherry-like flavor of raw almonds, I tasted the nutty flavor of roasted almonds– a flavor I can tolerate, but ultimately don’t enjoy.

Bottom Line, I’m a big fan of Adagio tea (and their prices), but I did not enjoy their Almond tea. Honestly, the tea did not taste bad; if you’re a fan of that roasted almonds, then you may enjoy this tea. However, I don’t like that flavor and don’t really want to sip on a tea with a flavor I consider merely “tolerable”. I’ll probably put off drinking the rest of the Almond Tea until I’m desperate for a caffeine fix.