The dry leaves smell slightly spiced and chocolatey, with a hint of sweet almond. The leaves look quite pretty with large slices of almond in it.
I made the decision to brew a cup of this at 11 in the evening. I clearly had no idea what I was getting into. Don’t ever drink this at that late an hour if you plan on going to bed any time soon.
It’s the beginning of allergy season for me, so something should have tipped me off when I could detect a strong, spicy aroma coming from my mug. I haven’t really been able to smell anything for the past week or so.
I took my first sip and my tastebuds were promptly knocked out from the shock of the spices. I honestly wasn’t anticipating for this tea to be that spicy. I did some homework to recover from the surprise.
When I came back to the tea several minutes later, I steeled myself, and took another sip. Wow! It was delicious. I first detected a strong gingery flavour, mixed with cinnamon. I thought I could taste a bit of chocolate in there as well, but it was quickly followed by an almond-y scent. The final kick came from the cayenne pepper, which I still found to be very strong.
Well, I’ve almost finished my cup. I had to add a splash of coffee creamer (Toffee Almond creamer— I’m out of milk at the moment) along the way, since the spices were keeping me wide awake and I really want to go to bed at some point. Overall, I enjoyed this tea, though I couldn’t detect a lot of chocolate. Be warned, though, that this tea can make your mouth (and the back of your throat) feel like it’s burning. It’s great for keeping you up for late-night homework or writing sessions, though.