319/365
My second pick from the Game of Tea (Thrones!) sampler set. This one’s a blend of Tiger Eye, Cinnamon, and Almond.
My initial thought is that I like it very much – there’s a lot of caramel and chocolate at the forefront of the sip (I guess that’s the Tiger Eye…), against a pleasingly spicy background of cinnamon and the merest hint of almond. I drank two cups over the course of the day, one with milk and one without. The cup with milk was a little more muted, and causes the almond to disappear (it wasn’t strong to begin with…), but still has a nice chocolate/cinnamon vibe. I feel like you lose some of the caramel smoothness with milk, too, so going forward I’ll probably drink it without.
My first cup – without milk – was really smooth and very easy to drink. Part of me feels it should be “redder”, or somehow brassier, if it’s to really represent the Lannister’s – maybe a touch of hibi wouldn’t have been amiss here? I was imagining something a bit more like Butiki’s Ruby Pie, but obviously this is quite different! This probably isn’t the most unique tea out there, but the cinnamon adds a little twist and it’s nicely indulgent and desserty. I’ll happily drink up the rest of my sample.
I would expect a Lannister tea to be brisk, maybe an Earl Grey?
Cinnamon seems like it would make more sense for a Targaryen.
And almond, maybe Tyrell?