Maple Almond Cream

I’m trying to drink my way though the hundreds of little samplers from various places that have been sitting in my tea cupboard forever. It turns out I have quit a few from 52Teas….I may have a bit of a problem. ;)

This tea smells distinctly nutty with a hint of maple and vanilla scent. The flavour is more like the conventional maple nut than maple almond. I think it might be the sunflower seeds again; the flavour they seem to impart ends up being more reminiscent of walnuts or pecans than almonds. Good think I like maple nut as a flavour regardless – it must be the Canadian in me. ;)

I was in need of caffeine this evening (I’m kind of a night owl – I find that when I stay up very late, that it gives me ample excuse to sleep right through the rest of the morning and then I avoid that whole morning thing.)

Anyway, I brewed up a pot of this and I shared some with Mat. He has declared this to be the best tea that I’ve served him yet.

And it is yummy, if i do say so myself. Lots of maple. nutty tones and a creamy low note. Sweet, creamy and luscious. So good I had to brew a second pot because Mat wanted more.

I haven’t ever had a tea smell so incredibly accurately like maple! Never ever! Thankfully, I’m also not disappointed in the flavour; this is the most mapley tea I have ever had, by far. Actually – it both tastes and smells like maple walnut fudge (minus the intense sweetness in the flavour, those this is definitely a sweeter tea). I’m also really enjoying the nuttiness here; I can almost taste the walnuts (yes, I know it’s supposed to be almonds, but this tastes nothing like almond to me. Which is ok, because most “almond flavouring” tastes like marzipan anyhow, which would have ruined this tea for me.

This is actually my second time having this tea. From the first, I remember a light, sweet maple flavor edged by the “nuts” (in this case, the sunflower seeds. which i ate afterwards).

I heated the water to about 203 degrees, and am letting it steep for four minutes, as per the instructions.

Dry, the leaves give off a very pleasant maple scent that whets my appetite. Tea-petite? (I’m feeling a little silly this morning.) And it’s actually been six minutes, so let’s see if I can drink the tea yet.

I can suck it through my teeth, but can’t quite “drink” yet. That first sip came close to burning my tongue, but didn’t quite make it there. But, that gorgeous maple swishes across my taste buds again, sweet and complex. I’m still getting hints of the “almond” but it’s not an in-your-face flavor. It’s more like it rounds out the edges of the maple, giving it more complexity.

A few minutes later….

Ok, that’s drinkable now without burning my tongue. At this point, the sunflower seeds are coming out swinging, relegating the maple to to sweeten the background. Still nice, and I’m glad the maple hasn’t disappeared yet. I think I preferred the maple in the forefront, though. The nuts in the foreground give the tea a tinge of bitterness. It’s not unpleasant, but I liked it a little better the other way.

Probably about the only thing that keeps me from ordering a large of this one is that I now have way too much tea for the space I’ve got, and I really need to finish some of it. (Not that that always stops meChocolateRoseTruffleI’mlookingatyou.) I’m not sure whether I’ll miss this tea when it’s gone, but I’m sure going to enjoy it while I’ve got it.