One of the things that I love about tea swaps is that I get a chance to experience tea from companies that I have never heard of, and that I get to try teas that otherwise I probably wouldn't even order a sample of. ESP Emporium is another tea company that I had never heard of until it came in the last batch of swaps. In addition to tea, they sell a wide array of tea accessories and gifts.
The roasted almond description is quite intriguing: "An acid-free base is embossed by the high portion of sweet apple pieces and its red color nuance comes from the added beetroot. The flavor note is determined by tempting, sweet, roasted, caramelized almonds. It is a taste experience which your nose and palate knows and loves from spring and summer fun fairs, the October Pest and Christmas markets. Our tip: simply try it and.. enjoy! For a perfect taste impact brew the tea for 10 minutes." Ignoring the typos, I was intrigued by the addition of beet root. Not a common ingredient in tea, but it might be welcome. Beets were commonly used to make sugar in the 19th century, so perhaps in addition to adding color, they add a touch of sweetness. In fact, I have an 18th century cook recipe including beets. They are beautifully purple. But I digress.
Opening the package, I took a deep whiff. It smells like cookies. Like almond biscotti. Fabulous. The smell reminded me of Teavana's Almondina Biscotti. The liquor also had the lovely sweet smell of something yummy baking in the oven. The tea itself is rich with almond flavor, and almost taste like I'm chewing on them. Yummy. The apple flavor is really subtle, allowing the almonds to shine through, and the beets remain all the way in the background, just a hint of sweetness and color. It doesn't taste at all like beets, so don't let that scare you away.
In fact, I got so distracted by drinking this yummy tea that I almost forgot to write about it. As an herbal infusion free of caffeine, this would be a great after dinner beverage, especially with some sort of flaky pastry. I almost want to go bake some baklava to go with it, but oops! I drank it all.