"The almond and cinnamon flavors combine to make this a truly delightful cup of tea... add a dash of sugar and it may well be the perfect cup." Vanessa’s Teaview: 9/10 Other Teaviews: Rebekah gave it 5/10, Cindy gave it 7/10 Your Reviews: Add your review »

I’ve noticed that my tea drinking habits and preferences shift every few months. Lately, I have been leaning heavily towards unflavored black teas (e.g. ceylons, yunnans) and blends (e.g. irish breakfast), and mostly ignoring my large collection of flavored teas. That being said, I was excited to sample SpecialTeas Almond Cookie black tea, hoping that it would revive my love of flavored teas. Indeed, it did.

The tea is a very attractive blend, having the tea leaves accented with thin slivers of almonds and red safflower blossoms. The tea has a very comforting aroma that mixes cinnamon, sweetness, and a hint of almond. SpecialTeas advises adding 1 heaping teaspoon per 6oz of boiling water and steeping for 2 to 3 minutes. I brewed my first cup before reading their advice, however, and brewed mine for five minutes (a pretty standard brew time for black teas). I am glad to say that the extra minutes I brewed did not negatively affect my tea-drinking experience. The aroma of the brewed tea was only slightly different from the dry tea, because the nutty scent of the almonds really came through after steeping. The tea brews to a very dark brown, almost opaque, color, which was not overly appealing. However, one sip of the tea quickly removed any doubts that resulted from its strong, dark visual appearance. The blend of natural almond flavor and sweet cinnamon was perfect. SpecialTeas compares this product to the old-fashioned windmill cookies, and I believe they are pretty much right on. I actually found my self thinking how nice it would be to actually have some of those windmill cookies to munch on while enjoying my tea! . This touch of cinnamon at the end is what makes for a truly tasty cup of tea. The flavor of the black tea itself is almost undetectable. I have tried other teas that were flavored with almond or cinnamon and was always disappointed in the artificial or too-subtle flavors. With SpecialTeas Almond Cookie tea, the flavors did not taste artificial and the mix of flavors was perfectly balanced. Although this tea was tasty on its own, I added a sprinkle of sugar and found myself to be drinking the perfect cup.

After drinking only half of my first cup, I was convinced that this tea would be on my short list of favorite flavored teas. I anticipate that I will be ordering this tea for myself very soon. I would recommend this tea to veteran tea drinkers as well as those new to tea. At the reasonable prices offered by SpecialTeas, this is a great tea to give as a gift to others. This tea could also sway the opinions of tea “purists” who generally snub flavored teas. This tea would definitely work well as a dessert tea to pair with cookies or other sweets, but its sweet and spicy flavor might actually satisfy a sweet tooth on its own. SpecialTeas Almond Cookie tea, thank you for reviving my enjoyment of flavored teas!

— To purchase SpecialTeas Almond Cookie, or for more specific information on ingredients or the story behind this particular blend, click here to go directly to the manufacturer's web site.

Vanessa Teaviews.com Reviewer » Read more about this reviewer on Vanessa's profile page. » Find a list of recent posts by Vanessa.