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I woke with a start that only the truly anxiety-ridden are familiar with, and checked the clock only to learn that it was 4:00 AM. There are times when you wake with a start but can nevertheless calm yourself down until you fall asleep again, and then there are others when you know that any efforts to stave off your anxiety and actually get back to sleep will be fruitless. Sadly, this night fell into the latter category. Not to worry though, as I quickly slipped out of bed and headed to play on the computer in the living room. What on earth did people do with their anxiety in the middle of the night before the internet?

And what better cure for needless anxiety than a steaming mug of tea and settling down with a cozy book. And I really picked a most cozy and delicious tea to accompany me! This very generous sample comes to me from the extremely kind-hearted VariaTea, who sneakily rummaged around on my wishlist and sent me like all of it. This tea was wonderful!

The people who rave on and on about the aroma of the dry leaf aren’t kidding: it smells like a baker’s kitchen, nutty and sweet. I don’t know that I would identify the nutty smell as almond right away, or perhaps it is—and it isn’t of the marzipan dessert variety. I steeped this up for four minutes with milk and sugar, and the sip was thick, buttery, and nutty, with a hint of sweet breadiness. I’ve had brioche before (although it was from Cora’s, and I can’t attest to its quality, necessarily, and I imagine French chefs would scoff), and actually found it a bit underwhelming as a bread, but again, it was at Cora’s so there’s that. But this tea was excellent, and manages to feel simultaneously decadent and mainstream, so that I could easily imagine having it as a breakfast tea. The flavours work very harmoniously with the base, and this tea will indeed remain on my wishlist. It’s one of those thick, buttery teas that makes you want to slide your tongue around the roof of your mouth to lap up all the buttery cream. Mmm.