Of all the things I’ve lost, I think I miss my mind the most. My mind, and this cookie, er, tea. Which I’ve never had, but which I realized with my first sip that I’ve missed, very very much. I’ve been homesick all my life for this cookie flavor I never knew existed. Mysterious!
I know, because of the description here and on the US site, that it is supposed to have almonds, but it does not taste like a straight almond cookie to me. The French site did not list almonds, which is good, because I might not have bought it, since I have a nearly full bag of Pleine Lune from Mariage Frères that I should get through before going in search of any more almond teas. (And also, almond isn’t really my favorite flavor.)
It is absolutely a cookie flavor, though; the “cookiest” tea I’ve tasted so far, and since I do tend to like “patisserie” tastes, it works very well for me. My favorite cookies are not gooey or chocolatey or frosted or filled with nuts or fruit … they tend to be more like shortbread or snickerdoodles, so this is right in my cookie sweet spot. Now, if only I could figure out this enigmatic flavor… I’m reminded a bit of warm buttered toast I used to have as a child, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, though if there’s cinnamon here, it’s faint. This isn’t really the flavor, but it’s the feeling. I get a toasted brown sugar flavor, probably some vanilla, definitely “caramel,” but not chewy, gooey, sticky caramel … more like praline? Maybe? And the nut flavor. Like, maybe if you took almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, and pecans and ground them into a flour and added a bit of that to your cookie batter?
I just don’t know! We need a forensic pastry chef! At any rate, a delightful discovery for me and definite re-order.
