Thé des Impératrices

2024 sipdown no. 62

This tea is quite scented and reminds me of the raspberry in DF’s Coquelicot Gourmand. The flavour is more subtle than the scent, but the raspberry comes to the front and is realistic. There are hints of raw almond in the background as well. Overall a lovely tea (for ordering reference: I prefer DF’s version).

Thank you for sharing Cameron!

One of several teas I ordered when I purchased their advent calendar!

This one is pretty lovely. The dry smell is so over-the-top delicious juicy raspberry jelly with a tinge of amaretto. Unfortunately the flavor is not quite as upfront when it’s steeped up, but maybe that’s a good thing ha ha. It’s a lovely decadent, sweet swirl of marzipan-esque almond notes (technically it’s pistachio, but they taste the same to me as flavorings) and sweet, concentrated raspberry jelly or pâte de fruit. Worth noting that the first time I tried this, I steeped for my usual 3 minutes and felt like the black tea overwhelmed the flavors, and I find it much better at 2 minutes. Still tasting plenty of black tea, but can taste the yummy raspberry and pistachio much better.

I admit, I don’t often love marzipan sort of notes in tea, but here when it’s more restrained and alongside the yummy raspberry flavor, I’m loving it. And would definitely recommend this one for almond lovers. I can’t wait to try the advent! :)