Botanical Bakery

I was sent these teeny, tiny little tea cookies as a sample for a review. They're cookies with plants in them. Was I afraid? A little. I made sure to eat them in the dark in case a swarm of bees came to attack me. I've been checking myself to see if I've pollinated or something. But all in all, these are some delicious little cookies.

I fancy combining these with a nice spot of tea, perhaps. I see them doing well at a garden party, and perhaps you'll order some for yours in the near future. The small demographic of mine that potentially has garden parties. Oh well. Onto the reviews!

The first cookie, peppermint with cacao nibs, is a new flavor for winter. All of these cookies are on tiny, buttery shortbread bases, by the way. A nice and crunchy, not soft or stale, confection, and the flavor is very subtle. The mint doesn't remind me of an artificial mint at all, more of the calming flavor one might taste in a chamomile tea. The buttery flavor works and softens the mint, making it a very fresh taste, and the cacao is in the background, adding depth but not overwhelming the palate.

7/10- GOOD

The next cookie has a little more crumble and acidity to it, the lemon thyme tea cookie. It's quite tasty, a rather acidic taste for such a tiny thing. Eating one gives a full burst of lemon, followed up by a mellow thyme flavor. I'm starting to like the idea of pairing herbs with sugary things. Sometimes it doesn't work out and ends up tasting like a pizza gone wrong, but in this case, the two flavors compliment each other really well.

7/10- NICE

I'm totally biased. This next cookie was my favorite, a cinnamon basil. Honestly, the only thing I could come up with was that it's a very fresh, popping taste. The basil, as one chews, emits a licorice-like flavor and mingles with the cinnamon, which, like the cacao, creates a very subtle taste. I find that with the butter, the flavors are accentuated in a more sweetened way, but also muted and cut with the richness to make a sweet and not bitter cookie. The small size of these is also fantastic, as I'm not sure if a larger one would suit my palate like these tiny ones did.

8/10- MMMM!

This cookie was flavored with fennel pollen. I don't know if it's my personal bias to eating pollen, but I only got a subtle fennel flavor and somehow expected pollen to taste different. The texture was a little more powdery, the butter flavor, the same. Very rich. A little strange. I can't decide whether I liked it or not. There were small flowery essences. I guess the idea of eating pollen just didn't appeal as much as I thought it might have.

5/10- OKAY

And then the last cookie, a lavender cookie. Despite having the buttery shortbread base, this one carried the strongest flavor of all and went with the butter very well. At first, the only thought that was in my head was of chewing on one of those aromatic pillows or face masks, but then my brain switched in and reminded me that it was a cookie. The soothing benefits of lavender sort of come to play in this cookie, making a really mild treat that relaxes the mouth and the flavor evokes lovely images of lavender flowers...

7/10- GREAT!

Botanical Bakery
www.botanicalbakery.com