Le Palais des Thes

One of my favourite green tea for every day. Very good for beakfast.

This tea is ok, it’s good but expansive for what it tastes ! At that prices I think we can find much better.

A friend went to Paris and brought me back a bag of this stuff. She was told by the sales guy that lapsangs weren’t legal in the EU because of something to do with the way they get their smokey flavor. Strange info considering every other tea shop I visited in Paris has a lapsang. I think my friend got the new guys who doesn’t know his tea very well yet.
I was expecting not to like it as I haven’t been impressed by the selection of PDTs that I’ve had and was happily surprised to find that I really dig this one! It’s smooth, smokey and fairly well balanced. I’ve probably had a cup of it 4 out of the last 5 days and can already see a dent in the giant bag!

Very “autumnal”. Lots of apple and warm spice. I didn’t like it at first, but it grew on me. Lots of flavor. Palais des The tends to very very perfumed and so is this one.

When I received this tea from my French friend, my boyfriend decided to try it…. and he loved it! He piqued my curiosity and I decided to try it weeks later for my french blog. And I liked! If you love cacao, vanilla and caramel, it’s really a good combination. But, but I found that there was a lot of bitterness.

Sipdown (609)!

Midafternoon cuppa from earlier today; I’m split this weekend between a deep desire to work on sipdowns and also to continue my “2019 Goal” of drinking more straight teas at home in addition to at work (even if it’s not always Gongfu Style brewing). Thankfully, this was something that fell into both categories.

I did add a little bit of buckwheat honey to this because I was finding it pretty brisk/harsh just based on first little baby sips after steeping. I think honey was a good choice; it softened the sharp malty edge of the profile, creating a more balanced cup with malt, citrus, and rye bread notes and a slight cocoa/raisin undertone. I really enjoyed this one, actually!

(Even if it was a tea sachet)

Another one from the tea box! Not since my early days of loose tea have I really sought out chocolate teas, but if one comes my way, I’ll give it a try. With sugar and milk, this makes quite a nice treat. The chocolate is very present, and you can really taste the rooibos as well. It’s silly, but I still prefer the Stash chocolate teas over most loose ones I’ve tried. But this is definitely good for what it is!

Another inoffensive offering here. It’s nondescriptly lightly fruity, a tiny bit floral but not offputting (I generally dislike floral). The weird thing is it leaves an oddly metallic feeling across the middle part of my tongue. I’ve never experienced anything like this, and it really is almost more of a feeling than a flavor. Based on that combined with the fact that there’s really nothing to hugely recommend this tea, I actually don’t recommend it.

This one was just OK. It was light and refreshing, but the flavors were kind of muddy and indistinct. It had definite general floral aromas and flavors, which I usually don’t much care for but I’m OK with in this tea. I never truly dislike Palais des Thes, so this is still fine, but I wouldn’t search it out again.

Sorry, guys, I thought this one was awful. Very woody and sour, though perhaps slightly a higher quality than the woody sour I’m used to from red rooibos. The vanilla is present, but more an aroma than a flavor. I couldn’t finish this one.

TTB #6

Chocolate-flavored teas aren’t usually my thing, but French tea definitely is so I gave this blend a go. What a lovely surprise! The chocolate flavor is sweet and rich and full-bodied with a note of vanilla in the scent and aftertaste. With a bit of milk, this made the perfect bedtime treat. Excited to be adding this one to my collection!