Le Palais des Thes

Here is tea #2 that I picked up from the Dean & Deluca 50% off rack. The packaging was extremely classy! The tea was enclosed in a sturdy cardboard and exotic-looking outer box. On the inside, the short black leaves were secured in a beautiful cylindrical wooden container. I will be saving the container to store my teas of the future!

When I opened the wooden vessel, a wonderful sweet smell like cinnamon toast emerged. Mixed with this aroma was a rich wooden odor that was obviously produced by the container.

There were no brewing instructions to be found in the packaging, so I wrestled with how I wanted to steep this selection. There seem to be a lot of different philosophies dedicated to the brewing of Pu-erh tea. After reading several articles, I wondered if I should rinse, pre-rinse, or blow-dry the leaves first. Since I was in a hurry, I took the easy way out and steeped the tea using the good ol’ (fast and easy) western method. The steeping occurred for five minutes at 212 degrees. I also used one teaspoon of leaves per cup and a teaspoon for the pot and good luck. Since I rarely re-steep more than twice, I resolved that this plan of action would be fine for my tastes.

UPDATE: I just noticed that brewing instructions ARE included on the outer box in very small print and using the metric system. I doubt I would have taken the time to convert 10g into spoonsful, 50cl into ounces, and 95 degrees Celsius into Fahrenheit, so THE point is moot at THIS point.

The brewed aroma of the tea was quite inviting and sweet with cinnamon. The subtle rich smell of the wooden container was also present. The color was a deep muddy brown.

My first sip immediately bombarded my taste buds with wooden cinnamon bursts. The flavor was not too strong, though. A potent Pu-erh flavor was also resident but behind the sweet wooden cinnamon attributes. I didn’t detect any bitterness. The aftertaste was sweet and subtle.

As I continued to empty my cup, this tea became more and more pleasant. I drank it early in the morning as I began my work day. If I hadn’t been on the South Beach Diet, I would have definitely reached for a (or several) tea biscuit to amplify the experience of this very tasty tea.

I believe this tea would be great as an afternoon or dessert tea. It wasn’t too shabby at breakfast time either. If you or someone you know cringes just at the thought of Pu-erh tea, this may be just the blend to help you and/or them jump that hurtle. Although definitely a Pu-erh tea, this one is not aggressive about it.

One of the new things I’ve discovered recently. A black tea that closely resembles a green tea! You might ask: “Well then, why not just drink a green tea?”
And you’d be right to ask. But I shall answer! Because this is stil a black tea. It’s a very light black tea, granted, but it still is a black tea. With its distinctive taste, but they have this very special twist.
I recommend this. It’s a light tea, I think it will help me transition from green tea to black tea, and could not be happier about this.

Thank you for sharing Dustin. I am definitely getting the toffee flavor but I am also getting a lot of base and I am just not loving it. I really can’t put my finger on why but the two flavors are just not blending the way I hoped they would.

Had this this morning – a delicious Ceylon, fruity with hints of chocolate, smooth, with just the right amount of astringency. Delicious, and will probably convert people to love Ceylons.

An excellent black tea, I tried it today with milk and a bit of sugar and it was fantastic. Still fruity and bold, but smoothed over by the milk to a wonderful creaminess.

To all my Steepsterites that don’t like Ceylon – try this tea!
This is now not only my favourite Ceylon, but also one of my favourite teas. It smells wonderful – rich, nutty, fruity, with a slight smokiness to it. It tastes like rich juicy plums, chewey nuts, and brand new office supplies – newly sharpened cedar pencils, a brand new notebook full of possibilities, a shiny new bag, waiting to be filled with all matter of goodness.
Yes, it is astringent, but in a wonderfully pleasant way.
A tea that is an experperience, filled with depth and taste.

Last Tea of the Traveling Tea Box C Round 2
Planning on sending this box off tomorrow. Technically I had one more to try (52 teas’ Cotton Candy), but I wasn’t really in the right mindset to try a white tea, so I’ll have to pass. Lol.
But I did get his one a shot before it went.
Kinda orangey/spicy in the package. Since I couldn’t really find any sort of ‘how to brew’ instructions, I just did 1 tsp @ 195* for 3 min. Seemed to work out alright.
Mainly I get oranges from the smell, and cloves from the taste. At first I was trying to figure out the spice. Not cinnamon, or anise, or cardamon…..Cloves! Mainly because I remember biting into one during an Easter dinner from the ham. Bleh. That was unpleasant but the taste in this tea wasn’t. It was pretty good and definitely different. Adding a bit of Truvia toned down the cloves just a bit, which made it better. But I really didn’t get much of any other sort of flavor from the tea. Though to be honest, I wasn’t really sure what sort of flavors to expect when I tried it excepting maybe oranges. Lol.
Not bad to try, but not one I’ll search out to order.

Definitely more flavorful than some of the white teas I’ve tried. I don’t find it super floral like another reviewer noted, at all… I wonder if maybe they changed the supplier or something? It’s perfect for when you want a stronger tasting white tea, and I accidently oversteeped it a little on the second steeping but it still tasted delicious. Very happy with it! If you want it to be a bit sweeter you can lower the temperature. 5 minutes at 70-72 C makes for a very lovely cup I think.

I’m having this cold brewed. It’s nice! I didn’t read what flavor it was before tasting. I would have guess marshmallow. The citrus is not that obvious. I can see vanilla, but it also has a sugary candy taste to it. Not really like a vanilla pod.

It’s nice after a bit of gardening.

I brewed this without knowing what it was supposed to taste like—I probably could have guessed from the name, but I basically went for it based on the knowledge that it was a floral green. Hot, it’s lightly grassy with a strong cherry smell and a floral aftertaste. There’s a hint of fruit to it but not much, and there are some sweet vegetal notes too. Overall it’s very light, although that might be the way I brewed it. It’s nice, and could even be described as sugary. I’m going to let the second cup cool down (I made a small pot) and drink it that way; once I have I’ll edit to add my comments.

ETA: Cold this isn’t much different, but it’s enough that it’s worth commenting on. There are more sweet vegetable notes like green beans and the cherry is more prominent. I think I slightly prefer it hot but it’s good both ways.

Some mornings I am so productive, and thus far, this is one of those mornings.

I’ve decided I’m going to get through all my swap samples, as well as any 1-2 cup sipdowns in my cupboard before we leave on Saturday. This tea was the beginning (I also brewed up a SBT and stuck it in the fridge and the last of my French Butter Cookie matcha is in the fridge too). It looks as though I have about 15 to get through, give 1-2 teas that have maybe 3 cups but I’ve filed them away to finish off as well.

This tea is quite tasty. It seems I’ve come to a green tea phase, which is great. Some green teas are just awesome, especially for the warmer weather and lighter mornings. Not straight greens, but delicately flavoured greens. This one has a subtle floral aspect that I can taste, but it isn’t overwhelming, and therefore not offensive. There is also a light fruitiness here, but I’m not able to differentiate the fruits. The green base is buttery and light. Overall a tasty tea for this productive morning.

Thanks KittyLovesTea!

ok… so how do we write a tea review of an unpleasant experience?

I regretted my decision the moment I opened the sample bag… well, too late.

The smell was so strong it almost made me cough – as if someone mistakenly woke up the Firebird from Fantasia who furiously burned down an entire forest, but completely leaving out (probably the only pleasant and) crispy smell of charcoal.

Extremely smokey, dry, lifeless and bitter, like an ancient armory full of ragged weapons and moldy manuscripts. (If all the dwarfs ever abandoned Iron Forge from World of Warcraft and let the uncivilized and monstrous dragons take over, it’d smell like this…)

All the other teas I have tried so far were nice – as in they were respectful towards my feelings and would only gently reveal themselves to me at a pace I’m comfortable with. But no, not this one. This one was angry and overwhelmingly expressive – it stuck itself right in my face without asking for permission or announcing its presence in advance. It reminded me of story tellers who refused to sugar coat anything and would only portrait life in its darkest, cruelest and possibly realist forms.

I don’t appreciate that. Well, at least not now.

I drank the tea just so I could say “been there done that”. To be fair, despite of the strong smell, the tea actually tasted quite smooth and silky.

Nevertheless, I am going back to all my fine and dandy teas of good manners…

I’ve been curious to try a violet tea ever since I joined Steepster and realized they existed, and I’m very grateful to Dustin for letting me sample this one! It does, as Dustin says, taste like violet candies, which is about what I expected. And I like violet candies pretty well—not all the time, but once in a while. The violet is strong, but not too strong and perfume-like. I’m just not sure that the base works very well with the intense floral, though—it’s sort of malty and almost chocolatey, and it makes for a weird combination with violet. I think something lighter—some delicate green, or maybe even a white (though I’m not generally fond of those) or a green oolong (same, although Butiki’s lamented Rose Violet Calendula Oolong was wonderful)—would have worked better for me. I’m enjoying my cup pretty well, but I can’t quite get past the discordant notes I’m picking up on.

Backlog:

When I first opened the package, I was a little unsure about this tea because the scent of the lavender is rather jarring. It took me by surprise just how strong the lavender was. But although the lavender is strong in this tea, it doesn’t overpower the flavor of the Oolong nor does the lavender end up tasting perfume-ish. This one gets big bonus points for that.

The Oolong starts off delicate and buttery with undertones of vegetation. In later infusions the Oolong flavor starts to emerge more as the lavender becomes more subdued. I found the transition between each infusion to be really interesting and I found myself looking forward to seeing just how much the taste would change from cup to cup.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/03/11/pure-indulgences-lavender-oolong-tea-from-le-palais-des-thes/

(been debating whether to put this one up or not … alas here it is)
warning: major digression ahead…
tl;dr: floral+wood scent, rusty taste, honey recommended.

The first smell from the bag was riddled with a note of honey and wood but the taste was actually not as floral as I expected. The liquid was a bit dry and rusty (does this even make sense? probably not…) – it felt as if the tea didn’t want to leave my mouth and was trying to cling on to my tongue for just a few more moments. The hint of bitterness in the after-taste reminds me of the doctor visits I had when I was very young – there was a dark sandalwood desk with creases like the skin of the grand canyon on a miniature map. There was the old doctor who never seemed to smile or pay any attention to his little sick and nervous patient, who wrote scribbles on thin, crisp, and semi-transparent papers that no one could understand but were somehow deemed almost sacred in the small clinic in front of his apartment. From the floor to the ceiling, two of the four walls would be covered by neatly organized cabinets with bronzed handles and tiny drawers full of crunchy Chinese herbs, dried flowers, unknown spices, and sometimes even cicada shells (like Kamaji’s boiler room from Spirited Away). Naturally, this ancient and uncomfortably bitter scent would roam through every corner of the room, making me quietly nervous and agitated. Yet when the doctor’s wife finally handed my mom a small bag of mixed Chinese medicine, I’d feel secretly relieved, knowing that the visit was over, and that I’d be better soon.

Oh but I digress…

I did not appreciate the roughness the tea left on my tongue so for the second cup I added a few drops of honey – granted, the sweetness overshadowed some of the complexity but that was nevertheless a good decision in my opinion. Honey tempered the tea and then it was just a smooth and pleasant ride down.

I got a sample that I cold brewed. So. Perfumed. My boyfriend liked it pretty well, but he doesn’t like much tea. I just hated how overwhelmingly scented it was.

This is crazy rich in vanilla flavor. I made a tea smoothie and it is super tasty. The frozen banana and strawberries paired wonderfully with the creamy vanilla flavor. Then there is a small dose of milk chocolate goodness swirled throughout the drink. There’s also the slightest honey drizzle hiding in the cup. Mmmm mmm good. Alas, there is only 1 tsp left so no more smoothies but this was definitely a great choice.

I should mention, it took having to buy a new blender to make this a thing. Thank goodness for Wal Mart since all the blenders near work (aka at the Bay) were $100+.

Apparently I had this before and enjoyed it. Today I am getting more rooibos than anything. Perhaps it is because it cooled. I’m getting a bit of vanilla as well and also…citrus? That shouldn’t be here. It’s okay though nothing particularly special. Although I am still very grateful to Sil for sharing and giving me the chance to try this again.

In other news, DAVIDs has an American Birthday Cake tea in addition to their regular birthday cake tea. Now to find some w/o having to place a DAVIDs order w/an American DAVIDs. Is there a DAVIDs in LA? I must look into this.

ETA: There is a DAVIDs in LA 3 min from my dad so yay for not having to place an order!

Sipdown!! (179)

Thank you Dustin for the opportunity to try this tea. This cup is more vanilla than chocolate but the smooth cocoa flavor is still present and delicious. It really is a nice, smooth dessert rooibos and I am grateful for having gotten to try it.

Thank you Dustin for sharing this with me. It is actually a very nice rooibos tea. The base is present but mostly as a mere stage on which the real chocolate flavors shines. The vanilla also adds a slight sweetness to balance out the rich chocolate taste. Very nice indeed.

I’ve had this for a few days and have been drinking it multiple times a day. I’ve tried a few different ways of brewing it, and I have to say that it works a lot better as a cold brew. It’s very perfumed, a bit too much for me. When brewed hot you can smell the jasmine, but the taste is very mild. Like. I dunno. I like light teas but this was just okay. Today I tried cold brewing it for a bit over an hour and it works a lot better. It’s a lot more flavorful, you can actually taste the tea and a little bit of… honeysuckle almost?

I’m very happy to have discovered how much better I like it cold brewed, because it makes for a very refreshing cup that way.

The floral scent of the tea (before steeping) instantly reminded me of the glacé apricot snacks I had in China, but more pleasantly delicate and subtle – turned out it was cherry blossom instead of apricot. (a quick wikipedia search showed both are part of the Prunus family – I don’t know the scent of cherry blossom well enough to identify it so apricot was a wild guess that coincidentally landed near the target…?) As its name suggests, the tea pays proper respect to the Japanese culture where luscious and bold expressions are considered disgraceful for women whereas silence and obedience are celebrated virtues.

This tea is great for meditation in solitude – the taste is so light you almost don’t realize its presence. But you will definitely notice its absence because you’d miss the fragrance from the back of your throat every time you breathe out – it brings forth the unique freshness from blooming plants (not merely the simple pink sweetness you get from flowers, but with more exuberance – like bamboos growing after a night of rain) – I can’t quite describe freshness as a flavor but I guess it would just be like the way water is not tasteless and sunshine is not colorless.

The second last of my samples from Shmiracles. I’m glad I saved the majority of these, because I know I’m better at brewing teas — especially oolongs and greens — now than I was last year. I’ve learnt from my mistakes! I was surprised how strong the tropical fruit scent was upon opening this pouch. I’ve come to expect quite subtle flavours from European teas in general.

To taste, this is reassuringly subtle. I was hoping the tropical fruit flavouring wouldn’t become too artificial tasting, and it hasn’t. It’s a little generic , but not terrible. It tastes to me mostly of sweeter tropical fruits — pineapple, maybe lychee, kiwi? A bit of peppery mango would have been nice to offset some of that, but it’s pleasant either way. The description mentions that this is floral — I got a little of that in the aftertaste, but it’s not overwhelming. The fruitiness is definitely front and centre.

As for the base, if I hadn’t known it was an oolong, I probably wouldn’t have been able to tell. It’s unobtrusive, making itself known only in the aftertaste. It’s delicate, sweet, slightly floral. It complements the fruit flavouring perfectly, and is light and palatable like a green.

A very pleasant tea to have tried, and perfect for a warm spring Saturday. Thanks to Shmiracles for giving me the chance to try this one!