Palais des Thes

This was not, in fact, the one I dropped into the pitcher (see the previous note) but I’m going to give it its five points back, because I’ve had massive cravings for this one lately.

I feel like I’m cheating, because I usually write one tasting note per… what? What do I call it? Leaf cluster? Yeah, that’ll do. So one tasting note per cluster, no matter how many steeps. But I’ve had this three times without writing individual notes. Three times! Three clusters! An(n)archy!

Thing is, I’ve been experimenting with temperatures and steeping times, and it’s been so inconclusive it has just seemed pointless to log. What I can say, however, is that this tea, as opposed to the Vert à la vanille (also from Le Palais des Thés) responds very well to a longer steeping time and a lower temperature.

It comes off as far more balanced and flavourful like that, so I’ll keep steeping it for roughly 2-2.5 minutes in 70-80C water.

I still stand by everything I wrote in my last tasting note for this tea, but as I have had so many quite exceptional greens lately, I feel inclined to drop my rating by five points (Quelle insolence!).

I want to cold brew something today, though – if it’s this one I drop into the pitcher before I go take my tram walk with M. (It’s drizzly, so we might as well take the 3 down to Trastevere, cutting right through the city without getting our feet wet.) it just might get its five points back if it’s very lovely.

Lupicia’s fruity teas tend to be the standard by which I measure all others – I love their strong scents and sweet, juicy flavours – and most of all the fact that said scents and flavours hardly ever hit artificial notes. They’re such happy, friendly teas.

Sometimes, however, I want a tea that is somewhat more subdued in the flavour department, with a high-quality green base and a mellower fruit note. In terms of vanilla, Le Palais des Thés managed to maintain this balance very nicely in their Thé vert à la vanille, and I was excited to see how La Poire would fare.

In the bag, the pear is a perfect, natural pear, with a strong presence of green leaf – I found myself enjoying how intricately the two intermingle, to the extent that the usual three-sniff approach turned into more of a tensniffer.

In the cup, it’s equally satisfying. It’s a beautiful green laced with pear – the fruit is neither omnipresent nor static, bur rather surprises you at each sip; sometimes fully there, sometimes more elusive.

Like in the case of Kusmi’s lemon-ginger, I will remain on the lookout, but until I find the pear tea that renders all others obsolete, this will be my staple.

[Purchased at Le Palais des Thés in Tel Aviv, June 2013.]

Unsurprisingly, this reminds me of another ginger-lemon green tea – the one by Kusmi. Maybe I’m just more used to that one, but this packs less punch and seems flatter and less complex in terms of taste. The dry tea is beautiful to look at, though, and smells very good – two areas in which Kusmi fail to deliver. This is a very fair ginger-lemon tea, and I have a feeling it’ll grow on me.

I usually stick to 1.5 minutes steeping time for greens, but I went with the 3-minute suggestion on the bag for this one, and there was no hint of bitterness.

Flavour wise, not significantly weaker re-steeped.

[Sample from Le Palais des Thés in Tel Aviv, June 2013.]

I received a sample of this from Hallieod. Thank you so much!!! I’ve LOVED everything Hallieod sent me, she did an amazing job sending me teas that totally suited my tastes. I’ve been avoiding this one. Didn’t want to break that streak. I was afraid of the lavender. Black tea with strawberry and rhubarb should be right up my alley. I don’t do so well with the florals.
She’s been right with everything else, so I hot brewed some of this last night. I’ll admit it – I took one sip and my initial reaction was, nope I don’t like this one. I left it on the counter to cool, and then popped it into the fridge. Shrug, sometimes they are better as iced tea.
So, now I’m home from work – opened the fridge, and tried the tea. It is MUCH better cold.
I’m not getting a lot of fruit – just a hint way in the back. I’m getting the black tea and I’m getting some floral notes (not sure it’s lavender, but it’s floral). What I am also getting is some….tart, bitter, astringent…something unpleasant. That might be my steeping error. I did steep below boiling as indicated for about 4 min (instructions said 4-5). Not sure. This isn’t incredibly horrible, but it’s not for me. Sorry Halliod, you’ve still done an amazing job with your choices 6/7 with two I haven’t tried yet.

Many thanks to the Good Lady Angrboda for this, my tea of the afternoon (there was no tea of the morning as toddler had me up at 7:30 am for a bowl of cereal and I then convinced him to go back to bed and woke up again at 11:30). Rowan’s fever is gone today but I am super tired and still have ear thing. Sooo no special Orchid Oolong or Golden Fleece for me today pout

This however sounded good to me, which is odd as I didn’t like the one genmaicha I’ve tried (Teavana, but what do they know?). What encouraged me is that it is with Bancha and not Gyokuro and I figured the flavors would meld better than be such a huge contrast between green and toasty. Plus it is from Le Palais Des Thes and I have heard good things about them.

The smell brewing still isn’t my favorite, burnt popcorn and Kashi, but the taste isn’t bad and it’s even better with food. It’s surprisingly buttery! Genmaicha is definitely a unique cultural beverage, but not one that I am ever likely to get into. ::shrug:: Thanks Miss Ang, for giving me a better Genmaicha experience!

There’s is a citrus/bergamot thing going on in this tea – and that is exactly the problem. I don’t like bergamot. Why am I drinking this tea in the first place? I got it as a free sample with my last order. As I am always open to try new tea, even those I know I usually dislike. Sometimes there are surprises. Not this time.

Others have given it a high rating, so I guess it’s good to those that like bergamot. I will not be giving this a numeric rating.

A very sweet and relaxing tea. Good for a quite evening.

My mom picked some of this up at one of Le Palais des Thes’ NYC shops. This is my first time trying one of their teas, and I’m quite intrigued by the description of this blend in particular. I’ve never had tea flavored with either dates or orange blossom, and I’m quite curious to see how they’ll translate. Plus I love fruity and floral greens, especially iced in the summer.

This tea is quite fruity, in a rather generic way. I’m getting berries more than anything else, I think. I’m not tasting the rose, which is surprising since I usually find rose to be a strong flavor in teas. There’s a faint floral undertone, but it’s one I associate more with the orange blossom than with rose. I don’t taste anything I’d especially identify as date either, although there is a sweetness that is not unreminiscent of dates. I’m also noticing a faint vanilla undertone.

The base is nice – it’s quite light and neutral (in that it’s not too vegetal, seaweed-y, etc.), which is how I like my green bases. I’m not averse to stronger greens on their own, but when combined with fruits or florals (which are the profiles I go for in flavored greens) I find there’s too much of a sweet-savory flavor clash.

This tea reminds me a bit of Mariage Frères’ Bouddha Bleu, although I like this one quite a bit better. Both have strong, somewhat generic fruit flavors and hint at vanilla, but fortunately this combination isn’t translating to bubblegum here the way it does in MF BB.

I’m drinking this iced (brewed hot, then chilled), since it’s too hot to do otherwise at the moment. I’ll certainly be trying it hot when the weather allows though. I’m also thinking this might be a good candidate for cold-brewing.

This one was hiding from me, too!

I’m not sure why but Pear teas are tricky lil buggers! I find most of them aren’t great. Either they are ‘nothing like pear’ and/or artificial tasting and/or OVER DONE.

This one, however, smells adorable! Let’s see if it tastes good, too!

It IS pretty good! It’s not OVERLY Pear but it seems to be more TRUE tasting so that is appreciated! It has a floral-pear combo going on. The green tea base is top-notch! It’s also kind of brothy.

This is good hot and looking forward to it cold/iced :)

Backlog:

This is a really good Earl Grey. I like that it has a Yunnan Base. The bergamot is a bit more subdued than in a typical Earl Grey, I like the subtle approach here, and I like that this is different. And I like that the bergamot allows for enjoyment of the Yunnan. But there is also a part of me that still wants the BERGAMOT.

For that reason, I gave it a slightly lower rating … it’s a really good tea, but not what I’d call exceptional. A little more bergamot might have pushed it over the 90 mark.

I’m back! All crises diverted at home. Dad and cat recovering well. Expect a few backlogs.

This tea is very perfumey. It wasn’t bad, but I’m starting to think that all Palais des Thes blends taste very similar. The flowers were sweet, the sencha-tasting base was ok as well.

This is an ideal afternoon tea. I like the combination of fruit and flower with the green base.

Overkilling tea. The taste and odour are awesome.

The bergamot in this tea was a bit overwhelming for me; sweetness was trying to come through but it just didn’t happen. Will probably try steeping less to make it lighter.