359 Tasting Notes
I did this tea not in the recommended manner but in a halfway chai manner – boiled some (unfortunately) skim milk with a tea spoon of brown sugar, when boiling added a couple teaspoons of this tea and left it to simmer for some 5-10 minutes.
And my first thought at first sip was oh, so this is FRENCH chai. I can not articulate too well why I would consider it french, but oh so smooth and refined and flavorful. But it packs some heat indeed, no matter how sweet and smooth it is at first sip.
On taste notes, it smells wonderfully at spices. In the dry tea the predominant flavours are cinnamon and cardamom and emphatically of cloves. When simmering at a boil, it´s the cloves which rule. The wet leaves, before being discarded, smelt most strongly of ginger and cardamom. The liquor (milk? tea? drink?) itself tastes equally of the cinnamon, ginger, cardamom and cloves and it´s fantastic. And the pepper finally gets its revenge in the aftertaste, with just-to-the-point heat. (If you are sensitive to chillies or pepper, better avoid this or avoid brewing this chai style). And oh so so smooth all the way, so flavorful and rich but smooth.
Another note, many people hate cloves, if you do maybe better avoid this – it´s balanced but the cloves are there. If you like cloves, absolutely get this.
If you are like me rather neutral about cloves, then do check it. I think the cloves are wonderfully used here, they bring a really exotic different flavour and seem to make the cinnamon and cardamom just so much better.
I want to try to brew this normal style, but I did love this so very much chai style brewing this normal style is not going to be a priority anytime soon.
Preparation
I am becoming a rooibos blend snob. Not avoidable. Some rooibos I can not drink and sound woody and musty, other blends I love and leave me with a wonderful comfortable glow. Mariage Frères´s rooibos blends are of the good kind. And this Nil Rouge is pretty special to me, a totally balanced :rooibos and lemongrass and some citrusy thing which seems to me to be verbena but is probably lemon or orange or even bergamot.
It has became a staple for me now. Though not sure which I love best, this or Marco Polo Rouge.
A word of warning : I used to brew rooibos very hot and very long, but I am changing that. This particular blend I think should not be left for too long, pour it after 5 minutes or even less. And do not use free boiling water, 90 or 95 at most for optimal deliciousness.
Preparation
BTW I think this is blend 22141 from Dethlefsen&Balk.
I must rant a bit, please excuse me. The fashion for tea right now is pretty tea with plenty of big huge recognizable fruits and flowers – I am still not sure what cornflowers bring to tea but it´s like they are in 33% of all current black tea blends. In the case of this tea it gets quite ridiculous. Whole figs, whole blackcurrants. And by the Brazil nut effect when trying to get a couple spoons of this tea here comes two whole figs and a blackberry. And I had just bought 50 grams. Of course that was not typical, there were maybe 4 whole figs in my sample. So of course brewing this tea would vary wildly if you were including the whole figs or not, and surely while figs would bring fig flavour, they can not replace tea. It is frankly ridiculous to use fillers these large. And I just picked up the figs, chopped them with a knife and tossed them back, and tried to select a more representative sample, tea and fig pieces.
And of course there is the other issue with the so pretty fillers, that their flavour is much more fragile (though admittedly complex when very fresh!) than that of plain flavoured black tea. Flavoured black tea is impervious to the ravages of age and air in a way that all these pretty fillers could never be. And very few of us use all the tea we buy within a short period of buying nor can we control how long the seller has had the tea in stock. This tea is a tea I just bought, but where even so the tea itself is not fresh from blender, the use-by-date is January 2013, so not particularly recent.
All this rant leading to while this particular blend of flavours sounded like an awesome idea and the scent of the tea was wonderful, the tea I brewed was pretty mediocre. The mix of black/green does not quite work, it ended up tanninic and wimpy at the same time, and the flavour, ah maybe it is not fair to judge but the fruit taste was faded and elusive, since the aged figs and blackberries did not seem to carry much scent. Pretty tea rarely ages well.
Preparation
I have heard that cornflowers are supposed to add creamyness to the texture, but I don’t know if it’s true. I’ve never been able to tell that for sure myself.
I have heard about adding “texture” to tea, but not sure I get it in practice. Little chocolate chips, or little pieces of toffee, oh yay, you can see them adding texture to tea (if you remember to stir and are using really boiling water for a decent steep period) but the cornflowers or sunflower petals or even rose petals meh, not sure I ever experienced anything extra from them. And cornflowers are really everywhere…
(opening an exception for jasmine flowers, or lavender, which can indeed add significant flavour IMO)
I can’t say I truly get it either. I can’t tell the difference either way. I’d prefer to make a tea feel more creamy by having a little vanilla added to it. I think that gives a creamy sort of sensation in itself. But then again, I might be biased with vanilla. :p
LOL, yes you and vanilla. But you know not sure even vanilla on itself works – I got some Fauchon tea which had real pieces of vanilla pods in there (really. You could see it much more clearly on the big tin in the store) and the tea itself was oh so disappointing.
And you know Yumchaa´s Blueberry tea? IIRC you found it too floral (I am more forgiving of floral) I think it is flavoured with cream. A probably artificial cream flavour, can not see how you naturally flavour with that, but it is creamy by definition to my tastebuds :)
This is a goodbye tasting note. It´s finished, over, will be missed and I will rebuy. Funny how this tea slowly became one of my favorites. I was not too dazzled when it arrived, but I kept appreciating it more and more each time I had it, it has became one of my top 2 favorite flavoured green teas ever.
It tastes perfectly balanced to me, very naturally flavoured and all “just right” – japanese sencha, big pieces of dried apple and a bit of cinnamon on its places (that is not, overpowering everything else). This new description mentions almonds which I have not noticed! I really like Yumchaa´s blends – very natural, not over the top, good bases and very balanced flavours.
By the way, with this be careful the water is not too hot. Otherwise, such an easy tea.
PS – checking their website, they list chinese green tea as the base now. I could swear my package said JAPANESE sencha, but I threw it away a while ago when moving it to a tin. Dunno. Maybe they tweak it. Still a re-buy.
Preparation
A couple weeks ago I got a package of Davids´s Tea Read My Lips, and was struck by how awesome the idea of peppermint+chocolate flavoured black tea could be. After Eight Tea. Read My Lips was not going to last long in this household anyway and I got into the hunt for another peppermint and chocolate “After Eight” tea that was easier to find this side of the Atlantic. And wow, found this easily enough, locally and from my favorite blenders and quite reasonably priced (cheaper than David´s Tea even discounting shipping). I had to get some, it was meant to be, even if I had not yet run out of Read My Lips (it´s only been a month).
And it is just as good a idea as I remembered. I still got some Read My Lips to compare, and there are some differences between the two. RML has got fillers, the chocolate and the little peppermint lips and the peppercorns. Choco-menthe is a simple flavoured black tea. RML has a little bit extra texture from the melted chocolate and peppermint and is also sweetened by those. Choco-menthe is a bit more intense and concentrated (use less tea), and the tea seems a bit stronger, a stronger body. IMO choco-menthe is one of those teas which while not needing anything gets better with a smidgeon of sugar. I added milk as well and that was also a good idea. Delicious. A sort of candy bar tea – nothing too special or too refined, but so nice.
About ratings, I have some trouble being accurate with the slide bar. Between this and Read My Lips, maybe I will pick up a favorite in time, but so far, I hope I am giving the exact same rating to them both. Different teas but honors even, good takes on a very good idea.
Preparation
A couple months ago, the Peony Tea S. very kindly sent me three teas of theirs, in exchange for answering a few of their questions regarding shipping times and conditions. All teas arrived promptly and in excellent condition and were all of such obvious quality I have been reserving first sip of them for occasions I could give brewing this their due attention! And reviewing them is slightly intimidating as well, my vocabulary feels stretched.
A warning first: I think I used not enough tea on this first brew. I went by teaspoon count and should have gotten out the digital scales, I think going by what I have left I did not use the 2 grams per 100 ml recommended, I was too careful of not breaking the tea and spoons counted were not filled enough. So my judgement of this today is not optimal. But I am sure I will forget this advice if I don´t write it down so here goes, the first preliminary tasting. Don´t skimp on the recommended weight. I used my favorite mineral water, it´s light on minerals.
The dry tea is absolutely beautiful, long vivid green little pods of leaves curled upon other little leave buds. The scent is absolutely fantastic, a wonderful green tea (duh. duh. I said I was challenged by trying to review this) scent which reminded me of spring in some cliffs right by the Atlantic in Portugal (Arrábida mountains, if you really want to know) – a scent very clean and free, maybe with hints of thyme or this type of rosemary or cypress.
1st steep – brewed up, while the scent notes change a lot and the thyme-rosemary notes go away, I get a sea note. It was slightly astringent and slightly sweet and very lovely. It brewed up very pale gold. Ethereal, the adjective used by the seller´s description, is a totally perfect description of this. This was my favorite steep (is this a sign I screwed up the next steeps?
2st steep – this brewed up quite a bit richer. Color deeper, with a slightly green tinge, and at the same time more astringent and sweeter and the sea note even more pronounced. Theoretically it should have been superior in everything to the 1st steep, but I still loved the best the first steep without being quite able to explain why (I warned you writing these taste notes was challenging!). That is something I will try to analyze next time I make this tea.
3rd steep – By this time I had figured out I had used too little tea, so only half a cup. Very very pale, very very delicate, astringency seems to have gone and amazingly even sweeter.
Drinking tea this pure and fresh is a fascinating lesson, so much easier to understand the reaction of tea to time and temperature, to see clearly in the size and shape of leaves the tea bush annual cycle. It might also be addictive. A lovely tea.
Preparation
I went tea shopping, oh it was fun, but I run out of tins and containers. I really got to continue the purge.
This was one of my new buys, and maybe the one I was more enthusiastic about. The dry smell is just sublime – almond, a bit of cinnamon, something gingery and something fruity (the passion fruit I guess).
Brewed, it is lovely, but I screwed up making it. The MF website says 95 degrees for 3 to 5 minutes. I was afraid of putting such hot water in a mix of green and black tea, used colder water and well I got to test doing as they say.
The taste is slightly different brewed up, the almond is still very much there but tamed. The cinnamon (and other spices?) go to the background. The fruitiness is dry rather than sweet, reminds me a lot of this maracujá, passion fruit, liqueurs which are typical from Madeira and which I rather like. I misguidedly put some brown sugar on it and that was a mistake. The almond and spices puts this firmly in my mind in Pleine Lune territory, and honey does wonders to that tea, but Balthazar is just a different personality, Pleine Lune´s older cousin rather than her twin sister.
Ah, I think this would make an awesome Christmas tea, if you do not require a lot of body from a Christmas tea. Its scents are so Christmas-y to me!
Preparation
never tried this one, it seems nice :)
It is nice, but a warning, if Pleine Lune is your tea (and it is, IIRC) this might fall short. It is green tea with black, and the flavouring is just more subtle. I loved the description that it was flavoured like pain d´épices and loved the scent in the tin (plus they sold me 50 grams, yay! ). But it might not compare too well with Pleine Lune and be redundant with it. But let me have it a few more times! I have not gotten the brewing right yet.
the point with Balthazar is the blend is looking (as a pic !) exactly as Prince Igor which is one of my Darling.
And I adore le pain d’épices… Mariage mentions however almonds (as in a frangipane…galette des rois)
Oh yes, almonds, very clearly and strongly. And a hint of cinnamon and they say passion fruit, but I am getting more of a dry passion fruit thing not like fresh juicy passion fruit – there is a traditional Madeira liqueur made with passion fruits which IMO tastes sort of like fruity Drambuie, and the note here is like that.
I can not believe I am offering to send Mariage Freres to Paris, but OTOH I can buy this on 50 grams dose (as long as I do not mind flimsy inadequate bags! the serious bags are expensive and why they do not like to sell it by the 50 grams. I did not mind and found some tins as soon as I got home). I can send you enough for a couple cups if you want to try it – one condition, I want your opinion :p
I’ll be happy :) have a look in my cupboard as well I am sure there should be something (and even more) you’d like to taste, my pleasure to send it(s) to you
That is a deal then! I will try to send you a message – and give me some time to get this on the mail, this week has a holiday right on the middle and oh early days of the month are scary at the post office. Do you have enough of your Prince Igor for a cup or two? Now you mentioned it I am pretty curious and seems like a lovely swap, a Mariage Freres Wise King for a Mariage Freres Russian Prince! And check if I got anything else you might like to try. I am running low of Pleine Lune (not sure you need it :p) and Wanderlust but everything else I think i got plenty of. And oh, have you tried MF´s Vert de Provence yet? I just got it, and it smells so incredibly sublime.
no probs I have everything you need. I’ll send you a PM.
No worries for the mail, as a catholic roots nation we share the same bank holiday here :)
I tried this at a café – teabag (nice mousseline one, must be said) on a mug, and nearly boiling water from the coffee machine.
Kusmi is becoming rather easy to find at some trendy cafés and bakeries. So far I had not much luck with their blends, and that is an euphemism: their Detox blend, from the same café as this one, I loathed. But this was a lovely surprise. It´s nothing extraordinary, green tea and presumably mate, cinnamon noticeable and then cardamom and ginger. But the brewing method (bag in a mug, water from coffee machine) seemed to work really well with this and it was a perfectly nice cup of tea. Maybe I am overrating it because it turned out better than I expected, but a nice surprise indeed.
And ah, now I found a Kusmi tea I like, I do not like its tin. That is ironic. Not that this was a must have, or something I needed for personal collection, it´s just my insane mad lusting over Kusmi tea tins (though not the teas).
Preparation
Kusmi teabags are getting ubiquitous on some trendy cafés. The selection is usually not quite exciting, but well, it´s better than Lipton. Except this one, I truly disliked it.
It being a teabag I am not quite sure what it was on it. Green tea for sure, and lemongrass absolutely. Steepster description does not mention any spices, and I thought I could detect some hint of something. Maybe I was wrong. But this tea was very wrong for the teabag in a mug and almost boiling water method: it turned out both bitter (the mate? the tea?) and I could detect a strong sort of seaweedy-fishy tone. I really disliked it. But OTOH the next one I tried, Boost, was a winner.
Preparation
you are breaking the heart of so many Frenchies who think this tea is the best Kusmi’s tea…this is one of their best sellers in France. Sure I won’t taste it now …I already had doubt about its qualities
Maybe it was just not right for the way it was brewed – at a french chain bakery actually, Eric Kaiser, very lovely pain au chocolat though am a bit sad at their location which used to be a bookshop :( But I swear it smelled seaweedy, fishy to me. If it is only green tea, lemongrass and mate not sure what could be fishy about that but it did. Boost was quite nice though, though nothing extraordinary.
oh God Kaiser opened a bakery in Lisboa ! It’s one of our best baker but by the way soooooo expensive. (I remember I found Lisboa expensive when I visited one century ago !)
Anyway sure tea shouldn’t be fishy ! they may have used a sencha ? senchas can be a little bit “seaweed” aftertaste sometimes
They got two bakeries in Lisbon now, one a bit out of the way, and another right in Baixa, at Rua do Carmo. It was not too expensive, well not by standards of Baixa, which are now a bit geared towards tourists. IIRC tea was 1.80 (teabag in a mug. But still, cheap compared to some really poncey places where they charge you a lot more for that priviledge. Oh and bring the intact bag by the side of the cup full of hot water rapidly cooling.). The simpler pastries, croissants and chaussons aux pommes and pains aux chocolat were a bit less than 1.50€. A bit less than twice the price they would be in a regular place in an average town but pretty OK by tourist center standards. And really quite good pastries!
And about Detox, that could be it indeed, I have been known to have some issues with some japanese greens. I saw some for sale the other they they talked of a “seaweed” note as if it were a good thing, really". And the method for brewing Detox was not too kind, a bag in a mug, that could be it. But I really really did not like it.
One of my friend told me it was a fantastic tea; I’ve never had tea with him and do not really know his taste and whether he can be trusted on this.
I guess I’ll try you on this and will definitely not jump on this one, as I do not feel like taking risks with something that might be so vile.
LaFleurBleue, be careful with this. It was just sort of rank to me. I will try it again if i get the chance, but am not recommending it to anyone, particularly you!
Still from the tea swap (thank you Keen Tea Time) a spiced herbal blend. Cultural expectations and all this tastes not at all christmas-y to me – it´s spearmint, orange rind and american cinnamon mostly. Spearmint has its own tang, different from the usual mint around my parts of the world, to me its association with toothpaste is unavoidable. And american cinnamon is also different from my regular cinnamon, american cinnamon to me is the taste of tooth-friendly chewing gum. So you see where this is going. Instead of Christmas associations, this sounded like a very tooth-friendly drink. And it was a nice, palate cleansing sort of taste, I liked it. Orange was also present, but my mind focused mostly on the spearmint-cinnamon thing. Cloves I did not detect.
The one drawback of this tea for me was that it was so thin, so weak. I like that they did not use fillers like chicory (à la Lipton) which taste muddy to me, but the poor spearmint was just not up to the task of my bigg-ish tea cup. When rebrewing I think I will up the dose or halve the tea
Preparation
I know what you mean about it being weak. I usually brew two or three bags together! :)
Great minds think alike, because that will be what I will do! or brew much less, which is also an option. I really liked the balance of flavours, it tastes very sharp and clean, sort of pure, to me, but I think it is that toothpaste – virtuous chewing gum association!
I sniffed this blend in the MF shop and found it too heavy with cloves. So decided to buy Mandalay.
I will let you know when I brew this normal style – I found the cloves perfectly in balance on the drink, but then again I did not brew it normally. Oh and be careful, the pepper is here and bites :) ( but it feels oh so lovely this time of the year).