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This smells extraordinary, perhaps the most appealing tea blend I ever smelled. Smells very rich, of chocolate and vanilla and some other things, so fabulous I had to buy a bit.

And now I am brewing it for the first time, I am a bit disappointed. I brew it precisely how I do with my other chocolate teas (MF´s Wedding Impérial and Yumchaa´s Caramel Sweetheart, I love both of these) and it is the wrong way, I must up the dosage or something, try it without milk, because frankly using the same process as for the other chocolate teas, this one was sort of wimpish. It tastes mostly of vanilla, lovely natural vanilla. Some chocolate taste afterwards, but the milk and sugar mask everything else. The base tea seems like maybe it is some delicate-ish Ceylon.

Not a bad tea at all, but a bit too delicate for what its smell promised. I will try it again to see if I can crack the right method for this one.

I had this for a while, and of course when I decide it totally rocks and need more, I hear it has been discontinued. Urgh. I am on a wild quest to get more.

This is very very fruity indeed. It is hibiscus and apple and strawberries and lots other red fruits. To my taste the hibiscus is not overwhelming (I am not a hibiscus fan), it´s there and without apologies, but it´s balanced enough for me. Hot is quite nice. But I decided to make it iced, and OMG IT TOTALLY ROCKS ICED. It is incredibly nice iced. I went through the whole pitcher in half an hour, it was so good I could not ration it.

Desperately searching for more now.

Nice, so nice, now a staple for me. Though admittedly I also love the original Thé sur le Nil. Description is rooibos with citrus, lemongrass, “oriental” spices and marigold petals. I am not so sure I detect the spices or any flavour from the petals, so a citrusy lemongrass-y good rooibos. Very good and pleasant, I love rooibos with citrus and this is so very good.

I have been most unfair with this tea. Most most unfair. I thought it was good but sort of meh. Except now I decided to try it a bit differently and I think I have cracked it – it needs sugar and milk. It needs a very generous tea serving and it needs to be stirred often, while brewing and before pouring and even in the cup, because it was so much texture from the melted caramel and chocolate. But done like that it just might be the most decadent tea I ever had ( apologies to Wedding Imperial, but this has just more texture), though I got hopes for yet untried Fauchon Chocolate Tea.

I need to upgrade this a bit – I tried it with more rooibos and while not going to replace my number 1 favorite fruity rooibos, it is much nicer than I was giving it credit. I like the underlying rooibos very much, the fruity part is also very nice.

Another green honeybush (maybe there is such a thing), green rooibos mix. And one I particularly like.

It does not taste like any apfelstrudel I ever had, though arguably I never had apfelstrudel in vienna. To me, after that lovely clear pure sweet green rooibos/honeybush flavour, it tastes of hazelnuts. It tastes so strongly of hazelnuts it makes me check my teeth for hazelnut pieces – and this is meant as a compliment. After that there is a apple taste indeed, but apple tea (as opposed to fresh apples), and maybe a hint of cinnamon. It is lovely, to put it plainly.They call it a winter tea, but I think I love it year long.

This not strictly green tea. It is honeybush (normal I guess. I do not know if there is such a thing as green honeybush) with green rooibos and supposedly some mint flavouring. I say supposedly because I did not notice it – maybe my package is too old and mint too volatile, or maybe I brew it too long (it´s rooibos. It stays there till I am ready to drink it).

To me it tastes mostly like plain green rooibos – the first rooibos I ever had was green rooibos and I am quite partial. It is a totally different taste (and infusion colour) than normal red rooibos. Its taste is more herbal, “greener”, a bit more like green tea or linden or camomile or a mix of all of those. Not bitter at all. I like this a lot and might rebuy – though I am looking as well for good quality plain green rooibos as well, and good quality plain honeybush.

This Marco Rouge is lovely and nice – it is rooibos (duh) and upfront about being rooibos. If you hate or just dislike plain rooibos this one might not be a rooibos for you.

The tea smells heavenly on the package, brewed up its smell seems far less complex – but then again, it is rooibos, it brew very hot and long. But then again Berry Berry Nice (by Yumchaa, a small London tea company) which is my favorite rooibos ever and to which I can not help comparing this with, is also brewed very hot and long and seems more intense and complex when drinking. A lot more.

After brewed Marco Rouge tastes of plain rooibos (stating the obvious, sorry. But a good rooibos) and strawberry and vanilla. Nice. Not bad, but for this sort of thing, my beloved Berry Berry Nice is much better and deeper. IMHO and all that.

I bought a small ammount to test at home. And I do like it better if I brew it myself, on my small teapot and just so. Better.

This tea smells incredible in every stage. The tea leaves with a thousand fruity smell, then after brewed, like strawberry jam and green apples and maybe caramel. First taste is for me strawberry with green Granny Smith apples coming later at the back of the mouth. Nobody else seems to have tasted apples, never mind green apples, so my brain might be just wrongly assigning a particularsmell to a very complex blend of flavours.

Must retest, less brewing time I think and maybe try milk. Lovely indeed, though it did not knock my socks off as much as expected.