150 Tasting Notes
I bought this tea when they were having a massive web special on it, took a complete blind chance on it. I like it. I like how pretty it looks dried and it doesn’t have an offensive licorice taste like I was worried it would. I pick up on the coconut and chocolate and there are a decent amount of tea leaves to other stuff in the mix. It was a good morning cup, I was taking a break from The O Dor.
I had it with milk and stevia and then a second cup with just milk and it was good both ways. Robust but delicate at the same time. It’s probably one of my favourite teas from DT.
Preparation
It honestly pulls at my Canadian heart strings that this is even on Steepster. Ohhhh Canada! I usually order this if I’m out and about and with my boyfriend. That’s the reason I am drinking it right now (thanks honey!)
It’s your typical orange pekoe, nothing special, just creamy and gives you a jolt. It has a bit of an after taste and leaves your tongue very dry. Doesn’t seem to matter what I eat with it.
Strawberry Shortcake, huckleberry pie… who’s gonna be your lucky guy, A, B, C, D (mine ends at D)… and so goes the sing along while playing skip rope.
Alright, I must be the minority here. I bought 100g of this my first ever order of Davids tea. The whole 100g, I have been trying to convince myself to like it.
The smell… so fake, so astringent. The lack of black tea to balance out what feels like a bottle of liquid fake Strawberry flavour. Am I the minority here? This tea is flat out gross… I’ve tried it with milk, cream, sugar, stevia, brown sugar… you name it. I’ve steeped, oversteeped, understeeped, over-leafed, under-leafed… NOTHING. I made myself a nice mug of it hoping to sooth my some what sombre mood and it just made me a little irritated. WHY does DT have to use fake tastes… and why does this tea curdle my milk and cream? They’re fresh, very fresh in fact… WHY!?!?!
This tea had a lot of potential, but with the lack of leaves, the fake taste and the murky look to it… I just don’t understand what all the fuss is about. I have about 30g left and after that, good bye, never again. I’m glad I get to stop before S in my skip rope song, because quite frankly… if I had to drink Strawberry shortcake for the rest of my life… I would be one sad sad excuse for a tea lover.
(PS: the face in the rating totally says it all)
Preparation
There’s no better way to say I love you… marzipan and macaroons. Yum.
I will admit, this also was not one of my go to teas from The O Dor. I bought it because I am an ever romantic and love the name. However, that being said, I steeped this morning and I think my opinion has changed.
At first sniff: I smell coconut, marzipan and pistachio. It couldn’t get much closer to French macaroons.
At first steep: Again, echoing that I am trying to do the water temperatures and steep times, but I did increase this to 95C and 6.5 mins because I do appreciate my black tea base to be stronger. I must have enjoyed this though, because I gulped it down like it was going out of style. I probably have 6-7 cups of this left and then it’s gone, so we will see. Might have to re-review at another time.
Je t’aime!!!! (Sorry had to do that, you can’t help but feel romantic, or maybe that’s just me, seeing as I am a hopeless romantic… and Dawson’s Creek is on TV right now and taking me back to pre-teen school love.)
Preparation
So I had a little giggle over this tea… partially because the owner/master blender at The O Dor, originally worked at Mariages Freres. I find the description of this tea on their website to be a bit cheeky:
“It reminds you something? You think you know it? Nothing of the kind …Your jealousy is out of bound…How to say? This one is much better, deeper, more balanced and somehow far more subtle. You speak ill of it because you know much too well… It is only a coincidence if you pretend loving a similar one. Anyway, this one is mine and I don’t like sharing.”
Now, I can only speculate, BUT I sense he’s talking about Marco Polo, Mariages most famous flavoured black tea. Very very cheeky Parisian, that master blender.
I brewed this at 95C for 6 mins, as I feel I need a little more robustness in my black teas. The instructions call for 85 for 3-5 mins, as it seems with most of the The O Dor flavoured black blends.
At first sniff: This tea smells very fruity with subtle hints of vanilla and reminds me very much of Marco Polo… with the information above, I wonder why. Fruity, vanilla goodness.
At first taste: This tea again mirrors Marco Polo but with some other subtle notes. The O Dor is good a subtle hints of other flavours. I’m tasting nutty of some sort, but nothing strong like hazelnut though. Might be almond (almond extract maybe?)
I love this tea with milk and sugar (or stevia as of late.) I guess I personally appreciate the more subtle and delicate flavours, as some people knock The O Dor for their “weak” tastes. Depending on the day, I like in your face teas, but usually I like more elegant and refined flavours that have depth to them.
Preparation
oh dear, I had noticed that description. Very very cheeky but now it makes me curious!
I don´t find The o Dor flavours at all weak – got a few packages fresh from their store and they are amazing. Though if the flavours are natural, as I think they are, the flavours will age. Getting tea from a large package opened 18 months ago at one store will be weaker flavoured tea. (Maybe that is the problem I have had with place saint marc).
My tea is all older, I can’t lie about that. But I have never thought the flavours to be weak or dull. Even with myaged tea. I think a lot of other tea companies rely on artificial flavour and so the tea is a bit more pungent. You’re so lucky to have a store near you. I’d go there every day is another retailer in Canada decided to carry it.
unfortunately I got no place nearby to by live loose tea. There was a shop which had a few and where I bought my first of their teas, but unfortunately it closed. But I got some teas directly from them at their little cute Paris store and was stroke by how much intense the fresh packages of some of what i bought was than the already marvelous versions I had bought before. In Une Autre Idee (which is a glorious rooibos) it was pretty noticeable, in others as well.
Mind you, this might affect loose by the weight tea more, I think tins are more impervious! And another brand I like very much and also uses all natural flavourings has the same “problem” – it is lovely tea in all stages but intensity does decline. It´s not a bug, just a feature.
I’m forcing myself to go through my tea stash and pay attention to some of the ones that have been sitting there waiting for me to drink them and much of my The O Dor collection is sitting very pretty, like a well dressed Parisian woman waiting.
At first sniff: I can picture in my head the meringue peaks with toasted caps and how the sugar smells mixed with the egg whites. It literally smells like that to a T. The lemon notes wrap around this smell and then develop the more complex (ha ha, it’s without complexity though right?) smells and aromas. Some days I love it and some days I think it smells almost like soured baked goods.
At first steep: I’ve been following The O Dor’s instructions on brewing lately, to see if I’ve been doing something wrong with every other cup I’ve brewed with them. They seem finicky with black flavoured teas. I brewed at 85C and for 6 mins, because I’ve found the 3-5 it says just isn’t bold enough for this girl first thing in the morning. The lemon comes out much stronger after it has been brewed and that lovely meringue taste fades to the background slightly. I added milk and stevia to it and the stevia brings the meringue back into play, but the lemon is definitely taking a stroll on my taste buds. Although not my favourite The O Dor blend, I do like it when I’m in the mood for a light dessert.
Side note: I tried to do a re-order of some of my favourites on their website… the shipping is upwards of 50Euros…. for a few 100g of tea. Sigh… why must stores in Vancouver bring in high end French things and then change companies (I’m looking at you TWG.) Well, might just be worth it to make a trip there, vs paying that ridiculous charge. With the exchange rate, I’m paying 1.5 to 1 basically. Yeeesh…. I’ll just sip my sans complexe nicely… and lovingly.
Preparation
Well, going tea shopping in Paris is always top be recommended!
But checking their site, http://www.theodor.fr/shop/lang-en/content/3-terms-and-conditions-of-use check if a smaller order for example can have cheaper shipping. They say for wordlwide shipping of orders between 50 and 100 euros, then shipping is 32 euros. it is strange that shipping is according to cost, not weight, but I guess it will be complicated to calculate packaged weight accurately and at least having it be by price is good for me who would want lots of little cheap packages.
Yes that page is a bit more clear now that I read it. However for a little Canadian girl who pays 1.40 or so for ever Europe dollar those are some steeeep shipping charges. Especially because I could wrack up 50 e easilu by buying two tins of 100g. I know I shouldn’t but I love their canisters.
LOL, euros, just euros, not european dollars, please.
The cannisters are gorgeous indeed, and do you know their special edition ones? on the site they only got one or two, but live they have more and on my goodness, those are wonderful. Like their old tins, with a slight twist.
I have managed so far to resist their tins and go by loose weight for everything, mostly because I am cheap and tea greedy, except for Milky Oolong, who is so expensive by the weight it is quite affordable really in the tin. It turned out to be a very wise choice because I fell in love with it.
Sorry. My phone auto corrects sometimes that’s why it said that about the euros ;)
Yes I knew they had special edition tins but I must admit that I never bought any if their new designed tins only their older ones with their old logo which I personally like and prefer. I just like how they stack on my counter and demand you to look at them.
I’ve never tried their oolongs but they sound delicious.
The special edition tins are pretty close to the old tins, not sure about the logo. so gorgeous.
I agree about their tins, I am a tin lover (/fetishist more like) and their tins are sort of perfect for me – being able to pile them and they fit so they do not easily tumble, the way the lid closes so tight which is IMO very important and just, you know, PRETTY! Because of the difference between the loose leaf by the weight price and the tin price – here loose leaf can be from 6-8 euros per 100 grams and the tin is always always 20 euros no matter where and in which country; I have mostly resisted the tins, but has been hard. Weirdly now I got two tins of their tea and is for the same tea – am going to cheat and replace the tea and put my Nepal black on the old milky oolong tin.
There was a point in time, where this was my hands down favourite tea by The O Dor. I got a bit tired of it for a while, but after making myself a cup of it this morning, it’s like an old friend smiling back at me.
At first sniff: My mother cannot stand the smell of this tea. I personally smell the chocolate at first and then a nutty after smell comes through. I wouldn’t say it’s the nicest smell considering it’s suppose to be Chocolate and hazelnut, but what it lacks in smell dry, it makes up for in…
At first steep: Today I actually brewed it to the instruction on my tin. 80C at 5 mins. It’s a bit on the weak side to my liking, so I think I would brew it longer next time. The hazelnut and chocolate come out way more in the aroma of the tea once brewed. There’s a reason it was a number one contender at one point. And it doesn’t disappoint like say… Choconut Oolong from DT. No licorice here, no fake smells or tastes, just pure ingredients. I’ve been thinking more and more this is why I don’t appreciate DT as much… I’m use to high class French tea. The French do it right, it seems and they are my favourite cup of tea, if I had to choose a country. I take this tea with milk and sugar (today it was stevia because I’m trying to cut down on the sugar I ingest) and it’s just delicious. A dessert in a tea. I use to have this at high tea all the time and it goes well with both savory and sweet. I’m glad I decided to brew this tea today, made me appreciate it again.
Preparation
Have you have ever tried The-o-dor´s Celebration? it´s their other chocolate and hazelnut tea (really, they do two chocolate and hazelnut flavoured black teas). I think I love the wolf better but love both actually and it is funny how totally different these two teas while being from the same company and supposedly having the same flavours. Thé du Loup is more like dunno Audrey Hepburn, Celebration is Sofia Loren.
cteresa you speak my language. I haven’t had celebration in a while but I remember coming back to the du loup over and over again. For some reason I don’t remember the hazelnut in it but I remember vanilla notes. I’m definitely more Audrey Hepburn though so it makes sense why I would shy a bit from celebration. I do remember the flavours from celebration being more bold.
Yes, celebration has more vanilla I think, though IMO it also smells like kahlua mixed with frangelico or something. Both lovely lovely classy teas, just with different personalities.
tuscanteal – how did you come to own this tea? cteresa has me on a bit of a mission after sharing this with me so i’m trying to figure out the best way to get it haha
Hey sil well I live in Vancouver and the urban tea merchant use to be partnered with them. They have since moved on to the TWG company so I am sol to restock unless I want to ship it from France and pay high coin for the shipping costs. Its truly unfortunate.
booo… i’m still looking. Justjames may be inspired to place a joint order from them so yeah….haha
Best way would be to go in on an order with someone or a few so that the shipping can be split between everyone. When I did a mock order that was in the 160.00 euro range shipping was upwards of 75 euros. And with the dollar being 1 euro to 1.45 cnd… you really have to want this tea. They don’t have 500g bags to buy in more bulk but I believe the website says you get a small discount if you buy over 500g. They also don’t ship orders over 500 euros. Maybe a steepster trip to Paris might be in order.
someday i’ll get back to paris, but yes..james and i were talking about a join/group order to share shipping costs. :)
I’d be interested too honestly. I need to replenish my stocks soon.
i will keep you posted. James is actually out in victoria so closer to you, since i’m currently in toronto…though originally from edmonton and went to school in vancouver for a stint heh
On that note… maybe I’ll just go to France. I need to go to mariage and there as well as fauchon. I also need to write a letter to The O Dor and tell them to carry it at least somewhere in north America! !!
…there’s a single place in NA that i’ve been able to find that carries it… posted in the general discussion threads
I live close to the us border… I could pick up the package in the us and then bring it across! Then we could truly say we’re drinking tea not friendly to the earth lol
haha i have a tea mule friend who does that for me all the time…just no sure how much is in each bag they sell…assume 100g but there’s nothing there to indicate hah
Is there a link?
General discussion thread. Labelled the o dor. I started it tonight
My mother in law got this for free with her groceries, I think it’s a pretty new product. It was honestly pretty good. Tasted somewhat authentic. I added a little milk into it to give it more creamyness (like I would for instant hot chocolate) and it was rich. I couldn’t finish my cup of it.
All in all, I was kind of impressed!
Preparation
Sipdown
Meh… I don’t think I’ve developed an appreciation for oolong yet. I don’t see what all the fuss is about. I steeped this correctly and it was okay. Tasted okay. Just okay. So I gave it an okay rating. I will try resteeping this so I can see what all the resteeping nonsense is about with oolong… but I’m sure it will just be okay.
I’m happy you liked it after splurging on the web special. It would have been a lot to get rid of had you not.
I bought it too though! It’s still sitting unopened on my shelf as a few days before I bought it, I also grabbed 50g in store. <3 That’s pretty much gonna last me for years.
You didn’t like it at all?
Oh, no! I do like it! Sorry – I shouldn’t be commenting this late. :P I bought 50g and really liked it, and then splurged on the huge web special pack, but I’m still working on the original 50g (nearly done). So, I think at this rate it will probably take me a while to drink it all, unless I drink a cup of it daily. I love the star anise though.
Okay sweet. Yeah me too. I also got the stormy night as well.