LaFleurBleue Send Message

I had this in a bar with friends and the non optimal preparation might explain some of my disappointment.
I obviously could not smell the dry leaves but only got the teapot. The loose leaves were swimming freely in the teapot. The water had been poured boiling on the tea and I could not drink my first cup (a bit underbrewed – probably around 2 2 and half mibutes, as I could realize at the first sip) for a few minutes. It was nice but a bit too mild; I liked the body given to the tea by vanilla, though could not really identify the other flavors, a bit fruity but not too sweet, rather pleasant. The second cup (steeped for 6 mn I guess, maybe a bit more) allowed me to realize the tea base was indeed rather nice tasting, though coming out a bit strong. The third and fourth and last cups were unfortunately rather bitter and not so pleasant any longer.
I’ll have to try it out in better conditions, but however I’m not sure it’s going to be a complete love story between me and this tea.

Had this tea yesterday at the airport while waiting for my flight.
I did not leave it steeping long. And even with this extra short steeping time, what came out was a strong brew, with an underlying undeniable bitterness. The bitterness was actually so strong that I could not really appreciate either the tea or the citrusy bergamot flavor, which seemed rather nicer than average (for bagged tea).
Drinking this actually reminded me why I did not like tea at all when I was a teenager, as I only had had bad quality dust in bag oversteeped.
A complete miss for me, that I would not recommend to anyone. I was surprised to see so many positive comments on this one. I may have to try it again sometime to be really sure. The Twinings is however a much better bet IMO.

I was a bit wary before drinking this one. The smell of the dry blend was obviously fabulous; but the advertised biscuit taste did not fully appeal to me. I was thinking it might have an artificial cake taste, like those flavored and overly sweet La Laitiere yoghurts.
I finally tried the sample offered by Isaurella this morning.
While taking the first sips, I was actually surprised by the tea base, which was stronger than I expected. Now it’s cooled, I think it’s quite mild, though not too weak.
Let’s now talk about the flavors: the very good news is that they all taste very natural, not something coming out of a bottle. The flowers complement well the sweet almond-marzipan underlying taste, and allow the blend not to seem overly sweet but rather really well-balanced.
Delightful; a perfect morning / late morning tea for my taste.

After the Kusmi genmaicha disaster, I needed to drink something safe and strong flavored to cover all lingering unpleasantless both in my mouth, as well as in my apartment’s smell.
I decided then to open a new bag from my Yumchaa order.
FYI I ordered a few bags that I had delivered at my in-laws and collected there at Christmas. It was nicely wrapped in a thick enveloppe and the whole room was already sweetly fragrant even if the enveloppe had only been there for 2 days and had not been opened yet. My whole suitcase seemed to have the delighful smell when I opened it after arriving home. A much nicer experience than when I bring back cheese…
Putting this aside, I decided to try Cteresa’s favorite rooibos, the one that had motivated my initial order.
When opening the bag, I realized it was way less fragrant than the raspberry vanilla, that there were actual pieces of dried strawberries and other unidentified, as of now, fruits.
I was looking forward the tasting;) And this time I was not disappointed: the flavors blend harmoniously together. Strawberry and vanilla were the two most easy to identify flavors. But not the only ones definitely. I’ll keep looking but tonight, I just feel like enjoying my brew.
I love the remaining taste of fruits which last on my lips, much better than a gloss artificially flavored.
I can definitely see how this one could become an all-time favorite of mine.

I received the afternoon tea set by Kusmi for Christmas (and have been regretting the fact that it was not the Russian-flavored set ever since).
This one is the first I tried of this set, after the Anastasia, which I really liked.
The experience is however not as positive with this one. I’ve never been a huge fan of green teas, and especially Japanese green teas. Their taste is often too grassy for me.
The green base has a strong fragrance and flavor and seems to be a nice Japanese green, better than the ones I had had in the past.
Add to this nice though not craving-inducer base, some pieces of roasted and puffed rice, and it turns out not so nice-tasting any longer. The roast of the rice gives to it a slightly burnt taste, the puffed rice brings in the flavor of puffed rice snacks, whose taste I always associated with styrofoam.
The blend is therefore not really a success to my tasting buds.
I have the strange feeling to be drinking the liquid that you would get doing that:
1. while cooking rice in a pan, forgetting it on the fire, until all water has evaporated and the bottom gets burnt
2. after taking out most of the overcooked and burnt rice, putting back some water in the pan and some freshly cut grass, heating it before tasting.
It seems vile; yeah but unfortunately that’s really what it reminds me of.
Even though the box held only 25g, I assume it’s going to be very difficult for me to finish it…

I had really high expectations for this one, following my first tastings of Dammann teas, thanks to Isaurella.
The tea base was fine, though not fantastic, better than that of Kusmi Anastasia. However to me the disappointment came from the flavoring, mild, really mild, I kept searching for it. I mostly found it in the lingering pleasant aftertaste left in the mouth after drinking.
I preferred Anastasia’s flavors to this one, which are subtle but not as subtle (ie. almost weak) as this one.
I’ll definitely have to try the second sample on a positive day, as I know I feel gloomy today and this might also explain part of my disappointment.

Had a cup of this at the airport with my boss who ordered an Earl Grey and received this.
I am not a great fan of breakfast teas and I really felt that this one really had nothing special; the leaves quality seemed quite ok, it was not really bitter, but there also wasn’t anything that might approach a wow factor.
If I was really in the mood of a breakfast tea, this would not be it.

Wow. Both when taking the pack off the cupboard and right after brewing, the raspberry smell is incredible.
When drinking it, I first noticed the delightful raspberry taste, nothing subtle about it; it was like I had been thrown in a raspberry bucket – if you’re not a big fan of this fruit, this blend might come as too strong for you.
What I really liked is that when the brew was getting more luke-warm than real hot, the vanilla flavor started to come alive, despite its being muted to my taste buds in the hot brew.
While drinking my second tea-pot (another evening), I realized the vanilla and rose flavors were there, right from the start, though almost muted by the overwhelming raspberry.
I then decided to try it iced, to see how it was coming. Amazingly the vanilla taste is now prominent, up to par with the raspberry, making the brew seems smooth and creamy.
I am not sure yet how I’ll feel about this flavored rooibos in a few weeks, as it’s possible I might have enough of it and prefer some more subtle blend. Or maybe not. Let’s see ;)

I like rooibos, flavoring that mix flowers with fruits and had purchased this tea on the pure basis of the description without smelling it in the shop.
When opening the bag, I was startled by how nice this blend was looking with the blua mallow petals being softly curled and not crushed into small pieces. I believe this is probably the nicest looking rooibos blend I’ve seen yet (very shallow comment but nonetheless true – I always look at it with pleasure).
I brewed already a few teapots of this and was totally puzzled by the taste, which was very different from what I expected, did not really correspond to the description, as I could not find any hints of vanilla, blackberry and could not reconcile the fruit taste with exotic fruit (I was thinking at the flavors of exotic fruit juices).
Then two nights ago, I got hit by an awakening: lychee, the sweet and sour taste that puzzled me was that of lychee. It’s supposed to taste like guava, but guava gives me a completely different gustatory experience, in the sense that the fruit has a grainy texture which almost dries the tongue. I do not reconcile that experience at all when drinking this blend.
Now that I have identified the main flavor, I’ll try to look out for the secondary ones…
My rating takes into account the fact that I really prefer sweet and tart fruits and flavors to anything a bit sour, like lychee, which I only eat in very small quantities at one time. Had I realized that this would be the dominant flavor of this rooibos, I probably would not have buy it.

After another early awakening (why is the jetlag so difficult to overcome this year?), I tried this blend, feeling that an Earl Grey kind of tea would pe perfect to perk me up.
I was really surprised when starting drinking it, as I found this blend much milder than expected and much milder than the usual Earl Grey I’ve drank. First of all, the tea base is really mild and definitely more an afternoon tea base than a morning one; I would say it is a bit too weak. The flavors were surprisingly smooth, the bergamot being nicely blended with the lemon; I guess the orange blossom also helped a lot to give mellowness to what could have been too tangy. I really liked its taste. I might have to try using mor tea or less water for the next brew to see whether it’s the reason why I found it a bit weak-bodied.
Once again it’s more an afternoon than a morning tea IMO.
Thanks again for Ysaurella for making me try this blend, which really made me want to try the Kusmi’s signature Russian blends.