Mariage Freres!!!!
I am completely freaking out here and only my fellow steepsters will understand. I’m traveling to Germany on Sunday. At the end on my trip I’ll be in Berlin for a day. I’ve just discovered that I’ll be within 8 minutes of a Mariage location!!! I have wanted to purchase from them for so long but it is SO expensive! Now how to save enough being that it’s at the end of my trip! Lol
Anyone have any recommendations?? Yasurella??? I don’t want to purchase something I can get locally.
EDITED TO ADD:
Oh NO!!! I just discovered that in the same shopping center there is a Fauchon! I am SO in trouble! I think I’m taking a “carry on” that will be completely empty on the trip to Germany.
At the risk of sounding like a NEWB, what is the hullabaloo about Mariage Freres?
Fancy French tea that’s hard to find. Some of the specialty housewares stores carry a few varieties, but other than that you have to go to their stores in person in Europe, or pay a hefty shipping fee if you order online.
Mariage Freres has been in the tea industry for 160 years. They sell over 500 varieties of teas. As they don’t offer any sample packs, it’s somewhat a shot in the dark to get a tea you are looking for and actually like. Shipping to the US, there is the standard shipping fee with an additional customs handling charge.
Ahh, taking orders? ;)
Me too, I would love to see Ysaurella’s recommendations for Mariage Freres. :D
I wouldn’t turn down any of these, and can send funds ahead of time. BUT only if it doesn’t disrupt your trip or inconvenience you in any way.
http://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6985-wedding-imperial
steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/6869-chandernagor
http://steepster.com/teas/mariage-freres/40223-heritage-gourmand-cannele
I had Chandernagor once, Marzipan. From what I remember, it was a nice chai, although it was more clove-heavy than other chais I’ve tasted.
I would usually suggest FF Darjeelings, but they have be far less than stellar for the past two years due to the lack of rain in the region. Keeping my fingers crossed and hoping (no pun intended) FF Margaret’s Hope and FF Margaret’s Hope Supreme will be good this year.
flavoured or unflavoured?
I hope you’ll also be checking out tea gschwendner! They’re EVERYWHERE in germany (not surprisingly)
I wasn’t too impressed with them last time I was there but I was looking at the website and think I might see a couple I’d like. I’m trying to be better prepared this time with knowing the English translation of ingredients so I don’t purchase too many things I don’t like.
I thought the La Route Du Temps was quite underwhelming and poorly balanced. Everyone loves Wedding Imperial, it is difficult to get a good cup out of, but tastes amazing when you do. I really like French Breakfast, it is nice, hearty and smooth. Casablanca is wonderful when cold steeped, but yuck when steeped hot. The A L’Opera is a nice fruity green that I have been enjoying recently. Lots of folks like Marco Polo, but it never really wowed me. Their jasmine and mandarin tea is incredible, which is reminding me to put it on my shopping list.
Go in, sniff a bunch of teas and decide from there. Set aside a certain amount of money before your trip and have that be your MF budget. Have a blast!
Mariage Freres has an excellent sales staff. From what I have experienced in Mariage Freres Ginza/Tokyo, and the email correspondence with the Paris Mariage Freres, their knowledge of tea is truly exceptional.
Go to Mariage Freres. Tell them what you like. Tell them what you don’t like. Tell them you want a variety of teas with the budget you have. They then will pull out several cannisters of tea, open them for you to take in the aroma. You can start from there.
Mariage Freres also has numerous lines of prepackaged teas. Their Ice Tea series comes in a beautiful black glass bottle with a measuring cap. Or the collectors cannister of the Heritage Gourmand Series. There are a number of steepster members that have reviewed and rated this line of teas. And there are many many other lines of prepackaged tea in commemorative cannisters.
Take with you a moderate budget. Take a look at all the other things the Mariage Freres store has to offer. The cannisters, the teapots, the tea mugs, the tea cups, etc. Have Fun!!!
I had to look this up since I will be in Berlin in a couple of months, and noticed that the Mariage Frères location (and Fauchon) are both listed as Galeries Lafayette, which isn’t really a shopping center but more like a department store like Macys (it is French). So what I’m saying is that it may be a limited selection based on what the department store carries. Then again maybe they do have a small shop within the store.
I’ll be interested to see what you find when you get there! Please let us know how it turns out!
I don’t know if they have all of these in the store, but it looks promising for you!
http://www.galerieslafayette.com/c/gourmet-la+cave+et+boissons-les+thes
Here’s the Berlin Galeries Lafayette site:
http://www.galerieslafayette.de/gourmet/mariage-freres/
Looks like I was wrong, there does appear to be a full MF shop in there! Well I guess I should think about some MF teas as well…
Not sure if this is close but once in an email Rivertea said to stop by. http://www.rivertea.com/contact-us
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