Eros has an aroma just as beautiful as that of Marco Polo, but the note is floral (resembling rose fragrance!) instead of fruity. I took a sip eagerly, confident that this would become another favourite of mine -
Yes, it is a truly delicate and yummy tea. It is sweeter than love! Wait, there’s a strange taste developing in my mouth… It’s bittersweet and a bit earthy, in a way that I don’t find very pleasant. WHAT IS THAT?
Sadly, the same experience repeated in every sip – it was delicious at the beginning but it ended with the weird, puzzling taste. Sigh! I googled the ingredients of Eros as soon as I came home, and then I got it – it’s probably hibiscus again!!!! I had only had hibiscus in the form of herbal tea, so usually the result was extreme tartness rather than the tinge of bitterness found in this tea. Now I have learnt another lesson about evil hibiscus! I will do a better job in detecting its presence next time.
This is the first MF tea that I don’t enjoy! :(
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oh, hibiscus, I totally know what you mean. It´s my pet hate in tea – it always tastes too bitter, too tart for me (well, maybe with some exceptions. I sort of like it in iced tea). Thanks for the warning about this, I always to want to know when a blend has hibiscus.
You are welcome cteresa… someone should really form a group and list out teas that contain hibiscus to prevent unsuspecting tea drinkers, haha… :P I totally agree that hibiscus is more acceptable in an iced tea. But I guess I won’t pick any tea with hibiscus when I am informed of its presence or when I have other choices! ;)
Btw, your cupboard has an awesome collection! :) Love MF… and Mr. Jones (a brand that I wasn’t aware of) looks interesting!
Thanks! I really hate hibiscus – it is so popular, or at least it has been for a while. It overpowers everything. I am sort of curious about this Eros, if anybody can do hibiscus right, it just might be Mariage Freres. Though to be fair, there is a british tea shop called Yumchaa which has this rooibos-rosehips tea with some hibiscus which works, really works, the hibiscus is contained.
Mr Jones as far I know only make tea bags, I got them at a this chain of gourmet thingies called Oil&Vinegar http://www.oilvinegar.com/ – I only got their rose and lychee tea but they were awesome versions of those. And it was nice tea bags, I love teafoil packaging for teabags, tea tastes so much fresher.
MF, oh, everybody must have their vices – there are some local stores which sell it by the weight, and I get some 50 grams of this or that now and again. Only problem is the list of “to rebuy and must never ever be without this tea” keeps growing, it´s so evil of them to make so many great teas.
I think Eros is worth trying if you are a fan of MF! It will be interesting to taste how MF handles hibiscus ;) Actually it isn’t all that bad – it’s A LOT better than other teas containing hibiscus, and the bitter taste is actually rather subtle. I guessed the problem was more about my expectation! I had no idea that Eros contained hibiscus so the bitter taste somehow shocked me!
Haha yes MF is really evil… their teas are so delicious, and the tins so elegant! I have Marco Polo and Wedding Imperial in my cupboard, but I treasure them so much that I haven’t started drinking them!! :P
Thanks so much for the link! I must try Mr Jones someday. Lychee is one of my favourite flavours! :)
Oh, Wedding Imperial was my first MF tea, I made that tin last almost 3 years – and take my advice, do not hoard it for as long, do drink it as it is meant to be. Towards the end it was no longer quite as awesome as it was at first. I reused the tin actually, you can actually remove the stickers – though I got to confess their tins annoy me, they are not stackable, you can not pile them up on top of others (not necessarily MF. I do not have that many MF to worry about that), which is important for me. I actually like Kusmi tea tins better, but I do not actually like their teas nearly enough to pay almost MF prices for Kusmi, so forget it.
Lychee tea I also love – it is just right for me.
Try “The de Lune”. They yank the hibiscus and replace it with peppery notes.. I’m still trying to guess but I’m thinking it is french marjoram blossom, sweet rocket, or purple marigold. About to write my tasting review of it as I sip on it side-by-side with Eros to compare ;-)
oh, hibiscus, I totally know what you mean. It´s my pet hate in tea – it always tastes too bitter, too tart for me (well, maybe with some exceptions. I sort of like it in iced tea). Thanks for the warning about this, I always to want to know when a blend has hibiscus.
You are welcome cteresa… someone should really form a group and list out teas that contain hibiscus to prevent unsuspecting tea drinkers, haha… :P I totally agree that hibiscus is more acceptable in an iced tea. But I guess I won’t pick any tea with hibiscus when I am informed of its presence or when I have other choices! ;)
Btw, your cupboard has an awesome collection! :) Love MF… and Mr. Jones (a brand that I wasn’t aware of) looks interesting!
Thanks! I really hate hibiscus – it is so popular, or at least it has been for a while. It overpowers everything. I am sort of curious about this Eros, if anybody can do hibiscus right, it just might be Mariage Freres. Though to be fair, there is a british tea shop called Yumchaa which has this rooibos-rosehips tea with some hibiscus which works, really works, the hibiscus is contained.
Mr Jones as far I know only make tea bags, I got them at a this chain of gourmet thingies called Oil&Vinegar http://www.oilvinegar.com/ – I only got their rose and lychee tea but they were awesome versions of those. And it was nice tea bags, I love teafoil packaging for teabags, tea tastes so much fresher.
MF, oh, everybody must have their vices – there are some local stores which sell it by the weight, and I get some 50 grams of this or that now and again. Only problem is the list of “to rebuy and must never ever be without this tea” keeps growing, it´s so evil of them to make so many great teas.
I think Eros is worth trying if you are a fan of MF! It will be interesting to taste how MF handles hibiscus ;) Actually it isn’t all that bad – it’s A LOT better than other teas containing hibiscus, and the bitter taste is actually rather subtle. I guessed the problem was more about my expectation! I had no idea that Eros contained hibiscus so the bitter taste somehow shocked me!
Haha yes MF is really evil… their teas are so delicious, and the tins so elegant! I have Marco Polo and Wedding Imperial in my cupboard, but I treasure them so much that I haven’t started drinking them!! :P
Thanks so much for the link! I must try Mr Jones someday. Lychee is one of my favourite flavours! :)
Oh, Wedding Imperial was my first MF tea, I made that tin last almost 3 years – and take my advice, do not hoard it for as long, do drink it as it is meant to be. Towards the end it was no longer quite as awesome as it was at first. I reused the tin actually, you can actually remove the stickers – though I got to confess their tins annoy me, they are not stackable, you can not pile them up on top of others (not necessarily MF. I do not have that many MF to worry about that), which is important for me. I actually like Kusmi tea tins better, but I do not actually like their teas nearly enough to pay almost MF prices for Kusmi, so forget it.
Lychee tea I also love – it is just right for me.
Try “The de Lune”. They yank the hibiscus and replace it with peppery notes.. I’m still trying to guess but I’m thinking it is french marjoram blossom, sweet rocket, or purple marigold. About to write my tasting review of it as I sip on it side-by-side with Eros to compare ;-)