I had an odd amount left over in the packet after transferring this to a tin, so I thought I’d steep it in the interest of clutter reduction. I suspect that I may have under rated some of the other Mariage Freres blends because I was feeling my way into my system for the teas with the French thing, a/k/a the je ne sais quoi, at the time. I would discount from this the ratings on the Earl Grey and the Breakfast Blends because those I would have rated much more along the lines of others of their ilk rather than the more mysteriously flavored blends.
I went a bit to the opposite extreme with this today. I overleafed and steeped hotter than before.
I think the happy medium is going to be overleafing, but slightly less, and steeping just a little cooler. The first time I had this it was a tad on the thin side, and today it is perhaps just a smidge too strong. However, I can definitely enjoy the flavors today.
What those flavors are is apparently a mystery. Mariage Freres’ description doesn’t say and some folks are getting tropical fruits from this. I’m not, really, though the banana reference makes some sense, because of the creamy interplay with the fruits. To me, it’s mostly dark red fruit. Berry, more raspberry than anything else but maybe a little strawberry, and some plum/prune/currant. Definite red fruit notes. And something along the vanilla/chocolate continuum. I found a seller on the internet who says this is chocolate and cassis. http://www.furansunocafe.com/produits.php?no=400&lg=en&base=salon_de_the That makes sense to me, but it’s not overly important.
With the magical French blends from Mariage Freres, Dammann Freres, etc., the individual flavors concern me less than they do with other blends. I’ve said before that I like to be able to distinguish each flavor even if the tea takes an ensemble cast approach.
But the French blends seem to beg for a more impressionistic tasting experience. I often feel while I’m drinking them that I’m tasting them through the gustatory equivalent of Renoir’s dappled sunlight, or Monet’s reflections off the pond at Giverny. Whether I can distinguish chocolate or black currant, or any other flavor for that matter is about as important to me with this tea as finding a hard edge in a Monet painting.
Which is to say, not at all.
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Great note!
I really love the descriptions!
Thanks, ladies. :-). I really love French blends. I should drink them more.
I just realized that I have no idea what what gender OMG is lol. I just assume most people here are female because that seems to be the main demographic. Apologies!
Heh. I didn’t even notice the gender thing. But yeah, I’m a lady. :D
Morgana – I’m the same way. I assume most people on here are female although I didn’t when I started… Actually I think for a while I thought CrowKettle was a guy; no idea why! But I’ve only done a swap with ONE man about 20+. Seems like there’s a lot of ladies here.
Cavo, yeah, I think it’s a majority for sure. But I really shouldn’t make assumptions. It’s the internet, after all. ;-)
Great note!
I really love the descriptions!
Thanks, ladies. :-). I really love French blends. I should drink them more.
I just realized that I have no idea what what gender OMG is lol. I just assume most people here are female because that seems to be the main demographic. Apologies!
Heh. I didn’t even notice the gender thing. But yeah, I’m a lady. :D
Morgana – I’m the same way. I assume most people on here are female although I didn’t when I started… Actually I think for a while I thought CrowKettle was a guy; no idea why! But I’ve only done a swap with ONE man about 20+. Seems like there’s a lot of ladies here.
Cavo, yeah, I think it’s a majority for sure. But I really shouldn’t make assumptions. It’s the internet, after all. ;-)