Hediard

i think i forgot to add this to the boxes that went out to omg and dexter (and terri but i’ve already started a second box for her…) That’s sad as i think that this would be enjoyed by them but might just get finished up before i get around to another package. Unless…. mwahahaha ok so anyway, i digress. I am enjoying this one a bunch. It’s a rather decent every day black tea with just a little bit of special to make it a little more than that lol. I don’t really know what else to say that hasn’t been said before heh. Noms.

Rental dog leaves tonight but i’m organising my cupboard and tea packages to go out anyway. ie. packing up all the tea that friends are getting and THEN i will re-weigh my cupboard to see where i’m starting 2016 at. I still love this one, and i’m ever so glad that NofarS shared it with terri who shared it with me so that i could buy some in Paris this year. While it’s been a while since i swapped with folks – i really do enjoy swapping. I’ll have to think about starting that again in 2016.

morning tea for digging in the woods. Ian managed to leave work early today so we were off to dig in the woods and build some more trail – my first experience and it was a good one. Especially satisfying to have cyclists come through and thank us for the build. Not sure it’ll be a regular thing for me but it was nice to get out, swing an axe…use a ho…dig a little and of course play with rental dog :) this tea was perfect for the cooler morning

tea from this morning while waking up from a very long christmas day of gaming and eating with friends :) today this was exactly what i needed – delicious, malty, smooth – perfect

YAAAAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYY tea! still happy that i picked this one up in April. Thanks again to NofarS who shared this sample with terri back in the day, who also let me have a taste! heh

Such a wonderful tea. I really need to organise my paris teas and figure out how i’m going to drink them all since it feels like i’m largely doing it one at a time, 100g by 100g lol. And there are a bunch that will end up being neglected if i do that. Maybe a rotation like dinosara or terri… hmm…

Delicious. Chocolatey, malty goodness. So nommy.

So glad i was able to pick this up while in paris. It was a total splruge given the price even though it was much less expensive than some teas…but it is delicious! I hope NoFarS is doing well – it was she who introduced Terri (and through Terri, me) to this tea. So here’s to friends from far and wide who come together through tea. This is as i remember it…malty, chocolatey…delicious. even cold (work distracted me) i am enjoying every last drop!

sipdown! (252…going to be a long day..) This was a tea from NofarS, via my tea sister terri!I really love this one. There’s a sense of malty chocolate coming off this one that is really tasty, especially in contrast to the qimen. Really glad i had the chance to try this one!

i will begin by thanking ysaurella.

this is not a tea i would normally buy, but i really must rank it highly because of what it accomplishes!

have you ever been around bees? not like when a wasp is dive bombing you while you’re driving on the highway, or when you feel a sharp sting at a picnic…. but observed a hive? or spent time around an apiary?

there are very strong, smiling elements of clumsy, fat honey bees in this tea. i always found that bumble bees had an odd warm smell to them, as though heat generated by all of their busy work. the blend has the same warm, velvet honey flavour to it. very reminiscent of fresh honeycomb that is sold at the farmer’s markets every weekend.

the orange is very subtle… not remotely astringent or sharp. not bitterness from the pith. much more like a honey derived from orange blossoms.

a beautiful pairing. i am beginning to conclude that french tea blenders do not simply create a tea, nor is that their goal… nor is it their goal (for the most part) to be purist as their asian counterparts. they are monet and degas…. they see a pastoral scene— maybe bees working in a field, maybe blueberry shrubs crowding around a single rose bush, and they try to capture its essence. in a tea. for my cup.

ingenious. impressive.

I am sipping this one right now and it is really delicious.
I was sure orange and honey were pairing so well together but it is better than I thought.
I really love it, the honey is really natural (maybe an orange honey or acacia) and not over sugared, it perfectly balances with the orange, a sweet one, not a bitter one.
The tea base is classic and has no bitterness at all.

This is an Hédiard blend but we can recognize the Dammann one behind so my tasting note is valid for the Dammann Frères Miel Orange as well.

Oh…I did drink this in the morning. Luckily there is enough to sample it again, because I really enjoyed it.

Thanks to NofarS for this sample!

Backlog of my first cup of the day.
Mélange Hédiard is a very good citrus tea : strong, really robust-It’s a quite malty tea but without any bitterness.
An ideal tea to begin the day, it wakes you up very well.
I have a drawback to point out but a very light one : the scent of the dry leaves is amazing, fantastic and powerful, there is a difference in the cup, the aromas aren’t so strong – don’t get me wrong : they are absolutely present and divine but a degree under the scent.
A very lovely tea

Never had a rose tea before. It’s weeeeird. Interesting. Kinda reminds me of pickle juice. o_O

I’m a fan of very fine China black teas to begin with (Bai Lin Gong Fu comes to mind here, although the tin label doesn’t specify what kind of China black they use), and I would never have thought to add citrus oil. The result is a delicate sweetness that’s perfectly amplified by demerara sugar or a light honey (like acacia or orangeblossom).

Very impressed with this tea. It was one of the many teas LiberTEAS sent me in my Christmas package. The rose and black tea are balanced very well. The black base is a delicious malty black that I’m totally digging. This is hitting the spot this evening.

Sipdown! This takes my cupboard down to 7 teas! Seven! I am both proud and itching to restock it at the same time. But I must be strong.

Another note — I won’t be buying this again. There’s just too much new and better stuff out there.

So, I’ve been playing around with this tea and I have discovered something worth mentioning. Unlike a lot of Earl Greys and things that are similar, like this, Melange does NOT hold up well as an iced tea. It loses a lot of its subtle flavors and something about it being cold just breaks up the harmony. So, fellow Steepsterites, this is your warning. Make this tea iced at your own risk.

So, the owner of Taste talked me into getting this. She said that her French customers requested she carry it, and that it was a big deal in Paris. Now, this stuff was expensive at $22.50 per box, but I had ScoutMob, so I only paid $12. And after I read the list of ingredients, I was intrigued.

When I opened the packet and sniffed, the Earl Grey lover in me went “Oh yeaahhhh…” It smelled like lemony bergamot heaven. And when I brewed it and had a taste, the first thing I noticed was how absolutely smooth this is. The black tea in it isn’t bitter in the slightest. It’s a very malty black, especially in the aftertaste. Almost creamy. There is no astringency, no sharpness. The bergamot is gentle but firmly there, and not too terribly loud. It harmonizes with the faint orange oil that reminds me of orange bitters if orange bitters weren’t, er, bitter.

I am going to savor this stuff. And give it the full 5 minutes next time.

This is very nice. I was a little afraid when I saw “rose essential oil” as I tend to prefer floral teas that have been scented with the flowers by layering the leaves and petals. I tend to find the floral teas that have been flavored with oils to be a little on the perfume-y side … a little TOO on the perfume-y side. But, this is not what I expected. This is delicate, not nearly so perfume-y as I would have expected.

It does have a slight perfume-ish taste toward mid-sip, but, it doesn’t linger, and it isn’t strong so it doesn’t become off-putting. There is a nice balance between rose and black tea, and I find the overall cup to taste sweet, floral and pleasant.