Les 2 Marmottes

I spent a weekend with friends in France recently, where I drank this tea, or rather infusion after dinner.
Although I lived 6 years in France myself, I wasn´t familiar with this seemingly very popular brand “Les 2 marmottes”. It´s true that quite often French have a “tisane” (herbal tea) after their evening meal, at least that´s the case with most of my French friends, while I prefer a real tea. Also, I tend to buy loose leaf tea, while they most often have boxes with individually wrapped teabags.
The company is based in the Alps and has a nice presentation with 2 marmots in front of some snowed mountain peaks; the teabags are colourful and indicate ingredients and time of steeping and the names often use puns.
This herbal tea contains 45% of elderflower, making it quite delicate. This might be ideal in a drink to have just before going to bed, I prefer a tea with some more character…

Hahaha. Totally copying Christina with this one.

Although… Bear With Me has totally got me onto the flavoured “President’s Choice” sparkling water in grapefruit… So here’s hoping I can keep my tea consumption high even though I have a case of this delicious bubbly stuff to consume. :D

This tea smells amazing! Like grapefruit-orange jelly candies. Not like I might still have some in the cupboard from Squish or anything, nope, not me.

I added a little honey since Christina said “sour” and I wanted to make it more like the candy smell.

It tastes almost a little dusty. And it’s fairly thin. And I think there’s licorice root in this (BLECH). But otherwise, I think the flavour is there. Perhaps if I hadn’t steeped it in the paper it wouldn’t taste dusty, but honestly if there’s licorice in here that’s probably it.

So, sadly, it’s a fail for me. After smelling so promising. My tastebuds are just too picky.

Thanks for sharing, MissB and Sil.

Sample sipdown – this was a swap from Sil at the Tea Festival yesterday (holy alliteration, batman!)

This smelled like grapefruit dry, and it still smells pretty citrusy brewed. I’m surprised by how true to taste and tart the tea is, and how well the hibiscus is blending in. This tastes kind of like really sour orange juice, and the flavour of the orange peel is bang on. I also get a hint of chamomile here, even though it’s not included in the ingredient list.

Backlog:

I was apprehensive about this tea. It was clearly a situation where the chamomile has been crushed to a powder and this is typically the type of chamomile I do not usually enjoy. It looked a lot like something you’d find from a grocery store.

I steeped it for 8 minutes, even though I usually steep my chamomile teas for 10 minutes. I’m glad I only went with 8 minutes because it’s really strong. The crushed blossoms produce a stronger (but not better) flavor.

It’s alright. A light apple-y tone with heavy nectar/honey notes. It’s a soothing tea and it’s pleasant enough, but not my favorite cuppa. I doubt that chamomile will ever be a favorite. But it was alright.

Hm. Not my favorite herbal tea,although I may have over sweetened it. The bitter orange peel is quite prominent, and perhaps just not to my liking. I want to say it’s like a dry orange juice that less sweet than any orange juice you’ve ever had. Yet there’s a sweetness to it… So hard to explain.

Backlog:

I believe that this was Les 2 Marmottes flagship tisane. It’s a blend of linden, verbena, peppermint, hibiscus, chamomile, rosehip and orange blossoms. Fortunately, the hibiscus is not an overpowering presence in the cup.

It’s a subtle tasting cup. Herbaceous. Do I like it? I don’t hate it. It’s not the best tisane I’ve ever consumed, but it isn’t terrible. It was a very gentle taste and I appreciate that given how it could have gone wrong with hibiscus.

Here’s my full-length article: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/09/19/infusion-des-marmottes-tisane-from-les-2-marmottes/

Backlog:

This tisane is pure, 100% Meadowsweet. I can’t say that I’ve ever tried a pure Meadowsweet tisane before, but I enjoyed it. It’s a nice balance between herbaceous and floral tastes. Delicate pollen-y notes and a very strong sweetness that is quite honey-like.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/09/01/reine-des-pres-tisane-from-les-2-marmottes/

Backlog:

This is a pure fennel tea. I love the aroma because I LOVE licorice and that’s what this smells like. Fennel is one of those spices that I love but the rest of the household doesn’t care for, so it’s one that I seldom have in the spice cupboard. So it was a treat for me to brew up a cup of fennel, courtesy of Les 2 Marmottes. And even though I used to add fennel to my Masterpiece Chai and I have had many different teas with fennel in it, I don’t think I’ve ever had a pure fennel infusion until I tried this tisane.

I love licorice so yeah, I loved this. It tastes a lot like liquefied licorice. It was sweet (almost sugary sweet) but without the snap or zesty flavor of licorice root. It’s a softer, sweeter version of black licorice.

I think that this was one of my favorites from Les 2 Marmottes.

Backlog:

As I pointed out in my full-length review of this tea – http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/08/13/thym-tisane-from-les-2-marmottes/ – the aroma reminds me of the smell when I open my spice cabinet. I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea with thyme in it. That doesn’t mean that I haven’t, just that I don’t recall it before having tried this tisane. I liked this a lot more than I expected to. It’s actually quite tasty.

Notes of mint and clove-like flavors and an enjoyable woodsy note (something between pine and cedar). It’s a little sweet and a little savory and quite different from anything I’ve tried before.

Backlog:

This wasn’t my favorite of the Les 2 Marmottes teas/tisanes that I was sent to sample and review. I am not a huge fan of ginseng and it’s no secret that hibiscus isn’t my favorite either. Fortunately, the hibiscus doesn’t play an overwhelmingly strong role in this, it adds a little color and texture to the cup and a hint of it’s berry-like tartness. It adds an interesting contrast to the lemon-y notes of the Melissa and the ginger-y peppery zing.

Overall, it’s alright. I finished the cup and it does offer a boost of energy. I think I’d rather get that boost from a good Assam or other energizing black tea, but it’s not a bad functional tisane.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/07/25/boost-et-moi-tisane-from-les-2-marmottes/

Backlog:

I love the dry leaf aroma – light and lemony. Very much like summer.

Very light and refreshing to drink – and I like that the lemon notes are sweet more like lemon curd than a tart or sour lemon. A delicately sweet, relaxing drink.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/07/13/verveine-tisane-from-les-2-marmottes/

Backlog:

The dry leaf smells strongly of mint. This tea is my first notable experience with Meadowsweet. Err, that is to say it’s my first time that I remember trying Meadowsweet. So, I really didn’t know what Meadowsweet tasted like. So, I googled it and learned that it has a somewhat wintergreen, minty scent to it. I couldn’t really nail down what it was supposed to taste like though. I read that it has a sharp taste to it, then I read that it has a minty taste to it, and then I read that it has a sweet, marshmallow-y sort of flavor to it. So, I said, “forget google, the tea is getting cold,” and i just took a sip.

The tea has a much softer flavor than expected given the strong minty aroma. I taste sweet, buttery green tea notes, an herbaceous sort of flavor, and mint. It’s a pleasant cuppa.

Here’s my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2014/06/30/retour-a-la-ligne-green-tea-blend-from-les-2-marmottes/