Mariage Frères

Tea #3 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Aside from one (now discontinued) green tea, I’ve strongly disliked every green tea I’ve ever had. But I figure it wouldn’t hurt to try another. I’m actually glad I did. This one wasn’t at all bad.
There’s a very faint green tea taste for this, but mostly I get a fruity/floral type of taste. Not sure what sort of fruit, just that it’s fruity and pretty tasty. Actually, if I didn’t know this was a completely green tea, I wouldn’t be able to tell. I’d just think it was some sort of floral fruit tea. And after adding some Truvia the fruit taste came out even more and the green taste pretty much disappeared.
I’d actually consider ordering this one if I ever make an order with the company.

I really liked this tea. Some might say it’s a basic breakfast tea, and it is, but I think Mariage Freres always do very fine teas.

It’s traditional, certainly, but in no way boring or bland. It is a lovely, beautiful golden colour when poured. It’s very rich, more on the aftertaste than in the beginning. It’s clear, and smooth, and a little malty and just what you need in a breakfast tea. I like that it’s not too dark and not predictable.

I had this tea black with honey, but you can also have it with milk, or without. It’s a very flexible tea, and I’d drink it again.

With the teabox done, I can get back to burning through samples, so yay to that!

I got samples of this one from both momo and Shelley_Lorraine (Thanks, both of you!)

While I can recognize this is a really well constructed tea, and it’s balanced insanely well, it doesn’t blow me away quite as much as it seems to have for other people. I hate feeling like a contrarian, but I think the reviews had me expecting liquid ambrosia, and it didn’t quite live up.

This is a really nice lightly flavored floral strawberry tea, though. I get way more in the way of vanilla and unpinpointable floral than I do strawberry through. I let the tea cool some as well, to see if I could coax out some more strawberry, but it really just ramped up the vanilla even more.

I’m glad I have a little more to play with and figure out if was that cup or I’m just not feeling this one like I thought I would.

This is most certainly the best earl grey I have ever had in my life. It’s light, but distinctive. It has the deepness of an earl grey, but i got a faint taste of floral, which balanced it out beautiful…. i’m thinking I may have to purchase this one :)

Sipdown, 133. Maybe I should have drank this first this morning, but after the deliciousness that was Paul et Virginie this one was a big no for me. Bleh. I wanted to write a more thorough review of this but that isn’t happening. This is definitely not the yunnan for me; I prefer them less earthy and more sweet potato-y.

Soooo yeah, this tea. I had it earlier today but I wasn’t really taken with it. This is a super earthy Yunnan, and I can see how puerh lovers would enjoy it. There was a light sweetness here, a bit of hay-ishness, and a decent helping of earth. I have enough for one more cup of this so I will try to write a more thorough review with that one. Thanks, Sil, for sending it along!

Traveling Tea Box C #23
OH MY GOODNESS! This tea! I love it. This is my nee favorite green tea blend. I don’t know why the ratings are so low :( there are subtle floral notes and a great sweetness to this tea. This is amazing. This would make a really great, sophisticated hard candy or sweet mint! Like those rose mints with the rose seed in the middle! That’s what this reminds me off! Less floraly though! I love it!

Sipdown! Finally gave in and finished off my tin of this one. It’s a finicky tea…when it’s good, it’s fabulous. When it’s bad, it can be awful. I struck lucky today, and got the strawberry syrup flavour I enjoy so much. I’ve been plumping for a shorter brew time lately, just to make sure I avoid any astringency and bitterness. It seems to work pretty well. I liked this one while it lasted, but I think I’ve had my fill for now. It won’t be an immediate repurchase, but I can see myself returning to it at some point in the future.

I gave this one a much shorter brew time yesterday, and was rewarded with a much more distinctive strawberries and cream flavour. I’d got used to the slightly bitter, slightly fake tasting strawberry, I think, so this cup actually came as a pleasant surprise! Who’d have thought that rushing held the key? This one can be finicky, but I’m happy that I’ve now found a way around that!

I’ve neglected this one for a while, so I pulled it out to revisit last night. It’s such a consistent cup — always syrupy strawberry amazingness every time I have it. I’ve never experienced any bitterness from this one, either — of the MF teas I’ve tried so far, it’s probably the one I’ve got along with most easily. This one might well be a restock when I finish the tin, although I’m not really at that stage yet.

First cup of the day. This is another one I tend to forget about, although I do like it. The strawberry/grenadine flavouring is thick and syrupy, maybe a touch artificial tasting. It reminds me a little of strawberry ice cream syrup. The black base also has a tendency to become bitter, so care when brewing is pretty necessary.

Even though it can be finicky, this one is worth the effort. When it’s right, it’s a really nice, sweet, easy-drinking cup. One of the first Mariage Freres teas I tried, and one I’ll remember fondly for a long time to come.

This is just about the only cup of tea I’ve had today — I’ve been out for lunch with family, and have only just got back. It’ll be time for more tea soon! This was a good choice, though. I know I don’t drink this half as often as I should — having it tucked away in its box maybe isn’t helping. Anyway, each time I do drink this I’m reminded of how fabulous it actually tastes. A medium-strength black base, with notes of sweet, almost syrup-like strawberry, and an underlying biscuitty nuttiness. Amazing. I’m increasing my rating on this one — I think it’s grown on me!

First cup of this the night before last. I don’t remember a great deal about it, so I’ll have to write another note next time I try a cup. I liked it, though. I could definitely taste grenadine — lovely, strong and syrupy. The black base is a little harsh, I think. The bitterness almost seemed to be competing with the otherwise sweet flavouring. A little strange, but by no means unpleasant. It might even have been me that messed it up! I’ll need to try it again to be sure.

I think, on balance, I’m probably going to prefer the red. Not that I won’t enjoy this, though. The red just seems a little better balanced.

I’m looking forward to improving my experience with future cups!

I enjoyed a takeaway cup of this while on my honeymoon. We had just left the Louvre and were walking through an underground passageway filled with shops when I spotted a Mariage Frères store! I immediately went inside and bought some Sablés au Thé in Marco Polo flavoring and a cup of this tea. :) I didn’t take notes while I drank it, but I remember it being a lovely green tea with delicious yet natural flavoring.

I wanted to buy more tea, but food and drink abroad was significantly more expensive than we had anticipated or planned for. The shop itself was fun and different. It was super high-brow. The men who helped me pick a tea were separate from the cashiers, who sat in a little windowed area near the door like a box office at the theatre. And they even served my to-go cup of tea on a platter! Hahaha, it was quite the experience.

Ahh, it’s so nice to be home drinking tea again. France was full of tiny, overpriced shots of espresso. I did try (and buy) some tea while there, but I found that I really relied on multiple espresso shots to get through the day. It was A LOT of walking! We climbed just about everything there is to climb: the Eiffel Tower (we climbed down, not up), the Basilica of Sacré Cœur, the Arc de Triomphe, Notre Dame, the Catacombs, and St. Paul’s Cathedral (in London).

It was a fantastic trip, but we are happy to be home again. We definitely live in the best country by far. Go America!! We left the day after the government shutdown started and returned home the night they passed the budget to re-open it. Since I’m a federal employee, I got paid for my time out and didn’t have to use any of my leave! How’s that for timing? I’m still upset the shutdown happened, but there’s a silver lining to everything.

The dry leaf aroma is strawberry fruit roll-ups! OMG YUM!! The flavor is a soft green tea with a light, natural, strawberry flavor. It isn’t quite as intense as the aroma, but it’s definitely there. I added a little agave and that really made the strawberry pop!

I’ve only recently discovered agave. It’s like honey but different. It’s less viscous, not quite as intense, and sweet in a different way. Like more of a green, vegetal type way. I think I like it more than honey! Mmm, it is a delicious addition to this tea. Thank you to Shmiracles for giving me this sample!

struck by the sheer terror of midterms after nearly 2 decades i behaved very badly and broke into my birthday tea with the intention of piping this mate directly into my brain if need be for my exam yesterday.

the exam the night before had been a NIGHTMARE. because of the impairments i do my exams on a PC….. which halfway way through my psyche exam timed out, drop kicked me and ERASED all of my answers.

… …. …… they called a tech from the library and shuffled me to a different spot to keep working. they did not shuffle me far enough….. i heard every groan of despair.

‘the bad news is your work is gone and i can’t get it back…’ and thus a debate about what to do. i’ll admit it, i had a brief (although polite) moment where i lost my cool.

‘FOLKS! the option is exactly ONE! i need some quiet and i need to get the exam done. PERIOD.’ and i did, because there was no other choice. especially with an exam the next morning first thing.

thus, with the advent of a new exam and a palpable frisson of fear STOMPING through my heart, i broke into my birthday tea and grabbed this mate hoping it would turn me into a genius and that i wouldn’t have a repeat of the night before. it was a risk folks…. i have mentioned several times that i don’t tolerate mate well. it usually curdles my stomach and makes me jittery.

seeing as i’m sure you are all waiting with baited breath i will tell you about exam 2: my prof will hate me. i wrote and wrote and wrote. i am expecting an A, but i’ll settle for an A+, lol.

my glitches with mate? apparently only with ones from this continent.

this tea has marshmallow notes that soften a beautiful balance of fruit and flowers. very light in colour as well in taste. it is complex, but not complicated, and not the least bit imposing. beautiful, smooth, cleared the fuzz out of my head in record time. i will absolutely buy mate from mariage and dammann.

by far the best mate i have ever had. by leaps and bounds! and i will keep one in the house for as long as i’m a student.

Bah. Non. Pas du tout.

It sounded like a good idea, but smelling it I had my doubts and MF kindly (though with some froideur) provided a sample. And thank goodness I did not get 100 grams of this.

A flowery, very flowery vanilla earl grey, have no idea why they call it samourai, I can´t think of anything less samurai like than this tea. Bergamot, a lot of vanilla, the violet. I think it might have some orange blossom as well. And it´s a mess.

I got half the sample left, enough for a cup. If whoever I am sending teas next wants it, please just mention it, I will be glad to give it away free to a good home for anybody who wants to check for themselves (though I am warning you!).

Dear America, I think Mariage Freres loves you, to make you such a breakfast tea.

Dear Wedding Impérial, you are fired, sorry.

I was smelling all the MF breakfast mixes, and it is interesting – I can not imagine some of those blends really working as a breakfast mix. This was the no competition win – a chocolate breakfast mix. A malted chocolate with vanilla breakfast mix. I just made it, added some sugar and a smidgeon of milk, oh my this is indeed a lovely tea.

I think there are some honey notes as well, and this is not a very strong breakfast mix IMO which is fine with me (though a lot of the other MF breakfast mixes seemed even less likely to be strong breakfast mixes). But oh so lovely.

Not kidding about Wedding Impérial now being put off rotation.

A sample from Cteresa. I’ve tried this once before, and I remember liking it but not having a particularly strong memory of it going forward. Hence, I’m really pleased to have another chance to reacquaint myself with this one. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 4 minutes in boiling water. The resulting liquor was quite dark, so I added a splash of milk.

For me, this is a pretty perfect autumn tea. I love the chestnutty taste this one has — almost like a cross between a sweet potato and a hazelnut, to my mind. It’s not particularly strong here (nothing like Adagio’s Chestnut, for example), but that’s okay as it can be quite a rich, overbearing taste. Here, it’s fairly delicate, and rounded out with the smooth, sweet flavour of vanilla and the maltiness of the base tea.

I tend to gravitate towards pumpkin teas in autumn, but this makes a very pleasant change. It’s a sophisticated cup — light, classy, perfectly balanced flavours. As I try more MF teas, I’m realising how accomplished their blends are. Particularly when compared to other flavoured teas. They have a lightness of touch that I’m really beginning to appreciate.

Anyway, chestnut teas are clearly something I can get behind. I’m encouraged to seek out more of these in the future, and possibly to give this one a home in my cupboard when the opportunity arises.

Backlog from Sunday.

I like this one — it’s another perfect autumn tea. Nothing suggests the colder months to me better than the scent of roasted chestnuts, so it’s really evocative and oh so comforting. I gave this nearly 5 minutes in boiling water, and added a splash of milk.

To taste, the chestnut flavour isn’t strong or overpowering, it’s just delicately there in the background. It’s nutty and slightly toasty, and quite rich tasting. The vanilla is more prominent, and adds a delectable smooth creaminess, especially in combination with the milk.

I’d have liked the chestnut to be a little stronger, but it’s very pleasant as is. It’s creamy, sweet, and nutty, with the slight maltiness of the black tea complementing the flavours beautifully. I’m glad I had the chance to try this one — thanks to Queen of Tarts for sharing it with me!

This is a pretty perfect tea for an autumn afternoon. I like cinnamon in most baked things, so it’s probably not much of a surprise that I like this tea. It’s another relatively straightforward one in terms of flavour — black tea, cinnamon. I’ve added milk, because that’s what seemed right to me, and it works well with that addition. The first sip is just black tea. Slowly, though, the cinnamon starts to develop at the back of the mouth. It’s a warm spiciness, but it’s delicate and almost fragrant. More like a cinnamon stick than ground cinnamon. It’s a taste that lingers well into the next sip, where the flavour builds and strengthens. This could be a nice alternative to 52 Teas Cinnamon Roll Honeybush, now that my supply of that is all gone. I also prefer it to Adagio Cinnamon Spice, which really wasn’t my thing at all. A really good, robust, cinnamon tea. Thanks to Queen of Tarts for the sample!

Farewell to the oldest tea in my cupboard! I used the last of this up for today’s work cold brew, since it burns through leaf pretty quickly and I just couldn’t see myself drinking another 10+ cups of this hot. It’s not a bad tea, especially for a green, as I’ve proved to myself many times by actually drinking it and being pleasantly surprised. Somehow, though, I was just never really feeling this one.

It’s pretty good as a cold brew. I was expecting it to be bitter, and it’s really not, although it is on the savoury side compared to most of the teas/cold brews I’ve been drinking recently. The yuzu is more prominent cold than it is hot, and it’s nice to have that citrussy, pithy flavour front and centre. The green tea base is mostly smooth, although there’s a bit of a dryness in the aftertaste that I want to call astringency, but hesitatingly because it’s really not that bad.

I’ll be happy to sip on this one for the rest of the day. It’s refreshing, and a change of pace from the other teas I’ve got with me at work right now. I’d not repurchase this one, though. It’s just not a favourite.

This has to be one of the oldest teas in my cupboard? Fortunately, it’s stored in a tin that’s pretty airtight, and then in a box, so it doesn’t seem to have deteriorated much (if at all, really) in the 2+ years I’ve owned it. I revisit this one periodically, and I’ve found it interesting to track how my impression of it has changed. Today’s cup has the same citrus fruit “somewhere in the middle of lemon/orange” (i.e. yuzu!) flavour it always has, but I don’t find it as bitter as I used to. There’s a strong pithy flavour towards the end of the sip, and a pepperiness in the mid-sip that I’ve not really noticed before. It really reminds me of crushed black pepper and lemon rind, and in that respect it’s quite a savoury tea. The green tea base carries that a bit further – it’s reminiscent of seaweed and saltwater, so definitely on the “marine” side.

I’m actually enjoying this more than I ever have before – having greater tea experience has definitely improved my appreciation of this one! I’m going to try and finish it off soon mostly because it’s pretty old and I feel bad that it’s still hanging around in my cupboard. It could be a candidate for a future repurchase, though, if I ever get to a stage where I can really consider buying tea in larger quantities.

It was good to come back to this one today. I’ve increased my rating a little to reflect my new-found enjoyment.

1 tsp, 2m30s, 180 water. No additions.