Mariage Frères

Clearly I’m going through allllllll my older stuff and having another try. This is, I think, the third oldest tea in my cupboard? Something like that. It’s another casualty of the time when I didn’t really like green tea, and it scared me a bit. I’m a lot braver now, though, and I actually quite like this blend. It’s a touch on the bitter side, with the yuzu peel, but the green tea is quite light and bright in flavour. It’s a good contrast. I really must remember not to let things languish!

This is one of the Mariage Freres teas that I always seem to overlook when I’m choosing a green tea to drink. There’s no reason for it; it just seems to happen. From time to time, I’ll make an effort to pull out those languishing teas and give them another try. I’m usually surprised by what I discover!

See my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/06/02/yuzu-temple-green-tea-mariage-freres/

I was scared of this one for a long time. I think I expected it to be bitter and astringent, but I don’t really know why. A hangover from my early bad green tea experiences, I guess. In any case, this was a really pleasant surprise. I gave it two and a half minutes, because I was too worried to give it any longer than that. I may in future, though. I was rewarded with a fairly bright medium yellow-green liquor, with the vague scent of citrus.

To taste, I’m getting a flavour somewhere between mandarin and lemon, which makes sense as that’s what a yuzu is, more or less, as far as I know. There are slight notes of peppery sharpness almost like lemon, but also hints of juicy, almost orangey, sweetness. They balance each other out perfectly, and make for an interesting and unique combination.

The green tea base is pleasant too. It’s smooth and almost sweet, with no astringency at all. This cup came across fairly weak, I think because I gave it such a short brew time, but I can remedy that in future. I have almost a whole 100g tin, after all. I was worried about that, but now I’m not! Great stuff.

This was the first Mariage Freres tea I tried, and it’s still among my favourites today. It’s one of their most well-known and iconic blends, and it’s one I was initially most curious to try, having heard various opinions. I used 1 tsp of leaf for this cup, and gave it approximately 3 minutes in boiling water. No additions. The resulting liquor is a medium red, with little scent except a vauge sweetness. The dry leaf is similarly innocuous in this way, with its scent giving little away. I think that’s why I find it such an intriguing tea in many ways – its secrets are well hidden, and a true impression of this tea comes only through having tried it.

See my full review here: http://sororiteasisters.com/2015/06/06/marco-polo-rouge-mariage-freres/

Long time no drink. I was musing on my tea stash last night, and I’ve decided to try and pull out some of my older teas again and have a bit of a blitz on those. It’s so easy to get caught up in fabby new teas, but I should really be more disciplined, at least from time to time.

I used 1.5 tsp of leaf for my pre-bedtime cup, for three minutes in boiling water. I added a splash of milk. Although it’s one of my older teas, it’s fortunately still as nice as I remember. The main flavour I can discern is strawberry, and it’s a wonderfully syrupy, sweet tasting strawberry. Not exactly natural, but very candy-like and pleasing. With milk, this one actually reminds me a little of strawberry milkshake. The rooibos is a little bit too prominent for a completely convincing effect, and there’s a touch of something floral in the background that doesn’t really fit the whole “milkshake” image, but it’s a pleasant cup all the same. A potential future repurchase.

This one surprises me with how different it is from its black counterpart. It occured to me that I’d never really compared them before, so I made a cup of this after finishing off my Marco Polo.

The rouge is far more floral tasting, and the fruit element is fairly muted. It’s hard to pinpoint exactly what flavours there are, actually, unlike Marco Polo where it’s all pretty obvious. This is a far more subtle tea, and there’s a little too much brassy rooibos kicking about for me to really be able to say I like it.

I find this a fairly mysterious tea. The flavours flit across the tonuge just a little too quickly to be readily identifiable. I have a feeling I recognise them, but I can’t put my finger on them exactly. There’s a tiny hint of strawberry, I think, and I’d like to say jasmine although that’s somehow not quite right. Orchid? Something floral and scented. It’s nice enough, but I prefer the black version overall. I feel I’m on firmer ground with that, while this one consistently evades me. Sadly, all I’m really left with as a lasting impression is rooibos.

I haven’t actually drank any of this in a long time, so I brought it out last night. Upon revisiting, I definitely prefer the black version. The rooibos is a little too prominent here, and I don’t get much in the way of strawberry. I’ve still got a lingering cold and sore throat, so I’m probably not tasting flavours as well as I usually do, but this seems fairly bland. On the other hand, the strawberry that is there tastes a lot more natural than the strawberry in the black version, which sometimes comes across quite strong and chemical in flavour. Still…I do prefer it on the whole, I think, though I’ve enjoyed being able to try both.

Today hasn’t been such a good day. I found mould in my room again, on the wooden slats under my bed. It was a problem I thought I’d solved when I moved from an old, damp house into this new one, so it made me sad to find the problem again. All of my tea is okay, which is good, but I lost a few bags and pairs of shoes I had stored under there. It made me clear stuff out, but I’d still rather not have the problem to start with sigh

This is probably my favourite berry rooibos tea so far, perhaps because it’s relatively simple and straightforward. There’s rooibos, which is as rooibos always is. Woody, slightly earthy/brassy. Over the top, there’s the distinctive flavour of grenadine — syrupy, sweet, strawberry wonderfulness — augmented by the sweet creaminess of vanilla. It’s wonderful, lovely, gorgeous. All that and more. I haven’t tried the black version of this yet, although I’ve got a tin unopened in my stash. I like the rooibos here, though. It just seems to fit so well with the fruity, slightly floral flavour profile.

This note seems unutterably brief for a tea I like so much, but it really is that uncomplicated. The two main elements are the best they can be, they taste wonderful together, and that’s all that really matters to me today. I gave it about three minutes, and added a splash of milk, but I think it’d be equally palatable without. Definitely one I’ll revisit often this autumn!

Sipdown! I’ve been drinking this at work pretty solidly for the last couple of weeks. It’s easy to brew well, doesn’t need milk, and is pretty much fuss free. I like making tea, but I don’t always have the time, and this is perfect for those manic days. I’ll miss it in my cupboard, but I’ve got a couple more MF teas I can try as a replacement. Earl Grey has always been one of my favourite things, and this is a really, really good one. I’ll buy it again, one day, should I have the chance.

First two days back at work, and I have mostly been drinking this. Largely because I forgot to buy any milk, but also because it’s a relatively easy going tea. If I forget about it for a few minutes, it won’t come to harm. This is probably my favourite earl grey at the moment.

Tried this without milk for the first time this morning. I brewed it a little lighter than I would otherwise, to try and avoid an overwhelming bergamot/astringency experience.

I needn’t have worried, though, because it turned out perfect! Lovely, mellow black tea base, with a nice citrussy top note. I always find the scent of earl grey really calming, so this was a good choice for my first day in my new job. I’ve been moved to a different team to the one I was going to be joining originally, but hopefully it should be permanent if HR can be encouraged to jolly along. Anyway, it was a tiring, fairly stressful day, but this tea helped to make it that much better.

I think I’ve only actually had one cup of this, which is a shame as it’s a really nice Earl Grey. The bergamot smells quite strong initially, but it’s not overpowering once brewed. The black base is strong enough to withstand milk, but smooth enough to drink without, too. I like a versatile EG.

I’m going to try and pay more attention to the MF teas in my stash, I think. They’re not crazily flavoured, or brightly eye-catching like some of the other teas I’ve collected, but they are really nice. Yay for that.

I have mixed feelings about earl grey, on the whole. Some I love, some I hate. To my surprise, this one definitely falls into the former camp. On opening the tin, the main scent is bergamot. It’s very strong and quite harsh, and that alone made me worry a little, because I don’t like very strong, harsh or bitter earl greys. Fortunately, this loses some of its potency once brewed.

After about three minutes the liquor was a pretty dark brown, so I added a splash of milk. There’s a slight astringency here, but it’s nothing terrible. Enough to make me glad I added milk, but that’s all. The bergamot is lovely — beautifully balanced — adding a cirtussy top note to the relatively sweet, slightly malty black base. There’s a very faint floral edge, too, which almost reminds me of jasmine. I can only imagine it’s contributed by the cornflowers, which are copiously scattered throughout the dry mix.

Overall, I’m really pleased with this one. My dad tried it first and really liked it, but then he’s usually happy with a decent quality earl grey. Our tastes differ a bit, but this is definitely one we can agree on. I’ll enjoy drinking the rest of this tin over the coming months. It’s one of the nicer EGs I’ve had in a while. Great stuff!

Very smoky aroma and flavor! Like drinking a Cuban cigar ;-)

Sipdown, 140. Brewed strong with milk and sugar. It’s pretty tasty this way! MF teas tend to not be totally to my taste, but often with additions I am pleased with them. This one is no exception. Thanks for letting me try it, Sil!

This is one I specifically requested from Sil (thanks again!). I have, in general, not had much success with MF teas, but am constantly urged to try again with a different blend. This one has a lot of fans, so I figured I should try it out.

Steeped this at Ysaurella’s parameters since I tend to also be very sensative to bitterness in a tea base. My boyfriend correctly identified the scents of chocolate and caramel from across the room, so I guess it’s true to that in aroma. The combo of the caramel with the assam unsurprisingly reminds me a touch of Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam, with added chocolate. Actually it’s almost like added mocha… I do kind of get a hint of coffee to this one. Fortunately not much, because I’m not a coffee person.

First sips are interesting. I am (unsurpringly, I guess) reminded of MF’s Mousse au Chocolat that I tried not long ago. The bittersweetness of really dark chocolate is the most prominent note to me, followed by a creamy caramel. Looking at some of the tasting notes, I absolutely get the coconut that Angrboda was talking about, surprisingly enough! Anyway, whatever else is in there, the bittersweet chocolate is certainly present. I think I like this smidge more than the Mousse au Chocolat just because the caramel here helps to smooth out the bitterness just a hint. I will no doubt be (happily) drinking the rest of this sample with milk and sugar.

One of my friends got a test sample of this one, and I really liked it. So last time I was in London, I pulled myself together and got to Oxford Street to buy it as a birthday present to myself. Anyway… I really liked this tea, and it’s perfect hot and cold. The scent of almond is strong when you smell on the tea and the almond flavour is very strong when you drink it as well. If you like almond this one is perfect. I tasted Pleine Lune with Pan au Chocolate and the combination is perfect.
If you like almond this is the one for you.

Thanks, Greenteafairy, for this tea!

As I drink this tea, I feel like my tongue is covered in vanilla cream! What the heck!? It almost feels numb and I can barely taste anything else. As I keep drinking it, it spreads and my whole mouth is coated by cream. It’s the oddest sensation coming from a liquid.

There is more going on once I actually get over the creamy sensation. The tea is darkly sweet, just barely roasty, and with a light floral note I can’t identify.

As I near the end of the cup, the creamy sensation deteriorates and gets slightly chalky or gritty- almost like my mouth is fighting the illusion of creaminess. This is when it becomes more like creme brulee.

This tea definitely took me on a sensation roller-coaster that was more texture than taste. Interesting tea! I’d have to try it again to see if I really like it or not.

what a dramatic day! i got 90% on my first heavy assignment (yay) and the touchscreen laptop provided to me by the province YESTERDAY died tonight! needless to say i am thinking all sorts of words that i can’t say here, lol. although it was warranted for every single eventuality….. i just really really hope i have by monday for school.

the tea! first time round was very ‘meh’, which surprised me. mariage freres is really not affiliated with that colloquialism in my head…. and yet that is what the tea evoked.

‘give it a few days…. try it again,’ i sagely advised myself. tonight: 1.5 tablespoons for 6 minutes in my 12 oz mug. the dry blend reminded me of a chai (sortof) so i treated it that way (cream and sugar) and it worked very well! reminds me very much of a flower scented chai… something exotic smelling.

not my favourite of the samples from ysaurella, but still very nice!

If a tea could be characterized as pretty, Mariage Freres’ Sweet Shanghai tea blend would be the prettiest of them all. Drinking this tea is like walking into a spring garden on the cusp of summer. It’s a green tea blend with the sweetest notes of tropical fruitiness, distinctive yet soft in litchi flavor. If you like litchi black teas, this is its springtime cousin. A bouquet of flowers in a cup, Sweet Shanghai is the perfect drink as springtime draws to a close.

Please check out my full review here:
http://thirstyfortea.com/2013/06/14/tea-review-mariage-freres-sweet-shanghai/

assuaging my lack of weekend with this lovely tea…. in my other class, studying psychoanalysis, they asked us if ‘i have at least one relaxed, easy evening a week to do what i want and go to bed early’. must admit i snorted…. and then i may have guffawed. but this tea slows time down for me. makes it feel like my answer could be ‘yes’ for the duration of my cup….