Mariage Frères

Well, that was unexpected. Of all the lovely Mariage Frères teas sent to me by Ysaurella and cteresa, I seem to like Marco Polo the best. I feel I’ve let you both down. :P I was really wondering, after disliking Harney & Sons Paris so much, whether I just was losing even my very picky liking for flavoured black teas, but apparently not. Something about the hint of toffee taste that stops the strawberry from being that sharp note that strawberry too often is in tea (for me, anyway). I say strawberry, but only because that was the predominant fruit. I might manage a slightly more detailed tasting note in the future, but this is as good as it gets at the moment, unfortunately. Thanks again, Teresa – this is delicious!

I had a cup of this last night while I started working on my French again (Je suis une femme! That’s about all I learned. Oh and the repeated use of Les robes et la pomme sont rouges. Got old. Quickly.)

This one is good though not as awesome as the macaron one. It was chocolatey but subtle about it. The black tea blends in really well with the chocolate flavor, which almost borders more on the taste of cacao nibs or cocoa powder rather than like milk chocolate. I really wanted to add a little milk and sugar but got distracted, so definitely next time to make it a bit more like mousse. It’s definitely really, really rich and decadent.

Thank you shmiracles for this awesome tea!

While looking through my little sample box to see what I should have, the bad of this stuck to the adhesive on the box and ripped open. For some reason, I always look over this, so I took that as a sign I should finally drink it. So far, I’m glad I did. It’s sitting next to me, and I’m getting some lovely smells. There’s a very sweet, creamy, vanilla smell, and under that a bit of a fruity scent. I wasn’t super careful with the steep time, so hopefully that didn’t throw off the taste too bad.
Hmm, I’m not getting as much flavor as I expected. Perhaps I needed to steep it for longer. I’m definitely getting a bit of sweet, creamy, fruity flavor, but it’s a hint. I have had this for a while, so there is a chance it could be old too. How disappointing, everyone else seemed to really enjoy this one! Oh well :(

Backlog from yesterday.

I don’t think I know what a macaron. Is it the same as a macaroon? If so, then I don’t understand this tea at all. If its something different then, it may be ok. I’m not sure what I think of this tea. I enjoyed it, but I didn’t love it. I only steeped it for about 2 minutes and still was a tad bitter.

Thanks shmiracles!

No 11:
The dry leaf smells gently of mandarine & jasmine.
This was a pleasant cup, & I’ll probably give it another go before the box sets off to Canada.
NEXT!

Another tasty treat from shmiracles. I read the reviews ahead of time and was planning a 2.5 minute steep but I was 15 seconds late and this tea gets bitter fast! Luckily it wasn’t too bitter and the creamy chocolate and caramel still shine through. I really like this. I would really think about ordering more of this.

Sample Sipdown!

This is the final sample from my trade with Ysaurella, which was a wonderful trade for myself, but not so good for her, as the package I sent got stuck in customs…or drank by somebody there?

Tomorrow will mark a week that I sent a 2nd package. Everybody think successful thoughts, please? It seems like everybody else’s packages have made it through. Hopefully mine will as well!

This is a flavorful tea with just the right amounts of almond, vanilla, orange, cinnamon, & cloves. It does have a very celebratory holiday taste. Thank you so much, Ysaurella, for all of the lovely teas that you sent to me! :D

OHMYGODbestestnight

So I wrote the above last night then left it because I don’t know. I drank the tea and then I wanted to roll around on the floor but I did not have enough space to do that but I wanted to. That was partially this tea and partially my favorite hockey team winning their division (which doesn’t matter, we are snobs who do not need silly division banners).

And then what makes me laugh even more is that Ysaurella found I logged it and is probably waiting to see what I have to say already!

So shmiracles being fantastic sent me some of the teas she picked up in Europe and AHHH this one, ahhh. A couple weeks ago I discovered the entire Héritage Gourmand collection on the MF site and I wanted them ALL. If I get to France next summer, that is most definitely happening now.

I had to try this one first, it’s just a fact. It smells amazing. It doesn’t smell as sweet as a macaron, but it has that same sweet almond smell. And it tastes so good! I don’t think it has the same macaron flavors as the Dammann Frères macaron tea (which has a green base not black), but I mean, I am drinking and enjoying a tea that is heavily almond. And tastes like a cookie at that, well, I do like almond cookies, but I have never had success w/teas flavored like them.

UNTIL NOW!

Oh I am in love I cannot wait to try the chocolate mousse one too, this means the one left that I really REALLY REALLY want is the financier one.

I told my boyfriend the other day that I need to buy a lottery ticket, I have never bought one. I really meant like the scratch off kind but this turned into me with $110 million and how I’d have to change my name and move to another state (Georgia does not allow you to claim anonymously). I was just like I can move to France. I’d send all of you my teas first.

Then I’d get there and buy all these. The end.

I am not going to rate this yet, because I am not quite sure what i think of it. My second time having it and not only my feelings changed from the first experiment, but my feelings are changing as I drink the cup.

First, the scent – this has an extraordinary scent, a rich, sultry vanilla scent, totally different from cloying one-note artificial vanilla scents and a scent which reminds you that why yes, vanilla is a flower, an orchid (ok, yellow orchid which then creates a black pod, and yes, it´s the seed pod, but still vanilla is floral). Sultry vanilla caramel, that is it. This went on my wishlist the moment I smelled it. Right now I was in the mood for a vanilla tea, and I went on a walk which accidentally took me past the tea shop and well, it came home…

Expectations are funny things which get in the way of appreciating what we get instead. This tea is not truthful to the scent. It´s much more sedate, much less exuberant, maybe classier than its scent. No caramel after all. So I was underwhelmed at first, since it was so very different from what I expected from its scent. But if what I was expecting this as a lightly naturally flavored vanilla tea then well this is indeed lovely. It´s got an incredibly smooth base (thank you Mariage Frères, for not using the same base for *everything) which I think has some, but not a lot, of Assam on it. And a lovely aftertaste. I am getting to like this more each time I have it, I will make another taste note after I have it a few more times.

Angrboda, not sure this will be your vanilla tea indeed, but if you ever want to try it, let me know!

So warm and comforting this morning! Perfect amount of malt with a feel of chocolate. So glad I figured out how to steep this and wrote it on the side of the tin!

Three minutes at 200… a touch of bitterness creeps in, but I’m getting a heartier taste out of the base. The bitterness is only a slight distraction because I’m looking for it, otherwise this cup is pretty good and I’m enjoying it without additions.

2.5m at 200 will be my next experiment. I’m nearing the bottom of the tin and am STILL toying around to get the perfect parameters! Fussiest. Tea. Ever.

2 minutes at 200. 2 minutes at 200. I have to remember that!

It has been a long road and this is the first time I have been able to enjoy this tea without any additions! I may try 3 minutes at 200 next time, but I feel like I’m finally right in the sweet spot with this tea. There is no bitterness, it seems to have a good amount of flavor although I think some taste from the water is coming through. I think I would enjoy it having a little heavier of a base like a breakfast tea would have, but this is pretty good.

Horrible with coconut creamer! Don’t try it again, self. You will ruin the whole cup.

This has been one of the most challenging teas to try to get an awesome cup out of! Today after going over my past notes I decided to go for 195 for 2 minutes. There is no bitterness and it is quite nice, but it still doesn’t have some of that malty depth that the bitter cups had. Is it possible to get malt without the bitter? I love this tea, but I’m starting to wonder if it will ever be as wonderful as it smells and as I hope to taste.

On a brighter note, I found a super low price for it! Market Hall Foods sells it for $13.50 for a 3oz refill which is MUCH less than the $30 I shelled out for a tin!
http://markethallfoods.com/mariage-freres-wedding-imperial-tea

This time I did 175 at 3 minutes. Still feeling like there is room for improvement. Maybe a slightly higher temp next time to bring out a little more depth. I’m having this with cream and sugar and it’s pretty tasty. Chocolate, a little bit of malt, some cream. It’s tasting pretty good.

Two minutes at 175F is making for a really light and smooth cup! There is no bitterness to be found! I would like it a little heartier like I was getting in other cups, but I think I’m on the right track now. I enjoyed this cup much more than any of the others!

Awww, my computer spazed out and lost my note! Still struggling to get the perfect cup out of this tea and haven’t made notes the last few times I have tried it. This time is a lot closer than before with a short steep and lower temp. It was still a little bitter, but adding sugar took care of that and let the rich caramel flavors come through. I may try an even lower temp next time.

Trying this again and playing around with time and temps.

1st steep was at 195F for 2.5 minutes with 1.5tsp in 10oz water. It was much less bitter than before. Only a little hint of bitterness, but the flavor wasn’t super strong. I sweetened it a little, then decided to try some cream, but the cream took over and dominated the flavor.

2nd steep was at 195F for 2m. I added maybe 2/3 of a tsp more to try to amp up the flavor. Just reread my last notes and Whatshesaid suggested an even shorter steeping time, so I may try that next. There is little bitterness in this cup, but not as much flavor as I was hoping for either. In an attempt to up the flavor, I added too much sweetener.

3rd steep was at 212F for 1.5 minutes. It may be a little less bitter than the other cups. I may try this steeping like this with new leaves next time. These have been good cups, but I’m not getting the smoothness and flavor I have come to expect from French teas. I’ll keep trying tho!

Three minutes in boiling water make this black tea bitter. I wish these teas came with brewing instructions on the box or tin so I wouldn’t have to guess. It smells really nice, a chocolate scented tea. The bitter taste is less as it cools, but it is still not smooth. I’ll have to try a lower temperature next time. For some reason instead of dumping my cup and trying again I’m making myself drink it. Penance for ruining a cup of expensive tea? Life is too short for bad cups of tea.

Another from CrowKettle. Also, sipdown!

Dry, this tea smells like dusty floral sour dried apricots.

Steeped, the tea smells like floral sour dried apricots.

Honestly, I’m a little scared to take a sip.
…
Huh, that’s not bad. Not bad at all. It’s not sweet candy like many of the stone fruit teas I’ve had, but the flavour is pretty good. Definitely sour apricot or peach (I know, it’s supposed to be peach, but I like my peaches ripe and my apricots sour).

This one is really hard to describe, as it’s sort of sour dried apricot, but then not really. But I don’t know what it reminds me of other than that.

It didn’t go bitter or astringent like Marco Polo. The black base is delicate, yet present. I should have probably steeped 4 minutes, but I like 3 for unknown black teas.

I added a little milk and sugar like always (seriously a little. 1 tbsp creamer and 1/4 tsp sugar for a 20 oz mug). It works, but I think I’d like it better without the milk.

Definitely a tea I’d like to try again. Not buy… try.

FINALLY this last cup tasted SO MUCH like strawberries! What on earth! If it was this good every time, I’d buy more. As it is, this is a lovely send-off for this tea. :)

Over ice, with a little sweetened condensed milk.

Thanks for the really old sample, CrowKettle! This is from the Victoria meetup last year!