Mariage Frères

Marco Polo, why have I treated you so wrong? Lost in the back of my tea cupboard, I found you this morning.

Yum yum. Fruity, vanilla, floral. The lower temp (an accident – I was impatient) worked well. A touch of honey, and I have delicious tea.

Thanks, CrowKettle!

(Tasting note 900! Wow.)

So the notes on this one are that it’s a “floral and fruity black tea”. Again, from CrowKettle.

Dry, it doesn’t smell like much, but as soon as I added the water, the fruity and floral scents started coming through. More of a general berry scent, really. I can’t identify anything specific, although I’m holding out for strawberry flavours!

And I can already tell, just taking the basket out of my mug, that it’s oversteeped at 3 minutes with non-boiling water. Sigh. Foolish, finnicky teas.

Oh man. If I hadn’t almost ruined this cup I’d get strawberries. Not strong, and more the smell of growing strawberries – blossoms and ripening fruit – than the STRAWBERRY flavour I’m looking for in a black tea.

Hopefully I remember to steep for 2:30 next time. This has potential (But yeah. Really expensive.)

Everything violet flavored just makes me wish I could live in France already.

I think I prefer Violette to Kusmi’s Violet. It seemed to only taste right when I prepared it a certain way. This one smells so much stronger, which I was worried about at first. As it steeped, the aroma carried over to me and it was just SO GOOD.

So of course actually drinking the tea was amazing too. It’s far more floral, but not like soap at all. It’s sweet and smooth.

There needs to be more violet flavored things around here. I think there is a gelato shop here that does flower flavors, they must have one. I just have no idea when it’s ever open! And of course one of my favorite cocktails is the Aviation with creme de violette.

Thank you for sharing this with me, Ellyn!

Sample Sipdown #1:
This is a pleasant Earl Grey. The Bergamot is not too strong, as there is a nice floral taste in the background. Thanks again, Ysaurella, for this lovely tea. :)

Another lovely tea from France, thanks to Ysaurella!

This is a delightful earl grey, not too heavy on the Bergamot. This cup was proceeded by a cup of Sinharaja, which is a stronger tea, so at first the tea base seemed thin. BUT about third of the way through the cup, something balanced out in my tastebuds & it really began to be a very nice experience, & especially wonderful after each sip, as the bergamot in this tea is not so cloying, & left a pleasant aftertaste in my mouth & throat that lingered, so that I could really relax & sip slowly.

First Sip down on the day!
This was sent to me by Ysaurella, & it’s a very interesting tea.
It is a strong Assam, laced with a very buttery caramel & topped off with bitter chocolate. To me it really tastes like there is a shot of expresso in there too, because of the bitter edge.
I drank 2 cups of this. The first one was plain, & the 2nd with stevia.
I love them both!
Thanks again Ysaurella!

Wow!
This tea has a very strong, almost coffee like taste! I followed Ysaurella’s suggestions to only steep for 2 minutes, & I’m thinking caramel latte.

Of course, being a fan of strong teas, I like it! It’s bold, but smooth. The flavoring is deep Assam, with caramel floating throughout, and a hint of bitter chocolate to round out the cup. I drank part of the cup plain, & then added some stevia, & both were satisfying.

Thank you, Ysaurella. I’m enjoying my ‘tour’ through the teas you sent!

Discovered this by accident because there was a shop in my town owned by a local Francophile, she used this blend for the ice tea. When they closed up the business, I bought it in bulk from her cafe inventory and had no idea of the brand because it was in a plain bag. Forward ahead 18 months on a visit to Dean & DeLuca in Napa and I found myself in the tea section, where I spot Mariage Freres Cornflower Blue Earl Grey. Could it be the same brand as the unlabelled but amazing French brand I had for ice tea? It was and ever since then I’ve been buying it mail order from Market Hall Foods. The beautiful blue flowers are an added nice aesthetic touch, but it’s honestly the best Earl Grey I’ve ever tried. In fact I love it so much, I’m afraid to spend my precious dollars on any other types of Mariage Freres tea for fear it won’t be as good.

Sipdown!
Thank you Ysaurella! This has been a tasty tea, gently sweet, & perfect for a drizzly saturday afternoon.

I’ve never had a candied Chestnut, but I want to!
I like chestnuts, and I like this tea. It’s delicious.
Thank you, Ysaurella!

This is another tea sample from Ysaurella! Thank you!

I initially thought I would add some stevia to this cup, but when I smelled the tea, which smells rich & sweet, I decided to leave off with adding anything & enjoy it plain. It is very tasty! I like chestnuts, but have never had them candied, & that sounds interesting!
I love vanilla as well. There is also a hint of spice. Maybe I’ll sweeten the next cup, & see if it enhances the flavors. Then again, maybe I won’t! :)

This is a sipdown of the generous sample sent to me by Ysaurella!
It is delicious, & when I place an order someday with Mariage Freres, this will be on it! It is a tasty almond sugar cookie!
Thanks again Ysaurella!

Another tea from Ysaurella, thank you!

THIS is an almond sugar cookie! It is honey coated almonds with a thin dusting of cinnamon. This is SO delicious! I’m loving it!
The almond flavor is just right, & it’s nicely sweet!
Yum!

The only tea I received from MF that I’d be willing to give a second chance. While I ususally don’t like bergamot at all, I was not as much offed here.

I picked a little tin of this up in a tea store in Nice this summer and forgot I even had it until yesterday. The dry leaves smell of cinnamon, clove, almond and similar to Pleine Lune except more cinnamon I think. The wet leaves lack the same strongly spicy aroma but the nice tea base is more evident. I don’t smell much vanilla (maybe due to my tea’s age?) even after the tea is brewed but I do pick up some of the orange scent.

Tasting the tea itself the first notes are cinnamon and clove with orange following and almond lingering. It is a happy little cup of Christmastime.

I finally had Pleine Lune sans additions (mmmmmm). Does it remind anyone else of Nina’s Marie Antoinette? It could be my cold, but boy, I thought that they tasted so similar. Nina’s has more green apple, but the fruit and spice and maybe even a little floral? is there for me. Nuts? Maybe I’m the one who is nuts!

I keep trying to pinpoint the flavors of this tea, but being exact doesn’t do this tea justice. It has a bit of magic to it. Almond, cherry, spice. Floral on the end on the sip. Something sweet.

Nope. Still doesn’t describe the experience. How all of the flavors dance together to make something indescribably delicious. It tastes more like a liqueur — no. A dessert — no. A candy — no.

I think this is one you have to taste yourself.

The nicest treat I had all week. Thank you Ruby Woo Scarlett!

Sipdown

October Sipdown Prompt – Art Day!

I have been hitting Simpson and Vail’s Almond Black hard, and this morning I remembered that I had just enough of this similar tea (almond heavy) left for one pot.

As for the art, I haven’t created it yet, BUT my daughter had a themed gift at the table for me again today and this time is was not tea but art supplies!

When I got my cancer diagnosis in August, I decided it was time to try watercoloring. I am not a good artist by any stretch of the imagination, but our local cancer center offered free art nights once a week to patients and their families back when I had my first diagnosis years ago. At the time I was much busier and much more worried about not being good at it so I didn’t participate.

They still offer it, but when I mentioned I might try it for stress relief my friend bought me the Emily Lex workbooks to get me started and I made enough headway to make a few greeting cards that were good enough to send.

Now thanks to my daughter I have some tube watercolors, a tiny travel palette and paper holder, and a whole stack of good paper, as well as a pot of good tea to sip while I wait for inspiration to hit. And who knows? This time around maybe Ashman (who is a VERY good artist) and I might participate in an art night or two.

December Sipdown Challenge – a flavored black tea

This is not a sipdown, quite the contrary. It is a freshly opened tin of tea that I received for Christmas from Superanna and her husband. When I added it to cupboard, I saw that the first time I had it, it was a gift from her then-fiancé eleven years ago.

I had this with breakfast. I love almond flavor and this is one where it is mimics slightly tart cherry so well. This is a tea with presence, good to go with food and good for mornings when you want to NOTICE the tea you are drinking.

Lots of happy deep sniffs of the cup. Thank you to Superanna and her husband!