Mariage Frères

Another tea that i haven’t had yet! I’m not sure which one of these MF teas i like more. This tea is a really nice assam but it really isn’t malty. not that it’s a bad thing but it’s a bit different from some of my other assams. I’m going to have to spend more time with this one! :)

sipdown! the last little bit of this, i set aside for Cavocorax. I have enjoyed this one, though I have found many other teas that i love more. However, i wouldn’t turn this one down ever, if it was offered :)

backlog from yesterday.

I had this one to start the morning off and it was just what i needed. a great black tea to kick things off :)

Morning cup of tea as i’m trying to also rotate through some of the older teas in my cupboard as i continue my sipdown journey. I’m hoping i can hit 210 by the end of the weekend, though i’m working for part of it, so not sure how feasible that is. I’m glad my parents picked this one up for me, as i’m not sure i would have picked it up on my own. This isn’t a bold cup of tea but it is a delicious straight black.

mmmm! I like this one. Finally getting some time to focus on drinking some of the teas i’ve swapped away to share in the goodies my parents brought back for me but still haven’t tried. I REALLY want some mousse au chocolat but i promised myself that i wouldn’t open it until i hit 200 teas as a way to bribe myself. :)

This is a good black tea, something that’s not super BOLD and STRONG, but still enough going on to give you that little kick in the morning to get your going. There’s a sweetness to this tea that i like, though it does leave my mouth a little dry – something i’ve noticed with a few other yunnans. Overall, not a bad little tea for something my parents randomly picked up!

This was the last of the three samples provided by Mariage Frères for my blog project, and it has been so much fun to try these out!

My favorite part of this tea was definitely its aroma: a wonderful combination of fresh-smelling lavender and citrus. It translated into the cup beautifully, with those two notes continuing to dominate. It was a little more difficult for me to pick out the flavor of the black tea base, but while that kept it from tasting like a true Earl Grey it did make for a tasty flavored black… especially when I added a dash of milk!

You can read my full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/07/earl-grey-provence-by-mariage-freres.html

i love assams. especially before a long run on the weekend. or early morning before a gym visit.
and i always wanna get my tongue on more Mariage Frefes. this is a good one. my sister likes her Harney assam lots, so i will GENEROUSLY save my last tiny cup’s worth of this for her to try. ;)
thank you for the tea Sil!

Oh! Yummy Mandarin! With floral notes – more notably – Jasmine. Not overly Jasmine – but a nice level of Jasmine! Yes! It’s a nice one! The mandarin definitely kicks it up a notch for me, tho!

Very nice!

Appearance: Deep black leaves slightly curled.

Dry leaf aroma: This tea smells like Early Grey. The package says “A secretive tea, scented with essences of citrus and other fruits, dotted with silver needles.” There is definitely bergamot and lemon peel, maybe even lime? I don’t see any silver needle though…hmm.

Covered the bottom of gaiwan, water at 208F. 1st steep 3 mins. 2nd steep 2 min. 3rd steep 2 mins.

First Steep:
As I mentioned, this tea seems to be an Early Grey. The aroma is all citrus: lots of bergamot, lemon peel, a bit of orange and perhaps lime. (It honestly reminds me of the yellow Trix cereal). The tea itself has a nice balance, although maybe a bit too much bergamot for some. The liquor is a little bit sour, which I like as it blends with the citrus note in the aroma. The color of the tea is beautiful. A firey red-orange. The tea is smooth with little rough edges (the leaf is of better quality than many blends I think).

Second Steep:
The aroma is still quite strong. The tea is a bit less lemony and the taste slightly less sour. I think the 2nd steep is very similar to standard Earl Grey’s (think Twining’s). Color is still a deep orange.

Third Steep:
STILL a deep color. A surprisingly sophisticated flavor remains…the tea has sweetened up a bit and the balance of citrus and the body of the tea are in a nice place.

If you like early grey, you should try this. No doubt, Mariage Frères makes high quality tea. The blends are sophisticated and the tea itself is of really nice quality. While I don’t often drink blends, this is a company that seems to do them right.

Listening: was feeling dramatic: put on Henryk Gorecki’s Symphony No. 3 during this tasting.

This tea just continues to impress! It’s gorgeously blended, and makes a wonderful and brisk cup to start the day with.

The recap of its last Battle of the Earl Greys face/off:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/10/earl-grey-organic-by-mighty-leaf-vs_15.html

Jake and I sat down with a couple teas this morning for the next face/off in the Battle of the Earl Greys… and this one came out victorious!

Read on to see why:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/09/earl-grey-by-enjoyingtea-vs-earl-grey.html

This is the 20th review in the Battle of the Earl Greys!

This is the second of three samples provided by Mariage Frères, and the initial time I made it I thought it would also be the first disappointment. It took a little tweaking of the steeping process, but my last cup was darker, richer, and just about stole my heart! ;)

When I increased the amount of tea by 1/4 tsp and the steep time by 1 minute, this went from a weak floral black to a delicious Earl Grey with a kick. I don’t get it, but I’m not going to argue with a tea I enjoy this much.

You can read my full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/07/earl-grey-french-blue-by-mariage-freres.html

This is great. I don’t often drink green teas and generally don’t like them nearly as much as Assams, especially. This is a top-notch tea and one of the best I’ve ever had. I got several infusions from it. The second was still lovely but the following three were not as spectacular.

Best smell ever for a tea with an amazing taste.
Placed top3 of my favorite teas right after the first sip.
Try it now !

As everybody recommended, it worth enough to taste. But in a way, i think that its strong smell has been one of main reasons of its high reputation. but for me, when i smell it closely, i often feel it’s too ‘much’ or ‘sour’.. i think the opinions on fruity teas really defends on personal tastes. i recommend you to visit the shop and smell it with your own nose!

Today was the third face/off in the Battle of the Earl Greys – and this tea was victorious!

You can read a re-cap of the battle here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/09/earl-grey-imperial-by-mariage-freres-vs.html

The temperature outside is hovering around 103°F, so a cool glass of this is rocking my world right now! I can definitely taste the Darjeeling base in all its buttery goodness, but what surprises me the most is that the bright punch of bergamot has given way to a deeper minty flavor. I have no idea where it’s coming from, but it was an aftertaste of the hot tea as well.

This tea has surprised me several times today – first, that I would be at all impressed with an Earl Grey with a green base, and second that its iced version is actually neck in neck with my esteem for the hot version. All in all, I am very, very happy that Mariage Frères gave me the opportunity to try this as part of my Battle of the Earl Greys project. It’s been a treat!

You can see pictures and read the full review here:
http://wordsabouttea.blogspot.com/2013/06/earl-grey-imperial-by-mariage-freres.html

Today was my first Marriage Freres, and Marco Polo was the chosen one by my brother. I must admit that I had reservations about how good this tea would be. Some of those came from reading other reviews before trying the tea, and some other ones were derived from the fact that this is their best selling tea. How good could it be?

Well, it is good, in fact very good! Flower tones are present but not as an artificial flavoring, probably as it would taste if the flowers were from the tea. To me there is a hint of jasmine and strawberries on top of the black tea.

Yes, it is good. Very good, but I am not a “repeat buyer” just yet. I will update as I drink it on other times.

dry sweetness and sing songy dark tones.
easy to drink down down down to my belly.
and now it’s all gone.
Sil gave it to me!
thank you Sil!

it’s monday and two new refrigerators just arrived at out house.
no one told me it was refrigerator monday. i missed the memo.

I tend to like Assam teas and normally don’t like flowering teas but this is excellent. This tea is really good and has a beautiful nose! The tea flavor is deep and luscious.

I love this tea, it is one of my all-time favourite green teas.

While it has a classic, mellow green tea base, the goji berries empower it and give it a really fruity, bold flavour. The liquorice gives the blend a really nice aftertaste, and the rose petals smell and look wonderful while it brews. If you brew this tea carefully, you will get what you are promised.

That is one of the things I love about this company. You get what you come for, and none of the flavours are ever lost in the tea. The blends are balanced very well, so you taste every ingredient. I am still new to green tea, I think sometimes it can be quite bitter, and other times very mellow, but I am more than willing to explore new types of green tea.

If you’re just starting out with green tea, like me, try this. It’s a wonderful blend and it has always been proudly displayed in my tea pantry.

Every time I finally bite the bullet and get this tea and ship it all the way to my house, I unpack it and pour a cup and wonder why I order any other kind of tea ever. This tea is truly the best tea I’ve ever tried and any ‘dupe’ I’ve enjoyed, while reminiscent of it, doesn’t truly hold a candle to the original.

I love it so much! It’s so layered and spicy and so sweet and so nutty and has so much to recommend it. I drink it when I’m having a good day to celebrate the fact that I’m having a good day. I drink it when I’m having a bad day to console me. It is truly a tea you can smell and taste, it doesn’t just feel like hot water with flavourings in it. I appreciate it so much.

It is truly the tea that got me started drinking tea and I will always love it with the whole of my heart. <3