Mariage Frères
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Sipdown, 165. Cold brew.
Let me tell you, this tea was freaking awesome cold brewed. Like, I want to buy a tin and keep it around just for cold brewing. Except that probably wouldn’t be very financially sound. It was so deliciously almondy, creamy, with light, juicy fruitiness. Here, it tasted like a macaron, delicious and sweet. If I was just rating the cold brew I would rate this into the 90s for sure.
My days lately have been starting out ok but then taking nosedives in the afternoon. Not good for my productivity, which makes me more upset and down (since part of my anxiety is about finishing off my dissertation). I needed a tea this afternoon that might improve my mood, and my intense love of macarons made me grab this one.
Surprisingly enough this is not my second or even my third macaron-flavored tea. And even though I had kind of written Mariage Frères off after a number of failed attempts with their teas (there is something about the black base they use for most of their flavored blends [eta: that I have tried] that I dislike), I jumped on the chance to get a sample of this from Shmiracles. Thanks so much!
The first thing I smelled in the dry leaf was almond, but then when I sniffed closer it was slightly floral and a bit fruity. I didn’t even realize that there was both apple and amaranth in here before I opened up the Steepster entry for it, but I guess they’re coming through! Steeped, it smells similar but more appley. Perhaps like an apple-almond pastry, which is to say not much like a macaron to me, but I’ve also never had (or seen) an apple-flavored macaron (side note: now I am thinking about macarons at Laduree and my mouth is just watering).
Hmmm, innnteresting. This reminds me of another apple tea I had once, I think it was a “sweet apple” blend from a tea house in London. Also, a bit like the Trois Noix from MF that I had. Nutty, yes, not particularly strongly almondy (but it’s macaron, not marzipan, so that follows), and definitely appley. Also, I’m afraid that it has a bitter aftertaste that I just can’t get behind. I mean, the main part of the sip is pretty tasty (though I would argue not particularly macaron-ish to my tastes), but the aftertaste grows out of it and it isn’t meshing with my tastebuds. I don’t think I have the courage to steep it for 13 minutes like Shmiracles who said that took care of her issues with the aftertaste, but maybe I’ll try it. I might also cold steep the rest of it because I always have prefered MF teas cold-steeped! :P
ETA: I just took a huge drink of this while also breathing in deeply through my nose, and suddenly got macarons. This tea has like a weird inverse parabola of tastiness for me where when hot it was tasty (no bitter aftertaste), then when it was warm it was not so tasty (strong bitter aftertaste), and now that it’s cooled further it is tasty again (waning bitter aftertaste). Oh, MF, pretty sure I’ll never “get” your teas.
Preparation
YAY glad you could enjoy this!
hahaha ummmm maybe don’t 13 min steep it just yet. i MAY have spaced out completely and not used boiling water? i’ll get back to you on that hah
which MF teas did you try ? it is really strange because they rarely use the same bases for their flavoured black teas.
Of straight black bases I guess I’ve only had Marco Polo and Trois Noix (and now this one), but they both had the same weird taste that I tasted but apparently not many other people do (they were from different sources, the Trois Noix direct from their main shop in Paris). This one doesn’t have that taste (a weird tart/acidic flavor), but I did get a bitter aftertaste. I’ve been told their flavored blacks vary in the base tea, but I’ve never really explored it (and I haven’t sought them out based on my previous experiences). Interested to see how the Mousse au Chocolate from this collection tastes to me.
i will say that i fell immediately in love with the Dammann Freres teas i bought. (especially the freaking caramel-toffee.) they are so easy to brew and adore!
but Mariage Freres tea have taken a bit more navigation and delicacy. also, i may be maturing but i’m still a punk. and as a traveler in paris with a septum piercing and less than fresh clothes, i was treated much nicer at the Dammann Freres store than Mariages Freres. not that these are the only two worth comparing, but their product design is somewhat similar and stuff.
idk.
i’ve had too much tea today. haha i’ll probably delete this note too! more BLERG!
@ Shmiracles :I love both brands but Dammann more than often use the same tea base for black flavoured, it may be the reason why you can find them easier to brew because once you get the correct brew for you, you get it for (almost) all.
@Dinosara : Trois noix has a certain bitterness due to the walnuts (to my opinion) – it wasn’t my best experience with MF teas (it’s quite an obscure tea in the MF tea card !)
Regarding Marco Polo, this is the inverse, as often with a best seller…they are sometimes over estimated (to my opinion). but I didn’t get the tartness you mention – If you want in June I’ll be able to send you some MF black blends as you taste more of them.
I appreciate very much Dammann as well, which are much more sensibly priced, but having had some 20 or 30 of Mariage Freres teas and maybe some 6 or 8 Dammann teas (a large percentage thanks to Ysaurella), I think as well it is the Dammann which often uses the same base. Mariage Freres is a lot more diverse bases IMO – wedding imperial is a totally unique base, Thé au Tibet as well, the greens varying a lot as well, as a lot of blacks (Mandalay is not the same as Chandernagor. Or the unbelievably mellow Black Orchid which in no way is the same as Pleine Lune). In fact if I was going to mention a company which reliably uses different bases for different flavours, Mariage Freres would be maybe the first company I would say (plus a tiny London company, and Théodor. If you would want to argue about Théodor being better at using different bases, I would maybe agree. But Dammann, IMO 4 fruits rouges is the same base as paul et virginie which is the same as pomme d´amour which is the same as Nosy Bey)
@Ysaurella – yes, perhaps in June we could do a swap and I could try a few more MF blends. I’ve tried a few others (non-black or black/green blends) but have never had that much success. :/ Maybe I just need to try more of them.
@cteresa – Unfortunately I haven’t sampled MF quite so widely, but part of my problem is that the 5-6 MF teas I have had, with a variety of bases, I haven’t been impressed with. I mean, knowing that some of the bases I dislike makes me more hesitant to try others because I might not like those either, even if they are different. I LOVE the base that DF uses for its black teas, so their teas make me happy partly because of the consistency (and because I find them so delicious).
I just had to google “parabola” because it rang a bell from high school but I couldn’t remember what it was, hahaha. Ugh, math.
Dinosara, taste is taste, it is great you like the base that Dammann uses often. I confess it is not my favorite base in general though I love some of their teas more than others.
And Mariage Freres teas can be tricky to brew because they behave differently – Wedding Imperial has taken me some time to finally get right (it´s so good about steepster, that it can serve as notebook for when you finally get the code right. But just protesting the idea that Mariage Freres uses the same base often – no, or better said non! Though maybe they might for this range of specialty limited edition teas, but in general, absolutely no, not in my experience.
noms. variaTEA gave me a little more of this a while back and i’ve been drinking it here and there. I really do love this chocolate tea…it’s got that rich, dark chocolate taste. I’ll miss this one, but i know if i get desperate, Holt’s usually has it at christmas haha
Damn, I’ve yet to see it at Holt’s here.
:(
When do you normally see them at the earliest? Maybe I keep going there too late. Whenever I’ve gone over the past few years, I’ve only seen the boxes of sachets of simpler blends like English Breakfast. Maybe saw a tin of Chandernagor once. Or maybe my location just sucks haha.
i think they start putting that stuff out in November. I’ll post in heffalumps when i see the stuff here, since it’s literally across the street from my work place (or under the street technically..)
Awesomesauce. Thanks, Sil!
sipdown! the last of this will be off to beelicious in our swap. I really still adore this tea. It’s just the right sort of chocolate tea for me – leaning towards dark versus milk and not being sweet. I just wish MF sold this loseleaf versus their overpriced tins.
MissB is my hero. She found some of this for me while travelling around europe and sent it back to me. I’ll likely still share if some of the girls want to try some, but if not then it’s all mine! mwahahahah. i picked this one for today just because! I wanted all delicious teas today.
Hey, are you still going to France? You can stock up on this one while you’re there, right?
I wouldn’t mind giving it another try…
will do lady! And even this one is super ridiculous pricing in france because of the tin. I still may get some haha
yum. you’re going to have so much fun with all the teas when you go there!!
farewell my delicious chocolate tea. It was a pleasure having out in my cupboard. If only MF sold this on in bags and not as a special edition tea. Then it would be worth restocking. However, at the price of the tin + tea, it’s a luxury really and hard to justify unless maybe i get over to france :)
I had this one today for fun but added a tsp of “cream” to it just to see how that affected the tea. On the whole, it made it slightly more rich tastes, but also sweetened it a little, which in the case of this tea is not my preferred way of drinking it. However, still delicious enough to be happy about today!
So. yesterday was my steepsterversay except i didn’t drink any tea. So today i’m celebrating with this cup and taking a look back at the last year or two just for fun. :) I’ve not been on steepster for 2 years.
Year 1
874 different teas
2101 Tasting notes
235 teas in my cupboard
Year 2
1058 different teas (so i’m up to 1932)
2446 tasting notes (up to 4547 now)
174 teas in my cupboard – with only 4 teas being from 2013 and those from December of that year
random stuff
I have figured out that i don’t like 52 teas; David’s tea; teavana; adagio much.
I prefer blends that are flavoured with natural flavours OR simply be adding herbs and other fruits/berries etc…
Black teas are still my go to teas followed by puerh, though i am learning to appreciate the occasional green, oolong and white tea.
I have made lots of awesome steepster friends this year and had some great times with ppl learning about their tea preferences and their lives :) After two years around here, I’m still having a blast, loving tea drinking and loving this place! In case you guys didn’t know this – you’re awesome and quite possibly one of the few places on the internet where the trolls don’t come out :)
HAPPY FRIDAY SIL STEEPSTERVERSARY!
YAY! kermit arms
Happy Steepsterversary Sil!!! I agree LOVE how nice and non-trolly people here are
Happy Steepsterversary!
Don’t jinx the troll-free zone. :p
Happy steepsterversary!!!
Yay!! I love the stats! I’m so glad we connected on Steepster, you’re the most awesome tea sister, happy steepsterversary!
:D
Yayyyy! Happy steepsterversary!
Happy steepsterversary!
boooo. Another sipdown of delicious french tea. Finishing up this one means i have one less “old” tea to drink haha i’m such a hoarder when i love something. Today’s cup was perfect. wondeful. rich, dark chocolate delight. yes. yes. yes.
this was my first cup this morning because charlottezero is awesome and will be sending me some more so i treated myself to a cup with breakfast before heading out to the spa for my massage. I can claim like 90% back through work so there’s no reason for me to not take advantage more often! I still love this one as a chocolate tea that isn’t trying to be all sweet and crap :)
spa and massage…I’m jealous !
Enjoy!
it was fantastic… now i’m home and getting ready to go spend the afternoon/evening playing board games with friends and getting to see their little one again :)
Ooh, a great day from start to finish! :)
yep! sa, massage, baby, board games, friends.. and next weekend.. i get to do most of it all over again haha
I wish they were easier to buy tea from in canada!
i know :( I think maybe i’ll bite the bullet with customs etc and just make an order in July as a birthday treat…maybe
hope you had a great massage!
How much is shipping? Must be lots eh
when i was playing with it, it was averaging out to adding an extra 1-2 euros on to each bag that i was planning on picking up…so not over the top ridiculous.. but by the time july rolls around i may want more lol
Yeah that’s not totally horrible
But I guess that’s 1.5 times Canadian $, right?
It was working out to about 15-17 CAD per 100g though the exchange was a little better when I was doing it too…so there’s that.
Yikes.
15-17 isn’t too bad for fancy french tea? I think you can walk into DAVIDsTEA and buy 100g of their tea for $15… (Just for added perspective)
So basically over $40 for shipping alone, that’s mental.
And 100g is a massive amount to take a risk on!
I guess splitting it with someone would make it doable.
Sorry, I should have done that in grams. From what I can see, the shipping rates to Canada/US are as follows (in euros):
100g = 23.50
200g = 25
300g = 23.20
400-700g = 28.5
800-1100g = 31.20
1200-1500g = 33.10
This is based on the teas in tins (specifically heritage gourmand). It’s a little bit cheaper if you go the bagged route, but not much. The black tins were a little more, I’m assuming because they also come in a gift case as well.
heritage gourmand are seriously expensive teas. 25 euro a pop…whereas the bags are as low as 4 euro. I have no need of tins – 2-3 euro for a tin is a lot, i’d rather just pay that on shipping. As cavo pointed out – it’s compareable to the prices we can pay here for 100g in some places. Also, it wouldn’t be a hgh risk for me, as i’ve tried a lot of the teas i’d be getting through swaps :)
I guess I haven’t tried enough to commit to 100g…I never buy that much of Davidsteas either!!
Soooo this is still one of my favourite teas. There’s something that i just love about the dark chocolate, mousse taste that just makes me happy. I’m going to be so sad when this is gone and all i have is the tin to remind of how delicious it was. I just can’t justify the price, unless it happens to be in stock if i ever make it back to France :) Then i can splurge heh. I just like that this is chocolate mousse…real chocolate mousse made with dark chocolate, that isn’t sweet…. not the typical chocolate mousse you find in restaurants that is stupid sweet and not as delicious :)
Amen. The only chocolate mousse I like is the dark, dark stuff. Then I will eat it till it comes out my nose and I get sick on it. :) Yum!
sadly this tea is only available in tin…otherwise I would have bought 100 g for you Sil !
Generally our French mousses au chocolat are always made with dark chocolate (even in restaurants)what are they adding in it in Canada ?
Ysaurella – it seems like every time i try it, they add sugar, so it ends up tasting like chocolate pudding, but with the texture of mousse au chocolat. do.not.like.
…also, i would LOVE if you could buy this in bags…the extra 10+euro for a tin makes me sad.
The only chocolate mousse I’ve ever had was the stuff that pudding brands (like Jello) make so I have no idea what true mousse au chocolat is supposed to be like. Colour me curious now.
That’s too bad about the tin/lack of refill option. Not so environmentally conscious.
swedish chef – actual mousse is heavenly and delicious and light and sinfully wonderful…i don’t like dark chocolate much but tru mousse au chocolat is divine! my grandmere was from belgium, and studied at le cordon bleu…her recipe is..phenomenal!
Nice! If I’m ever at a fancy French restaurant and I see it on the menu, I’ll be sure to save room for some. :)
@ Fjellrev :Take 4 eggs, take 200g of very good dark chocolate (65% minimum of cacao)
separate the whites from yellows eggs and whisk the egg whites (with nothing added)
melt your chocolate with 5 table spoons of water.Add the yellow egge to this preparation.
Mix both preparations carefully (without scrushing the eggs, put in little cups or a big cup for 1 full night in the fridge…that’s it !
some recipe add a little butter (the mousse is harder this way)
I had no idea it would involve so few ingredients, for some reason. I’ll admit that I don’t even own a whisk right now! Thank you so much for the lesson, Ysaurella. I’ll definitely try that out someday. :)
My other morning tea, which i sorely needed given how insane my week has been. I just need a day to breath and that just doesn’t seem to be happening lately. I also decided that i’m just going to drink and enjoy my teas and wave goodbye when favourites leave haha. :) Still one of my fav chocolate teas. Dark chocolate mousse indulgence.
Drool drool and drool some more!
Wow how have I never heard of this before
haha
Where did you find this????
i did a swap with shmiracles, and then made my parents go get me another tin when they were in france haha
Aw shoot! Worlds away!
Yeah, if they go to france again, I want a tin too :)
I so wish there was an easier/cheaper way to get these to us tea fiends. There’s a French bakery here that will order it for me, however they want $35/100g.
Oh, is that the patisserie downtown? Have you been in, or just contacted them?
I’ve been in it, and they’ve got a lot of Mariage Frères in tins for sale, as well as just to drink in-store for a cup. They’ll order it in whenever they order another batch of tea, it just may take a while is all.
Omg you’ve found a loophole!!!! :D
Ooo. I need to visit, maybe get some tea there. :) OH! Maybe this weekend since I’m downtown a lot. I could go for a walk/tea break.
They have a lot in stock, or did when I was there about a month ago. Only sell it in full tins though, or as a cup of hot tea to take with you. Ah, the chai that I can’t spell, Marco Polo, something Rouge all come to mind. All $35/100g. I’m blanking out on the name, but you know where I mean, right? There are way too many French patisseries in downtown Vancouver. This one is big, gorgeous, open a bit later, and just a few blocks up from Burrard Station.
Take me to Vancouver!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I think I know which one. Across from the art gallery? Faubourg or something? $35/100g is super steep for the basics, tho. Wow.
Faubourg, that’s it! Yep, which is why I balked at grabbing anything when they told me the prices.
hello sweetie…
Why there you are, you delicious dark chocolate indulgence in a cup. Where HAVE you been? Oh that’s right, i’ve been saving you, to savour every last drop of you. well today, i just wanted a taste. Just a reminder of the sweetness between us. The way your rich, dark, chocolate goodness surrounded me. You make any day incredible.
……oh yes.
I was so tempted to place an order after reading about this collection. Then I started adding other things to the order. Then I saw the total, got scared, and closed the window. Haha.
One day, one day I will place that order. Or better yet, one day I will travel to France and forgo the shipping all together :P
My thoughts exactly, VariaTEA! While I’d still like to place an order (maybe by the end of the calendar year), maybe it’ll give me an excuse to just physically go there so I can sniff ALL THE TEAS.
this one is really expensive…I’m not sure if i’d buy it again – i love it but this last tin i received, my parents picked up for me. I wish you could buy it in bags – then it would be a permanent restock
It’s more than the $25 tins? That is… ridiculous.
it’s 25euros…i think it was…
bags though are decently priced at 5-9 euros…but this is one of their exclusives
Dayum. Biting my tongue, but… really.
The other tea i had last night to save the day. This is probably one of the most expensive teas in my cupboard because you can’t simply buy it in refill packaging. MF makes you buy the tin, which is lovely, but not worth the extra 9+euros it adds to the price, esp when you already have one. But i love this tea…and i’m nearly out of it, which makes me sad. It’s probably my perfect chocolate tea because it’s not sweet. It tastes like the mousse au chocolate made with dark, rich chocolate. I need to try this as a latte sometime. Regardless..it’s heaven for me.
Another tea to stave off the crazies of the day! I picked this one because i haven’t had it in a while and i’m 100% hoarding this one. It might be one of my favourite chocolate teas because it’s so very much like good belgian mousse au chocolat! if only i could obtain more…
I hate it when you find a beyond delicious tea and it’s either really expensive or only available in another country! This one sounds so good!
Want. I wonder how much shipping is. Maybe I wait till I go to (Eastern) Europe in December.
nxtdoor…i’d check and see if it’s available…my parents had a bit of a time trying to find it while they were in france. Here’s hoping MF will come out with another like this…
oh this was a marvelous treat yesterday. I so very much needed it as a treat to myself for getting through this week. I am so happy my parents were able to find some of this while they were in paris because it is a fantastic chocolate tea. I’ll be so sad when it’s gone but for now…for now it’s here and i’m happy.
Mmmmm another tea in the travel much yesterday. Mostly because this was a sipdown but I was fairly sure that my parents had managed to find more of this while in Paris. I was right – though the way my dad tells it, they had to go to 5 different shops and make the shop keepers dig through the back cupboards for it. But they succeeded. They picked up this one and wedding imperial for me, as well as a dragon well tea from another famous? Shop in Paris that specializes in Chinese tea. All I know currently is that it comes in the most interesting boxes and that I’d rather sneak my dads puerh and box lol but I 100% wil enjoy what they brought back. Dad also picked up mf’s most expensive? Or almost most expensive silver needle, which I haven’t yet tried :)
Careful with Wedding Imperial – it is IMO a pretty fussy tea to brew up right (though weirdly, I got served it in a spa and they had nailed it perfectly there, much better than most of my attempts). Try water at 85 for 3 minutes, or at 90 for 2 first time.
And it sounds like great souvenirs from paris – that silver needle I am jealous of, do review!
bravo :) now you need to come in person to visit Paris !
oh how i would love that! my other half has never been to paris and it’s been far too long since my last visit.
