Mariage Frères

This is my perfect tea. So many tasters on here are able to say such wonderful, insightful, things about the nuances of unflavoured tea and they always drink their tea straight. I “pollute” my black teas with milk and sugar/honey on a regular basis and I’ve just had to live with my shame. This tea however, rescued me. I can drink it straight. I can actually enjoy it sans milk or sugar. I like it better with both but I like it without as well. It’s not too bitter. I have to stop it at four minutes,45 seconds on the dot or it becomes bitter but at that precise time it is smooth and delicious.

I don’t like this tea. This is my shame. I LOVE Mariage Frères teas. I wanted to love this one, but now I have almost a whole tin of this and don’t know what to do with it. I like Harney & Sons’ Paris tea and thought since people compare them often and Mariage Frères teas have always been the ne plus ultra of any flavor, I couldn’t go wrong. However, this tastes like flowers to me and although lovely to smell and gaze upon I have never ascended to the level of sophistication wherein I enjoy the taste of flowers.

I got a tin of this last Christmas and saved it until my wedding in June. It’s almost gone now. I love it. It smells incredible – chocolate and caramel. It tastes incredible too. I drink it sweetened with milk because it’s already so indulgent, I just bask in the sumptuous sweetness. On that note, I’m really careful not to over-steep it. Anything over five minutes starts to bring out the tannins. I give it four minutes, 45 seconds on the clock to give me time to run over and remove the leaves before it hits five minutes.

I bought this tea when visited Paris. I liked those cotton sachets that held the tea. The tea is pleasantly fruity with an elegant twist. Good guality tea! Would recommend:)

This tea was a lovely end to a lovely day out yesterday in the more charming locales of this city. The Darjeeling base is delightful. A subtle but really interesting spin on the classic! More floral, a little spicy, and very elegant.

Having this at Cafe Vue at the airport. This is going to be my last cup of tea before leaving Melbourne!

I love Earl Grey. The name sounds so regal and posh, doesn’t it? Drinking it always makes me feel like a lady. And I think this Earl Grey Imperial from my beloved MF is a great one. It’s very delicate and subtly fragrant, unlike some Earl Grey that is so heavily scented with bergamot oil probably because the tea itself isn’t very exciting. MF uses first flush Darjeeling, it says. It’s so floral that I can almost see a French garden from the window… :)

Absolutely LOVE this tea for many reasons – it goes well with breakfast, afternoon snacks, and even dinner. I also love it because it makes a great iced version as well. It’s refreshing iced and when served hot and with honey it’s delicious. :)

Rouge Bourbon is a tasty vanilla rooibos tea. I’m just not sure that I’m WOWd. The flavor is pleasant but I was hoping for something a little more bourbon… or special… or interesting. I get that vanilla extract is (often) made with bourbon, hence there’s (often) a bourbon flavor in the vanilla, but I still find myself wanting more from the flavor of this tea.

I’m a lucky girl because SimplyJenW spoiled me with an XL sample of this baby so I can give it a few more tries. Hug/ smacks to you my tea-friend :)

Nice and smooth with a very light taste of vanilla. After the heavenly vanilla smell of the leaves, I expected a more intense flavor. Nice but not outstanding.

Evocative, but heavy on the cinnamon/cloves. It does smell like Christmas to me, but I’ve been known to sneak a cup or two in summer. It’s also nice as iced tea but can get too astringent quickly.

Nice almond-based tea, definitely on the sweet side. I like drinking it in the afternoon for a little pick-me-up. Might be nice with milk and sugar for a kid’s tea party (which is not to say it’s unsophisticated!)

Nice smooth oolong but it didn’t really knock my socks off.

I was surprised by this tea..to me, it has notes of dark chocolate and cherries- actually the first whiff of it reminded me of those old fashioned chocolate-covered cherries, but not sweet or cloying.

I’m on my third steep of this beautiful mystery because I wasn’t going to sleep anyway. Marco Polo has officially blown my mind. I’m holding the teacup under my nose to better inhale the exquisitely baffling aroma… with my eyes closed. Too much information?

The actual Chinese and Tibetan fruit and flowers blended with black tea to create Marco Polo are a famously guarded secret, but I smell berries. Something like strawberries only infinitely better. At first sip, I taste that gorgeous undetermined fruit. The fruity flavor develops into a bright, full, black tea body. And the finish is so sweet. This tea has a lingering sweetness that will bewitch you into forgoing sleep to drink another, and another cup.

I want to bathe in Marco Polo.

I have a confession to make… I’m not usually a fan of Earl Grey. It’s the bergamot that has made me shy away in the past. It’s just so in your face. Like an over indulged child demanding “Look at what I can do!”. I get it bergamot. You’re bright, aromatic, and uplifting. Now, please let the other tea flavors have a turn!

Surprisingly, this tea may make me a drinker of Earl Grey. The leaf aroma defiantly has that bergamot punch in the face. I know, I know, it’s Earl Grey. The aroma of the liquor is pleasing and far more subtle. The first sip is bright and lemony fresh, (Yes, hello bergamot). That flavor quickly gives way to a nicely astringent Darjeeling body, and the finish is sweet, delicate, and floral. I actually like this tea.

Am I a tea snob? No, but I do have to admit that if my tin didn’t say Mariage Fréres, I may have stuck to my “I don’t care for Earl Grey.”, guns. Have you seen the Mariage Fréres apothecary style tea jars? I want to live in them! I have a sample of Winter White Earl Grey from Harney & Sons that I’m really eager to try now. I bet Vanilla Earl Grey would be very up my alley. Hmmmm…

And who do I have to thank for my Earl Grey turnaround? Well, this will come as no surprise, but the person’s Steepster name starts with a Quilt and ends with a Guppy.

Edit: I added a little turbinado sugar and almond cream to my second cup, and I’m liking the flavor even more!

I had a high expectations from this tea because of its name – Mariage Freres.

Method: in a tea bag
Amount: heaping tea spoonful
Sugar: yes

When I tried it the first time, I was very disappointed. I was expecting something smooth and rich vanilla flavored tea. Instead, what I got was rooibos with a VERY mild scent of vanilla. I thought it might become better if I add some milk. So I did. No, it didn’t improve at all, it actually made it worse because the vanilla scent got even thinner.

I wasn’t quite ready to throw away an almost full can of rooibos tea. What I did next was to increase the amount of tea from heaping tea spoonful to 1 1/2. It got a lot better!

I think the key to have this tea is to go really generous with the tea leaf, and use new tea leaf for every cup. It seems not very economical but the vanilla flavor wears off after first cup. I think I’ll try other flavors of rooibos from MF but not sure if I would buy this one again. I’m just glad that I found a way to finish the canful of tea and enjoy it at the same time.

Settling down to a breakfast of french bread and brie I am working on my second pot of this wonderfully scented tea. The aroma is akin to the finest cake frosting. Not so much in the teeth aching sugar dream but in its utterly beautiful vanilla fragrance. The leaves are that sad mix of autumn hues and still birth greens. Together they unfurl marvelously in the pot.

If you are not sold on the brewing, just let the leaves rest and they will impart their scent in such a way you’d believe that elves had been baking in your kitchen all night.

The liquid is a pleasant amber of which I like to spoil with milk. I can safely say it is a gem without. On a lighter note, this tea is very forgiving, at least with me. Upon our first acquaintance I left this darling along for 5 minutes. Horrible I know. However I did not find the brew overly bitter if it was bitter at all. All in all, it was a charming cup.

Cheers!

A light yet delicious tea with the flavour of fresh mango! It refreshed my palate and gave my taste buds a break after having an extremely chocolatey tea set at Jean Paul Hevin. Love it.

It has been awhile. However, I seem to recall Mariage Freres’ English Breakfast tea is primarily a BOPF (fannings) grade blend. Usually, with fannings grade teas any more than 2 minutes and the tannins become overly assertive. As such, I recommend to anyone drinking this to steep it for 2 minutes at 95 degrees Celsius and try it before re-shelving.

I know the bag note says 3 minutes, but I seem to recall going with the advice for fannings grade tea in The French Art of Tea instead and rather enjoying this tea (several times, the bag is empty.)

I have to agree with Morgana; although I love MF teas, this one leaves me wondering if I got a bad tin. There is something really off-putting to me in this blend, but can’t quite identify what it is.