THEODOR

The wolf, the big bad wolf is as sweet as any golden retriever and a perfect gentleman, oh I do love it.

It´s chocolate and hazelnut tea, on itself a wonderful idea, but not a sickly sweet combination, more like dark chocolate type. And magically the underlying tea can stand up to the flavor, without being bitter, tanninic (or since I experimented having it at night, not too much caffeine I think). And it is one of those magic flavored teas where I can be so careless when brewing it, it is not fussy about temperature or steeping times. I love this wolf tea, and everybody who I have served it to seems to love it as well, this is not going to last very long here. A re-buy for sure.

Geographical relativism is a bitch. I think my mental image, associations of Galicia, the region are pretty different than from a Parisian´s associations. For me it´s “up north”, “lá para cima”, morrinha and fog, cold summers, even colder waters than Moledo beach (brrrr), great shellfish, almond tarts, stone buildings and rias. That vibe for me is definitely northern and very atlantic. I would not associate it with peaches and vanilla nor with the sin of laziness exactly ((Thé-o-Dor associates most of their teas, whether black, green, infusion or unflavoured origins tea with a particular sin or quality. This is Laziness tea.) But I love Galicia, I was in the mood for a peach black tea, so hence the purchase.

I brewed this “wrong” and it turned out to be perfect after all. I accidentally dumped barely warm water on the tea pot already filled with a generous amount of dry leaf. Instead of trashing it at once I decided to see if it would be rescued and filled the rest of the pot with free boiling water and let it steep longer. By my calculations the water must have been 70-75 C at most, and I must have left it at least 6 minutes. It was a happy accident, I think it brew perfectly! Only quibble is that it cooled rapidly, the last of the tea was colder than I would prefer.

And this is just as advertised: real exhuberant peach flavour, with noticeable vanilla with an almondy, nutty quality underneath which I associate with Bourbon Vanilla in particular, and with just the right amount of body. The loose tea is filled with yellow petals, I don´t know if sunflowers or marigolds, can not really detect any influence from their presence. As the tea cools there is a strange change in flavour, it´s the Bourbon vanilla which is predominant, and the peach becames just the supporting role.

This is a great tea to be drinking in winter while wishing for summer! I will play around with different temperatures for it.

I wish I was sure of what I am drinking right now! It is supposed to be this blend, Thé O Dor´s Christmas red tea. But it was bought by weight, handwritten label and wow, it looks different than from what it looks in the blender´s site ( or other photos google shows me). Is this supposed to have little white sugar (almondy-sugar) snowflakes? The rest looks just right, the rooibos and the marigold petals and little bits of presumably spices. But sugar snowflakes? Hmm, nobody says so. (And are not little sugar snowflakes a little bit, uh, unexpected for Theodor teas? )

Taste wise, it tastes like it should be if it is this 25 December. The rooibos underneath is very much to my taste, and then you got orange, a bit of cinnamon, a hint of I think nutmeg and something sweet like anise or liquorice (this is what kills it for me). Not going to be a favorite, though that always seems to happen with me and Christmas teas, I have not loved wholeheartedly one yet (Easter Tea OTOH is a different thing!). Interesting blend, whichever it is, and I will enjoy my sample of this, but would not buy any more.

My second Theodor rooibos and I am impressed, even if I did not love this quite as wholeheartedly as the first (Carpe Diem).

This smells heavenly – baked apple and toffee and indescritably dessert-y. Just the smell makes you feel good. Brewed up the taste is not quite as intense or as identifiably caramel-apple (Tarte Tatin) but I am impressed by how smooth, nice, full of body the rooibos base is. The apple-toffee melds wonderfully with it. The rooibos seems to have nutty-caramelley-honey tones itself and that is what makes this shine. I am so impressed by Theodor´s rooibos bases and how they flavour those. If you like rooibos, try to check what they are doing with rooibos.

still loving it as much. Just a small note to add that while I can not bear to throw the leaves away after just one steep, the second steep is never as good as the first – maybe tweaking first brew would change that, but I love the first steep so very very much I am not changing it at all. A definite rebuy, getting to the very bottom edges of the tin.

I bought this with a (sadly slight) discount about 2 months ago. Expiration date was March 2013. Even if this tin was just 80 grams, I expected it would last well past the expiration date – but I am not too fussy about that for tins which have been sealed for most of their consume-by date and if it´s not flavoured green teas.

But it seems this tin is not going to last to March! I have given a few samples, and it was just 80 grams, but even making this last by having two steeps, it´s going quite fast indeed (second steep is not as magical. but still better than a lot of my other teas).

I am rationing it a bit, but whenever I crave it and make it, I subconsciously expect it is not as awesome as I remember, but it always is. A really huge favorite of mine and one it is going to my definite to rebuy list (no matter the price!).

About taste notes, this is a multiple personality tea – many different notes, all subtle and evasive (it all works somehow!). Today I am getting a sort of minty tones to the wet leaves and a very buttery silkyness to the tea.

This is just unbelievable. And I do not even like oolongs! Or maybe I should say I didn´t. And did not know plain tea could be like this.

PS -

I was sort of dubious about it. I am not usually so fond of oolongs, but both the concept of a milk oolong as the reviews about this particular one were tempting. As are Theodor´s tea tins in general – and I am a tin fetishist, and Theodor´s tins rate quite high on my appreciation scale (you can pile them! Close very safely! Colors differ according to tea type…). But Thé-o-dor´s tea tins are always the same price everywhere (20 euros) which is almost always ridiculously expensive for whichever is inside (particularly when it´s hibiscus and fruits). This might actually be the case where the price of the tin is not too ridiculous for this particular tea. I chanced upon a tin of this locally and with a discount, ok, sold!

I then got buyer´s regret as soon as I unsealed the tin – the dry leaf is very oolong-y. Green oolong and I am not a oolong lover. No hints of the promised caramel or vanilla notes. I was so not sure if I was going to love this. But I was going to give it a fair trial. I used not too much tea, maybe 2 grams or even less for a cup and used tap water (it did not seem to matter at all) and followed the brewing instructions in the tin (love that, that the temperature and time is written right at hand).

I dumped the leaves into the damp warmed pot while the new water warmed and something magic started to happen. The scent, while still of oolong tea became much stronger, richer and with totally new notes – fruity, sweet, vanilla-ey, fudgey sort of. Putting the not-too-hot water in the pot, it just became stronger, richer, full of many other scents. I never made any tea where scent changed and evolved so profoundly and so strongly!

The liquor was wonderful. Tea and just tea with nothing artificial but where the scent really was quite unbelievably evocative of other things, sweet, delicious things. Condensed milk sweets, or maybe pineapples somehow, or vanilla. No bitterness or any astringency at all and somehow still with some body. I had this with a bit of honey-rosemary cake and having the cake with its subtle flavours and sweeteness and then the tea was an even better experience. If you have this, have it plain, no milk or sugar, but accompanied by some sweet!

I found myself tipping the cup vertically in order to get at the last drop, and then re-checking the cup again to see if any was left just incase. Besides this being admittedly pathetic is something pretty rare so this rates very very high on my appreciation scale. I tried a second infusion and it was very good, though not quite as perfumed or as intense as the first steep.

This is really amazing tea. And I don´t even like oolongs.

Tangent to topic : something I appreciate in Theodor´s teas is that they give precise tea instructions, which differ from tea blend to tea blend even if they are the same general type of tea, written in the tea. That is priceless to me and gives me confidence they do care about what they are selling. If you are selling tea expensively, please put as much useful information to brewing it properly as possible.

This was a restock, a sharper scent than the older tea I got my first time, and oh this is still so nice. It is so smooth, which does not always happen with rooibos, unfortunately, but is so essential for the rooibos to be drinkable. Almond underneath, loud strawberry and raspberry on top, and the rooibos making it all stand up. A staple.

And a tip, if the bit of loose leaf you used has one of those little cubes of crystallized almond, oh that is too good to throw away. Rescue it, rinse it, and eat it!

My first Thé o Dor tea – and when I got more time I must write about my prejudices with that brand ( 20 euros for a fruit infusion tin! Site with music! the preciousness, particularly the preciousness of not getting a description of the tea on its main page but a wordy totally random bit of prose with does NOT put me in the mood to order anything but instead dream of too much preciousness being considered a criminal offense!).

But had a chance to buy some of their teas by the weight and was dazzled by the scents – wonderfully tempting scents and prices were much more reasonable to try something – prices depended on tea, this was a bit over 7 euros for 100 grams which is on the higher end cost but not too shocking. They sold a minimum of 100 grams, so I had to ruthlessly stick to just one rooibos though all their loose leaf teas smelled divine.

I think I brew this slightly too cold and while it turned out a bit weaker than I usually like (mea culpa), it was still exquisite. It´s a red fruits (strawberry for sure, maybe some raspberry as well) with sugared almonds rooibos. The sugared almonds taste totally different than i would expect – nothing like bitter almonds (like Amaretto, or Pleine Lune), nothing like either normal “Jordan” almonds, nothing like toasted almonds, instead a sweet taste of raw almond nut (no inner skin taste!) except even better. Truly unusual and melding wonderfully with the red fruits and the rooibos base. The rooibos itself was noticeable, wonderfully woody and with a sort of caramel note some rooibos has. Exquisite blend (though do not follow my preparation details, I got to tweak how I brew this!)

Backlog

This was my last bit of this sample. I was sad to see it go. The scent is intoxicating. It is sweet, floral, and slightly fruity. Great tea!

This tea is fresh and has a nice berry flavor to it. It isn’t bitter. The green tea base is lovely and balanced this blend perfectly. This tea is almost like a berry cream. It has a nice sweetness to it as well. I could keep drinking this. This is so delicious!

Is this what they call a sipdown? In any case, this is my final cup of my stash of Peché Mignon for breakfast, and I will miss it! The soft, mellow cantaloupe flavour complemented by rounded peach notes, the adorable blue cornflowers that always stuck to the strainer, I’ll miss it all.

All I noticed was how considerably little you need of the leaves and how little time is needed to brew it to perfection: too long and the tea becomes bitter and makes the fruit flavours sour.

Feeling like I need something fruity and tasty and mellow, but not weak this afternoon… I went for a black breakfast tea rather than my usual green which was a strange experience, reminded me why I always have a green tea first thing. Ah well! On to the tasting.

I have so little of this tea that using it feels like I really need a good excuse and a long time to savour it. The colour in the cup is bright and golden and the aroma is nothing but cantaloupe, whole and delicious. Despite how soft the flavours are this tea is a tad dry and astringent on the tongue, but I can overlook this for the beautifully smooth fruit flavours. It’s like eating a cantaloupe melon and peaches (the peach isn’t as strong as the melon), it’s nothing but delicious. Another high score!

Tried this in a darling little tea salon in Perpignan of the Languedoc-Roussillon region of France. As I’ve been craving a green tea with peach flavour I went for this one, and was pleasantly surprised by the flavour! It isn’t strongly peachy, both for the fact it’s beautifully mixed with a mellow cantaloupe melon flavour that gives it a lot of depth, and it didn’t scald or go bitter quite as quickly as green tea tends to in the pot, for the amount I was served. Rather light, and the green base was still noticeable beneath the whole fruit notes.

Using up the last of this one. Accidentally used a bit too much and too long of a steep, so it’s sharp—bordering on bitter. It’s still unique and interesting to sip, and I’ve got room for many more steeps.

It’s a bitter cocoa taste. Reminds me of Dawn, but Dawn was a delicious powdery cocoa—no bitterness. The scent and taste are dark and earthy, rarely any fruityness to this tea.

I layered the bottom of my handled gaiwan with leaves instead of using just a teaspoon’s worth for the cup, and then steeped for half the recommended time. More tea leaf, less time.

The taste is less sharp, but I still get none of the fruity sweetness that I love about dan congs. It’s got more of a raw cocoa taste, and gritty mouth-feel. Ahwell, it’s still an interesting cup, and I’ll get a few more steeps out of this cup one yet, I think.

Edit: It’s becoming a little astringent and bitting again as it cools, but not outright bitter. Lends more to the cocoa feel.

The first steep of this was a very pale orange, and the taste was sharp and dry (but not unpleasant), with little fruit and more earth. This’ a very dark oolong.

Second steep is a much darker orange—very bright. The taste of this second brew is lighter and brighter, but still with similarities; notes of syrupy sweetness, like peaches. It’s not as strong as Life in Teacup’s—I definitely still like theirs better, and need to order some more—but I still like this one. It’s likable in its own way.

backlog:

This is good with milk and sugar too!! :) see my past review

I received this as a sample and I am so happy about that! This is a very colorful tea, full of green cardamom, red and black peppercorn, and more. It is very fragrant as well. I love it!

The base is a black tea, but it isn’t very strong or astringent or bitter. It is perfect. This tea didn’t need any additives, which I am glad for. The smell is delicious! So many notes playing in here. There is an herbal aspect to it. I love cardamom! I cook with it all the time. The taste is also delicious. All the spices are blended perfectly. There wasn’t one note that particularly stood out. Toward the end of my cup, it became a little astringent, leaving my mouth feeling a little dry. Next time I try this tea, I will add a little sugar to see if some flavors stand out.

I love this tea!! Sparkling eyes, trembling hands, the heart beating faster, these signs are unmistakable. Even admitting it is rather personal. To the ones we love, this word is filled with gourmandise and passion. It should be, according to the rules of the perfect Gentleman, whispered and why not accompanied by an audacious cup of tea with macaroon flavours , then, ‘I love you, je t’aime’…
Ideal brewing time: 3 to 5’
Water temperature: 85°C (185°F)