THEODOR

“School mates, School mates! What became of the kids we knew? The boys in knickers, the girls in curls” sing Jim Copp and Ed Brown. “Photo de Classe” does have a nostalgic taste to it. It’s a light chocolate which allows the notes of the nuts and the orange to emerge. It’s got, of course, a natural sweetness and verve.

It is a delightful blend.

Steapdown. Saying goodbye to a lovely chai. ;)

It tastes excellent with a splash of skim milk. It really brings out the flavour of the green cardamom in the chai and makes the pepper less ’bitey". ;D

This isn’t one of those mild, whimpy little chais, that’s for sure! The tea is wonderfully fragrant, smelling mostly of cloves and pepper, but I can tell that there are a few other things mixed in there too. The flavours are similar aswell – this tea doesn’t do subtle I’m thinking!

Interestingly, the base isn’t particularly harsh despite the bold flavours. A lot of chais use a really crappy base because the sellers know that it’ll mostly be covered up by the spices. But in this case the tea is quite smooth, I don’t particularly feel like I have to have this tea with milk in order to make it drinkable (although I’m sure it would be nice).

This is another purchase from the Urban Tea Merchant tea salon in Vancouver. This tea comes in both green and black variations, but I chose the black one because I thought it had the more robust scent.

The smell…the smell is incredible. It’s like vanilla ice cream – but the high quality stuff that has bits of vanilla beans in it. Then there’s a mix of berry – I think I can smell blueberry, strawberry, maybe currant, and all sort of fruits or berries I can’t even begin to identify. It’s a bit like Mariage Freres’ Marco Polo only bolder and more fruity/berry.

The taste is surprisingly different however, as the first thing I get isn’t vanilla or strawberry but a sort of fresh, not-too-sweet fruit flavour, that seems vaguely familiar, only I can’t quite place it. Guava maybe???? There’s also a faint hint of something floral with it, but it’s not a perfumy sort of floral. There are other, sweeter fruit/berries flavours that follow, but they’re quite subdued in the wake of the intital burst of flavour notes.

While I was in in Vancouver my aunt treated me to the ‘Petit Thé’ served at the Urban Tea Merchant and this was the tea I chose to go with it.

I expected something a bit more fruity and floral from the smell of the dry tea, but instead it tasted more of bergamot and citrus accompanied by berries with a floral undertone. None the less it went quite nicely with all the cute, dainty, little goodies that came with it.

I did notice however, that as I drank it, particularly after there was nothing left to eat with it, the bergamot flavour intensified until it pretty much dominated my palate which wasn’t really what I’d anticipated (or wanted).

…the leafs look very appealing. The fragrance, as soon as one opens the tin,is very nice.

As with all THE O DOR teas it would be a mistake to rinse the leafs as this could cause the flavor to decline. Obviously a strong indicator that parfumed oils were used to stabilize the tea’s flavor.

One can be quite generous with the portioning which allows to keep the steeping time short.As a result of this three to four tasty brews can be made out of one portioning (…I am using a Gaiwan here).
The short time of infusing a fairly bold amount of leafs is a very Chinese way of treating tea indeed.It brings out all qualities of one’s brew and allows to see different aspects of the changes in taste, nose and color over the time period of as many infusions as one portion of tea can take…

This blend creates a very smooth drink. The flavors are interesting…although not quite as impressive as I was hoping for.The peppermint and the almond notes, which the company claims to have used for this tea, are almost invisible. The apple is there but in quite a funny way.
It remembers one of hookah smoking Arabs on London’s Edgware Road…very artificial apple & vanilla notes…in London as well as on the tea drinker’s tongue here.
The jasmin however, hand in hand with the osmanthus, pushes through pleasantly.
The teas that were used as base for this blend have a nice way of carrying all those herbs and spices.
The aftertaste is nice…a fragile roughness which is quite common with THE O DOR blends.This perhaps is the main reason why one might keep drinking there blend as it let’s one wonder how to tame it, how to find words to explain it…almost like all this hundreds of small alleys in the heart of old Istanbul…interesting,fairytale-like, magical…

This smells scrumptious. I got it while at the Urban Tea Merchant, and ended up leaving the teabag in there the whole time while I was drinking it. Which was for over an hour. And it didn’t once taste oversteeped. Magic!

It’s vanilla and “berries” (I didn’t know which fruits specifically until I returned home and checked their website), and you can definitely smell the fruit. The vanilla I couldn’t smell right away, but it’s sort of… hidden in there. A subtle sweetness. I couldn’t taste either at first, but the fruity taste started to come out after a while—a sort of aftertaste on the tip of the tongue, really. Very faint. Maybe this one just isn’t for me; I guess I’d need something stronger.

I actually kept the teabag and resteeped it once I got home, and the berry taste it just slightly more evident. Still no real vanilla flavour, though. Just a sort of touch of sweetness, really. I wonder how this would do in latte form; the Urban Tea Merchant offers those too, I just didn’t want to get a latte for my first time there, because I wanted to see how the teas would taste on their own first. I’m definitely going back there and trying teas until I find “Mine” and THEN I’ll spend thirty bucks on a tin. Maybe more.

…a very intersting tea. very interesting indeed.
Usually i try to stay away from silly-flavored teas but this one,as it was on 80% discount on my local grocery store,went into my shopping basket.Simply because of that…and out of curiosity.

The first brew I rinsed as I would usually do it with a black tea. But I guess I was washing out some oils…well, fragrances…as the tea seemed quite pale on my tasting palate.
Second time,the day after, I did not rinse the tea leafs and got to feel the whole magic of this spiced-up brew.

The zucchini blossom is there.The pepper is there…vanilla…strong tea base.Great blend…maybe because for months now I am drinking pure oolongs, greens and blacks…I mean after all,what’s the point of beeing in Asia if not going to the bottom of things.Traditional things…pure,simple teas.
Anyways…drinking this cup of tea in the morning was like a thunderstorm to my sences.
Great stuff and my comliments to those creative French tea people.

This tea offers flavours of bergamot, soft lemon, sweet orange, mandarin, lime, Clementine and grapefruit…and reminds one very much of a ‘Lady Grey’ blend.
Very smooth.Very refreshing…very pleasant to drink.

Nice tea…I keep the brewing time under 2 minutes which allows me to get 4 tasty brews out of one portion of leafs.

I wasn’t keen on this tea the first time around so I decided to give it another shot before consigning it to the ‘Give Away’ pile.

I picked up a bit of a honey/molasses scent when the tea was steeping, which was interesting. There’s a bit of the same note in the flavour aswell, particularly when the tea is hot. I’m still getting a very faint floral note but oddly enough at the very beginning of each sip I’m getting a touch of something cool and mint-like. But as the tea cools instead of getting sweet like most oolong this one gets an almost darjeeling-like muscatl quality and isn’t really all the pleasent to drink.

So I might keep this one around for a bit and maybe experiment with the steeping time and such.

The resteep is rather weak-tasting with some faint vegetale notes and bit of a drying, astringent quality.

This is an oolong tea. Really. Honestly. Despite the dry leaves both looking and smelling like a fully-fermented Indian black tea like a Ceylon or an Assam. Now this is an oolong derived from an Indian tea bush, so I suppose it’s somewhat justified – it was just that I was hoping for more of a difference from a black tea.

The taste reminds me of nothing so much as a bakey Ceylon or maybe a lighter, malty Assam. Actually I think it tastes a fair bit like my Dejoo Assam from Specifically Tea. There is perhaps a briefest bit of floral at the beginning of the sip, but it quickly changes into something that tastes baked and faintly bitter, like you’d expect of a black tea. It leaves a malty, burnt-caramel aftertaste in the back of my mouth aswell.

I’m not sure how to rate this, really. It’s not a bad tasting tea, and if it were a black tea I think I’d quite like it. But as an oolong this wasn’t what I expected or was looking for.

It’s kinda sad that the people I traded this tea with got around to trying it before I did, lol.

The scent of the dry leaves reminds me a bit of an earl grey, but fruitier and sweeter. Wet they’re more like a not-so-pungent version of Adagio’s Grapefruit Oolong with the same wood/bark and citrus odor. However, as the tea steeped it actually took on a bit of a spicy quality near the end of the four minutes. Interesting.

When I sip the first thing I get is the bergamot, but it’s sort of a gentle, perfumed bergamot. Then it briefly takes on a rather tropical-fruity sort of flavour quickly followed by the wet cedar bark flavour of the oolong. Though again, the wet cedar bark thing isn’t as strong as it was in the Grapfruit Oolong. Finally, there’s also a bit of a spicy sort of aftertaste that lingers in the back of my throat after each sip.

Yet another existing tea from my collection…eeeeek. Oolong, Floral, Fruit…nice! Parting is such sweet sorrow…

woodsy/fruity. YUMMY. Hit the spot this afternoon!

Another Jillian Tea…YAY!

This is every bit of Flavored Oolong.

Most of the flavors blend together but I can taste the Bergamot a bit more than the rest. I can smell the Pineapple a bit more than the rest. The wet leaves smell like a wooded forest after a heavy rain. Dry leaves a semi fruity and the calm before the storm…so to speak. Interested blend…very happy I got to try it! Still true to the oolong, tho! NICE!

Another unique tea: a green tea with a blend of vanilla and bergamot. It is very tasty and soothing. I would say the vanilla is a bit heavier than the bergamot, so it’s a little on the sweet side – though not artificial at all. Overall, a great morning tea!

I’ve restocked my Acte II and have been sipping it slowly over the last month or so, since I have to order from Canada and pay international shipping. It is worth it! I love this tea. It’s fruity and floral, and I learned recently that the secret ingredient just might be caramel. Mmmmmm

Home sick today and drinking Acte II from The O Dor – my favorite tea. It’s about time to order more, as I’m down to just a few weeks worth. This tea really is exquisite. It’s so unique and lovely.

This is an exquisite tea – absolutely my new favorite. It’s flavor is fresh and unique. Each floral note dances across the tongue. Acte II is the perfect name, because it is not a one-act tea, but a true bouquet of flavors – the initial act, and then the second act. Love, love, love it!

I’m already making plans to purchase more and don’t intend to ever be without it :)

Well I made it last an impressively long time but after so many years I can only stretch it so far. While there has been some flavour degradation over time, it’s pretty minor considering how long I’ve kept the last few cups’ worth. Here’s hoping we get another Canadian supplier for this brand soon.

More Backlogging:
Oh. My. God. This tea tastes absolutely incredible! I visited the Urban Tea Merchant in Vancouver and O Dor is the brand they carry in their teahouse/shop. I ordered a cup and a couple of the freshly-made, sweet truffles that were also for sale.

When I first took a sip the tea tasted quite buttery but at the same time rather vegetal – in a good way. But then I took a bite of truffle and had another sip and the explosion of flavour was incredible. It tasted so sweet and creamy with notes of vanilla that I could hardly believe that this was a pure, unflavoured tea. So if you ever have this tea I’d really recommend having it with something sweet – it really enhances the experience, I know I was in absolute heaven.

And I went to buy a tin and was told that it was $84 for a small tin. Maybe next time when I’m feeling (much) richer. 0_0