Ooh, another Mariage Freres tea that I didn’t bring back from France! This sample comes thanks to QuiltGuppy. It’s another one that’s been on my “to try” list for a while. The dry leaf smells, to me, just like sweet-tarts candy. Definitely very fruity, but not necessarily a particular fruit flavor I can pick out.
The brewed tea is a golden yellow color, and that fruit aroma remains, but in a more subdued role, joined by the aroma of a buttery, slightly grassy green tea. The taste is pretty spot on to the aroma; it’s light and pleasant, but definitely full of fruit flavor. My cup is actually fairly tart. I don’t get a strong vanilla flavor, but I can detect its presence at the tail end of the sip, giving the overall feel of the tea a creaminess after a sharp tartness.
Quite a tasty tea, really! I thought I might be turned off by the candyish aroma, but the green tea goes a long way to mitigating that. Thanks so much for sending me a sample QuiltGuppy!