Mélange Ladurée

Omg, it’s so good to be back!

Hello steepsters! Helol tea friends! ’

Argh, what a journey it has been.

First, no wifi, no functioning ro.uter, no phone line.

Then the laptop died.

And then, of course, coronavirus.

And then my password to access steepster.

But I am finally here with this nondescript tea. Not t—he tea’s fault
That I left it so long before drinking it.

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January Sipdown Prompt – your newest tea

I decided to go with whichever tea shows as most recently added, but we had our Christmas gathering yesterday and I received NINE EXCITING NEW TEAS! I opened the gifts from my son and ChelseaR first, and the ones from Superanna and her husband next, so this was put in cupboard last!

I read reviews and saw that several people found it to be subtle so I made sure not to underleaf. I have a three minute rule with French black tea blends as they have a tendency to be finicky. (I’m looking at you, Marco Polo. So delicious when prepared just exactly right and so infuriating when there is the slightest deviation from your perfect time and temperature.) I observe it for the first time making a French tea and adjust subsequently if needed.

I made biscuits and bacon for breakfast with daughter this morning and she made eggs. We had a new, locally produced apple butter that was a gift from yesterday as well. It was very different from the White House Apple Butter I grew up with and very tasty. Texture more apple sauce-y and a dash of vinegar in the recipe lends it a brighter, fresh apple flavor.

I did not find this tea to be subtle. It is a elegant, rich tasting tea that made breakfast feel extra fancy. It is called Melange and that is what the flavors have accomplished here – no single ingredient stands out boldly but rather they are thoroughly melded together with an overall impression of cinnamon and almond. I would not have known there was bergamot in this, so this will be a safe tea to offer Ashman, who isn’t wild about Earl Grey teas. I concur that it is slightly reminiscent of Pleine Lune but it is much less almond-y.

It does have enough heft from the base to take milk and sugar if you like to add those, but I drank it plain and will continue to have it that way. It can serve as a lovely breakfast OR afternoon tea. It would go exceptionally well with cookies or dainties, even cupcakes or cake. It would be brilliant paired with something frosted or iced.

A share from VariaTEA – drinking it right now, but I’m finding it really muddled tasting with notes of very nondescript fruits and floral elements. Not really sure what I’m supposed to be tasting but I don’t think I’m getting it…

Yeah – not really sure what else to say about this one; it’s weird.

Work – 11:00 AM

Hmm… This tea doesn’t taste like much, maybe it’s a bit too subtle for me. I don’t think it’s too old, the dry leaf still has plenty of aroma. And I bought their Thé Joséphine at the same time, and that one still has a lot of flavor.

I expected it to have stronger bergamot and citrus flavors. I can taste little hints of several different things – bergamot, berry, orange, cinnamon, and rose. But it’s all quite faint and a bit powdery for me. Meh.

In other news… I made a ridiculously large Bird & Blend order today. I saw on their Facebook page that the advent calendars were low stock, so I knew I couldn’t wait for them to release their holiday blends…

It ended up being almost £200 when all was said and done. With their £13 shipping once your order is over £45 (and no free shipping threshold), it seemed silly to order and not go all out.

So all out I went…

I got both advent calendars (tea & matcha), 50g of Rhubarb + Custard (because yum), 50g each of Honey I’m Comb and Milk & Honey (because they didn’t have them as 20g samples and I’m reasonably sure I’ll like them), and then a 10-pack and a 5-pack of 20g samples, and the 7-pack of store blends (20g samples).

So no more tea buying for me! I’m perfectly okay with the fact that I’ll miss out on Black Friday deals. It sounds snobbish to say, but I don’t generally worry a huge amount about price as long as its within reasonable range, so I don’t get too excited by discounts. I’m generally more tempted by limited time blends.

Sip down…. Too subtle for me. Not bad, just an uneventful drink.

Finishing the sample of this that Sil kindly shared with me. However this is not a sipdown since my sister brought me back some from Paris a couple months back. I think I understeeped this though because the flavor is lacking compared to the one time I had this prior. Nonethless, thank you Sil for sharing :)

GCTTB 2.0
I love all these French teas. This one has quite a strong bergamot scent and I was expecting it to be something like an earl grey. Instead the flavour, while citrus, was more like sweet oranges than bergamot. There’s also a nice floral undertone that stays pleasantly subtle and underneath it all are some smooth vanilla notes.

The great thing about French teas, I’ve found, is the deftness with which flavours are blended – they hint at flavour notes rather than beat you over the head with them. I’ve rarely come across a French tea that’s heavy-handed in its flavouring.

GCTTB5 Box #2.

This one has been on my wishlist forever so I am excited to try it.

The dry tea smells very light, slightly floral, with a bit of sweet citrus.

The tea brews up moderately dark. The black tea base is light and creamy. There are subtle floral hints. There is a candy-like citrus profile. I don’t get much bergamot flavour though. The tea is just the tiniest bit astringent at the end.

This tea reminds me of a tea you would serve at a party or something. I quite like it and I am glad to have had the opportunity to try it.

GCTTB5 box#2

This was enjoyable. Citrus and floral were the most prominent notes for me. These are not my favourite notes in tea so it wouldn’t be something I would order but I’m glad I got to try it. Sometimes tastes change, so every now and then I try something again to see if my tastes have in fact changed!

Yum. Fruity and floral.

Thanks, Sil!

I did have this in a travel mug, with milk, steeped at a higher temperature than I would usually make tea at. So. We’ll see how it does at home in a regular mug. :)