Marco Polo Rouge

I was very nervous when I smelled this as the rooibos was very strong. However, in the steeped cup the rooibos, though present, is more muted than I expected. There is also a hint of strawberry which is nice. I don’t think I will be getting more when the sample runs out but I probably won’t have any issues drinking the sample either. Thank you Scheherazade for the chance to try this tea.

I haven’t actually drank any of this in a long time, so I brought it out last night. Upon revisiting, I definitely prefer the black version. The rooibos is a little too prominent here, and I don’t get much in the way of strawberry. I’ve still got a lingering cold and sore throat, so I’m probably not tasting flavours as well as I usually do, but this seems fairly bland. On the other hand, the strawberry that is there tastes a lot more natural than the strawberry in the black version, which sometimes comes across quite strong and chemical in flavour. Still…I do prefer it on the whole, I think, though I’ve enjoyed being able to try both.

Today hasn’t been such a good day. I found mould in my room again, on the wooden slats under my bed. It was a problem I thought I’d solved when I moved from an old, damp house into this new one, so it made me sad to find the problem again. All of my tea is okay, which is good, but I lost a few bags and pairs of shoes I had stored under there. It made me clear stuff out, but I’d still rather not have the problem to start with sigh

Scheherazade shared this with me, and it was one that I didn’t even know that I was interested in at all! Only once I had it, it turned out that I was.

I had the black version of MP through a swap years ago, and I seem to recall that I rather liked it. At the time I didn’t understand why a rooibos version even existed, because I didn’t care for rooibos at all during that time. Later on I forgot all about it. It’s not a blend that you see around on Steepster a lot after all.

It’s weird actually, that period. It lasted several years. I started out quite liking rooibos, both unflavoured and flavoured. Then I suddenly couldn’t stand the stuff no matter how it came. That went on for years. I even gave all my rooibos blends to Husband back when he was still Boyfriend. Then Cteresa sent me a rooibos blend with vanilla and strawberry I think it was, which I dutifully tried because I feel that when someone shares something with you, it’s polite to at least give it a go with as open a mind as one can muster, even when it’s something one doesn’t expect to like very much. So I tried the blend Cteresa shared with me and was promptly knocked clean off my feet and I gave a score of 90-something points.

So now, suddenly, I rather enjoy rooibos blends again, although I still don’t care for unflavoured rooibos. That tastes a bit like chewing a pencil.

And I’ve clean forgotten where I was going with this.

Anyway, I can’t remember what goes into a Marco Polo blend on any base, but I think it was something with chocolate and strawberry. I believe there was a third thing, but I can’t say what it might be.

Well, it smells like chocolate and strawberry and rooibos, so so far so good.

It also tastes quite like strawberry, but not so much like chocolate. I’m getting a bit of that on the swallow, but otherwise it just tastes fruity.

I have previously elaborated on my difficulties with chocolate flavoured blends, so all in all I found this a remarkably pleasant blend.

Although it seems to have given me hiccups.

I ran out of the black tea variety of this one long ago, but still have a little of their red. It hasn’t got anything recognizable besides rooibos in the dry leaf, but my does it have the scent and flavor of a master blend! The rooibos does give it that distinctive flavor as a base, so those who aren’t fond of it should probably steer clear. Wrapped all around the rooibos though is the Marco Polo profile – naturally sweet and featuring just the right amounts of citrus and floral notes. Yummy yummy.

Off on a three-week road trip tomorrow! I’m not taking any of my teas with me and will rely on chance encounters with newly discovered denizens of the world of tea while I’m gone…

This Marco Rouge is lovely and nice – it is rooibos (duh) and upfront about being rooibos. If you hate or just dislike plain rooibos this one might not be a rooibos for you.

The tea smells heavenly on the package, brewed up its smell seems far less complex – but then again, it is rooibos, it brew very hot and long. But then again Berry Berry Nice (by Yumchaa, a small London tea company) which is my favorite rooibos ever and to which I can not help comparing this with, is also brewed very hot and long and seems more intense and complex when drinking. A lot more.

After brewed Marco Rouge tastes of plain rooibos (stating the obvious, sorry. But a good rooibos) and strawberry and vanilla. Nice. Not bad, but for this sort of thing, my beloved Berry Berry Nice is much better and deeper. IMHO and all that.

This was my first rooibos blend ever and I’ve almost finished the box; there’s just enough for another cup or two, no more.
I really like the mellow taste, hinting of vanilla and flowers but in which the blend makes all the flavors mixed together, so that none of them overwhelms the others. It’s therefore quite difficult for me to really identify the different flavors within.
It used to be my favorite evening drink for a while, then got superseded by Nil Rouge, later on by Rouge Bourbon. But when I tried it again to finish it, I found back what I had liked so much at first about it : a real smoothness that makes it very easy and pleasant to drink, without anything strong about it that might get overwhelming and in the end nauseating.
I do not know if I’ll buy it back this Christmas but surely sometime in the future.

Big thanks to Scheherazade for sharing some of this tea with me! I’ve always loved the reviews about Marco Polo, but unfortunately didn’t have the same experience. I found the black tea version to be disappointing at best. I love rooibos and knew I just had to try the rooibos version of Marco Polo!

Giving the tea a sniff… I notice the woody rooibos scent followed by a bit of berry and sweetness… quite promising! Sipping… ooh, this is lovely! I taste fruit, flowers and the rooibos all mixed up together. There is also something a bit like vanilla that adds the nicest bit of sweetness. How tasty! I wish that I had been able to detect all of these notes in the black tea version, but I actually think that given the choice, I’d still like this one more. As far as the floral note is concerned, I can’t put my finger on what it tastes like.. I’m thinking of a bunch of flower petals, to be honest. So very happy to have tasted this blend! Will definitely purchase this in the future.

When I opened the bag of this tea, all I could smell was rooibos. It made my tongue feel dry just smelling it! Spaced it during stepping and left it sitting for a few minutes longer than intended, but hey, the dishes got done so it is still a win.

I really don’t taste anything on the actual sip, but as soon as it goes down I get a fruity flavor on the aftertaste followed by strong rooibos. I’m keeping in mind that it has been an allergy-rific day for me, but I don’t remember this tea wowing me last time we met. The longer aftertaste is a pretty even mixture of woodsy rooibos and fruit. I have read that this is supposed to be cherry, but I’m just not able to pick that out. This rates as pretty meh for me.

Finally, the masterpiece I have been building up to.
This is the first Marco Polo Blend I tried, I had been obsessing about Rooibos for years, and then when I found this I bought 100g in a Boite du Thé withouth trying it, and have since got a re-fill of 200g on a successive Paris visit.
The is something just amazing about this blend, I can drink it any time of day, with or without milk, and never ever get sick of it, I’m “always in the mood” for this tea, and it helps me set to work on the task at hand.
How to brew?
I put 2/3 desert spoonfuls of it in a 6 cup pot, as rooibos doesn’t suffer from tannins and I can re-steep the hell out of this baby.
Water has to be boiling or just off, and I prefer to warm the pot as it makes it brew better, and it’s fine with milk or without, if I have brewed it strong with milk is best.
Anything else?
Colour, once brewed, is lovely, taste is so fruity and rich and warm, not at all heavy, a really excellent brew!
And very reasonable in price too.

Good, but not awesome.