Icy Mint (La Menthe Glaciale)

This is absolutely amazing! This is one of the best ‘minty’ greens I have ever had! I like this both hot and cold even tho it was designed to be a ICED tea. From their new line of Iced Teas…this is wonderful! Les Plaisirs Purs! YUMMERS!!!! I’ll be sharing the rest of this with Liberteas and Azzrian and I hope the enjoy it, too!

2022 Palais des Thés Advent Calendar

Three years ago, I tried a sample the people from Le Palais des Thés offered me when buying some other teas, and I reviewed the tea saying that it was like drinking a polo mint, so I liked it and would buy me a pouch.
In meantime, I did buy me a pouch of this minty green tea, and until this week I had only really taken it hot. As stated in my first review, I really like that it´s minty without being a sugar bomb. This week, I´ve been cold brewing it as well, and today I even had both, to compare.
I admit I adjusted the way of coldbrewing in this case, reusing the tea leaves from the hot brew and adding another teaspoon, for the cold brew…also, the temperature of the water might have been a bit higher and the steeping time quite a lot longer…but the resulting iced tea is really nice : like a “menthe à l´eau” with all the freshness of the mint and lacking the siropy touch of it, so just keeping what I appreciate most of it. And yes, I score it slightly higher than the hot brew as well.

There are some teas you buy because they smell amazing, and that initial amazement fades over time. But there are some—like this one—that retain its crisp, minty fragrance and surprises you every time you open up the tin. I adore mint, so I might be biased. And I tend to only drink this one when I’m sickly, and the smell alone really clears up your sinuses. But even when I’m working at 100% capacity, this tea is a delight.

I’ll admit, it’s less “green” and more “mint.” If you’re not a huge fan of mint, it won’t be for you. The scent is overwhelming (I say that lovingly), and the fragrance fills your mouth and your sinuses. Despite the hot temperature, it’s cooling on the way down. The green base is pretty average, but you’re probably not picking up this one for the taste of actual tea.

So much mint. Everything is mint.

Sipdown (131)!

Thank you Liquid Proust for the sample!

I’m only about 80% sure I’m logging this under the correct tea; I couldn’t find anything on Le Palais des Thes’ website that exactly matched the name on the tea bag/sachet nor could I find anything exactly like it on Steepster but this was awfully close, and the ingredients seem to match up, and it’s available loose/in sachets so here my review shall go…

Since this was obviously meant for iced teas/cold infusion I prepared it cold brewed. It delivered a really crisp, clear mint flavour with an intensity that made me feel like I’d just brushed my teeth. I had to consciously remind myself not to eat any citrus immediately afterwards for fear I’d get that ‘orange juice after brushing your teeth’ effect. Yikes! The green base wasn’t great, it was very sharp/biting and not in a pleasant way but in a touching on bitter way, with strong notes of lawn trimmings.

Overall, not a bad experience; the mint was phenomenal, but this will probably end up a forgettable experience…

This is another one from the Palais des Thés mini-tin set I bought on MyHabit a little while ago. I must admit, I’m a bit scared of this tea. It managed to make the entire package smell like peppermint extract… And not in a good way, either. This one is also a sencha green base, and it has a very harsh and strong peppermint aroma that doesn’t really appeal to me… Hopefully it’s not as strong when steeped.

Luckily, the aroma has toned down a bit in the steeped tea, although it still reminds me more of straight-up peppermint oil rather than the leaves themselves. The mint is a little too much for me in the taste itself, it’s almost tingly in my mouth. This one is definitely not for me, heh. :P