Thé des Amants

LiberTeas Thanks so much for this one!

I seemed to be such a ‘decision’ to choose my tea this morning…oye! I must be a Fickle Pickle! Many of you know I usually start my day with a black tea or flavored black and ‘move and shake’ from there.

Dry – I could smell a very hidden Apple/Cinnamon combo. Once the hot water is added the aroma doubles – at least! It does smell like a nice Holiday-Type Tea…very festive!

The Ginger/Cinnamon is very warming as I swirl it around in my mouth. The apple is nicely done…sweet and slightly mouth-watering. The vanilla adds that little bit of creaminess to it. The Almond I can pick up more in the aftertaste.

This isn’t overly flavored but the flavoring it does have is complimenting and comforting.

Thé des Amants : what a promise ! Amant in French is not Amoureux…It is a little bit more sulfurous…so I was expecting a very strong tea, spicy and sweet.

I sniffed this tea in a shop and adored the perfume : very strong, spicy and fruity …I picked up apple and cinnamon.
However I am always happy to see pieces of fruits mixed with a blend and not only essential oils.

Of course I bought it and brewed it immediatly…

Well…all the flavours were there apple, cinnamon, vanilla (not a very strong vanilla), almond too.

The only problem is with the tea itself : so weak, light-bodied. So light that I came back in the kitchen to read again on the sachet : black tea…oh really ?

That’s a pity because the flavours are very present and nice but I had more the feeling to drink a very good and tasteful tisane rather than a black tea.

So I rebrewed another time with more leaf and steeped it 1 min more but it developped a little bitterness I didn’t like.

Please Palais des Thés, reconsider your recipe and use a stronger-bodied tea base for this one : it could become a very great tea.

alright let’s see if steepster is going to cooperate and let me backlog. Sipdown on this one and thanks again to ysaurella for the lovely swap. I quiet enjoy this one, though maybe not as much as some of the others that were shared with me. the cinnamon, ginger and vanilla play very nicely together.

Yes, I agree with Amy Oh, this does smell like the holidays. Cinnamon and a little bit of ginger, with apple and vanilla and almond. YUM! It’s one of those teas that I can’t seem to stop lifting my mug to my nose just to smell it. It smells sweet and warm and comforting.

I find this tea to be a medium-bodied tea, a little lighter than I expected given its strong aroma. It is not as rich as I would like it to have been, but it is still very delicious. I think it needs a stronger black tea base to withstand the strong cinnamon notes.

Thank you so much for these teas, Dinosara! Always appreciated. This is stored in what looks like a little tin vial with a lid that screws on. I loved the idea of this blend but the flavor doesn’t seem like it follows though. There is something a bit unnatural about it — not sure what. It kind of seems like a potpourri to me, but it isn’t terrible tasting. The cinnamon has a bit of heat to it. It tastes a bit like raisins to me! I like it but I don’t love it. It’s a puzzle trying to figure out the flavors with this one though.

As soon as I opened the little sample tube to smell this I thought “Oh, the holidays!”

So I steeped this for 4 minutes at around 205 F. When I inspected the wet leaf I could see bits of cloves and orange rind in it. I think there might be some cinnamon in this blend too. One of the other tasters remarked on not liking Le Palais des Thes black tea base, but this tea is so highly spiced that I’m having a hard time finding it!

Overall, I thought it was okay, if you don’t mind the taste of a spicy Christmas tea but I doubt I would go out of my way to find this. Then again, I am not usually craving orange spice tea either. I’m having mine with soymilk this morning and am finding it a wee bit strong, might cut back on the steeping time by one minute the next time I have this.

unadorned, this is the color of honey, straight up honey. almost can’t believe this is a black tea! the flavor is also as delicate & so lightly spiced, anyone remotely afraid of the word ‘spice’ could try this. when i add a few teaspoons of brown sugar to draw out the flavor, the brew turns a lovely amber resin.

no idea what the black tea base is, it’s so faint! but i enjoy this greatly. yes the cinnamon is present but not overwhelming, and that’s a refreshing discovery. where is the tea hiding? this almost feels like a tisane with a few tea leaves thrown in for good measure. regardless, it’s a nice change of pace from stronger, more readily astringent black teas.

had no idea of the apple in this until i read the notes. although i do believe it’s in here somewhere, as there is a light fruitiness imparted by something. at first i thought bergamot, as this reminded me quite simply of a nondescript breakfast tea with a twist of lemon. the apple comes, perhaps at the end of the sip, if at all. there again, a case of looking for something that doesn’t seem quite there. but i appreciate the fruity quality wholeheartedly, as this seems to me the silhouette of a robust earl grey, albeit lightly infused with spices reminiscent of chai.

do i sense the almond? perhaps…i have to meditate on it, or still my senses so as to perceive it, and that’s okay. i definitely pick up on the ginger, but it is also slight. it balances out the cinnamon nicely, though. cinnamon-ginger is always a good combination i think, certainly the cornerstone of a good chai & though this is not that, i’d go so far as to recommend thé des amants as an entrée to anyone who is chai-curious, or for those who have sworn off black tea altogether on account of its alleged intensity.

i’m really tempted to say this reminds me of hot iced tea! it has an ‘iced tea’ quality right off the bat; a very familiar flavor that is tenderly nuanced.

overall, this is romantic, comforting, perfect for lovers, or anyone seeking solace by the fireside.

I smelled the tea at the boutique and remembered it to be a lot more sweet rather than spicy when I opened my bag… but maybe that’s because it was sealed up? Or maybe I’m crazy.

But anyway, I was a little worried at first that there would be a mystery icky flavor but was immediately relieved of that stress when I took my first sip.

Lovely, absolutely lovely. It’s spicy enough to really warm you through but the apple keeps it smooth on the throat and heart. I don’t really taste the almond, but I can kind of feel the texture a bit.

I really enjoy this tea. I’m excited to keep drinking it throughout the fall and winter!

the smell is really good but the taste is just spicy, not sweet as the smell. not bad tea, the idea is good but nothing special.

Brewed in a big teapot, I tried multiple brewing time. Ok tea, but still, the bad black tea basis from Le Palais Des Thes is there