Ysaurella

I am not very good at steeping tea in a brasserie or café.
Anyway this one was quite meh.This brand is proposed in a lot of cafés in Paris, it’s just a little better than lipton.
I am just wondering why they decide to pay more attention to the muslin sachet, the marketing wrapping envelope rather than to the tea itself…
I am also wondering why cafés are not able to propose nice teas and to boil correctly the water…
Next time I’ll choice a coffee !

Another Earl Grey ! I love Earl Greys ! This one is so beautiful with lavender petals mixed in the blend and it smells soooooo citrus incredibly citrus, not very lavender.

Let’s say right now : it won’t be my staple Earl grey.
I prefered the lavender Earl grey by Gryphon Tea company.Having said that this is a lovely tea : the tea base is very nice, the bergamot is nicely blended – my “concern” is more on the lavender side, it was too much for me- it’s not overpowering but a little to much for my taste.
Anyway I cannot reproach this tea to have too much lavender…this is the purpose of Mademoiselle ! I was just expecting maybe more bergamot rather than lavender, thats’ all.
Probably just a question of taste, really because this is a great blend as most of the Theodor teas :)

ok, I think I have now in cupboard a lot of Vanilla teas : vanilles des îles (MF) Phénix (MF) and this one now.

On my packet (sent by Theodor shop on line) it was requested to brew it at 85°c so did I and to do a quite quick steep (3 minutes) so did I too, I am not a tea rebel !

To me Celebration is really much more on the vanilla side rather than on the chocolate side – and this is a brilliant vanilla (oh joy !)

The tea base is so delicious, so smooth, so mellow, there is none bitterness, none astringency here.
I can get the hazelnut without problem, a rich hazelnut.
I get much of the malty chocolatey notes in the liquor scent but not that much in the beverage itself except in the aftertaste.

hummmm c’est trop bon, j’adooooore !

Thank you so much Devilish for sharing a sample of Carol with me.
The dry leaves were so beautiful, a lot of pink flowers mixed with tea.It smelled like candies.

First sip was disapointing for me, I got a very artificial flavour of red fruit candy and behind a vanilla base mixed with a strong black tea.
I left the mug a while and retried it, this is the flavour : strawberry candy, artificial type.

It’s really a pity because the tea base is really nice, smooth, mellow, strong enough. It is correctly blended as well, the balance between the flavours and the tea base are respected.
But I’m sorry : Natural flavourings exist to be used ! I cannot understand why a good tea manufacturer prefers artificial ones EVEN if it is supposed to be dedicated to a candy taste.
Dammann Frères Violette tea is dedicated to Violet Candies and natural flavourings are used, none artificial. It means it’s possible.
Quand on veut on peut…at least for something easy like this !

First : I updated the tea description as it was false, the previous description was the Inachevée de Constantinople one ! So I can understand why Keemun note was mentioning he cannot find almond and peppermint, there is none in this tea.
Héritage d’Istanbul is clearly a flowery tea on a double tea base : green and black.

I steeped it 3 minutes at 75°c as requested by Theodor, it sounds low but it was really ok because I can still detect a hint of bitterness.Very light but there.

The way the flowers comes is really lovely, very smooth : jasmin, lotus with a peppery note, this is pleasant and elegant.

I am not bewitched by this tea, it’s pleasant but even if I’ll keep exploring it a little, I don’t think I’ll rebuy it.

I may be a nice iced-tea as well.

Thank you cteresa for sharing some of this lovely tea with me.

The mix of orange flowers with the dark assam is first very lovely and the scent is peppery and fruity.

Once steeped, the scent of the liquor is mainly peppery, spicy.
Theodor requests not steeping it too long (3 mn) as it is an assam I strictly respected the advice.As well, this tea shouldn’t be brewed too hot, 85°c are really enough.
The taste is definitively spicy : pepper for sure, nutmeg (very present) and cinnamon but fruity as well with a very natural and pleasant orchard peach.

This is a fantastic tea, very original but not original to be original only : not something stupid like creating a fish and marmelade tea! Original to reveal spicy flavours working perfectly with a lovely peach, really.

This is a tea who works on the same basis as Mandalay from Mariage Frères, I do agree with cteresa, the spices are the honour guests in these 2 teas and without these guests the ambiance would be so annoying ! They are totally different, as Mandalay is not fruity and works with Rose and Vanilla.
I love both, this one as Mandalay is a keeper.

I have requested a sample of this tea when I went to the Betjeman & Barton shop last week.
I wanted to buy this tea but as I was unsure if I would like it.
As you can see on the picture, the blend is really lovely with all these cornflowers and mixed colours.
The scent is very strong and perfumey. As many B&B teas, we shouldn’t steep it too long because otherwise tea becomes bitter, I may be due to a major use of essential oils in their blends.
Once steeped, the scent of the liquor was horrible to me, too strong, like a hot beverage with alcohol, pouah ! I was reticent to taste it but did, I am brave :)
And surprise, I like it ! the tea base is so mellow, incredible to see how it works with the flavours.
It is a very greedy tea, orange, chocolate and vanilla work perfectly together. A strong taste of rum remains here to my opinion, that’s quite funny.
A very well named tea, I almost can see rabbits and bells with this rum taste :D

Ok, I think I have found the diabolical twin of Wedding Impérial :it’s a capricious tea…. grrrr This is my THIRD steep already and I have the eyes focused on the clock.
I’ll stop at 2 minutes, not more !
However we should use a very small amount of loose leaf otherwise it turns bitter.
Awwwww yes ! 2 minutes are fine !

Let’s back to the beginning : Cocotte is a tea with tomatoes, I would say flowering tomatoes and tomatoes + lemon on a darjeeling base.
The dry leaf is admirable because of course very original and because it smells like a garden of tomatoes and fresh GOOD tomatoes (I mention good because often now there are just stupid tomatoes on the market, without any taste (bref des tomates franchement dégueulasses- no other way to say :) ) – These tomatoes are tomatoes.
I was hesitant about how to prepare this tea especially because normally I add a rock of brown crystal sugar and with this kind of flavour, I was unsure.
Anyway Tomato is a fruit and gets naturally sugar so I finally added my rock of sugar.
After my brewing adventures, I have to say 2 min are perfect for me, the tea is just amazing, delicious and so original.A slight astringency remains but tolerable.It tastes like fresh tomatoes with a flowery taste and a hint of lemon.

I think I need to continue to play around this tea because maybe the tea base is not my favorite and it may count in the way I would prepare the tea next time (by a potential colder brew) but really I am happy to have bought this tea.

I won’t rate it right now because I may steep it too long (5 minutes) and it is a little bit astringent and bitter.
Will try with 3 min but having said that I am sure I will love it asap I’ll get a correct brewing because even with astringency and bitterness, it is wonderful !

I received this blend in a swap with TheTeaFairy
Let me explain first what a swap with TheTeaFairy means ! I received sooooo many teas, that’s incredible, all in small bags with different coloured stickers, using a colour code for the kind of tea and wearing a diamond or pearl sticker to mention the prefered blends !
Waouh I am so impressed, really.Thank you so much !

So I decided to visit first the orange flower serie, the black flavoured teas and this one first.

It’s not bad but not exceptional neither.
I was expecting cherries I mostly get a chocolate tea.It smells, it tastes chocolate, I am not really able to get cherry.I get something fruity but not cherry.
I think the flavours used here may not be 100% natural, but I may be wrong.
I am happy to have been given the opportunity to taste it, thank you again TheTeaFairy

Second sample tested from the swap with Terri HarpLady thank you again !
This is a gorgeous blend : lovely rice and flower mixed with the dark leaves, it smells cocoa and earthy.

At first sip, no doubt : this is a malty & roasty tea and a genmaïcha tea.I get the rice sweet taste mixed with chocolatey notes.
The aftertaste remains mostly genmaïcha to me.

This is perfectly blended, I really like it, thank you Terri.

This one is a part of my Theodor order arrived on Saturday.
I ordered it because I love la galette des rois ! The Epiphany cake (do you call this a Twelfth-Night pancake or cake in English ?)
This is a black tea flavoured with marzipan.
The dry leaf scent is absolutely fantastic, this is an amaretto tea ! and the colours are so beautiful : red and orange small petals of flowers are mixed with a beautiful dark tea.
I was wondering if the taste would be as nice as the scent…the liquor scent is very promising and taking the first sip…release ! yes!!!!! it’s so good ! this is a liquid marzipan, with the perfect taste of a bitter almond.
The tea base is really smooth and mellow, no bitterness at all, no astringency, it’s a so sweet tea.
You know I am a sucker for almond teas…so it may be because I love so much almonds that I love it so much but I do really think this is blended perfectly with a wonderful and ideal tea base (I would like to know what it is…a Keemun maybe ?)
I am so happy to have bought 100g of this one !

At the very first sip, I didn’t like this tea.No personnality at all. I found this weird, as even if I don’t have a very large experience with Theodor, I know I never found any of their tea bad.
I decided to let the cup cooling a little and retried.
This is really better even if probably this oolong tea base is light bodied.
Flavours of mango and exotic fruits are not too strong and absolutely natural.
Tea base and flavours are working perfectly together. Having said that I need to give a precision : mango and exotic fruits are not my favourite fruits so my rating can be affected by my preferences.
This tea is really more than decent, it’s a good light tea for an afternoon but it wouldn’t be one of my staples.
I think it could be drank in the evening as well.

Thank you so much for sharing some of your Theodor order and this tea with me cteresa

Thank you so much Terri HarpLady for sharing this one with me !
And even a double thanks as Terri sent me a second parcel because the first one has been lost.
I wanted to taste this tea for ages. Loving bergamot and loving rose I was sure it was a tea for me. And was right.

First, it’s a lovely tea : the blend is full of petals of rose, exactly as on the picture here.
The scent of the dry leaf is fantastic: rose & citrus

After brewing, the liquor is darker than I thought, amber.
The dominant taste to me is rose and behind bergamot.
I don’t get the chocolate, sorry but not a problem as I am not the hugest fan of chocolate in tea (especially because it never equals a real cup of hot chocolate to me :) )
The tea base (which is more than a tea base as it seems to be one of the best seller of Verdant) is absolutely fantastic and welcomes ideally the flavours.
I am in love really, the kind of teas I would have every day without problem.

I am lucky today, when I opened my mailbox I have seen a lot of advertising papers and behind Santa Claus ! not himself but he took the appearance of the Postman and left for me : my Theodor tea order, cteresa’s swap envelope and Terri Harplady’s second swap box !
Yes !!!! Now I am embarrassed because I have so much teas I cannot decide which to begin by.

So after one hour turning around my teas,I finally decided to drink this one first.

The dry leaf scent is really magic even if quite herbal, of course it’s a green tea…not so surprising- the flavours scents are lovely and I get first a dominant apple and a supportive rose .
I brewed it as required on my bag (handwritten notes behind the bag-I love handwritten notes even on tea bags): 85°C I found this a little weird for a green I generally never give much than 80° but decided to follow the instructions.
The liquor is really beautiful, a lovely pale green almost yellow.
There is NO astringency neither bitterness (release! I am so picky with green teas)
The green tea base is nice and mellow (yes, a mellow green tea…hurray it exists !)
The flavours are really mixed :apples, dates, rose, peppermint for sure. I am so sorry for not being able to taste almond, especially because I love so much almond teas.
For sure this tea reminds Orient as constantinople is the muse. It makes me think to Thé du Hammam (green tea base, rose and dates) but it is different, less fruity, more grave somehow.

While cooling apple and rose continue to dominate.

No,no no no I didn’t make a mistake, I am not reviewing Eros of Mariage Frères but Eros by T.
I get this sample thanks to Nicole in our very first swap and never had the occasion to make a note about it.
It seems we are the 2 only persons to have drank this tea ?

It is a very pleasant tea,with a sweet aroma of orange (they say it is mandarin but it’s not very evident). The orange is perfectly blended with vanilla but there is a hint of bitterness even if I didn’t oversteep the tea.

A very decent tea but probably not one staple for me.
Thank you again Nicole for sharing some with me.

I have the habit to drink the Dammann Frères Violette.
This one is just so different, incredible.
The DF Violette is more a candy Violette, the MF Violette is a flowery Violette.
That’s it ! I like both.
The tea base is really nice, smooth. The flavour is for sure floral and it just tastes like a violet. I get something additional, something like a hint of acidity, like a cloud of pure lemon juice- but I don’t think there is lemon, this is weird.

I like both blends but prefer the Dammann Frères one.

You may be intrigued by this company …as I was when I bought it in a tea shop (along with my George Cannon teas).
This is French company (of course I thought first it was English with such a name !) and a company based in Brittany as they argue they want to be the first tea brand of Brittany, it sounds nice as Brittany is more reputed for its cider, kouign amann, pan cakes, caramel beurre salé and butter….and and and sooooo much splendid food specialties ! I love Brittany…I wish I can live in Vannes or in Rochefort en Terre…

So yes, Brittany needs a tea brand !

This is a Christmas tea, what’s better in the middle of May ?
It’s a very special Christmas tea because the main flavour is really orange, then a delicate vanilla and behind but very behind spices (with a very discrete and a very very very discrete clove)
The tea base is really smooth and mellow, we can taste it very well, it is not hidden behind the flavours.

This is a very nice blend and a very different Christmas tea as the main guest is a perfectly blended Orange, very natural.

That’s true Oranges are a Christmas symbol as they were often in the past the only gift. That’s nice to remember this sometimes.So thanks to this company to remind us with a such lovely tea.

I am just coming back from the Mariage Frères shop Place de la Madeleine in Paris.
I needed to refill my box of Prince Igor …so bought 100gr BUT of course I cannot enter a MF shop without buying other teas…
I wanted to taste this one for ages so here it is !
I am terrible with vanilla : I had too much vanilla teas or ice creams made with a stupid artificial vanilla now I am suspicious.
I generally refuse any vanilla ice cream except those of 2 or 3 brands and I do the same with teas.

Knowing Mariage Frères I was sure the vanilla was a good vanilla and I am not disappointed at all.
This is a sumptuous Bourbon vanilla…meaning the Vanilla comes from the following islands ONLY : La Réunion, Mauritius,Madagascar or Comoros. This is the same Vanilla as the one used in Wedding Impérial but of course here no caramel and the tea base is not an assam but probably a Chinese tea and it is so mellow, awwwww love it !

This blend is perfectly balanced between the flavour and the tea base.
I think it can become one staple.

Thank you so much Nicole for sharing this one as a surprise blend with me.
It is a great great tea and you know I am not the biggest fan for straight teas.
I get mainly fruity notes to my opinion, I cannot say it’s raisin or another fruit but this is a joyful fruity tea !

I am very very happy because any time I tasted a straight tea from Butiki teas, I loved it and really loved it.
It means I can find straight teas I can appreciate without any reserve and appreciate the natural flavours.
So it really encourages me to continue exploring straight blends.
Some are so mysterious, other so dark, rocky or earthy, some so joyful…I really need to continue exploring :)

backlog of this morning.
This is a very pleasant black tea base, without any bitterness nor astringency. The apricot flavour is sweet, mellow.
I am not sure the flavour is 100% natural but anyway it works perfectly.
I like mono flavoured teas, this is a kind of ode to a flower a fruit, a spice.
I love apricot and really enjoyed this one, thanks Nicole for the share.

This was my tea first cup of the day.
I oversteeped it stupidely as I get distracted by a phone call.
I had to add a splash of milk to drink it because it took a taste too strong for me, a kind of earthy taste.
I didn’t get the typical mellowness I normally detect immediatly in keemuns.But may be due to the oversteep.
With milk it was really pleasant. I have enough to try a second cup thanks to the sample kindly sent by Sil

I have the chance to write this note thanks to Sil – thank you so much for sharing.
You know I’m not a plain tea person. It means I don’t get all the natural flavours you mentioned in your notes.
It’s a medium bodied tea, quite malty but no so much. What I get much is a smoky burnt taste. I feel a little like if the tea itself was hidden behind this flavour. It is mineral too to my opinion.
It’s doesn’t taste chocolate to me or maybe the grilled cocoa beans.

I’ll try a second steep to see how the tea evolution is

This is a sample surprise kindly sent by Nicole, thank you very much for this one too.
The dry leaves are full of pineapple chunks and smells like caramelized fruits.
After steeping it smells really like a fresh home made cake coming out of the oven ! incredible – and it tastes absolutely like a caramelized fruit cake.
The pineapple is not very perceptible as caramel, cake and vanilla flavours but I can taste it very very very far behind.

The flavours are so strong you keep the taste a long time after drinking !

A very well done dessert tea.