Ysaurella

I was a little worried seeing the ratings of this tea but really wanted to try by myself too.
This is clearly a mild tea base, but not weak. Inversely, the aromas are strong and especially on citrus. There is a kind of je ne sais quoi really joyful with the citrus here.
The vanilla adds something very interesting to the blend.
Saying that where is the crème brûlée promised by MF ? in the air I would say, like a spirit, an inspiration : there but not really too…

I really like Thé de Pâques and I’m happy to have bought 100g today.
It smells like a mystery blend to me…blended by the Easter rabbit ? arrived with Rome’s bells ? I just surrender to the fantastic aromas especially due to the fantastic way the citrus come with vanilla.

SIPDOWN – I really loved this tea as you can read in my previous review but I am happy to clear my cupboard as I bought almost 1kg of teas today :S
I kept a little sample of it if a steepsterite wants to try it.

This is my first plum tea, I have the chance to taste it thanks to Sil
It’s a very mild cinnamon-y tea perfectly balanced with the plum aroma.There is a slight tartness on aftertaste.
The tea base is really nice and present, not too strong neither.
I preferred it very hot rather than just warm, so I need to hurry up to finish my cup !

This is my second George Cannon Tea and I should recognize I am quite impressed by this brand.
Le Petit prince de Kharkov is a marvel : everything is so well balanced, so perfectly blended, it is really amazing.
The tea base is a very good quality one, robust without being strong.
If you don’t like cloves, try this tea, because you may change your mind.
It is a very cloying tea but citrus work perfectly with, on a very special way, unique to my opinion.
It is clearly an holiday tea, but not another one,not an additional one to the long existing list of spiced teas.
It is really a very very good surprise.

The tea name made me dream as well when I bought it…who is the little Prince of Kharkov (Kharkiv in English) ? No real nor official answer but to me, it may be Alexander Siloti, the famous Pianist as this tea is a perfect spiced symphony.

I may be wrong because a lot of famous people were from Kharkiv (Chess masters especially) if someone has the answer…I’ll be happy to know it.

This is a sample kindly shared by Sil, thank you Sil !
I really appreciated this tea.
Even if I’m not a big plain tea drinker, I manage to recognize an high quality tea and it is really one.
It’s not an heavy malty black tea but a medium bodied one with wonderful notes of wood (that’s what I felt !)
There is absolutely no bitterness with this tea.
I love it.

I am upset…my enterprise decided to move outside of Paris, meaning my transport time is more than doubled…
This is my second day on the new site and I had a very bad day : problems with trains I spent 2 hours and a half to come back home tonight…so “just” spent 4 hours today in trains and buses without even doing a tour travel in Cambodia ! rrrr Paris Suburb without car…(anyway with a car you can remain 4 hours in a traffic jam…so I think I prefer train, at least I can sleep or read or laugh while hearing some silly stories from the other travelers)

3 hours /day…for a normal travel 1 hour 1/2 to go and 1 hour 1/2 to come home…too much for me, really…I already sent some candidatures hoping I’ll get soon some interviews. Oh yes really hoping to find another job soon.
Arriving home at 9 PM, while opening my mail box…awwwwww SMILE ! I get my tea swap box from Sil – thanks for being the ray of sun in my dark day !
I decided to try this one first because it was wrapped very carefully with 3 small bags to isolate it from the other samples.
This is because the perfume of dry leaf is soooo beguiling, so captivating.

After steeping, the perfume is really less present and drinking it I get a very natural strawberry taste, really very nice. and some hibiscus, for tartness but not overpowering.Rhubarb is not detectable by my tastebuds
I am just a little disappointed by the tea base, I find it very light, almost weak for my taste.

A very natural tea very different from my favorite tea collection with rhubarb & strawberry (Jardin bleu DF & Thé du Hammam Black leaf PDT)

Thanks for sharing it Sil !

I have to confess I bought this tea because of its romantic name.
I found it (along with 2 other teas I’ve never heard about) in a small independent tea shop rue de la Convention in Paris.

I smelled it and was seduced – The good thing with independent shops is we can buy small weights of teas (50g and even 25g)- I know for USA and Canada it seems absolutely logical to be allowed to buy 1/2 oz or 1 or 2 oz but here in France we often need to buy 100g because the brands (Mariage Frères, Dammann Frères, Betjeman & Barton, Palais des thés, Kusmi teas…) doesn’t allow to buy less so when you enter one of these brand shops and want to buy loose leaf this is 100g minimum. Complicated when you don’t know the tea and want to taste it.

Rêverie sur la Néva is really a very good surprise – this is my first George Cannon tea (good quality teas). I struggled to found some information on the web about this tea so I did my own pic to show you the dry leaves.Beautiful with pink berries and probably aniseed.
It is really a surprising tea, I’ve never had such a tea. The tea base is a medium bodied one, very smart.
The aromas are incredible : citrus are just a perfection, spices are not hot spices but mild and very original ones.
If I had knew there was some aniseed inside I probably wouldn’t have bought this tea – for stupid prejudice – I like aniseed in candies and cooking but never thought it could be a good idea in a tea- I was wrong.

It is really mellow and soft with a hint of something incredible which wakes you up to pay attention to the beverage.

Really a successful tea.

And this is my 101th tasting note ! As I rarely write twice about a tea this means I tasted around 90 95 different teas since I am on Steepster, I want to carry on :)

Sipdown !
I have been a little hard with this tea, if brewed a little longer (but not too much neither) and with a 95°c water (not 90°c) it becomes a very decent tea.

it desserves to be tasted.

I ordered this one for a blind taste :) with my last Butiki order.
I had no idea how it was but it was a lucky blind taste. I love it really much : it’s so perfumed , wonderful.
I’d love to know why it is called xylophone…because for sure I know why it is called watermelon ! it’s so watermelony :)the aroma is just fantastic, like a fresh and really mature watermelon.

Surprising idea of a watermelon tea.
People who don’t like tea often say it’s just hot water…watermelon is a very refreshing fruit full of water (more than others !) let me tell you dear tea haters that Stacy managed to blend a mathematical tea…water+water = a wonderful tea !so you can begin to drink tea now, no more excuses, convert yourselves to the God Watermelon Xylophone !

This is a pleasant tea sample I get thanks to Nicole
It’s smooth, vanilla is really a sweet vanilla but to me the tea base is probably not for me.
This is my first decaf tea so it may be that, that weird “flat” tea base taste.
Whatever this is a probably perfect for a good night and vanilla flavoured dreams

Ok, I retried Creamy Eggnog with a smaller mug, a larger amount of dry leaves and this is a little better to me.
I had a much more present flavour but not what I was expecting.
The funniest with this tea is it was difficult to catch the dry leaves with my teaspoon as if it didn’t want to be drank by me :D
So we may be incompatible :)

The flavour was still too subtle and the green tea base too light for my taste.
But this is my taste, I know a lot of people like this tea for what it is.
Every ingredient is of perfect quality, it is just not a tea for me.

I decided to rate it because, even if my opinion doesn’t reflect the majority, it may be useful for other people.
When I did my Butiki Order I was hesitating between a lot of teas (this tea brand is really fantastic, it’s just like being in a bakery hesitating between a Religieuse or a St Honoré – writing this a big welcome to the new Pope – we love religious names for our pastries in France!)
I choose this one because all the ratings, but absolutely all the ratings were very very high.
So it may be good to have different opinions sometimes, that’s why I give you mine.

An high quality tea but not unfortunately for my palate.

If you are a tea rose lover, you definitively need to taste the Dammann Frères Rose Tea.

It’s already a pleasure to open the tin, the smell is so wonderful, delicate, just like entering in a garden full of fresh roses – really.
The dry leaves are mixed with a very generous amount of petals, it is gorgeous.
The tea base is a success as well, a delicate Chinese black blend, very mellow, smooth, a perfect companion for the rose flavour.

Of course this is not a complex tea, this is “just” a mono flavoured tea but the choice of the rose flavour is a kind of miracle : so natural, so powerful.
DF website mentions they used Bulgarian rose flavour and this is a good choice : Bulgarian rose are among the best roses, not used in perfume industry but for essential oils.
Roses from Grasse (south of France) were the reference in high couture perfume industry (unfortunately they are so expensive now perfumers use most roses from Morocco or Pakistan)

The second steep is nice but not as amazing as the first one.

A great classic to get in a cupboard.

I steeped it for 4 minutes and use the correct amount of leaves, the correct water temperature but I think this tea is probably not for me.
I am feeling a little alone here as the ratings are so high and I unfortunately didn’t get much of the flavour as I was expecting. The tea base itself was a little bit weak to me.
I’m not going to rate it now and will of course give another try during the next days – this should be something wrong with me tonight.

This is a fantastic tea : I can detect the 3 flavours without problem and distinctively, lovely.
Just love the way the orange works with chocolate.
I love the tea base, so mellow, so comfortable for the palate.
Even if I am not a fan of marshmallows (in France we call them Chamallows) at all-I remember being very sick with some when I was a child – I had several marshmallow teas and this one is from far the best one.

I love it but I agree with Azz, it sucks to have only one sample of it :)

ok, here is my second try with this tea with a shorter steeping time: 3 minutes only.
No more bitterness at all, a soft and mellow tea. It takes all the meaning of his name : Luxury.
It is delicious, maple and chestnuts are really present but I detected some apple cubes if I’m not crazy.
I really like it and upgrade my rating.
Hope it won’t be ages until someone else review this tea ! I’d like to have your opinions too.

It was my morning tea. I was in the mood for an opulent tea because I was going to see an exhibition about the 1001 nights Tales(Arabian nights is the real tittle in English I think). A very beautiful exhibition, if some of you are in Paris, I highly recommend it:http://www.imarabe.org/exposition-ima-6415.

I really enjoyed my tea even if I found the tea base a little bit weak.
Fruits are very natural and perfectly balanced.
I’m the first one to review it as it seems B&B is not a brand very popular in North America (only one corner in a shop of Montréal)- It’s a pity because this brand is very nice. A good challenger for Mariage Frères.

Received as sample with my Butiki order.
First, no idea who was the customer who managed to decide Stacy to add this blend to the Butiki collection but thank you !

This tea is just fantastic,so creamy so fruity and herbal and so perfectly balanced…this is yummy.

I particularly appreciate the way the pineapple flavour comes, subtle and delicate.

The problem with my samples is they make me strongly regret not having ordered these teas :(
The good point is I know what to order next time :)

This is another sample sent by Azzrian, thanks for sharing !

I decide to explore a little the rooibos world, and this one is a nice one.
The coconut flavour is perfect and really creamy.
As for many Butiki teas, I think the flavours are revealing themselves more while the tea cup is cooling rather that hot.

I liked it very much but I’m pretty sure I would be really in love if the tea base would have been black or or white tea.

My daughter asked me this morning to prepare an apple pie (the classic French one)so did I.
I was looking for a good tea companion for my tarte aux pommes…and remembered Azzrian shared this sample tea with me.
I remembered as well that I already prepared a cup of it 3 days ago and my daughter totally drinked it !

The blend is gorgeous, with big red apple pieces and caramel cubes.
The dry leaf scent is pleasant and I had high expectations.
Unfortunately I probably had too much candy apple teas and this one suffers the comparison.
It is a little bit too weak on the base, the apple taste is nice but I have difficulties to get the caramel flavour.

Anyway this is a pleasant tea but I do prefer Il était une fois Noël from Betjeman & Barton and Pomme d’Amour from Dammann Frères.

Thanks Azzrian for sharing this sample with me.

It is a very decent tea, with a light tea base and good aromas of blackberry.
It makes the job without being exceptional nor complex.

I am still searching the perfect blackberry tea and moreover a perfect raspberry tea.

It’s my first guayusa blend. I was sceptical about this base as I am really a tea lover, rooibos and herbal blends are generally not my cup of tea.

I read so many laudatory comments about Good Morning Sunshine that I choose this sample with my Butiki Order.

I am happy to have pick up this sample because I really like it.
Even if for me it is not a tea, it is very well blended and delicious.

To me the Lemon Grass is the leading flavour, very very far before lemon.
It is very herbal and it appears strange to me to have such a blend in the morning – this is typically the kind of flavours I’d prefer to have in the evening – not possible due to the high level of caffeine except if I want to dance rumba all night long !

This blend has an incredible efficacity to wake you up, as efficent as a coffee.

Probably not a future staple for me but I should recognize Stacy is the best person to make you like herbal & rooibos blends when you don’t really appreciate them.

Two days ago I had a discussion with Barbara and cteresa about jasmine teas and I was saying I stupidly never think to drink Jasmine teas except when I am in a Chinese or Japanese restaurant.

Then I remember I had an untasted sample from a swap with LaFleurBleue and decide to rectify the affront I make to Jasmine teas.

The smell of the dry pearls has nothing especially noticeable, the liquor smells very delicate.

Jasmine is not overpowering vs the tea base, the mix is perfectly balanced.

In spite of my fear with green teas, there is absolutely none hint of astringency with this tea.

Looking the small pearls opening is a real pleasure too

I really appreciate this tea even if Jasmine isn’t my favorite floral tea – I am very rose and very violet (and strangely this is exactly the same with Perfumes) thank you LaFleurBleue to permit me to taste this lovely tea.

Chocolate Cake is tea darby shared with me few month ago.
As I was a little disappointed by DT ’s first teas I had, I finally left some samples in my sample box without trying them.

Tonight I was in a indulgent mood so I prepared the whole sample for my daughter and I.
Strangely I was more happy than her with this tea whereas I thought it would be a pleasant tea for a child (and the DT black tea base is generally weak)
This is really a chocolate cake tea, not a chocolate tea, this is a creamy tea. The scent of dry leaf is amazing, same when the tea has infused.

The tea is just the missing ingredient for me, too weak.

I don’t give up…sure I can find a fantastic DT with a very present tea base.

This is one of the samples I had with my Butiki Order.

I have no words to say how fantastic this tea is…It’s a kind of perfection, a violet and rose perfection.
Of course these two flavours are among my favorites but the way this tea is blended and flavoured is just wonderful.

It’s just so delicate,the kind of tea you are happy to have in the finest china bone tea cup.

I regret now not having ordered 4 oz of it.
I more than highly recommend Rose Violet Calendula Oolong.

Thanks so much Stacy :)