Ysaurella

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 :)

After a discussion yesterday with Sil,cteresa and Dinosara about Dammann Frères teas and Betjeman & Barton, I decided to pop up today at B&B shop near Place de la Madeleine.
I bought 2 teas after the proposal of the director of the shop.
I already have the habit of this brand but it is nice to surrender and be guided sometimes.
The dry leaf blend was sooooo wonderful I immediately decided to have it.
Here in Paris, the weather is very cold (I hear from here some Canadian’s laughs…) it’s -5°C and a maple chestnut tea is the perfect tea to have right now.

The scent of the liquor is divine and the taste is very different from any maple or candied chestnut teas I had before.
More bitter somehow (the nutty bitterness we get sometimes while eating chestnuts)- this is a pleasant bitterness, I need to mention that.

There is something weird with this B&B blend : it tastes a little like “perfume” somehow (natural oils ?)
The tea base is really present. I miss the maple to be honnest. let’s say this is a subtle maple flavour.

I like it and will give another try with a shorter steeping time (around 2 minutes).
Actually I prefer Rouge d’Automne from MF for the candied chestnuts tea category and Maple pecan Oolong from BT for the maple tea category.

Luxury didn’t win the best leading role Oscar but for sure the supporting role one :)

I am not a big fan of rooibos.
I drank this tea by mistake…the cup was for my daughter, she wanted to try this one before me !…I took her mug in place of mine (full of Queen Catherine)
This tea is an exception…cteresa you won ! you found a rooibos I like ! sure there is strawberry and sure some raspberry as well, totally agree with you.I get the soft almonds and caramel notes.
And all these flavours are working fine together.

The dry leaf itself is noticeable it looks like little needles, so cute and rare.

thank you cteresa for sharing this blend with me.
I really appreciated it and wasn’t impressed by the high ratings because never heard about this tea before cteresa proposed to send me some. So didn’t get high expectations.

To me, it’s not so strong.Malty but not too much (thanks God it is Chinese teas, not an Assam) I get the chocolate but in a different way comparing so many teas, it’s perfectly balanced with other notes, floral & fruity.
The tea base is really perfect, no astringency in my cup, is there a keemun as part of the tea mix ?
I had this tea in the evening and had no problem to sleep, really fantastic.
A beautiful tea to get whenever I want.

oh lord…I just received tonight my order from Butiki Teas.
My daughter is sick and wanted to have this one so we are sharing a mug of Maple Pecan Oolong with a great pleasure.

This tea is really marvelous,one of my staples for sure.
But I still prefer it not too hot, while cooling the flavours of Pecan & Maple are much present (and believe me on parole they are !)

I almost forgot how fantastic it was – I’m so happy to have now 8 oz to enjoy it for the whole winter.

I’m French and I don’t like red wine …paradox ?
Anyway I was brave and tried this tea, my dear Azzrian kindly sent some over me.

You know, the idea to create and blend a tea flavored with red wine couldn’t have come from France : It would be some kind of sacrilege here…(!)
So thank you dear American for always daring new things (with teas and with with food in general). Things shouldn’t be canonized as we often do here in France for some beverage or ingredients.

I cannot really say I taste a Merlot but for sure I have a real nice grape aroma especially on after taste.

Quite nice, well done 52 teas and thanks for being audacious

thank you so much cteresa for sharing this sample with me.
You’re definitively right : this thé du loup is a fantastic tea …and you know I ’m not a chocolatea lover…
The scent of the liquor is really chocolate (almost like Charlotte au Chocolat of Dammann Frères) but tasting it, I get the hazelnuts !

The tea base is not too strong finally and I was expecting a stronger black tea that’s why I didn’t steep it very long but I think I should try with a longer steeping time.
Anyway I like it very much but may prefer a more bodied tea with chocolate.

Thé du loup for sure is a masterpiece and deserves the high rates given here on Steepster.
A tea to recommend to chocolatea lovers – would you be my valentine dear wolf ?

Thank you so much cteresa for sharing some of this tea with me !
I should say right now : I like it but I prefer Nosy Bey from Dammann Frères.

Aroms of these two teas are really similar but different in the same time.Orchard peaches are just sublime in both blends.

First the scent of the dry leaf of Mélange de Galice is not as impressive as the Nosy Bey one : but it may be because the sample traveled a little by post mail.

Then, the vanilla seemed less present than in Nosy Bey.
The tea base is smooth and mellow, I really appreciate it.Everything is sweet in this Mélange de Galice and to me it is exactly what a peach & vanilla tea needs.

Cooling, the vanilla is more prominent.
The after taste is just sumptuous.

Nosy Bey, Mélange de Galice you are decadent teas ! I love that !!!

Finally I taste this tea …it’s in my cupboard for ages…well just 5 months :) No idea why I didn’t take some time to have it.

This is an holiday tea, the first one to use the Thé Noël name, Compagnie Coloniale is a very old French Tea company.

I appreciate very much the scent of the dry leaf : not habitual for an holiday tea : no cloves, no cinnamon. But cherry sure and almond.

This is delicious, really.
Next time I’ll leave it steep longer, because the tea base is a little weak to my opinion.

I can perfectly understand why in France this is one of the Christmas Teas best sellers.