90
drank Marco Polo by Mariage Frères
911 tasting notes

It’s been forever since I’ve had this tea. But not because I don’t love it. It’s actually the opposite – I adore this tea so much that I haven’t been able to force myself to open the new tin of it. Gotta save it so I don’t run out, right? So it has languished on my shelf for months and months.

But I’ve been wearing my grumpy pants quite a lot lately even though I should be celebrating (since I only have 22 more days of work). So I decide to enforce some celebration in my life by finally opening my tin of this.

Ahhhh! Yes, such a good choice. It’s strawberry shortcake in liquid form (I did use some sugar and half & half this morning, which helps that idea along). Desserty sweet but also fresh-fruity tart (there is some astringency that, combined with the delicious strawberry taste of this tea, reads to my tongue as a light tartness almost exactly like biting into a fresh strawberry). For some reason, I also get the idea of cocoa when drinking this tea. Not so much the taste, but a hint of it in the texture – a richness or sponginess – that just makes it so deliciously dessert-like and happy-making.

And additional bonus is the caffeine. My hands have just a wee bit of a tremor to them this morning thanks to this tea. Which is good because it means that hopefully I won’t be tempted to crawl under my desk for naptime today.

Before I left the house with my tumbler o’ deliciousness, I did a second steep of this to ice. So I quite look forward to seeing how that turns out. Mmmm.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
JacquelineM

Between the fact that this tea is hard to get, and the fact that it sends me back to a world that no longer exists and I always wind up with tears behind my eyes – ooof- yeah – I can’t be without this tea, yet I don’t drink it very often.

Auggy

This one doesn’t bring up any special memories for me but I totally understand the desire for it to be a special occasion kind of tea. It’s so lovely yet MF stuff is so hard to find…

wombatgirl

Auggy – I’ve got a pretty good line on it most of the time. I’ve got a local Dean and Deluca. If you want, next time you run out let me know and I can run down and see if there’s any there. We can do some sort of swap if you’d like.

sophistre

Shoulda done a tinyurl, but…lazy this morning. x.x

Anyway, hope that helps. :D

thewaterbird

liquid strawberry shortcake!?!

Auggy

Yay – thanks to both wombatgirl & sophistre! takgoti was my buyer last time – I am jealous of those with local MF hook ups! :) And OMG at the lovelies at Market Hall Foods……. Do they ever have any of the more special teas (like Opium Hill)?
thewaterbird, It’s gooooooood. :)

LauraR

Another great source of Mariage Freres is The Cultured Cup in Dallas, TX. www.theculturedcup.com.

Auggy

So true – I had forgotten about them. They are only 50ish minutes away so looks like I need to visit them again!

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Comments

JacquelineM

Between the fact that this tea is hard to get, and the fact that it sends me back to a world that no longer exists and I always wind up with tears behind my eyes – ooof- yeah – I can’t be without this tea, yet I don’t drink it very often.

Auggy

This one doesn’t bring up any special memories for me but I totally understand the desire for it to be a special occasion kind of tea. It’s so lovely yet MF stuff is so hard to find…

wombatgirl

Auggy – I’ve got a pretty good line on it most of the time. I’ve got a local Dean and Deluca. If you want, next time you run out let me know and I can run down and see if there’s any there. We can do some sort of swap if you’d like.

sophistre

Shoulda done a tinyurl, but…lazy this morning. x.x

Anyway, hope that helps. :D

thewaterbird

liquid strawberry shortcake!?!

Auggy

Yay – thanks to both wombatgirl & sophistre! takgoti was my buyer last time – I am jealous of those with local MF hook ups! :) And OMG at the lovelies at Market Hall Foods……. Do they ever have any of the more special teas (like Opium Hill)?
thewaterbird, It’s gooooooood. :)

LauraR

Another great source of Mariage Freres is The Cultured Cup in Dallas, TX. www.theculturedcup.com.

Auggy

So true – I had forgotten about them. They are only 50ish minutes away so looks like I need to visit them again!

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Profile

Bio

I’m trying to be a better tea logger and actually post semi-regularly again! I’ve let my tea tasting senses become too complacent – it’s time for some focused and attentive tea drinking!

Sometimes my notices for PMs and such have been questionable. Email me at your own risk at aug3zimm at gmail dot com.

1 – 10 – Bleck. Didn’t finish the cup.
11 – 25 – Drinkable. But don’t punish me by making me have it again.
26 – 40 – Meh. Most likely will see if the husband likes it iced.
41 – 60 – Okayish. Maybe one day I’ll kill off what I have in my pantry.
61 – 75 – Decent. I might pick some up if I needed tea.
76 – 85 – Nice. I’d probably buy but wouldn’t hunt it down.
86 – 100 – Yum! I will hunt down the vendor to get this tea!

Not that anyone but me particularly cares, but there it is.

Location

Texas

Website

http://pinkness.danzimmermann...

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