Fauchon

Another tea that Sil included in the BBBB. I drank this hours ago, & as I was steeping it I saw little rosebuds & was thinking to myself, “Sil likes this?”
LOL, I didn’t hate it, it was ok, but I think it would have been better if I’d used more leaf. Kind of bland.

I wanted to end the evening with something sweet. I hadn’t tried this yet, so I decided that this would be my “adventure tea” of the day. It’s supposed to taste of a combination of oolong, oranges and almonds. The base is some kind of lightly roasted oolong, judging be its looks, and by its non-floral, non-perfumy flavor. The tea brews lightly, with a very delicate flavor profile – don’t have this after a curry or a highly flavorful meal.
It tastes of a good, roasted oolong, and has a slight aftertaste of almonds. If you patiently wait long enough after each sip, you will get a hint of tanginess of oranges. But nothing overpowering. Nothing that announces itself loud and clear. A very subtle tea.
It’s sweet enough to not need sugar, it could never take milk (it’s very, very light bodied), and if you are used to strong or artificially flavored teas, walk away. You will be disappointed. If you, like me, don’t like flavored teas, you’ll likely love this.

I started a note on this a few days ago and didn’t get it finished. I was hoping it would still be here when I was ready to finish it, but no go…. Vamoosh! It’s gone.

I’ve not been real adventurous in the citrus area when it comes to tea. My dad always used to try and make us drink iced tea and lemonade mixed together when I was a kid and we had the unfortunate timing of having them both in the fridge together at the same time…. He loved it, so thought we should too. Then, my first experience with bergamot was too much for me, so I’ve kind of been avoiding citrus and tea together.

Earlier this week, I had a cup of Three Friends, by Butiki… Loved it! The citrus was present for me, but as a nice surprise at the end of the sip, and so pleasant. I admit I had been kind of holding off on both Three Friends and this one because of their citrus notes. After trying Three Friends, I decided I was ready to venture on to something with even more citrus flavor… this one.

Dry it smells sweet and lightly of orange zest.

Steeped I got wonderfully sweet orange, nothing like the bergamot experience that was too much for me or the acidic addition of lemonade, but pleasant sweet orange loveliness with a hint of chocolate. The flavors don’t compete & it is mild and delicious. I’m glad MissB thought enough to send both of these teas my way as they were a nice introduction to orange & tea… From someone who didn’t think they would like citrus in the main flavor of their tea… Thank You!

The final cup of this one, shared with me by Lala. Nothing I would ever stock, but I am grateful for the opportunity to sample it.

I served this to one of my students & her mother, lightly sweetened. Everybody loved it! I drank a small ‘jello shot’ cup of it, & although it initially tasted a little soapy to me, when I let it sit for a minute, the soapiness went away & it was a tasty treat.
Thanks to Lala for sharing a bit of this. :)

Black tea flavored with crystallized red apple. Fannings tea, made from small broken tea leaves (fannings) from Ceylon and flavored with apple, will surprise you with its precise balance between its strong character and smooth taste.
Origin: Sri Lanka

Black tea flavored with Calabrian Bergamot and blue cornflower petals. A divine blend from the tea gardens of China, sprinkled with the much sought-after silver needle white tea, flavored with blue cornflower petals and exquisite Calabrian bergamot.
Origin: China

Honey.

Ingredients
Black tea (China), green tea (China), rose petals, flavours (red fruits, honey, strawberries).

I had some more of this the other day at work. It was good hot, but once cooled off, there is a luscious smoothness that wasn’t there before. This could go on a list of teas to have cold in the summer…

I guess the difference between this and Le Earl Grey is that the other has green tea as well?

I know… I said I wasn’t going to try any swaps lest I be tempted to buy something else. But boychik sent such an awesome swap package, I couldn’t help myself!

I have been wanting to try some of Fauchon’s teas. They all smell so awesome I have high hopes! :)

This one is the super perfumey kind of bergamot. The base wasn’t a standout, but it wasn’t bad either. Mainly this was bergamot. So if you aren’t a perfumey bergamot fan, this is not one to get. But if you are… get some! :)

1.5 tsp per 10 oz.

I have to start making a list of who sent me what. I go on my trips and bring some with and now I can’t remember who sent me what.

Anyway, this tea is good. If you like apricots, even if they give you gas, you should try this tea out. I honestly didn’t know what to expect from this tea but as soon as I steeped the tea that wonderful apricot scent came forth and I was like… whoa. It has cooled down quite a bit since breakfast but it still tastes quite good. The black tea does over power the apricot slightly but in a good way. Making sure it’s presence stays known I suppose.

I received a sample of this from bluebelle in our February swap. Thank you!

Oh this is so nice on a cold afternoon! I chose to drink about half my cup before looking at the description. I picked up a smooth black base with a fruity mint finish. The mint is a subtle taste that blends well with the black base and the fruit is just a slight hint to the finish of each sip. I do not detect floral as the description hints to. I would get a tin of this if ever the opportunity presented itself. Thank-you for sharing.

Another sipdown, this one from the BBBBox, courtesy of my steep-sister Sil.
I don’t have anything to say about it, so instead I’ll tell you that my Lily of the Valley’s are blooming! Yay!
https://www.facebook.com/terri.langerak
346

This still reminds me of vanilla wafers, with lemon added.

Sil included this one in the BBBBox, I think (or maybe it came out of the other box I have from her?). I was thinking it would be boring, LOL, but it is actually delightful! I drank part of the cup plain, & then added a pinch of stevia & that was best. It reminds me of vanilla wafers, only with a hint of lemon. Very nice, very gentle, kind of a pale treat.

Not jawdroppingly awesome but a heckuva lot better than that cat pee-smelling cassis blend, eesh.

It’s bitter, so bitter that I’m unable to drink it. I dumped the cup. I steep for 3 min 195F. Should I lower the temp more? No rating until I figure out what’s the parameters.

And also advent day 22

Glad to be sipping on one of Fauchon’s flavored blends, but I wish it were a different one than what was already in the advent. I happily drank down my first flavorful cup while playing with our new 3D printer. Trying to print enough gifts for the children for the solstice party tomorrow evening. I’ll drink down the second cup while processing the overripe and bird bitten persimmons that I picked yesterday which won’t keep for long as is.

Advent Day 3

Not my favorite Fauchon tea, but I feel like I have learned to appreciate it a bit more over the years. It still hits me with an overpowering taste of baby powder. It must be the rose vanilla combo. I have had plenty of other rose teas that don’t hit me this way, but there is something different about French flavors. For example… I love almond flavors in my teas, but French almond is a totally different take on almond than the rest of the world does. It’s a lighter baked flavor, more of an essence. If I try really hard I can pick up citrus notes under the powder and I can see how the vanilla rounds things out. It is a really well balanced tea with complex flavors, but they unfortunately don’t merge into something I’m excited about.

I have a friend who is in Paris RIGHT NOW and isn’t interested in tea shopping. It’s kind of killing me. I’d love to go back to Fauchon. I’d probably skip restocking this tea as I’m finally sipping it down now. There was more than one serving of tea left in the bag, but less than two so I dumped it all in my steeper and that was a mistake. I thought that steeping for only a minute would counter the overleafing, but it really didn’t. This cup is strong and perfumy. It has that tang that some fresh roses get and it’s overwhelming. It’s very heavy on the rose in both the sip and the finish which lingers a looooong time. This isn’t a very good send off for this tea, but at least it’s a sip down!

I guess it took seven years to learn to like this tea? Maybe the flavors settled down? Or now that I’m adding sugar I’m more open to it? I’ve been drinking this for three days straight now. Steep in concentrated in a gravity steeper and pour it over ice. It’s been really nice on hot days. The flavors are translating more to a rose almond flavor over the previous mentioned powder flavor. I can see the end of this bag happening soon at the rate I’m drinking it. Even though I’m enjoying it now, I’m not likely to buy it again since most of our relationship was spent with me resenting it.

I’m really not sure why I still have this. Hope that after a few years the flavors would morph into something I’ll actually enjoy? Feeling like I should have a better appreciation for a tea that is hard to come by? Because I like to torture myself? What ever it is, I’m still not enjoying this tea. I need to put it in my get rid of pile and plant some succulents in the tin so I don’t keep going through this every year. To it’s credit, the flavors have held out remarkably well over the years.