Mariage Frères

The all-faves birthday week tea consumption concept clearly calls for some more Mariage Frères. If you’re still on the fence about getting this, and like Cookie, or if you’re on the fence about getting Cookie, and like this – Cookie is like Wedding Impérial with popcorn.

Now I’m off to pick up cakes number 1, 2 and 3 so I can spoil the staff tomorrow. They really are the very best and take care of me so well.

Steeped, and re-steeped. It just gets better.

I suppose the time has come for me to confess I’m not a big fan of the kind of ‘dessert tea’ that contains large chunks of chocolate and caramel and whatnot. I’d rather just have a hot chocolate, complete with rum and whipped cream and vanilla extract and all the decadent little trimmings. I do love flavoured teas, but it has to be subtle – aside from the occasional petal and delicate piece of fruit, I want the magic to be all in the leaves.

So holy hell am I excited about this tea. It smells SO good dry. So good. I could sniff this all day. And steeped? This is full-on malty caramel chocolate fudge decadence in a cup.

It doesn’t have the masterful complexity of Pleine Lune, but it’s definitely up there with the smoothest, lushest of the Mariage Frères blacks. In addition, this is a tea I look forward to experimenting with. I got no bitterness at 4 minutes, but definitely hints of coffee; that’s how much punch the main flavours pack. A shorter steeping time might very well result in a subtler, lighter brew.

Only on the rarest of occasions do I put milk in my tea, but this is definitely one I’d like to try it with – maybe even as an iced milk tea.

Very worthwhile re-steep.

(ETA: It just gets smoother as it cools. This is seriously tasty tea.)

[Surreptitiously acquired from Mariage Frères in London, August 2013.]

This was just as beautiful as the last time around – a light, elegant, floral pick-me-up.

It’s struck me on several occasions that many of these greens from Mariage Frères would probably be excellent iced, but somehow they appeal to me more brewed hot. I think back at chilly winters in Paris, I guess, whereas Lupicia’s greens are all Hawaii to me and hence my favourites to ice.

I wish it were possible to redrink all these teas for the first time, entirely without the shackles of mnemonic, emotional and spatial attachments; to crumble and toss away the madeleine, if you will.

But, then again, that would lessen the experience. Beauty lies all in the context, after all.

So what do you do when you have a self-imposed ban on buying more teas? Outsmart yourself, of course. Maybe one of your friends has a small debt to repay. Perhaps said friend is going on a trip. Maybe, just maybe, you refuse cash, but suggest your friend repay you in tea instead?

This is all hypothetical, of course, but there’s no denying the eight new teas that have mysteriously turned up in my cupboard, seven of them from Mariage Frères. I drank Marco Polo (black) first, but I need some more time to ponder that, so this will be my first note from this batch.

The best way for me to describe this is as a more refined, subtle Bravissimo! (Lupicia), which is high praise indeed, seeing as that’s my favourite green tea at the moment. On the other hand, I find Bravissimo’s lack of sophistication very endearing – in fact, I’d say that very exuberance is one of the greatest qualities of Lupicia’s tea.

But this is still so, so good. The balance of the various floral notes is very well achieved, and right at the end there’s that little triumphant, unexpected flavour (‘Surprise!’) that makes for a lovely aftertaste.

[Surreptitiously acquired from Mariage Frères in London, August 2013.]

Dry leaves are mixed with flower petals and give off a very dry, flowery smell – reminds me of herbariums. Not the kind of scent I want tea to have. Steeped, it still gives off the same aroma, but the taste is completely different. The floral accents are just the surface. Beneath lies a very strong, very tasty black tea, full-bodied. Kind of like if you mix a Yunnan black tea without the astringency and bite, and a Dianhong without the fruitiness. Not sure if this makes sense. What I mean is that if you like Chinese black teas, give this one a try as well.

I just ordered this untasted from Mariage Freres and it is everything I hoped it would be from the description, which isn’t always the case. It is masterfully blended so that no note stands out to me from the rest, instead it has its own unique quality, which is something I love in perfume as well.

This is my Holy Grail of Earl Grey tea. It stands head and shoulders above the rest, and it must be the tea base that separates it from the rest, as the other Earl Greys from Mariage Freres taste much simpler somehow. I am sure that it is more heavily flavored with Bergamot than the other EG’s as well, but that can’t be the only difference. Whenever I serve this tea to someone, they always say “What IS this tea?” It is unique and intense and wonderful in every way.

Mariage Frères are characteristically coy with their descriptions. Their website claims Hunan, but my sources tell me this is similar to Anhui’s Huo Shan Huang Ya (Yellow Sprouts). Whatever the origin, this is a difficult tea to make, or at least I found it to be so. Strictly 75 degrees Celsius, and keep the cup/teapot open so that the water is cooling down as the tea is steeping. And it’s properly steeped after about a minute. Keep it steeping for a longer time and it loses most of its aroma and taste, and becomes an average green tea. I think I only got this two times out of ten.

But the results, oh the results! Impossibly beautiful flavor and aroma, gentle and full-bodied at the same time, layer upon layer of different kinds of sweet and floral taste and smell. And if you keep the wet leaves after steeping, they give off a yet another kind of sweetness. Breathtaking, really. Just very demanding to make.

It’s the third time I’ve tried this tea, and it doesn’t quite work for me. Its dry leaves have an absolutely wonderful aroma, malty, with chocolate and cookies, and cornflowers, and I don’t know what else. Very rich and promising. But I can’t get it out through steeping – being a Britain-inspired tea, this gets very strong very quickly, and I can’t feel too many of those flavors. I’ve taken it with milk today, and while it was substantially better, the tea still doesn’t fulfill the promise made by that aroma.

This is not a super juicy Passionfruit, it is a bit dry, which is to my liking but it “needs something” IMHO. I added a drop of Vanilla, the kind of Vanilla gel we have here in France, which softened and balanced it a bit. I will be blending this with other teas to give them a Passionfruit kick.

I bought Jamaïque 1 month ago when the weather was so hot : 37°c and the Mariage Salesman told me he was wondering HOW I can pick up and choice this tea (flavoured Vanilla and rum) by such a weather :)

I haven’t had it since today and I didn’t have paid attention to the tea description and left it steep for 2 minutes >>>>O_O<<<< ohohohohohoho lucky me ! it is almost bitter ! this is surely an Assam…the kind of used with Wedding Impérial…the capricious to brew !!!

Cooling the little bitterness disappeared and I have a pleasant cup, robust with a creamy and delightful vanilla and of course, in a supportive role only RUM.
That’s delicious, I’m waiting forward to try tomorrow with 1 minute and a half brewing time , I’m sure it would be absolutely perfect.
I’m so happy MF used such an high personnalitea base for its Jamaïque.

I hope now the rum contained here would just kill the unglorious mosquitos who are driving me mad since 2 weeks now ! My legs, my arms are just a battlefield and I’m losing this war.
We often say in French : ce n’est pas la petite bête qui va manger la grosse (it’s not the small beast who is going to eat the big one- meaning it’s more scared of you than you are of it) in my case the small ones are really eating me, help me rum !!!

I think this is one of the more interesting teas in the “Les Calligraphies du thé” collection, and also one that is very easy to miss. This is because anise seeds give it a very strong fragrance that completely overpowers everything else, so there’s almost nothing to be gained from smelling the dry leaves. You have to steep it like a well oxidized oolong, in nearly boiling water, and then the real flavor comes out – a complex green tea somewhat reminiscent of classic Chinese green teas. Very difficult to describe, but perhaps like Pi Lo Chun without the smokiness. Anise plays a crucial part, bonding extremely well with the bouquet and not overshadowing any of the other flavors. Interestingly, this tea seems best when drunk quite hot, unlike most green teas.

This aromatic tea has a mellowness from the toasted leaves that softens the almond and passionfruit essences. I might prefer my passionfruit a bit sharper — I am a huge fan which is what drew me to this tea — but I am finding the warmth of the cinnamon (very mild), the slight acidity of the passionfruit and the coolness of the almond quite intriguing.

That’s funny, do you know where I get this tea ? I almost have won it !

Last year, during the kermesse (this the name we use in France for a school party at the end of the year)at my daughter’s school, there was a lottery and I never play lottery.But my daughter’s best friend and her mother Karin do and they won this tea…I was just like ohhhhhh you have won tea ! how fantastic ! and it is a Mariage Frères Tea ! Karin told me she didn’t care for tea and never drink tea and she offered me her prize :)

I have forgotten it in my cupboard since but now I am trying to drink more and more straight teas, I decided to have it.

The dry leaves are made of mixed leaves and colours : white (silver tips), green, brown and I can see some jasmin flowers too. Very beautiful. The leaves are from different sizes as well, some are cut, other are full.

The colour of the liquor is really clear and very pale brown.
The taste is flowery but pure jasmin, without any essentiel oil around, the tea base is pleasant, present but I’m happy I have steeped the leaves 2 min only because it may become bitter with 3 min.
2 min are fine, no astringency but a real personnality : not smooth, not mellow but refined, medium bodied (low tannins to my opinion)

I love the way the jasmin flowers come here and how their taste lingers after drinking.

I’ve been drinking this at breakfast the last few mornings, as I’m off work and able to relax and enjoy myself a bit. The scent of the dry leaves is just amazing — if I didn’t know better, I’d have mistaken it for cocoa powder. It’s intensely chocolatey, with drier notes of cacao and the sweetly malty typical “black tea” scent running underneath. Brewed, this is just as amazing. The chocolate carries through into the flavour really well, adding a bittersweet touch to what is otherwise a sweet, deeply rich cup. Very satisfying, and very indulgent. If this is what mornings can taste like, I’ll be looking forward to them from now on! Amazing.

Meh. I’ve had better rose teas (Harney & Sons’ Rose Scented blows this out of the water). It’s not bad, it’s just so shy. If you decide to make a rose tea, make it a great rose tea – GO TO TOWN. This isn’t fragranced enough for me, though it’s still pleasant. It reminds me of May in Wharton’s The Age of Innocence – timid little thing who does what’s expected, a pale pink rose – and I like my rose teas to be like Ellen – a grand posy of gorgeous red roses – if that means anything to you. Can’t say I don’t like it but it’s not a favourite.

second steep, less steep time (2 min) it is really better. As promised by the salesman I get strong honey notes.
A little astringency remains, I need to play more with this tea (I bought 50g as it was quite an expensive tea 16,50 €/100g and wanted to be sure I like it before buying more)
I think asap I’ll find the right way to brew it for my taste it can be a staple.

brewed 4 minutes at 95°c(in place of 5 preconised by MF) it’s very bitter…otherwise the tea seems really nice…pfffff I was SURE I shouldn’t buy an assam. I’ll retry with 2 minutes and retain for now my rating.

This one came from a sample I requested with my Mariage Frères order today in the shop Place de la Madeleine.
This is something I dislike with MF, the fact they NEVER propose any sample even if you have bought 3 or 4 teas (and even if you buy more…), if you request one or 2 they would add them to your pretty bag Mariage of course but from a trade view I cannot understand them : why do they wait the client to request, why don’t they propose systematically to gain another possible sale the next time if the customer had appreciated the sample ? Bizarre…vous avez dit bizarre…comme c’est étrange…

So I requested this one because and only because of its name, it was reminding me l’élixir de longue vie from Honoré de Balzac that’s the only reason, I didn’t know what the ingredients were.

The dry leaf scent was absolutely strong on sweetness.
Immediately after steeping, it was a kind of bitterness, cooling it disappeared (thanks God !)

I wasn’t able to drink it hot but only warm because of an over perfume-y taste.Too strong on the essential oils for my taste.
Cooling, it was a very acceptable and decent tea, high on aromas of flowers (rose and lotus in the leading roles) and on fruit (citrus, even if I was not certain to recognize really bergamot, it probably was + orange-probably a bitter one.

Vanilla was lingering on aftertaste and gave this tea a kind of festive intonation.

Something was disturbing me with this tea,it may have been the presence of lotus as I already noticed some teas with lotus were not among my favourite.