Mariage Frères

I was pretty surprised today when I made a pot of this tea, gave it a sniff, and realized that I was in the same boat as GMathis. If you put this in front of me without telling which of my teas I had, I would be hard pressed to tell if it was Marco Polo, Tower of London, or Anna’s Blend.

The big difference comes in the sip – this base is more like what I think of as a French base, though not all French teas have it. It reminds me of the base for Rose Congou from Upton. I am finding that since I no longer take milk and sugar, I prefer the Harney teas like ToL and Paris, or Anna’s Tea from Tin Roof Teas, to this one. I am going to make an effort to finish this tin soon as it is getting on up there in age.

It is a very good and I may come back to it, but for now I am preferring Anna’s or ToL.

You could have knocked me over with a feather. Tonight, hubby looked up from his laptop and asked, “Do you still have some of that tea called Marco Polo?” Needless to say, I pretty much leapt from the sofa and zoomed to the kitchen to make it.

This is an amazing tea. It is also a finicky tea to me. Don’t oversteep or you will be disappointed. I usually go just over 2 1/2 minutes with it, but got tied up doing something else and didn’t get the leaves out until almost four minutes. It was still good, especially for hubby since he adds milk and sugar to this one. It was decent enough for me to drink it plain. I also realize my tin is getting on up there in age…pushing two years old.

I made this since he requested it, but very very soon I am going to fix a pot of Anna’s Blend from Tin Roof Teas to share with him. It is very similar but has a less fussy base, plus the yogurt flavor adds a lovely, creamy tang to the tea that really ups the interest.

Tunes: Solsbury Hill by Peter Gabriel, The Otherly Opus by Joy Electric

Hubby is off and home for lunch today, so I let him pick the tea! This is one of his favorites. He took his with milk and sugar.

The first time I tried Marco Polo I didn’t care for it. (Gasp! I know, right?). Then I read to try it with milk and sugar to bring out the strawberries and cream notes. Delicious! But my tastes have changed a lot, so I wanted to see if I like it sans additions now. I did! It was extremely smooth. One thing that was strange to me…I hadn’t picked up floral notes before and today this was very, very rosy! I had several cups and enjoyed it very much just as it was.

I am trying hard to be good and wait for my friend to come over so we can try Jenn’s honeybush teas together, but I think I am going to cave and go ahead and start tasting them tonight. The names make your mouth water!

I was especially eager for Sandy to try this one when she got back from new Zealand. I was introduced to it by the lovely and generous JacquelineM (who will be getting a box from me soon! I promise! I am packing it today!) and thought it was heavenly. Even hubby likes it, and that is saying something! Milk and sugar turn it into a bowl of strawberries and cream, with just a hint of vanilla.

I was not disappointed in her reaction. Sandy liked it as well as I did, and I am glad because she is the one who taught me the joys of loose leaf and the necessity of having more tea in the house than kinds of food!

Today I had to say good-bye again to my tea buddy as she prepares for six months in Australia. But we will be sipping tea together via Skype! God bless technology!

Sandy is just back from NZ, and had never tried this tea. We wanted a little tea time out in the lovely spring weather after Panera and I thought it would be perfect. I hadn’t had it in a while myself, and it was delightful! After drinking cup after cup of Keemun Mao Feng today this tea was a big change, but a very nice shake-up to the menu! And Sandy really seemed to like it!

Lovely, as always. I drank it first with no additions this morning, then had a cup to finish off breakfast with milk and sugar. A delightful tea!

Delicious pot of tea with hubby this morning. I do find that this tea must be drunk up right away or the last cup is bitter from sediment. That is not a hard task as good as it is! As always on this one, milk and sugar.

When JacquelineM sent me a sample tin of this a while ago, hubby would pick up the tin and sniff appreciately now and then but he was too busy at work to have tea with me and taste it. I finally got him to try it a few days ago and he LOVES it. This is a big deal since up to now he would only drink varying forms of mild Ceylon teas!

He drank a WHOLE POT with his half of the toasted Everything Bagel for lunch. How fortunate that I am getting TWO tins of it for Christmas! :) I was a little deflated, however, when he said, “Mmmm, tastes like Crunchberries.” Not exactly a high falutin’ description of a premium tea, but he DOES love Crunchberries so I supposed it is high praise!

One of my students who has tea with me each week brought a tin of this as a Christmas gift! EEEEE! I made a pot of it today and hubby tried it for the first time and guess what? HE LIKED IT! He is a man who commits to few teas, so this is an important event! Delicious, of course.

Almost finished the generous sample sent to me by JacquelineM! This is my second time having Marco Polo. Somehow I was distracted the first time I drank it, and thought it was good tea. This time…aaaahhh. I paid attention to the reviewers who said to add sugar and milk or cream to really bring out the fresh bowl of berries taste. What a lovely, delicate treat! We now have a little Tuesday tea party with a 6 year old student, her 4 year old sister, and her mom. They loved this!

A sample from JacquelineM – thank you, thank you!

Dry leaves – sniff sniff sniff. Every time he walks by the tin….my hubby is opening it and sniffing. It smells that good.

Steeping – Pouring the water over the leaves releases the strawberry aroma almost immediately. A very long five minutes ensues….

Drinking – First tried it plain, as I like to try all my new teas: very nice, light, and fruity. A genteel cup of tea, not tart at all but nicely berry flavored. I add milk before the sugar this time to see how it affects the cream aspect and don’t note a huge difference, but I only had skim and I know some people like to add real cream to this one. A dash of sugar, and let it cool for a minute and you really release the flavors. Aahhhhhh.

I picked this up myself but am terrified to open it and enjoy it. LOL One day I will break down and pull this treasure to pieces. Perhaps I will save it for retirement… only 8 years away. Lord.

Will post more later…

This is one of those that stands out to me as special, so I don’t have it that much. Today I decided to go for it, and am having several cups. What a nice start to the day.

I was in another town today (giving my last presentation until October!!) and stopped by a store I had never visited but had heard had a great tea selection. And wow, they did! I picked up several things from my shopping list as well as a few things that I hadn’t heard of. And I found this! A friend let me have a little of hers a few years ago. Back then I was interested in tea, but not near the degree that I am now. I’d been looking for it since, and had about come to the conclusion that I’d have to order it from France. So yay for A Southern Season in Chapel Hill, NC!

I was so excited that I didn’t want to underdo it, so I think I might have used too many leaves for this first cup. It’s still amazing, but not quite what I remember. A little sugar makes up for it, though. :)

It’s nutty and flowery. Not quite sure what to make of it. I only had a 1tsp sample that came from overseas in a swap. There’s a bit of a bitter edge to it, but I may have oversteeped since the color was somewhat light (chestnut brown) so I went all the way to 5 min. Smelt very sweet, like caramel/vanilla and honey, but only the flowery taste seemed to come through. Added a bit of sugar and almond milk. Wouldn’t go out of my way to have it again.

I forgot how enjoyable this tea can be. Perfect for today… the end of a long trip and it just might off-set my driving cramps. (Earned from a 12 hour drive with no drinking or bathroom breaks. Don’t try it yourself… invest in Astronaut Diapers. LOL)

Not your typical in your face flavored black tea by Mariage Freres. Floral and charming and a beautifully done black tea which I will have to spend more time on… or with? :)

A good, solid black tea blend. Unlike English or Irish breakfast blends, though, this seemed a bit two-dimensional to me. I did not detect the flavors of chocolate and malt.

It’s ok this tea. I love the way it smells, really, really awesome. But it is too much perfume for me. It is too heavily scented.

This is a tea for the holidays! It is heavy in flavor and screams for a dash of milk. I taste orange, cinnamon and perhaps clove… who knows! It possesses many if not all the spices I use as a base in my oatmeal cookies. But it has the familiarity of a cinnamon and spice air spray by Glade and this to some might be quite the turn on. Who knows?

At any rate, after a return from sea and seeking comfort in a cup of tea at home… I should have stuck to the tried and true. However being me, I tried a new path… or tea. I shall try this again when the grumbles of recent travels have calmed and I am sure to provide some insightful remarks.

I can safely say that despite its wild taste of holiday festivus, it is a pleasant tea not bitter or grumpy. Very unlike its taster… I am sure it will forgive me. :)
Until my second cup then…