THE O DOR

No notes yet.

Thank you Barbara for sending me this sample!
It’s fruity, it’s floral, it’s something I can’t quite put my finger on. The smell of this tea brewed didn’t really stand out as anything unique, but the taste has much more depth to it. At first I thought I was tasting peaches, but now as I taste a slight perfume like freshness on the sides of my tongue, I’m thinking roses. Not the overdone synthetic perfume rose flavor, but a true fresh rose petal flavor. The more sips I take, the stronger it tastes. My mouth feels a little dry after each sip with inviting me to drink more.

Now I’m reading the description of the tea to see what the flavors were… fig and lotus! Fig?! I mistook fig for roses? Now that I know what that flavor was, I can clearly taste how it is fresh fig off the tree, reminding me of how much of my childhood I spent up a fig tree. It amuses me that fig and rose have similar taste qualities, something I had never linked in my head before and I wonder how well they would pair.

This tea is really well rounded and has a rich quality to the taste that I enjoyed to the last sip. I’m intrigued by the unique ingredients, but I think I need to have another cup before I give it a rating.

Finishing off this. Mostly tea dust by the end of it. The last cup is usually the sweetest; I steeped this at two minutes and it came out very smooth compared to usually. First sip vanilla sweetness, later sips bringing in the jasmine and bergamot. Base tastes more black than green this time around, but it was mostly black fannings at the bottom of the tin.

I bought this tea because the ingredients and the smell reminded me of The au Tibet, of which Cteresa so kindly sent me a sample and which I really liked.

These teas are similar in some respects but certainly not the same.

Starting with the basis: both teas contain vanilla, bergamot and jasmine. The HT adds marigold and uses a base of black and green tea. The TT adds mandarin orange and rose and uses a base of black tea.

Although the vanilla and jasmine are very recognizable in both teas, they vere into entirely different directions taste wise.

In the HT the vanilla is really in the forefront, both scent and tastewise. De jasmine prevents the brew becoming too sweet. The bergamot and marigold aren’t really recognizable, at least not to me (actually I don’t even know what marigold smells and tastes like). The tea is warm, sweet and comforting in character. The floral notes remain in the background.

In the TT on the other hand the floral notes – and especially the rose – are at the forefront. Together with the black tea base this makes for an edgier tea with a slight smokey feeling. The vanilla is cetainly present but seems to be in a supporting role rather than a leading one. As the tea cools the vanilla becomes more noticeable btw.

It’s really great to see how two teas with for a great part the same ingredients can be so different in character. They actually aren’t comparable at all :-)

I like both teas. For the TT that’s something, as I actually don’t like rose in my tea and usually try to avoid rose scented teas. The HT is more of a ‘happy feeling’ tea as the TT is more elegant and sophisticated. Being a sweet tooth I’d probably choose the HT over the TT most times, but I can imagine that being different for others.

Prep details: HT 80 C/ 4:30 min & TT 95 C/ 4:30 min

Rating is for HT only. I’ll post this review under TT too and give it’s rating there.

Thank you Cteresa for this sample. It sure is a win.
This is a very mellow rooibos, a bit sweet and so easy to drink that the pot shows up empty before I could even realize it.
The almond flavor is really surprising, as if only the most tender center part of it had been used after being peeled and scrubbed. I really wonder whether there’s not some vanilla in there to make the brew feel so creamy.
Strawberries and rapsberries, I think so, but it’s an undertone to the sweet almond.
I also brewed a cup of rooibos des vahines, almond-vanilla, to compare it to Carpe Diem. Carpe Diem has more subdued flavors and those are a bit more diversified. The almond is definitely way sweeter and less bitter. And I can really taste a stronger vanilla flavor in Carpe Diem than in the other.
I’ll definitely go and buy some during my next trip to Paris.

still loving it as much. Just a small note to add that while I can not bear to throw the leaves away after just one steep, the second steep is never as good as the first – maybe tweaking first brew would change that, but I love the first steep so very very much I am not changing it at all. A definite rebuy, getting to the very bottom edges of the tin.

I recieved a very generous sample of The du Loup today when buying yet another tin of Theodor. I’m starting to feel like some kind of repeat record, but what a great tea! Considering that I have never liked a chocolate tea before, that’s saying something. Somehow this blend just works.

With other chocolate teas my overall feeling always used to be that it tries to substitute hot chocolate (the: this-is-good-for-your-diet-and-if-you-could-only-believe-it-preferable-to-the-real-thing). With this tea I don’t have that feeling. Of course it’s has a strong chocolate flavour and – especially – smell and isn’t ‘the real thing’, but it has such an own identity that I don’t feel cheated by the fact.

I’ll definately be buying this one!

I must say that Theodor at present is my favourite brand for flavoured teas.

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.

Well, I had been warned by Barbara that this was a “delicate” flavour. Which is an euphemism for the flavour being rather weak. And it is, or rather the flavour is rather weak in the middle , in the mouth feel. It smells sublime, like strawberry jam or cheesecake with strawberry jam. And it leaves a wonderful aftertaste. It´s just those middle taste notes which seem surprisingly absent.

Barbara so kindly swapped a huge ammount with me so i have been experimenting with brewing this. This was on my wish list, and if I had smelled it I would have been sure to have bought it. Experimenting with brewing, and torturing this a bit (almost boiling water, long steep times) and like all Theodor teas I have had so far, oh this is nice and smooth, so easy to brew and difficult to spoil. There is a dry-ness (in the sense of dry wine) to the tea I find very appealing and refreshing. I am really enjoying it. I am just continously baffled by those absent middle notes.

My favorite way of brewing this is 1.5 teaspoons of dry leaf, water just short of boiling water and some 5 minutes. It survives that with distinction and very little astringency.

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 !!!

This was an extra sample from a swap with Barbara78, thank you so much, oh it was a lovely surprise. One I had to try at once.

I was in a total chai phase a couple months ago (cappuccino frother included) which seems to be abating – I decided to brew this western style instead in order to judge better.

And it is a great chai while being very different from my till-now definitive chai (Chandernagor). Like it, it has cloves! I love cloves in chai, it can add an extra dimension to all the other spices. Here it is more subtle. I can detect cinnamon as well, and ginger definitely. As well as vanilla. It is a perfectly balanced tea. Barbara found chocolate-like notes on it, I did not but must brew it again.

I am finding a certain quality to Thé-o-dor´s flavoured black teas, something I am struggling to describe but which I find very enjoyable, a certain on-the-exact edge balance of flavours with tea, nothing ever too strong nor too weak, a certain “just right”. And this is another winner!

When I smelled this tea dry I wasn’t overly enthousiastic. It smelled nice, but also a bit nauseating. However I’d decided I wanted a green tea with melon, so this was going to be it and boy am I happy with my choice! Brewed the smell is simply: wow! I’m in heaven and I haven’t even drunk it yet. The smell is really incredible. Although Meliorate comments on the peach flavour, I smell melons, melons, wonderful melons…

It tastes first and foremost of melons. I wonder about the green tea base. It is very delicate and mellow. Absolutely no astringency there. I get a hint of other flavours but would be hard pressed to identify them. Perhaps I wouldn’t even have noticed if I didn’t already know there are also peaches and raspberries in there.

The salesperson said this tea also makes a good iced tea and based on how it tastes hot, I expect it will (and I’m very fussy about iced tea).

Have you ever seen Hell’s Kitchen? There always is an episode in which the candidates have to taste various dishes blindfolded. More often than not de candidates can’t even recognize the most ordinary foods. That’s how I’m feeling now.

I smell the tea and think to myself: I know these smells, but can’t name them. Apart from that, I seem to smell something chocolate-ish, but according to the list of ingredients on the tin it isn’t or shouldn’t be in there…? I’ve browsed the net but can’t find any further specification. If I ever missed the full ingrients list on the website of The O Dor…

It smells sweet and spicey. The sweet will probably be the vanilla, although I don’t really recognize it as such. It melds very nicely with the more spicey spices in there, amongst which clove (and assuming vanilla is officially also a spice?). Perhaps that it is the combination that gives the chocolate-ish feel.

The base consists of a medium bodied black tea which balances nicely with the spices.

All in all a keeper!

A great straight tea with a sweet and somewhat ‘hay-ish’ taste. It reminds me of meadows on a hot summer afternoon a few hours after being mowed.

One tip however: don’t follow the brewing time. It’s way too long in my opinion and results in a rather ‘heavy’ taste, which is totally strange for a white tea…

I bought this with a (sadly slight) discount about 2 months ago. Expiration date was March 2013. Even if this tin was just 80 grams, I expected it would last well past the expiration date – but I am not too fussy about that for tins which have been sealed for most of their consume-by date and if it´s not flavoured green teas.

But it seems this tin is not going to last to March! I have given a few samples, and it was just 80 grams, but even making this last by having two steeps, it´s going quite fast indeed (second steep is not as magical. but still better than a lot of my other teas).

I am rationing it a bit, but whenever I crave it and make it, I subconsciously expect it is not as awesome as I remember, but it always is. A really huge favorite of mine and one it is going to my definite to rebuy list (no matter the price!).

About taste notes, this is a multiple personality tea – many different notes, all subtle and evasive (it all works somehow!). Today I am getting a sort of minty tones to the wet leaves and a very buttery silkyness to the tea.

You have to be careful to brew this tea according to the instruction or the lotus and fig will not be noticeable. However with correct brewing temp and time it’s a wonderful and very refined tea.

I recently discovered Theodor and love the unique and often experimental flavouring and their packaging. I’m less thrilled by the fact that instead of lists of ingredients the website only gives a characterisation of the tea by way of a ‘story’ which does not always include a full recounting of the ingredients.

This tea smells better than it tastes.

The smell is marvellous. It reminds me of muffins and cakes.

The taste is somewhat lighter than I’d expected. The vanilla is noticeable, the strawberries not so much. Hence the first line.

Overall a good tea, but I’m not sure I’ll be buying it again. Bought four tins of Theodor recently (Place Saint Marc, Saigon, Milky Oolong and J.E. Yin Zhen [Silver Needles]) and this tin is still – by far – the fullest.

Edit: Unfortunately I feel compelled to lower the rate on this one. Every time I brew a cup of tea I’m disappointed by the very light taste (or should that be delicate?) in comparison to the great smell. Tin is still – by far – the fullest… Won’t be buying it again and am considering giving it away.

At present my favourite tea especially with a slice of homemade white bread with red jam.

The scent is very distinctive. I love it but can’t accurately discribe it. Never smelled anything quite like it before. Someone commented that the smell is typical of oolongs. As this is my first oolong I can’t second that.

The taste is very smooth, sweet and buttery. In stead of leaning towards vegetal, is has a somewhat nutty basis (very faint). It also reminds me a bit of avocado’s, not in terms of exact taste, but rather in a likeness of character.

No notes yet.

The wolf, the big bad wolf is as sweet as any golden retriever and a perfect gentleman, oh I do love it.

It´s chocolate and hazelnut tea, on itself a wonderful idea, but not a sickly sweet combination, more like dark chocolate type. And magically the underlying tea can stand up to the flavor, without being bitter, tanninic (or since I experimented having it at night, not too much caffeine I think). And it is one of those magic flavored teas where I can be so careless when brewing it, it is not fussy about temperature or steeping times. I love this wolf tea, and everybody who I have served it to seems to love it as well, this is not going to last very long here. A re-buy for sure.

I got a sample of this tea from T (thank you again!). What can I say that she hasn’t said already? Almost nothing, so I’ll just say that I loved the peach and that I agree that it is lovely tea for cold winter days (and damn it, it is COLD here tonight!).
On a side note: my mother’s comment: “It’s too sweet”. Yeah, I’m still baffled by that too… maybe the peach?

No notes yet.

This was an unexpected arrival, not the mate I wanted. I wanted toasted mate with red fruits, this is green mate with citrus and kola. But I now got 100 grams of it, not going to waste it.

I brewed it according to instructions, 75C for 3 minutes, a generous teaspoon of leaf per cup. And it is really quite nice, tastes of a blend of several citrus fruits with no underlying nasty notes from the mate, just a sort of nice base underneath.

It´s going to take me a few hours to judge properly the caffeine-like effects. And I think this might be very interesting brewed in cold water like tereré-style, except now is winter and cold drinks are not sounding that appealing! But if I still have some of this when summer comes, i got to try it cold brewed!