Mélange des Chérubins

I think, after what happened friday and yesterday, we all need a bit of a calming cup. The actual drama bit wasn’t particularly nice, but I appreciated the things that were brought to light afterwards. It was very informative.

So here’s my calming cup. This one came to me from Dinosara. It has blood orange, chocolate and hazelnut in it. That sounds like a rather wonderful combination, doesn’t it? I can’t believe it was allowed to sit and be almost forgotten in my cupboard. (I think it’s because of the french name. I don’t speak french, so it doesn’t stick in my head.

I shared it with the boyfriend, who thought it smelled like christmas. I can sort of see where he gets that from, but personally I think it just smells like sweets. It’s very heavy on the chocolate and hazelnut in the aroma. Like a melted chocolate bar. I’m not sure I can find any orange in the aroma, because I can’t work out if what I’m smelling is really just another aspect of the hazelnut.

With the aroma being so thick and heavy, it’s almost a surprise to take a sip and find it not having the texture of aforementioned melted chocolate bar. Instead I find the orange is coming through here on the first half of the sip and then the rest of it being all hazelnutty astringency. I’m not sure about the chocolate, though. I can’t really peg it down but I feel like it’s there somewhere. Or rather, I feel like there would definitely be a difference if it wasn’t there, if you know what I mean.

This is not nearly as sweet as I was initially expecting, but apart from the very initial disappointment about this, I have come to decide that it’s probably for the best. If it had been sweet, I think it would quickly just have become rather cloying.

As I made a large pot to share with the male of the household, I used all the leaves I had been sent. Had I not done that, I might have used the rest in an experiment involving vanilla. (Lately I find that it’s all sorts of fun adding vanilla black to… everything.)

Paris has come to New Jersey! Dinosara was the kindest, most generous world traveler ever, and sent me some of her Paris teas from Mariage Freres and Dammann Freres! I didn’t know where to start! I bet she thought I was kidding when I said I was going to do eenie meenie miney moe to decide, but that is what I really did! (but I said "catch a Frenchman by the toe! instead of a monkey. Monkeys are for Chinese teas!)!

So, the Frenchman chose this one!

Divine Decadence! I taste a nutty, chocolatey tea taste, and then PING the orange on the end of the sip. It’s really delightful, round, and yes, decadent. It’s amazing how sweetly satisfying it is sans additions!

I did my first steep at 3 minutes, and there was a little thinness. For my second steep, I put in a little more leaf, took it to four minutes, and yes. There it is. French Perfection! No bitterness, no astringency, great flavor. I love it.

I must say, though, it certainly makes me not want to work! It’s making me dreamy! I want to sit on a park bench and read and watch the world go by when I sip something so lovely. Ah!

Tea of the completely wrong time of the day…..I don’t usually drink tea in the evening, so lets hope I can go to sleep later…..

Tea 21 of 24……..This is from Dinosara from her world travels, and I feel so lucky to have a chance to sample the teas she brought back from Paris. Thank you! I usually find blood orange to be overpowering, but in this tea it is perfectly balanced with the chocolate and the tea base. I could not detect the hazelnut as a standout flavor, but I do think it was kind of the flavor that smoothed all the other flavors together, rather than being able to taste each on its own. I am definitely much more impressed with the flavored teas from Dammann Freres than the flavored ones from Marriage Freres.

I think this was the only chocolate tea I bought in Europe, despite having several on my list. I love chocolate and orange together, and when you throw in some nuts too I had to choose this one. The dry leaf smells a bit like Florence (from Harney) with orange added. There’s some bits of orange peel, some cornflower petals, and a few nut bits mixed in with the black tea.

Brewed, the aroma is similar to the dry leaf, although I’d say that it smells even more like Florence, and the orange note isn’t as strong. But I’m definitely still getting it in the background, adding a fruity note. That chocolate hazelnut aroma is definitely the primary one, though.

It’s truly amazing the similarities to Florence in this one. Toasty chocolate (but not overly toasted, like I feel chocolate teas often are), nutty hazelnut, but this one has this extra oomph that comes from the orange. I feel like I want to steep this one a bit longer and see what flavors develop further; it’s certainly tasty as is, but it’s also not bitter at all and I bet more orange would come out with longer steeping. If so, I could see this tea being amazing; right now it’s really delicious, but not different enough from Florence to warrant reordering from Paris when I run out!

Another one from Doulton! I was spoiled!!!! Thanks!!!

This is a medium strength black flavored tea. I can taste the nut and hint of chocolate. There is a sweet citrus which I could account for the blood orange! YUM! This is D-lish!