Marco Polo

My all time favorite along with Les Classique

I don’t actually own this tea, I only ever drink it if I am in a Mariage Frères teahouse and have the opportunity to drink it at my leisure, when they have brewed it to perfection for me!
This tea is clearly very very popular, so I won’t go and review it again, we all know the blend is awesome and special.
For anyone who likes this tea, I would strongly recommend:
Thé Blanc Marco Polo
Thé Vert Marco Polo
Marco Polo Rouge
And finally, Sablés au Thé, au Saveur du Marco Polo Noir – these are “tea biscuits”, flavoured with the original marco polo tea flavourings, but they aren’t sweet or savory, just somewhere in between – one of these goes perfect with your first cup of Marco Polo of the day! They are available on the Mariage Frères website: http://www.mariagefreres.com/boutique/FR/fa+sables-au-the-marco-polo+E33.html
Voila, enjoy!

This was my first experience trying tea from Mariage Frères. I’ve been looking for a good flavoured black tea that is both comforting and uplifting at the same time. I was drinking a lot of oolong tea and straight blacks, but other than that I had basically converted to coffee because I thought that no tea could ever match the boldness of a good cup of coffee. Then Marco Polo sailed into my life and I was blown away. This tea really changed everything I thought I knew about tea. It’s fruity, flowery, creamy, and soft all at once with no bitterness and a pleasant aftertaste.

I start with about 80 mL of half & half cream and two flat teaspoons of sugar, then enough brewed tea to fill my 16 oz travel mug. Cream and sugar complements Marco Polo exquisitely. It tastes like a fruity dessert, like a strawberry spongecake, except in liquid form. It’s velvety over the tongue and extremely smooth. There’s a bit of a floral afterbite the lingers for a moment in between sips. The feeling that I get from drinking this tea is out of this world. I thought no tea could be bold enough to match coffee, but I went through 100 g of Marco Polo in just under two weeks and didn’t even touch my stovetop espresso maker once. I recently ordered more from Mariage Frères and was absolutely amazed that it traveled from Paris to my doorstep in a mere three days! Now I am back in strawberry velvet heaven and never want to leave (pardon the pun).

I can see why this blend has made Mariage Frères famous, or more specifically, their current president Kitti Cha Sangmanee. Certainly, if I came up with something this good, I’d want recognition too. This tea is incredibly versatile. I’ve had it first thing in the morning, I’ve had it between meals, I’ve had it after dinner. In fact I just had it after a bowl of lobster bisque and it went perfectly well. My head felt kind of sludgy this morning, but now I feel sharp as a tack after drinking this tea. You could say that this review for Marco Polo tea is sponsored in part by the tea itself.

This tea is art. Sometimes when I drink it, I can peer into myself and feel something strange. It conjures up thoughts of existentialism and self-reflexive meditation, sometimes only for a few seconds at a time. Then I snap out of it and smile, slightly, because for no explainable reason I instantly feel better about the world. Wow.

I was given a teabag of this by one of my co-workers. It’s pretty good, very floral in flavor and it’s kind of nutty to me. I like it but I don’t think I would buy it for myself.

I’ve had a long relationship with this tea. When we first met, I thought it was the most amazing thing ever. (I’m sure being introduced in a friend’s gorgeous flat in Paris helped.)

This is a perfumed tea. To me, it requires sugar, though I’m not sure milk would work.

As I’ve moved to more natural flavors, I drifted away from Marco Polo. But lately, I’ve returned. Perhaps not as enamored, but still really glad to have it. Would I restock when I’m next at Mariage Freres? Unsure. But I would eagerly gift it to a tea-loving friend.

This was one of the first Mariage Freres teas that I tried and I remember not enjoying the cup all that much. Tastes do change over time, though, so I’m giving it another go. The scent of this tea reminds me very much of strawberry shortcake. I can smell the tart strawberry, the cream and the cake!

Sipping… ooh, this is so tasty! I have to wonder what my tastebuds were doing the last time I drank this. I did add milk to this cup, but no sugar and I do remember adding both to my cup last time. I’ve realized that I can’t really tolerate sugar in tea, but milk can make all the difference. I love that I can detect the tangy sweetness of the berries and enjoy the creaminess at the same time. The black tea doesn’t disappear either, which is nice. It adds a nice sort of maltiness to the cup. Mmm. I can see myself buying more of this in the future. How yummy!

Dark dry leaves smell like strawberry jam, as does the steeped tea. Full-bodied, strawberry-fruit flavored, although not as sweet as I expected. Almost a coffee-like back note that is most pleasant in the morning. I will try steeping longer and adding milk/sugar as others have done for evening dessert!

This has black tea and as far as I can tell strawberries and vanilla. This smells mostly like vanilla. I brewed this up. And you can taste a slightly tannic black tea with vanilla and a hint of strawberry. The strawberry in here in nice while I can not taste I’t alot. The vanilla you can really taste but to me it tastes to artifical this really I’s just ok to me.

Berlin Café MELT CARAMEL: i was told about a Café that serves mariage frères and when i went i realized they only had one tea: the Marco Polo.
As i usually never drink flavored tea i was very sceptical but gave it a try. It is wonderful. There is something salty in there that goes great with the sweetness. I like the boldness of only offering one black tea and appreciate the excellent choice.

So delicious. Exotic and flowery. I like it with two cubes of sugar and a splash of almondmilk.