I remember reading cteresa’s note for this four months back and laughing so hard at the following, “…have no idea why they call it samourai, I can´t think of anything less samurai like than this tea.”
Now I’m sitting here with the remaining half of her hard-earned sample – there’s no way I can top the sheer hilarity of her review, though, so I’m not even going to try.
Scent wise, this is very lotion-from-l’Occitane, in other words, absolutely not for me. Smelling this for more than five minutes would give me a headache – it’s too medicinal. Brewed, it’s not so bad at all, much less lotiony, with hints of citrus, and with the tea base (which is quite nice) coming through distinctly. There’s a jubilant, grassy, vegetable note in there, too – I’m guessing it’s the MF bergamot – I’ve never tried theirs before.
In the cup, this just blooms. It’s very floral, and I like floral. I wouldn’t go as far as to call this a complex tea, but the tea base adheres to MF’s usual high standard (although it tastes surprisingly green to me) and I’m not having any problems finishing the cup. I also wouldn’t turn down a second cup, but I wouldn’t buy it – it simply isn’t something I crave as a staple. Maybe it’s because I’m just not samurai material.
Thanks, cteresa, for letting me try the least samurai-like tea in the world.
[Spin-off sample from the second round of the EU Travelling Box, spring 2014.]
[Sample polished off in Rome, February 2014.]
Preparation
People who liked this
Comments
Can you imagine serving this to a samurai? it´s so girly…..
Though dunno, for some reason the french (and I think mostly the french) have this whole tibetan – monks – tibetan monks naming for floral vanilla earl greys. I don´t know how accurate that is, but you got these elegant flowery teas named after Tibet and monks, maybe this is a spin off?
Glad you enjoyed it somewhat! That missing sample from the box had fallen right next to this one, had forgotten about this and thought it was a sign to liberate this!
It was definitely a sign – I remember considering asking you for the remaining half of the sample when I read the review, but I forgot. Probably too busy laughing very hard.
And I would definitely serve girly things to a samurai. Forcing preconceived, stereotypical masculinity on guys is so last year. Also let’s not forget about the onna-bugeisha, the badass warrior ladies!
But the problem of serving it to samurai is not because it is girly, it is because it is so fussy, sooo too many flowers. I was samurai aesthetic all more ascetic, purer, more simple. I would serve Adele H to a samurai I think – black with peach and pepper. Something elegant but elegant simple, not elegant fussy.
Can you imagine serving this to a samurai? it´s so girly…..
Though dunno, for some reason the french (and I think mostly the french) have this whole tibetan – monks – tibetan monks naming for floral vanilla earl greys. I don´t know how accurate that is, but you got these elegant flowery teas named after Tibet and monks, maybe this is a spin off?
Glad you enjoyed it somewhat! That missing sample from the box had fallen right next to this one, had forgotten about this and thought it was a sign to liberate this!
It was definitely a sign – I remember considering asking you for the remaining half of the sample when I read the review, but I forgot. Probably too busy laughing very hard.
And I would definitely serve girly things to a samurai. Forcing preconceived, stereotypical masculinity on guys is so last year. Also let’s not forget about the onna-bugeisha, the badass warrior ladies!
But the problem of serving it to samurai is not because it is girly, it is because it is so fussy, sooo too many flowers. I was samurai aesthetic all more ascetic, purer, more simple. I would serve Adele H to a samurai I think – black with peach and pepper. Something elegant but elegant simple, not elegant fussy.