Palais des Thés

Sipdown, 163. Cold brew.

I apparently thought this was a different tea when I put it in to cold steep last night… for some reason I thought it was the des Songes blend, with oolong, but nope, it’s des Sables. I probably would have steeped it with less leaf if I had realized that. Unfortunately this didn’t come out very tasty and I stopped drinking it about halfway through. Too strong, too grassy, to over-flavored. Just too much, really. Meh.

Man, it has been one of those days where I have been doing things nonstop, but none of it seems to be my work. And now the day is almost over already! At least I have a chance to sit and have a cup of tea now.

This is definitely a tea I was interested in trying, as they make a big deal about the rose in the tea. It’s also supposed to be flavored with citrus and “yellow” fruits (the description on the insert in the box), which I was wondering about but I see from the description on here that those would be peach and mango. The dry leaf smells fruity and a bit floral and generally French, so I know it’s going to be that kind of blend. The kind that there’s a lot going on in them, but they’re well blended and slightly difficult to suss all the flavors out.

I’m really liking the scent of the steeped tea. There mango and florals are combining in such a way that it almost comes out as jasmine. It’s a deep, rich type of jasmine though, the kind I encountered in China not in the form of pearls but the plain jasmine greens. Some of them seem to have some alternate form of jasmine that I hadn’t encountered before. In any case this tea doesn’t have any jasmine so it’s a bit of a red herring.

At first I wasn’t super impressed by the flavor on this one but it’s growing on me. There’s definitely a floral bent to the whole thing, with some light fruity, peachy notes underneath. I do get that sense of a lot of very fine-tuned blending with a whole lot of ingredients. It’s not rosey per se, but generally floral as a whole. The base seems kind of familiar, and it’s that kind of fresh, green, not very invasive sencha base that seems very prevalent in the world of flavored greens. I do find myself preferring the rare flavored green that uses a nuttier, butterier green as the base just because it’s a little more interesting. This tea is quite lovely and a pleasure to drink, but not a must have just because it doesn’t really distinguish itself for me. I do think at one point in my tea journey this would have been a top tea for me.

mostly broken leaves. light grassy fragrance. dominated by roasted flavors. mellow overall.

Surprise sipdown (188)! Although it was almost not a real sipdown because I almost dropped the cup of steeping tea on the ground. I don’t remember using this one a lot, and I don’t remember swapping it away, so I am not quite sure where all the tea went here (hence the surprise). Perhaps I cold brewed it and didn’t log it?

Anyway, this is quite tasty today. I am going to bump my previous rating a bit because I am very much enjoying the sweet dates, red fruit, and light floral rose. I would like to try this one on the black base, but it’s a pretty nice green as well.

I am actually far more awake this morning than I probably will be this afternoon, so I am leading my day with a green tea even though I don’t usually.

This is one of the blends I was most intrigued by in the Le Palais des Thes set. Rose, dates, and red fruits… yum. In the tube the dry leaf smells sugary-fruity, but I don’t really get any distinct rose. Steeped, the aroma and flavor reminds me of some other tea I’ve had before, but I can’t quite place it. Must be the red fruits blend… yup, definitely the red fruits. I’m just not used to having those flavors with a green tea base! There is definitely some floral notes to this that must be the rose, but again I don’t pick it up as much as a distinct flavor. It’s sweet, and berry-fruity, and a bit floral, all over a light green tea base that doesn’t lend a ton to the overall flavor. All in all definitely a very tasty tea, but honestly the richness of the red fruits is kind of an odd pairing with a green tea… I just think it goes so well with a black. They do actually have a black-based version of this blend, so if I ever get the chance to try that I will jump on it. I am definitely interested to try this one iced, as well.

Sipdown, 169.

Ahh, a nice evening Earl Grey, haha. Most people wouldn’t go for Earls in the evening but I decided to go for it because I was home early enough to drink it relatively early in the evening. We shall see if it keeps me awake at all tonight. I made this one strong with milk and sugar because that’s how I wanted to have the last of this one. And the bergamot is strong and easily cuts through the milk. As much as I love all my unflavored teas and as much as I drink almost all of my teas without additions, I do love a sweet and milky Earl. Mmm.

Yay, it’s my birthday. Boo, I have to spend all day writing my dissertation chapter. I have been very motivated this week, but today is looking bad.

Well, I better say something about this tea so I can get back to work. It’s a pretty drinkable tea, and I am enjoying it a bit more today than I have in the past. Very strong bergamot, but it avoids getting bitter, at least when hot. This is one of those odd teas that actually tastes worse once it cools a bit. The base is nice, with even a hint of sweetness to it, again, at least while it’s hot. Even while pretty darn warm this one is starting to become more astringent.

Decided to revisit this one this morning. It is definitely a very robust, bracing Earl Grey! The bergamot is very strong, but it is balanced somehow by the black tea base. I drank this one fast because my previous note said that a citrus-pith-like bitterness came out of the bergamot flavor once it cooled, and fortunately I didn’t get much of that today. It does have a bit of a harsh edge to it. It reminds me a bit of breakfast blends that are meant to be enjoyed with additions.

Uggghhh… will to stay awake flagging… Although it’s totally that situation where I am exhausted and totally wiped because my body thinks it’s 2:30am, but I did sleep a lot last night and yesterday so I don’t know if I could even really fall asleep. And my contacts are doing that “it’s late and you should go to sleep so we’re going to dry out an make it impossible for you to see” thing that they like to do. Oh, 12hr jetlag is the worst.

I decided to delve into my Le Palais des Thes gift set, which arrived while I was away in China. I’ve wanted to try Le Palais des Thes for a while now because I love Dammann Freres and a lot of French blends, which tend to be relatively complex with lots of flavors going on. I’ve also enjoyed the Kusmi teas I’ve tried, though I’m not a big fan of Mariage Freres because I don’t like the black base blend they use, so where does this company fall? We shall see! I wanted a black tea, which narrows it down because there seem to be not as many blacks as greens in there, but most of the others didn’t really speak to me today. I decided to try this “powerful yet refined Earl Grey” as they put it on the insert. The dry leaf certainly smells bergamotty, so hopefully it will be powerful enough to keep me awake.

I steeped this at 205°F since that’s what they recommend, and if a company recommends a slightly lower temp for their blacks I know I should follow it since blacks can go too strong and bitter for me easily. The black tea base comes out to play a bit more in the aroma. It’s nice, though I can’t quite place it. Familiar but not familiar enough for me to be able to identify it. Definitely Chinese and not a Ceylon or Assam, though. The bergamot is there but it’s playing back up, bright and citrusy. The flavors are good, a nice balance of the base and the bergamot. This is pretty high on the bergameter, but the base doesn’t get lost in the process. First notes are definitely bright bergamot, and then the warm, slightly bready, slightly malty black tea base comes out. The bergamot in this one is a bit on the harsher side, almost getting that pithy bitterness as it cools, so if you’re not a bergamot fan I could see how this could come off poorly. A strong bergamot is very difficult to pull off perfectly, and this tea does a pretty good job of it, but it’s not going to replace my Todd & Holland any time soon. The really promising part of this tea is that the base is very well done, so I’m looking forward to trying their other blends.

This is the second tea from Palais des Thes that I review, and again it’s the same perfume taste, just lighter. This time, I’m not a fan and don’t like that perfume taste anymore. If I taste more perfume from this producer, I will not buy from them again.

Furthermore… and I can’t believe I’m saying this:
This tea make my nose snotty. Yes, as in mucus.

No milk, no sugar. It still makes me snotty.

Finishing off the rest of this sample today — it’s pleasant enough but not something I will need to repurchase. See previous notes for more details.

I believe this is the last of my samples to try from Le Palais de Thes. I do feel a slight sense of accomplishment but I haven’t been wildly crazy about most of these teas.

When I was trying this I accidentally dumped too much leaf in my cup. To me it looks like a bancha (japanese green tea) from the way the leaf appeared, although they state the base for this is a Chinese green. Smells very nice and flowery in the tube.

I do think this is a nice green tea blend. I am getting the date flavor very nicely as it lends a bit of sweetness. I am not getting a ton of rose in this cup, the date and fruity flavors predominate for me although I could have done a better job of brewing this.

This might be my second favorite of the flavored greens I tried behind The Des Fakirs. It is a subtle blend which seems nice for unwinding and relaxing. The flavor is not astringent at all and is very refreshing and moisturizing on the palate. I think there might be a bit of vanilla in this blend as well. If you’re looking for a lovely fruity/flowery blend you might want to check this out. I did like this but I don’t think I feel compelled to buy any. It seems like I am pretty fussy when it comes to flavored green teas because I do actually LIKE the way green tea tastes without drowning it in a bunch of other stuff. ;-)

SIPDOWN from earlier today – I’m getting backed up on my backlogs and sipdowns, sorry!

I had a cup (or two) earlier today and forgot to log. I’m sorry for flooding the dashboard with my backlogs! LOL :)

This was good and it’s almost gone…

First and 2nd cuppa the morning…need…tea…what a week! See previous notes!

GIMMEE…TEA…MUST.HAVE.TEA. I’m running on 35 minutes of sleep…NOT FUN. Oye

Had 3 cups this morning…see previous notes…I have some backlogging to do but then I will be trying and noting all new-to-me teas today! Woot!

This is unlike other Yunnan’s I have tried. This is strong, bold, and semi-floral yet a tad bitter/sour but in a good way. It’s also on the verge of Pu-erh Characteristics. Very different but very hearty! A nice, unique offering :)

Trying it iced this time around (made by a double strength steep poured over ice). I like it much better cold.

I think this will be very good to have on hand during the summer. It’s very, very refreshing.

The fruit flavors give me that “tropical” kind of taste. Mostly get melon and a bit of peach. Sadly the reason I wanted this tea so much was for the kiwi and it’s the one I can’t pinpoint in there! But that’s okay. I think this works as a fine, French replacement for my usual iced green, Caribbean Breeze from ZenTea.

For how long I waited to even get this tea from sneekpeeq, I took even longer to try it. It reminds me of the mug I ordered nearly 3 weeks ago and I don’t know what they’re doing, making it just for me? I need it now because it has my favorite car on it.

Anyway. I think I used too much leaf and too hot of water. My water was probably 185-190 and the tin says nothing about temperature, so seeing 167 is like oh wow thanks for printing that elsewhere.

It’s not bad though, it just makes the green tea flavor a bit sharp. It’s a nice fruity flavor, but I imagine it’s better cold…or made with cooler water. Greens with some mix of fruits are always good when you can taste the base tea, and this is no exception.

Yes, I agree with Amy Oh, this does smell like the holidays. Cinnamon and a little bit of ginger, with apple and vanilla and almond. YUM! It’s one of those teas that I can’t seem to stop lifting my mug to my nose just to smell it. It smells sweet and warm and comforting.

I find this tea to be a medium-bodied tea, a little lighter than I expected given its strong aroma. It is not as rich as I would like it to have been, but it is still very delicious. I think it needs a stronger black tea base to withstand the strong cinnamon notes.

Another Mystery Tea that we’ve never had before, and yet another free sample received with my massive order earlier this year. This one has apple, almonds, cinnamon and a little bit of ginger in it, and I chose something green for the Mystery Tea based on the inspiration in the wake of Genmaicha earlier today. (The boyfriend wasn’t too keen on that one, by the way)

I’m not too interested in the cinnamon aspect of this one. Cinnamon is great in food, but I’m not very fond of it in tea. And ginger… well, I don’t like ginger. As a matter of fact we got to test a theory the other day while on our outing and no, I definitely do NOT like ginger beer. I looked a bit like the red face on the Steepster rating scale. Blech!

The apple and almond, however, now those are things that sound interesting to me. On the other hand, apple and cinnamon is a pretty classic combination.

In the dry leaves I could detect apple and spices, but no almonds and not really anything in the way of the base. After steeping it’s just spices with something sort of juicy underneath that I choose to interpret as apple.

The first impression I get on the sip is the bite of ginger. sigh I could really have lived without the ginger here. It’s the very first note I get and after that it sort of hangs like a cloud over all the rest of the sip.

Second up, following immediately after the first ginger spike, there is some apple and some cinnamon in what feels like more or less equal amounts.

It’s not until the end of the sip and the aftertaste that I really feel like I’m getting some almond. It’s not a lot and it’s not something I can really say for certain is almond. It’s more sort of the way my mouth feels after I’ve eaten them.

The green tea itself feels a little drowned out here. I couldn’t tell you anything about it if I tried.

I kind of like the idea of this blend, actually, with some reservations regarding the spices. I like the idea of the apples and almonds in a green tea together and I would really have liked to have tried that out without the cinnamon and especially without the ginger. As it is it’s rather too ginger-y for me.

Have not had this one in a long while – it was over due time!
Still quite delicious!
Love the juicy mouthfeel and mix of fruit flavors!
Not one that you can easily tell the different fruits in but they blend so lovely!

Fruity, Green – LOVE how the flavors do NOT wipe out the wonderful green tea base! Very impressed. Oh dear I fear this is one I will go through fast :(