Paris

First things first, Merry Christmas Steepsterverse! I hope you all enjoyed your yesterdays and/or your this mornings and will continue to be full and happy throughout the day. It’s only 2 PM and I’m already stuffed. Must be holiday times!

As it’s a day for merriment, I’ve decided to break away from my current dive into the backlogs of my tea drinking and log something that I drank this morning. I couldn’t tell you why I haven’t logged Paris before, because it’s a very good tea. I steeped it just in time for present opening, and if something can hold my attention during that madness, you know it has to be good.

I’ve never been to Paris. I would love to, and it’s on the list, but it isn’t something I can check off yet. I guess more specifically I want to go to the French countryside because I’ve heard that people are much friendlier once you get away from the city, but I don’t think I could visit France without spending at least a day or two in Paris. That being said, beyond four-odd years of school French, I have not a clue what makes this tea worthy of being dubbed “Paris.” What I can tell you is this.

It is very flavorful. There are many berry flavors floating around in it, laced with just a hint of bergamot, and this keeps the flavor very “up” and refreshing. I think of a breezy, sunny day on a grassy hill, with nothing between you and the sky while the scent of berry bushes waft coyly in your direction. It’s a wonderful image to be conjured up by a tea. But at the same time that this tea wants to float away like a cherry red balloon against an impossible blue, it’s grounded. And it’s grounded by something warm and familiar, that feels like it’s been around much longer than you have. For me, it wavers somewhere between pipe tobacco and vanilla.

All of this blends together wonderfully in my cup. The taste of the tea is there [I’d say Ceylon, but I’m still relatively new at this picking out black teas game and not too good at it] but it’s a backup singer, not a front man. It’s happy, but it’s not a crazy, ecstatic, wild kind of joy. It’s reserved, perhaps refined – curtailed in just a bit to keep your mind mellow enough to truly appreciate what it is that’s going on in the moment instead of having to look back on things once the euphoria wears off.

It’s easily one of my favorite teas from Harney & Sons, but the flavor is strong and specific enough that I can’t drink it every day. I tend to pull it out when I want something cheery and warm, like when opening up packages with my family around the tree.

Can’t comment on the brewing parameters as I didn’t make this one myself.

Tried this because I’ve been wanting to forever. I don’t have much experience with Harney teas but not because they don’t sound good – I just can’t seem to get myself organized to place an order there. I seem to remember that they don’t do free shipping, and since I’ve just swapped a bunch and gotten a Verdant and 52Teas order it will be awhile before I can put one in anyway.

The description of this one was really appealing, but when I tried it all I really got was Cream Earl Grey. Maybe with an extra hint of lemon. It wasn’t as spectacular as I was hoping, but I was concentrating more on conversation than the tea so that could be why. It was good, but nothing really stood out about the flavor.

I really wanted to like this tea. Especially since I purchased a 4 oz tin. I love Florence and SoHo Blend and this was also a crowd favourite it seemed. Maybe I overleafed and steeped too long — it was too much bergamot and also bitter. No caramel, no vanilla, just bitter bergamot. The aroma of the brewed tea was also really strong, very Earl Gray like.

I am somewhat frustrated that Harney doesn’t provide much steeping direction aside from the general “black tea = boiling water for 5 minutes” which is way too long for me.

I’ll go for 2 minutes next time to see what happens. For now, thumbs down. Sorry, H & S!

Giant cup of Paris OH YEAH

I wonder if I have resteeped this before. It’s happening.

First of all, thank you to Toi Toi for this!

It’s funny the way that the name of something can influence how you experience it. I don’t smoke anymore, but smelling this tea immediately made me want to smoke a Gauloises Blondes. I discovered those cigarettes in Paris when I was 16 and thereafter, I would to go down to St. Mark’s Place in NYC to buy them. Ah, those were the days before gentrification changed the character of the Bowery and CBGB was still open. Damn, I’m old…

Anyhow, enough of reminiscing. This tea reminded me of being in a European bakery. I could smell jam-filled cookies, carmelized sugar, and marzipan. This is one of the best flavored teas I’ve experienced, but I’m not really into flavored teas. Personally, I like my sweets with my tea, not in my tea.

I had this at dinner the other night. I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to smell the dry leaves as they were already infusing in a pot when it was brought to my table.
I remember the liquor being a beautiful dark red, with pronounced floral and fruit smells. Really quite a fragrant tea. Unfortunately the tea smell is lost to this.
The taste is smooth and heavenly. Somewhat sweet even.
As with all teas, this was consumed straight up.
I’m not sure this is a tea I’d want to have everyday, however it is definitely an enjoyable afternoon/evening tea that I’ll be ordering again!

Thank you so much to Amy Oh for sending me a sample of this! I like this tea. I don’t love it, which is a shame, because I really really wanted to love it (mostly because it’s called Paris and j’adore Paris!). It’s too sweet in a chocolatey sense for me, and doesn’t have enough bergamont. Like, I definitely got a hint of bergamont, but I wanted it to reach up out of the cup and slap me in the face, announcing its presence, which it did not. It kind of just nodded at me, slightly smiling, and slipped off into the corner of the party in my mouth. Oh well, maybe next time.

I absolutely loved this tea.. I was smoking a vogue cigarette feeling the Paris vibe and drank up this.. First thing, I love the smoothness of this tea.. you can deffinately taste Paris.. the streets, the people ( not literally :p ) and it literally tasted like Paris. I love the fruit in it, it’s not too sweet.. just perfect on it’s own.. I’ll have it with milk next time I make a cup of this, I just need to stop gulping it down so quick!

Oh my gosh, this tea.

First off, I don’t even know how to describe the incredible scent. In addition to the yummy tea, there are fruity notes and, to me at least, an undercurrent of really, really good milk chocolate. I would buy it again even if it was awful, just to smell it. No lie.

Luckily, it’s pretty much the exact opposite of awful. The scents aren’t as strong in the flavor, but in this case, I think it’s a good thing. It’s very … I’m not sure how to describe it other than a smooth and lovely tea flavor. There is a touch of fruit — not a strong, acidy citrus, but a sweeter hint of it — and maybe a teeny, tiny bit of vanilla, but not enough to put me off (and it takes very little vanilla to put me off). Mostly it’s just delicious.

I’ve gone through my sample in three days, and I’m about to order more. I wish every tea was this wonderful of a surprise.

Mmmm. It’s raining this evening and that means that I can FINALLY have a cup of hot tea! I had forgotten how much I enjoyed Paris blend! Many thanks to Will Work For Tea for sending me some in a swap! The tea is sweet with just the slightest bit of astringency. I am reminded of berries with a dash of sugar. Lovely, sweet and rich.