Marco Polo

I just ate a bunch of leftover melted dark chocolate from making macaroons, so at first this tasted sour. The dominant aroma in this was definitely strawberry, but I also thought I might smell: cherry, apple, vanilla, chocolate, floral, and cranberry. This is a complex tea and it’s really difficult to pick out what flavorings they use, especially since they keep it a secret. I enjoyed trying this famous tea.

This tea… is gorgeous!

It tastes just like red-berry concentrated syrups that my grandmother used to make. You would add water to it to get a nice, refreshing juice. The last time I had it was probably nearly 20 years ago.

There exist some blends that try to imitate this kind of syrup, at least in Poland I’ve known some, they are usually herbal and bagged teas. Needless to say, they all would taste quite artificial. This one does not.

It retains this berry syrup flavor but also charms you with its delicately astringent base. And it feels like drinking this refreshing juice when I was a little girl. So amazing. I would not, not in a million years, expect this tea to take me back to an almost forgotten flavor of my childhood. Thank you, Mariage Frères!

And thank you, Anna, for a sample of this! I am glad that I like this one so much because it seems to be one of the more US-available of the French teas :)

1.5 tbsp for 375 ml
Flavours are a bit strong. Black tea is a bit too astringent for my taste. The berry flavouring in the tea tastes artificial and is overwhelming. I will try to infuse at a lower temperature for a shorter amount of time

Sipdown (203/205)!

I’ve done a really good job with sipdowns today! Yay me!

Anyway, made the last pf my sample of this from VariaTEA in a timolino and drank it on the walk home from work. That means it sat in the timolino for a good, solid 8 hours. I point this out because it wasn’t even the SLIGHTEST bit bitter – so that’s fantastic.

However, as far as the other taste goes I found it nice, if maybe a little too floral (I don’t mind floral teas too much, but I dislike that flavour quality a lot in black blends specifically). On a whole, this is SO generic though! Like, if I hadn’t made it myself and known what it was there’s nothing about this tea that distinguishes it enough for me to go “Oh yes, that’s a cup of Marco Polo! Nothing else like it!” and for that reason most of all I’m glad this is gone and out of the way.

Okay okay, so I finally see what all the fuss is about. And now that I have tried it, I am torn.

First, this is an awesome tea. It is essentially the closest thing to my all-time favorite black tea (TWG 1837 Signature black) I have ever had. It has all the rich and dark wild European berries you’d find from blackberries in Germany’s Bavarian woodlands to the prized bilberries people hunt for in Lithuania’s peat-covered pine forests where they filmed “Robin Hood Prince of Thieves”. It successfully muddles them with fresh black Vietnamese sugarcane you’d buy at a roadside vendor on the way from Hanoi to Mai Chau. It’s got that unique hint of wild and rare flowers in the background. The black tea adds that subtle but perfect touch of tannins, as if you brewed your cuppa in some monastery’s old wood barrel they once used to age berry wines for decades. It’s fragrant, it’s fruity, it’s rich, it would have earned a perfect score of 100 and made it to my all-time top list, were it not for the fact I was already spoiled and had tried something a little bit better.

Marco Polo’s berries are ripe, dark, and sweet, but they’re missing that handful of indulgent over-ripe berries, the kind that fall apart with the slightest agitation and dye your hands deep blue and purple hues. It’s also missing that hint of hot caramel your mom would make on the stove with fresh cream and butter from the farmer next door. And this is why I am torn. TWG’s 1837 seems like a copy of Marco Polo (don’t let the 1837 fool you as those guys only started in 2008), but it’s not some cheap Asian knockoff. They actually managed to improve the already decadent flavors and even enrich them.

So, I love this stuff but it doesn’t dethrone my current favorite (scented/flavored) black tea. Bonus points, however, as this is much more readily available and cheaper, and I can have MF ship it direct to my house. Downside of 1837 is that I’ve tried the bags from Dean & DeLuca and they don’t do any justice to the stuff you buy at their salons in Asia.

I can’t wait to try them side by side, that should happen in about 6-7 weeks once I restock the 1837. But for now, I am sooooo happy to have over a pound of this in my cabinet, I will be drinking it daily for sure. I’m liking Mariage Freres more and more with every new tea I try from them – and while I haven’t moved on to their “purist” (read: not scented/blended/flavored) teas, it’s something I will definitely have to consider next time I order or drop in on them.

I don’t typically like flavoured black teas (other than Earl Grey and bergamot-based teas), and Marco Polo is a rare exception. It’s flavourful without being overwhelming, making it easy to drink, and perfect for a cold morning.

Delicate and delicious, full of flavor!

A delicious tea with or without milk, especially comforting on a rainy day.

Very good, but not as good as French Breakfast imo.

As everybody recommended, it worth enough to taste. But in a way, i think that its strong smell has been one of main reasons of its high reputation. but for me, when i smell it closely, i often feel it’s too ‘much’ or ‘sour’.. i think the opinions on fruity teas really defends on personal tastes. i recommend you to visit the shop and smell it with your own nose!