Marco Polo

I was not sure what I wanted to start the day off with or what I ws looking for when I went to my tea cupboard. I finally decided to try this tea (excellent choice)!
This rich tea has a strawberry flavor that does remind me of strawberry life savors I ate as a child.
A warm muffin and this tea is a great start to my day.

I don’t have time for a proper tasting note on this one right now, but I will update later. This is SO GOOD!

This tea has a very special place in my heart. It’s the first high-quality tea I ever drank. One of my best friend has been drinking it for years and I regularly shared it with her while being student (more than 15 years ago). Each time I go to her place, I still enjoy a few cups with her, like a comforting tradition, even though she also has some other teas. I’ve never bought it, as I really associate it with enjoying a moment with this friend.
Each time, as soon as I smell the steaming cup and start to drink it, I remember why my friend likes it so much and why she has real good taste.

I don’t like this tea. This is my shame. I LOVE Mariage Frères teas. I wanted to love this one, but now I have almost a whole tin of this and don’t know what to do with it. I like Harney & Sons’ Paris tea and thought since people compare them often and Mariage Frères teas have always been the ne plus ultra of any flavor, I couldn’t go wrong. However, this tastes like flowers to me and although lovely to smell and gaze upon I have never ascended to the level of sophistication wherein I enjoy the taste of flowers.

I don’t have a lot to add to what others have said, except that it’s pretty tasty. Good mix of strawberry, and black tea smoothness. I’m sure it would be good with cream/sugar, but it was perfectly enjoyable without.

Mmmmm. A very good cup with a wonderful nose to it. It smells strawberrish mixed with vanilla in the tin and then once it has had time to steep it smells more flowery to me. It is very smooth going down not so much as creamy or silky just that it is not as strong or bitter as some blacks that I have tasted do (I love black teas).
The more it cools off the more flavors I am able to pick up I definently taste berries but not necessarily strawberries more like maybe a black raspberry sorta taste and a very soft floral taste it tastes like the black coffee is going to come out and try to add a bitter taste to it but the berry/floral won’t let the black come out and bite you with it’s bitterness. Almost like the black and the berry/floral are at war but a good war… not that wars are good in any sense but I guess I should say flavor war in my mouth and I am enjoying their war. As I near the end of my cup I get a taste and smell of something familiar yet I can’t quite place it….hmmm I’ll try to figure it out in my next cup! A very nice cup. I can’t wait to try it with some La Madeleine Strawberry Napoleon for dessert YUM.

This is the most wonderful tea I have ever tried. I keep ordering others from Le Mariage Freres but none taste like heaven as much as this delicately perfumed magical tea.

2.25g/6oz water. Eh, to me just your basic slightly sweet black tea. I don’t care for black teas normally but if black teas are your thing, I’m sure you’d give it a 70-100.

Hmm what shall I say about this tea ?
First of all, it smells heavenly. The fruity side of it keeps you smelling again and again and AGAIN, then end up with vanilla and honey that give sweetness and mellow to this treasure.
The tea leaves looks amazing, well Mariage Frères is known for its Haute quality of tea… And the added cornflowers brings a fresh color to this wonderful preparation.

Once brewed, we still smell that heavenly scent but it’s less aggressive… The liquor is definition of bliss, smooth, sweet fresh and luxurious I couldn’t ask for more.
About the temperature of the water, I noticed that once we exceeded 70°C it kind of burn the leaves which at the end of the cup brings an occasional bitterness …
Enjoyed with hot scones, milk jam and champagne.

Today was my first Marriage Freres, and Marco Polo was the chosen one by my brother. I must admit that I had reservations about how good this tea would be. Some of those came from reading other reviews before trying the tea, and some other ones were derived from the fact that this is their best selling tea. How good could it be?

Well, it is good, in fact very good! Flower tones are present but not as an artificial flavoring, probably as it would taste if the flowers were from the tea. To me there is a hint of jasmine and strawberries on top of the black tea.

Yes, it is good. Very good, but I am not a “repeat buyer” just yet. I will update as I drink it on other times.