Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Jardin du Thé
Tea Description:
Mélange de thé vert sencha et de thé blanc White Monkey accompagné de framboises entières et de fleurs de violette, un mariage équilibré.
Blend of Sencha and White Monkey accompanied by whole raspberries and violet flowers, a balanced marriage.
Learn more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
I’m very fortunate to have a friend currently travelling abroad in Europe (shout out to MissB) who has been sending back teas to several tea-crazy Canadians, including myself and this is one of the teas she was kind enough to pass along my way. I’m not really a green tea person; but lately I’ve been opening up to the green stuff considerably and Spring time is probably when I receive it the best anyway, so I was pretty excited to get to try this one!
It’s perfect for spring; it’s light, fruity and floral which is all of the things that have been hitting the spot this last week with my daily cold brews. I’m sad to report that I made a bit of a mistake measuring it out though; by which I mean I sneezed as I was pouring, and half the sample fell on the floor. NOOO! So, my cold brew was very small compared to the typical 25 oz. I usually make at a time. This was probably a lot closer to 12 oz. if not 10.
Dry, this smells amazingly fresh with super intense and realistic raspberry notes; definitely reminded me of picking raspberries from my Grandma’s garden as a child. We’d get cut up by the thorns from the seemingly endless raspberry patch (which as an adult I now realize was probably only like five by five feet), but it was all worth it to lick that sweet, sticky red juice from our grubby fingertips after collecting an ice cream pail worth of berries for the night’s dessert. I don’t smell the violet in the blend; but this is already earning ‘nostalgia’ points. The liquor is a really pretty almost lime-y green, but with a bit more of a yellow tinge to it. It smells very fresh, and very fruity.
The taste is spot on; I taste the raspberry first and foremost and it’s everything I’m remembering from those vacations at Grandma’s. The green base cuts through it a little bit and it a touch grassy with a little bit of the chlorophyll/fresh cut lawn taste. Both flavours compliment one another quite well though; it makes the whole ‘garden’ imagery I’ve got going on significantly stronger. And at last the violet in the blend is making an impression! While it IS present throughout the entire sip way down underneath the raspberry and base, it comes through the strongest near the end of the sip after the initial sweetness of the raspberry has started to subside. I don’t think it’s necessarily distinctly violet; but it is nice and very natural. Floral things seem to get chemical tasting quickly, even when they aren’t artificial but this stays away from that. Finally, I think there are some extra notes in here that are a little softer and sweeter; my initial impression was something like sugar cane but by the end of the cup I was definitely leaning more towards honey.
So all in all, I was very impressed by this tea! I just wish that I’d been able to steep up more of it because it was fresh, and juicy with that sweet sensation of nostalgia and all the elements necessary to invoke the imagery of a Spring time garden! Unfortunately, I don’t see it listed on the JDT website, otherwise I’d seriously look in to picking up a little bit more for my personal stash – I’m wondering if it’s one of those blends you can only buy in store? The JDT website is pretty hard to navigate, and there seem to be quite a few blends missing from the samples that she’s sent my way.
And that’s truly such a huge shame.
Juicy Orange Pu’erh from DAVIDsTEA
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu’erh & Black Tea
Where to Buy: DAVIDsTEA
Tea Description:
Something magical happens when you combine rich, earthy pu’erh with sweet, juicy orange. Somehow the result is so much more than the sum of its parts – deliciously fresh and fruity, yet undeniably good for you. Whether you sip it hot or over ice, it’s super-soothing and addictively refreshing. With a tea this happy in your arsenal, who knows what else might go your way? Things are looking cup…
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
This is a relatively new offering from DAVIDsTEA and it appears to be a part of their regular line up of teas, and not a limited edition seasonal blend or from one of their constant limited edition collections. It’s nice to see the company expanding their Pu’Erh offerings, though I was skeptical about this one even before seeing other people review it; it seems relatively similar to their Garcinia Goodness blend.
Reviews on this one seem to be fairly polar, and I was actually relatively sure I’d land on the side of people who dislike this blend. This smells very juicy, and tangerine-like dry though. Enough so that I didn’t let my prejudice get the better of me and I picked up a small sample in store to try.
Steeped up this actually isn’t anything like I thought it’d taste. Which I suppose is good because, like I’ve already expressed, I was doubtful this would be that good. There’s a sparkling effervescence to this blend. Right off the bat it comes through clear as crystal in the smell and is capture very well in the taste as well. I can see it making a phenomenal tea soda!
I’m really, really tasting the tangerine in the blend which is so lovely and different from a lot of citrus heavy blends. The regular orange flavour is quite strong too and has a wonderful, fresh taste but it’s not nearly as interesting as the tangerine. Overall the flavour reminds me loosely of orange tic tacs? Sweet, candy orange with a little bit of tang to it. Surprisingly I don’t really taste anything that particularly reminds me of hibiscus? That’s certainly a relief. Maybe there’s not a lot of it in the blend, or it just blends into the tangerine really well.
As for the base; it’s hard for me to believe this is pu’erh or black tea (the blend uses both). It’s just really light overall and the flavourings are really the focus here. I suppose I do taste the pu’erh just a little though; there’s a rawness to the fruit that tastes a little earthy in the finish. The mouthfeel of this one is nice too; kind of thick with that sparkling quality.
I’m pleasantly surprised by the blend. I didn’t buy a lot but I’ll be able to have a few more cups and if they’re like this one at all I could, in fact, see this as a blend I’d buy more of! It seems like it’d work as an iced tea as well, so it could be a wonderful spring or summer companion.
Black Opera Black Tea from Mariage Freres
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Mariage Freres
Tea Description:
Our heart has long beaten for this lyrical elixir. Its enchanting beauty now glides across the stage as a round black tea in high spirits, harmonising with the aromas of red fruit and noble spices crowned by a dash of vanilla. In this magnificent polyphony, the register that rises above is that of sensuality and, of course, the pleasure of taste. Bravo Maestro !
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I tried this one blindly, by which I mean I didn’t look up any of the ingredients or the tea description prior to trying it. For me, doing this is like a challenge to see how on point my palate is – I like to compile my thoughts and then go back and see how many of the nuances I picked up, and how accurately I was able to identify the ingredients/flavourings in the blend. It’s also a way to taste a tea without letting the description influence how I perceive it.
Dry; I can tell this is a fruit blend of some sort – but based on dry smell alone I can’t really narrow down what ‘type’ of fruit; berry, tropical, stonefruit, etc. I am pretty confidant it’s not going to be a citrus blend, though. I didn’t get any of the usual citrus tip offs like sourness, pith or tart tones.
Taste wise, this was more flavourful than I was anticipating. All my other Mariage Freres experiences have been mildly disappointing because the flavours have been duller than what I enjoy or too subtly flavoured. As such, I expected this to have the same really subtle flavour. It was distinct though, and relatively robust. There was a really sweet jammy quality, but not something simple like strawberry or raspberry. This reminded me strongly of grenadine which to me has a distinctly rich pomegranate or cranberry like quality; but sugary sweet. This strong jammy/grenadine cross reminds me of a fancy Monk’s blend. For those who don’t know, I love Monk’s Blend a lot.
Yeah, there’s not really much about this blend that’s really complicated or fancy, but it’s really enjoyable and smooth with such a great, sweet flavour! And it’s so smooth; no astringency or bitterness at all! I’m impressed by this one more than probably any other Mariage Freres tea I’ve had and I greatly enjoyed my cup. Gonna go back now and see how accurate my interpretation was…
…Red Fruit. Spices. Vanilla.
Well, I can see how the combination of red fruit and vanilla definitely read as similar to Monk’s blend to me given a traditional Monk’s blend is grenadine and vanilla. I really didn’t taste any indication of spice though; whatever they’re adding into the blend must be very subtle. So for those who, like me, aren’t big into spices this is very likely a safe blend for you to try.
Well done Mariage Freres!
Sunny Ceylon Flavored Black Tea from Tea People
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Tea People
Tea Description:
Ginger and lemon flavours are a match made in heaven. Add to that luxury Ceylon,which by the way, are considered an aphrodisiac. And you have your perfect honeymoon tea! Of course you don’t have to be on your honeymoon to have our Sunny Ceylon. With bits of pineapple,sunflower and calendula petals, it is guaranteed to bring you a taste of warm sunshine in the gloomiest of days.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m always excited to try teas from a new-to-me company, and this Sunny Ceylon Flavored Black Tea is the first that I’m tasting from Tea People! I chose this tea to try first because it’s been so cold and gray over the last week – not that I dislike this kind of weather, I actually prefer it to the sunshine – but, after a week of not seeing the sun, it’s kind of nice to have a bit of sunshine in my teacup.
When I opened the package and smelled the tea, it has a very sunshine-y kind of fragrance: bright and lemony! The brewed tea is not quite as citrus-y as the dry leaf, but I can smell the ginger and hints of lemon along with the distinct aroma of black Ceylon tea.
The flavor is nice! Even though the bouquet of the dry leaf suggested that this might taste very strongly of lemon, it’s not quite as powerful a flavor as I expected. Oh sure, I can taste the lemon in every sip, but, it doesn’t overpower the other flavors in my cup and that’s a really good thing. I can taste the ginger, I can taste the lemon … but mostly, I taste Ceylon tea!
It is a brisk tea with a medium body with an astringency that I’d categorize as fair to moderate. It is a cleansing astringency – after I’ve taken a sip, my mouth feels clean and dry, like it’s ready for another sip! But don’t mistake astringency for bitterness, because this isn’t bitter. (Although, as with any tea, I wouldn’t recommend oversteeping it because that could cause it to become bitter.)
The lemon adds a bright, sunny taste to the cup (hence the name!) The ginger is very mellow here, adding just a hint of warmth to the cup without tasting spicy. When I slurp the tea, I can taste very subtle whispers of pineapple which accentuate the lemon nicely. There isn’t enough pineapple here to offset the two primary flavors: lemon and ginger; there is just a hint of something a little extra that intrigues the palate to explore.
As the tea continues to cool (and I continue to sip) … the lemon becomes more apparent, and now that I’m about halfway through the cup, the lemon almost tastes as though I squeezed a thin slice of fresh lemon in my teacup. it’s very bright and juicy!
A really nice tea, and it turned out to be the perfect choice for this rather gray day! I can taste the sunshine in my teacup even if I can’t see it when I peek out my window! This joyous tea experience makes me look forward to trying some other teas from Tea People!
