Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Le Palais Des Thés
Tea Description:
A green tea enlivened by flower petals and delicately scented with pieces of white peach, kiwi and watermelon. The green tea and the juicy freshness of the fruit are wonderfully balanced. Can be drunk hot or iced.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Hello tea lovers!
During the UK’s persistent heatwave the craving for fruit tea has gotten the better of me. That’s when I pulled this one from my shelf to try. I adore watermelon and peach in a tea and considering this has both it made for an easy purchase. Plus with this being described as good for ‘hot’ or ‘iced’ tea it makes it all the better. This will be a ‘hot’ review but I plan on steeping it in my iced tea bottle later today to see the outcome. My curiosity is totally piqued!
The raw tea blend has large green tea leaves with yellow flower petals mixed in, if you look close enough you will find small cubes of fruit among the blend.
As I open the packet I am met with a peach scent which is sweet and very natural smelling. Among that is the slight perfume of grass and flowers. Beautiful in every way.
Steeping parameters – 1 tsp of leaf in my ceramic mug with removable filter and lid. (Around 250ml/9oz of water). Temp: 80C for 3 minutes.
Once steeped the tea is fairly dark yellow/green and bares the same beautiful peach scent as it’s raw form.
In flavour this is soft and sweet with buttery, toasted grass notes followed by smooth but sweet peach that feels like it melts in my mouth. Behind that there is another level of fruit and perfume, a little dry but ideally so, blended so well that I cannot distinctly taste the watermelon or kiwi. Not that the peach overpowers per say, it is soft but distinct, more that they are blended so well ie they work well together, that it combines as one.
As it cools the green tea thickens but remains grassy and pleasant, while the flowers also thicken to combine with them.
‘Yet still the peach sings her perfect sweet song on my tongue,
and my taste buds wiggle and dance.
For this blend does each and together belong,
forever to be sipped and enjoyed by chance.’
I’m glad that I pulled this out of my stash this morning. It’s been the perfect start to my day, and I can see myself sipping on this tea a lot in the near future. It tasted better than I expected as I do not usually favour flavoured tea, but the chance was well worth it with this one. The balance was perfect, the strength was refreshing and right, the flavours to me were divine and when I drink fruit tea this had everything I am looking for.
Happy Steeping Everyone!
Thé Vert à la Menthe Nanah (Spearmint Green Tea) by Kusmi
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Kusmi
Tea Description:
Nana mint is the mint used for teas in the Middle East and North Africa. Its refreshing taste makes Spearmint green tea perfect for after a meal.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
The first thing I noticed about this one is how wonderful it smells – fresh, strong, sweet spearmint, right from the get go! I prefer spearmint to peppermint in general, but spearmint teas seem relatively scarce in comparison, so I’m pleased to have found this one from Kusmi. The dry leaf is very dark green and tightly rolled. There’s no indication on the tin of the variety of green tea this is, but I would guess Gunpowder from looking at the leaves alone. I could be wrong, but that’s my educated guess. For my cup, I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 2 minutes in water cooled to around 180 degrees. The resulting liquor is a golden yellow, and smells primarily of spearmint with an underlying hint of green tea.
To taste, this one reminds me a bit of chewing gum, or softmints. It has the same intense initial sweet mint flavour, which lingers decently into the aftertaste. Spearmint is pretty much all I’m getting from this one, so it comes across fairly one note, but if spearmint is what you’re looking for, then it’s certainly what you’ll get. I had thought I’d be able to taste the green tea base a little more, but it remains firmly in the background. There’s the tiniest hint of it right at the end of the sip, but in a blind tasting you could tell me this was a pure spearmint tea and I’d probably be none the wiser.
As a fan of spearmint, I really like this one. It’s sweet, clean-tasting, and refreshing, and makes for a very pleasant cup on a warm summer afternoon. I imagine it’d also work well cold brewed, which is something I’ll have to try in the coming weeks. It’s not as punchy as peppermint in terms of flavour, and it lacks the intensely cooling effect that mint sometimes has, so this tea is just the thing if you like your mint a little softer and more gentle. This is a wonderful offering from Kusmi, and well worth a look this summer if you’re in the market for a mint green tea.
Green of London – Earl Grey Mao Feng Tea from Le Palais des Thes
Tea Type:Green Tea
Where To Buy:
Product Description:
Green of London is a particularly fine and well-balanced blend, consisting of an excellent Chinese green tea, a fresh and delicate bergamot, and flower petals – cornflower and blue mallow. An exceptional Earl Grey, finally available with a green tea base!
Earl Grey has been a great English classic ever since Charles Grey, 2nd Earl of Falloden and Foreign Secretary went on to become Prime Minister in 1830. For saving the life of the Chinese Mandarin, he received in gratitude a specially scented tea flavoured with oil of bergamot.
Tasters Review:
I received a lovely email from Fanja at Le Palais des Thes explaining that Green of London – Earl Grey Mao Feng is now available at their SoHo/NYC Store! Exciting!!! They sent the Sororitea Sisters a batch of their brand new US release and we are VERY excited to try this!
I must say – I cannot remember if I have had an Earl Grey flavored Mao Feng before. I know I have had Senchas, as well as other types of green’s that were EG flavored but I really don’t remember a Mao Feng!
I do really like this! They hit the nail on the head for EG flavor especially with the Green tea base, here! It seems to be the perfect level of EG flavor to be strong and true but you can still taste the Green Tea base which is grassy and sweet. The Bergamot is really nice too! And there is a hint of floral flavor and it increases as I continue to sip!
This is a nice sipping tea as well as a gulping tea. I enjoyed this hot and cold. Pretty brilliant!
I thought this was a pretty neat tea to review on my Birthday! CHEERS!
Thé du Hammam from Le Palais Des Thés
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: Le Palais Des Thés
Tea Description:
One of our most popular teas, this fruity blend is inspired by a Turkish recipe using green teas that evokes the characteristic fragrances used to perfume a hammam: roses, green dates, berries and orange flower water. Sprinkled with flower petals in the pure Eastern tradition, its extraordinary fragrance comes from a subtle combination of Chinese green tea and rich, fruity aromas.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
After reading the above description, I found myself somewhat lost, as I had no idea what a hammam was. And thinking that this was not only a good opportunity for me to learn something new, but that perhaps a few of my readers also might not know what a hammam is, I decided to look it up. According to Wikipedia, a hammam is a traditional Turkish bath in which warm air is used to promote perspiration, after which bathers are brought to an even hotter room before splashing themselves with cool water, and then they are bathed.
And while the idea of “bath water” doesn’t really sound like a delicious tea, this blend allows you to toss the bathwater and simply enjoy the essences of the perfumed Turkish bath. The sweet notes of date dominate this cup, while lovely hints of floral tones weave their way in and out of the sip.
The green tea has a light, fresh kind of flavor that is delicately vegetative. It has a somewhat buttery quality to it, offering a creamy texture and taste that harmonizes quite deliciously with the flavoring. The date flavor is what I find particularly enchanting about this tea. I’ve had a few date flavored teas, but I do not remember any that have managed to express this flavor better than I taste with this tea. This tastes like a sweet, juicy date – and it is really delicious!
Of the teas that I’ve tried from Le Palais Des Thés (and I’ve still a few left to try from the gift set), this one is my favorite! I like it a lot!
