The Des Amants

Tea Information:

Leaf Type: Black

Tea Description:

Rich and sensual, Thé des Amants is a heady, fragrant blend of black tea, apple, almond, cinnamon and vanilla, spiced up with a hint of ginger.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have been mesmerized by the aroma of this tea since I first opened the little cylinder tin. It smells very autumnal, with its lovely cinnamon and apple notes, and hints of vanilla and almond. The fragrance is so deliciously comforting that I find myself continuously lifting my mug to my nose just to inhale this delightful scent.

This is a pleasant tea. I would classify this as medium-bodied, and a little lighter … thinner? … than I expected given its powerful aroma. It is quite tasty, but I find that I enjoy the fragrance more. I think this blend would benefit greatly from a stronger black tea base, one that could withstand the strength of the cinnamon notes.

What I do like is that the flavors are all there. The most dominate flavor is the cinnamon, but despite its power over the black tea base, I don’t think the cinnamon is too strong. The apple flavor is more subtle, but it melds nicely with the cinnamon, which seems to bring out some of the sweet apple-y tones. The ginger is surprisingly soft here, and I say surprisingly because ginger has a way of being very strong even when its not intended to be. I taste the ginger as a hint of pepper toward the end of the sip, a peppery note that lingers into the aftertaste along with the spicy tones of the cinnamon.

The almond and vanilla are very soft here, and didn’t really expose themselves much until I reached about mid-cup. I taste light creamy undertones and a sweet, nutty background from these flavors, and they add a nice dimension to the overall cup. I taste an occasional hint of orange with this blend … which sometimes I think I’m imagining because the overall “holiday” like flavor of this cup seems to inspire tea blenders to create orange-spice blends, and perhaps it’s just flavor association because of that.

A very pleasant cup, quite nice as an afternoon tea after lunch, as it satisfied that desire for me to indulge in something sweet.

liberteas

Anne (aka the Mad Tea Artist) has celebrated her 29th birthday for many years now. She lives in the Pacific Northwest with her hubby and her youngest daughter. Her oldest daughter is married and has bestowed Anne with the proud title of "Gramma" and her grandson is about the cutest boy you ever did see. Anne started her journey with tea as a casual drinker and became more serious about her tea drinking when she realized that she couldn't drink coffee. Shortly thereafter, she started becoming obsessed with the beverage and she started creating small-batch, artisan blends of tea that she sold online as LiberTEAS. After a few years, she realized she wasn't cut out to be the sole proprietor of a business so she closed LiberTEAS and started reviewing teas online. She met Jennifer through another blog that they both reviewed for and they decided to start their own review blog. This review blog! Throughout her journey as a tea reviewer, she discovered 52Teas and became enamored with the idea of creating a new tea every week. When the founder of 52Teas decided he wanted to move on, he offered the business to Anne but knowing that she wasn't cut out to be a sole proprietor, she instead offered the company to her oldest daughter who employs her as the Mad Tea Artist for 52Teas!

This post was posted in Black Tea