111 Tasting Notes

79

Very pleasant white tea with a subtle and refined taste. The lemongrass is very light, almost indistinguinshable. When drinking it, the first taste is decidedly different from that remaining in the mouth afterwards; the first one is really flowery and tangy, while the aftertaste is much stronger and reminds me a bit of cinnamon (not advertised as such by Gryphon, but my personal perception).
Though really nice, I do not like it as much as the Nymph of the Nile from the same brand which had something more original and striking.
Were it available loose, I might purchase it.

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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34
drank Yellow Label by Lipton
111 tasting notes

When I travel in very basic hotels and guest houses in Asia, I am usually rather happy to find Lipton rather than other totally unknown lower-end brand.
It does not really make for a good tea, but at least it’s not bitter from the first dip of the bag into the water, the tea within the bag is not so powderish as to seep out of the bag and fill the bottom of the cup. The taste is very bland, very basic but not unpleasant.
I’ll never buy it and have it home but I find I can drink it without unpleasantness ;)

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 1 min, 30 sec

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90

I drank this tea in a hotel at breakfast. It’s more an afternoon than a breakfast tea, in my opinion.
However I really liked it and when I asked for further information about it, I got 3 tea-bags of this Nymph of the Nile and 2 of the White Gingerlily of the same brand to bring home. In less than one week, I finished the Nymph of the Nile…
The color is a golden yellow. The roses give out a nice fragrance and most probably contribute to the sweet mellow taste. The basil leaves small pieces give a refreshing and slightly herbal taste.
Even when forgotten a few minutes more in the teapot, the tea does not turn very bitter.
I would definitely buy it, were it not always conditioned in mousseline bags and will probably try again drinking both white peony teas and teas from Gryphon, which make very high quality perfumed teas.

Preparation
180 °F / 82 °C 3 min, 0 sec

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65

During my latest visit to Le Palais des Thés shop, I stumbled unto this new rooibos-herbal tea blend, which seemed created for me, as I often drink tea in the evening but have a low tolerance for coffeine and theine. I also have difficulties in finding good high quality fine tasting herbal teas, even in organic high hand brands/shops.
In comparison with other rooibos, I noticed the leaves are finer and therefore more numerous inside the teapot as they largely escape my tea ball. The Verbena also comes almost in dust form and definitely not in full leaves. The second brew always turns out really clear, much more so than the Mariage Frères, even though I use more of this one.
Regarding taste, the rooibos does not have a very strong taste and is rather bland and almost non-descript; however the Verbena really adds a nice and fresh twist to it.
It also tastes nice iced (after hot brew).
I rather enjoyed it, but prefer drinking some others and will not buy it back once the pack is finished.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec
cteresa

This sounds very interesting! I love verbena and I think it might go very well with rooibos, very soothing. (maybe even with green rooibos? Now that is something I will try to make for myself). And it is MF rooibos, I find their rooibos base so nice.

Not sure if you know it, but you might like Mariage Freres Nil Rouge. It is (red) rooibos with mostly lemongrass, though there are other citrus and (IMO. maybe it is just me) verbena there.

LaFleurBleue

It is not Mariage Frères rooibos, but Le Palais des Thés. As they flavor more heavily than MF, it’s quite difficult to assess the quality of the base; it seems pretty good though not as great as MF, but I am still comparing.
First time I hear about green rooibos.
Nil Rouge is one of my absolute favorites from MF; I am currently at half my second pack. I just have not reviewed it yet ;) I’ll check for Verbena next time I drink it.

cteresa

I also love love Nil Rouge – and Marco Rouge as well. Need to restock from both, better stick to just one if only I could pick which one I love best (uh.. difficult)

Love those two and I find the MF rooibos always so good. About verbena in Nil Rouge, maybe not, I mean the lemongrass is the strongest thing, but there are so many different citrus there I would swear some is verbena.

Green rooibos is good! It produces a orangey liquid as well, only not quite as dark and not as “staining”. It´s more delicate, not bitter, less strong. Red rooibos has got more oomph but green rooibos is more delicate. I was sort of hoping Mariage Freres would make a Nil Rouge-Vert, LOL, though I guess maybe a green-red tea would not work too well. Maybe the language is one of the reasons, but not sure I have ever seen a french company make green rooibos blends. It was actually the first rooibos I ever had, from a health food store. I have had some green rooibos blends mostly from german sellers, and in tea bags from this south african company. I got some plain green rooibos from a local tea seller, I like it – and improvise some evening teas with it. I really like to mix some green rooibos with a plain lemongrass tea teabag, and mean to try also verbena now I got that idea, and lemonbalm maybe as well (A very popular tisane in my country!)

cteresa

oh just to add, the south african green rooibos I was mentioning.

http://steepster.com/teas/carmien/19132-organic-green-tea-honeybush-and-green-rooibos-with-mint

nothing too extraordinary but nice and I confess I find the teabags so convenient for the last cup of tea of the day!

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70

I like to drink tea in the evening after dinner. This tea is perfect for that moment.
First of all it contains a lower theine level than regular oolong, which did not prevent me from sleeping soundly afterwards a whole teapot. Secondly the taste is both fruity and flowery, quite mellow.
I left sometimes the tea brewing for much longer than the 5 recommanded minutes; however the tea did not turn very bitter.
I enjoyed this tea and even bought a second 100 g-pack. However during the second one, I started to like it less and less, as I noticed the quality compared not as great as Mariage Frères blends. One of the things that really started to irk me was the oily remains at the bottom of the teapot and cups, after brewing this tea, which gave me the impression some of the flavors were brought through adding perfumed oils to the tea leaves or to the flowers.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
Ysaurella

Do agree Palais des thés proposes nice blends but nothing equivalent to Mariage Frères. Never tried le thé des songes but I drink thé du Hammam the evenning and it is really nice.

LaFleurBleue

I’ve read your review about Thé du Hamman and thought I should try to smell it (and possibly buy;)), if I manage to drop by Le Palais des Thés, in addition to Mariage at Christmas.
Have you noticed any oily puddles also ?

Ysaurella

je peux t’envoyer un échantillon du thé du Hamman si tu veux.

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20

I may have systematically brewed it at too high a temperature… However I have tried it with shorter and shorter steeping time. I found the tea always tasted too bitter for my taste. The quality of the leaves seem however rather nice.
A box was given to me as a Christmas present; I have probably tried it between 5 to 10 times, always ended up draining the teapot in the sink after 1 to 2 cups that I had not enjoyed.
I’ve also tried it iced without success.
I will probably end up throwing it away…

Preparation
195 °F / 90 °C 2 min, 0 sec

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92

The first few times I drank this tea, I was not wowed, though I found it very pleasant. But then, I realized this brew was one of those I picked the most easily from my cupboard, knowing I will enjoy it whatever my mood and taste preference are.
What I really like about it, is its simplicity : it taste like rooibos, with just the right hint of vanilla, which is never overwhelming, hence a very suble blend. For those of you wondering about Bourbon, it’s actually the brand name of the vanilla, grown in the Indian ocean (Mauritius, Madagascar or Ile de la Réunion); no link with the US whiskey.
I also have used it for making ice-tea (after a hot brew); it is absolutely perfect, both refreshing without any bitterness or aftertaste; the vanilla taste gives a smooth flavor, as if it were lightly sugared.
A favorite of my husband as well.
Very nice with honey, to doctor a cold or a sore throat.
I will soon have finished the pack and will definitely buy it again sometime.

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 5 min, 0 sec
cteresa

Precisely! I was nodding all the way through your review.

It is a sort of underwhelming tea at first, the vanilla is so delicate, it is just plain rooibos but it is such good rooibos and that delicate vanilla just makes it so much better than plain rooibos. Like chocolate I guess, it needs a hint of vanilla to became better even if it is not a strong vanilla.

LaFleurBleue

Amazing, yesterday I just tried adding one more paragraph to my review but couldn’t save it. I’ve just input it. Guess my surprise when I read your comment that means exactly that ;)

cteresa

Oh, wow, that is a coincidence, and almost scary. i swear I got no ESP powers! I do think our tastes do coincide on a lot of teas though.

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Bio

I’ve started drinking much more tea quite recently, almost completely quitting espresso for it!
I’ve been introduced to high quality tea by one of my best friend, MF Marco Polo addict since more than 20 years. I’ve only rarely bought tea-bags since then, preferring the quality-price ratio of loose leaves.
I drink my tea natural, without any milk, sugar or sweetener. I only add honey when a sore-throat is coming along.
I usually either brew a large pot at home or resteep my leaves at the office. I cannot seem to learn to master the use of a gaiwan in an elegant and not clumsy way…
My tea preferences :
- I really like flavored black teas, with a preference for fruity flavors, from a tangy Earl Grey to a real fruit smoothie-like tea. I’m trying some single origin unflavored blacks from time to time but always end up having trouble to finish them. I usually do not really enjoy the strong breakfast teas.
- I do not like chai or teas with strong spice flavors. Strange considering I really like spicy food, but not what I drink.
- I am quite afraid of pu-erh and lapsang souchong, though I probably have never drunk any real good ones and I’m quite sure it can make a huge difference… A few years ago, I had been introduced to scotch whisky and can definitely attest that you cannot say you don’t like whisky, if you’ve only drunk blended stuff and not tasted yet single malts. I hope to get the same happy discovery for those teas.
- I discovered very good oolong, without going through the step of drinking bad-one first, and really enjoy it, especially with a meal. I’ll definitely try some flavored oolongs in a near future.
- I’ve just started discovering white teas, which feels very delicate. The only problem is that those can be awfully expensive…
- I also really like rooibos which I discovered a few years ago while searching for low-theine/caffeine teas that I could drink at night without suffering from insomnia.
- As with green tea, we’ve had a long-standing difficult relationship. I’ve occasionally had some that were real smooth, refreshing and so very many that turned bitter very quickly. And I cannot stand a bitter tea.
- As for jasmine tea, I used to like it but have indeed drunk too much of some bad quality bitter brew, and now I even have problem finishing the high-quality pearls I bought in Beijing.
- Yerba Mate: I’ve had some in one blend and am quite convinced that I would never like that as bitterness is one of its main characteristics. I’ll try to avoid it like the plague.
- Herbal tea: I used to drink more or those before discovering rooibos; finding good ones is unfortunately really difficult – even in organic shops, the herbs sold are far from great.
I loathe artificial flavoring of any kind in any beverage or food.

I’m quite opiniated and try to leave room for further improvement and better discoveries, which explain why I haven’t rated any tea in the 95 and above range.
Teas above 80 are among my favorites
Between 60-80, I could or could not give them a second chance or recognize that they are made with high-quality ingredients though their taste does not please my buds.
Around 50, it starts to be rather bad and a not so pleasant experience to drink.
25 to 40+ cover low quality products that I manage to drink when nothing else is available.
Below that, it’s really vile and basically almost undrinkable IMHO.

Location

Singapore

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