Palais des Thés

This is the “male” counterpart to Paris for Her, lol. That one reminded me of rose perfume, this one reminds me of a male cologne. I oddly like this one, though. There is definitely a perfume angle to this, I think I am mostly picking up orange blossoms which are in there (but I couldn’t add to the list of ingredients). I don’t taste vanilla or sage, but I imagine that combined with the coriander (which I do taste) it helps give it that male cologne angle. In spite of the fact that I rarely like perfume-y tea, I actually like this one quite a bit. It is strongly flavored without being overpowering, and it’s something a little different. Somehow, it reminds me of an Earl Grey but it doesn’t taste like that so I’m not sure where I get that from. They recommend it for morning, but it’s more of an afternoon tea to me – still brisk but a little lighter and more refreshing. I probably won’t buy more of this, but I wouldn’t mind having like 5 tea bags of it around for the occasional use.

This is nice, the fragrance is absolutely lovely and Christmas spicy. The rooibos is mild, not adding or detracting much. My main issue is that this is fairly weak – I brewed 6 oz with 1 sachet at boiling for 5 minutes and there’s very little flavor. What there is is nice enough, though. I have a small amount of loose leaf and may try making a cup with more tea, to see if that makes it better.

ETA – As it cools, the rooibos is becoming evident. Yuck.

This is a very odd tea. The rose fragrance is overpowering, to the extent that I’m convinced I’m drinking a cup of perfume. (It is a lovely rose scent, though, smelling exactly like that old perfume Tea Rose, go figure!). The floral flavor is not actually very strong, though. However, none of the flavors are very strong – I get absolutely NO tea out of this whatsoever, and maybe a faint raspberry and maybe faint lychee. (I’m not sure enough of what lychee tastes like, so not sure on that.) It was interesting to try, and if you’re a floral fan, you’d probably like this. It’s just definitely not my preference, though it seems well made.

Sorry, guys, I thought this one was awful. Very woody and sour, though perhaps slightly a higher quality than the woody sour I’m used to from red rooibos. The vanilla is present, but more an aroma than a flavor. I couldn’t finish this one.

As with most of the Palais des Thes teas I’ve tried, this one is mildly flavored, fairly light, and generally likeable. I don’t get any bitterness from this, but I also don’t get any real floral notes. (For me, that is a good thing, as I’m just not into floral teas.) I mostly taste blueberry and smooth tea that does have an astringent note in the finish. It’s nothing spectacular, and yet I really like it. It would be a lovely tea with some shortbread.

I´m very cautious about ginger in tea (and gin, and beer…), as it easily dominates everything else. During my last visit to a Palais des Thés shop, I got a refill of this tea as a present, and although I immediately felt some worry when seeing the blend was mainly green tea and ginger, I think I quite like it : the ginger is present in a subtle way (in aroma´s you get almost more orange peel than ginger) and the potentially grassy taste of the green tea is well complemented by this ginger-orange peel addition. Nice work, Palais des Thés!

And so I´ve returned to UK (for a few weeks now, but it is almost 2 years ago I was last here), and to the teas I still had here. I´ll surely finish this pouch of Montagne Bleue, as little is left in the pouch. As the zip was faulty, I had closed it with a clamp, and maybe that´s why the aroma´s still come through wonderfully. Once steeped the rhubarb is way harder to find, although the tea is still enjoyable. I might buy some more next time in France or Belgium in one of the Palais des Thés stores.

Picked up this tea again a few days ago, and I must say I enjoy it still as much as the first time I smelled it in the Palais des Thés shop in Tours.
Not too sweet, not too mellow, but very smooth, what isn´t always the case with a fruity blend on black tea (from Sri Lanka+China here) basis. The fresh, acidic side of the rhubarb is balanced by the aromatic notes of the lavender.

During my recent visit to the Palais des Thés (PDT) shop in Tours, I not only picked a tea I had wanted to buy after having tried a sample given at a previous visit, but I also looked (and especially smelled) through the teas on offer…how I love the way PDT shows off the fragrances of their teas with the small glass bell jars! So, after testing quite a few different blends, I decided to buy this Montagne Bleue blend : you can clearly identify the notes of lavender and rhubarb indicated on the label.
Although PDT´s tea sommeliers say this blend can also be taken iced, I´ve taken it now a few times hot, and it is really enjoyable : the aromas stay and one can easily recognize rhubarb and lavender in mouth as well. My personal experience with a lot of teas using rhubarb is that it´s almost entirely present in nose, as in mouth it has disappeared, especially when the blend includes strawberry (which seems to overwhelm the rhubarb most of the time). Here this is not the case, so if you´re into rhubarb – as I am – and you like black tea, this is a wonderful blend to enjoy! If I still have tea available next Summer, I´ll need to try to prepare it iced as well ;-)

When I bought some teas at Le Palais des Thés shop at Tours, I got a sample of another of the blends in the DETOX range. On the teabag it says : “Japanese detox, a delicious recipe combining the detox benefits of Sencha green tea, spirulina”(a type of seeweed)“, and buckwheat. This delicate blend features soothing notes of nashi pear, making it the perfect choice for a relaxing break.”
I must say this blend combines almost perfectly a delicate fragrance in nose with a subtly complex drink in mouth. No aroma or flavour overwhelms the whole experience, which makes this a wonderful choice for a dreamy afternoon tea. I received a (long) phone call when I hadn´t finished my mug of tea yet, so I also had the opportunity to sip the cold infusion…which is still OK, although “flatter” in taste profile.

Another tea (infusion rather) of Le Palais des Thés DETOX range I tried last week at the LPDT shop at Tours : I wasn´t impressed when smelling this blend, but the taste is really something else. I´m not sure whether I´d ever tried an infusion of a blend using birch bark before, but this “première” was definitely positive. Also, when drinking this blend, I can imagine sipping it to relax, so its use to “detox” is understandable.

Last week, I stopped at the Le Palais des Thés (LPDT) shop at Tours on my way from Spain to Belgium, to get me a stock of their brilliant “menthe glacé” tea, and I saw that LPDT is doing a lot of marketing of their new DETOX range. At Tours, they had prepared two of the teas in the range : this Brazilian inspired blend and the Scandinavian blend. First, I tried the Brazilian blend, because it´s really very fragrant. Not a big fan of mate, I thought that this blend sort of fell to pieces when trying it…not even the passionfruit can lift the blend – in mouth – above average, in my opinion.

This is very good high quality leafs that produce a lovely rounded malty, nutty brew with almonds, forest flor, grain and dried fruits. Palate is rich yet subtle and ending is fruity with no bitterness. A great allround black tea with no fuss. Great in the morning but i could enjoy it also in the afternoon on its own

Brewed this as per recommendation from Palais. IT is a very approable, significantly scented tea with nice floral overtones, a vanilla-ish sweetness, citrus, and just a tiny hint of astringency from the green teas. The leaf quality is nice for the price point and it is very balanced in profile, albeit a bit to the sweet side. i will try brewing it with more tea next time as i found it a bit too light.

i think it is too light in flavor to make it a morning tea for me, but a nice overall everyday tea which is good for also less experienced tea drinkers

Overall a nicely balanced version of a scented tea and i find the black/green blend quite nice

TTB #6

Chocolate-flavored teas aren’t usually my thing, but French tea definitely is so I gave this blend a go. What a lovely surprise! The chocolate flavor is sweet and rich and full-bodied with a note of vanilla in the scent and aftertaste. With a bit of milk, this made the perfect bedtime treat. Excited to be adding this one to my collection!

In terms of flavored teas, this one is pretty good. It’s fruity and floral with a good balanced base. It has a strong fruit/floral smell that dissipates when it is brewed. It is still a strong flavor- you can’t miss it. Takes milk well and is great with pancakes or oatmeal. It might be a touch fake tasting, I can’t reallly tell.

I had chosen this tea when shopping in the Palais des Thés shop in Angers last Summer, but although I had intended to drink it iced, I hadn´t opened the packet over Summer. I brewed a pot (in a new cast iron tea pot) and it was nice : more fruit (natural) than herbal, and nicely balanced (not overly sweet, nothing artificial, overall quite subtle in taste… maybe therefore named “romantique”?)… naturally w/o theine, this makes a wonderful late night drink!

I cold steeped this to see if it made it any more interesting. The verdict: not so much. It’s green, it’s fruity and it doesn’t really stand out to me. I’m sure I’ve mentioned this before, but I wish LPDT didn’t have such a large minimum for their teas, which I have found to be mostly a miss for my palate.

This is ok. It’s a little weaker than I typically like for this time of year especially. This might be a nice summer tea.

I’m so excited! I’m usually so bad at picking up the various notes, and I’ll read reviews and be wondering what the heck I drank compared to what everyone else has to say! This time, I actually DID figure out the sweetness and the chestnut notes, so I’m honestly rather proud. It’s a very light tea in steeped color, so light it made me wonder if I’d done something wrong. And unsurprisingly, it doesn’t have a super strong flavor, but it’s still plenty strong. It’s lightly astringent in a good way, and doesn’t have any grassiness or spinach flavor, which is my turnoff in green teas. I wouldn’t necessarily rebuy just because it’s not my – cup of tea – but it’s very nice.

I’m sorry, this one really didn’t impress me. There was nothing wrong with it, but absolutely nothing to stand out. It was very nice and smooth with almost no astringency, but it just made me think of a run-of-the-mill but decent restaurant hot tea.