Palais des Thés

French Friday! This was the packet I grabbed from the sampler bag today, courtesy of Dustin. Thanks Dustin!

The dry leaf is reminding me of strawberry cream candies, like the hard disc candy with the pink stripes, and a bit floral, leaning rosy. Steeped 2.8g of leaf in 350ml of 175F water for 3 minutes.

Steeped up, I’m getting the same strawberries, cream, and rose aroma, but also something sort of biscuity/graham-like. On the tongue, though, the flavors aren’t popping for me much. I’m getting a dry hay-like flavor from the green base, and while I can clearly smell the strawberry and rose, I don’t really taste either. There is a subtle sweetness at the end of the sip, but it isn’t distinct. It isn’t strong, but I am tasting that slight graham cracker note during the sip.

It smells so inviting, but the taste just isn’t living up to the aroma.

Strange VariaTEA TTB: Tea #8

I was a little intrigued by this one so I figured I’d give it a whirl, but sadly I found this flavour pretty muted – more of a floral black with malted elements and a touch of muscatel flavour as well but all of those qualities in very flat and unrefined ways. I anticipate that this is one of those teas that, a few months from now, I probably wont even remember having tried…

You always remember the “great” and the “ghastly” when it comes to tea, but the things that fall in the middle?? Nope.

The scent is lovely

V is for… Vive le Thé!

Made a cup of this for myself and a friend. She’s a fan. I think it’s alright. Sharp citrus note in the back of my throat that I’m not loving but overall it’s okay.

V is for…Vive le Thé!

This is the only non-vanilla “V” tea I have. I am not complaining about that but made this one a priority to throw into the mix today.

I also wrote my exam this morning. The day started with the exam but before that I recall my first of many alarms waking me and me turning it off and being confused as to why I was being woken by my phone. Thank goodness for my million alarms because my sleepy brain completely forgot that I had an exam at that first alarm. However, I figured it out and despite only the one day of studying, I actually think the exam went pretty well. Either that or I was so underprepared I didn’t even know what I was missing. Hoping is the former. I think its the former.

As for the tea, its alright. It says it has “delicate” flavoring and in this case I feel that delicate is a little code for bland. It’s supposed to be citrus and ginger and I guess I taste both but its very light flavoring. That said, I am glad I don’t get a lot of base tea either which means no grass, vegetal, bitterness, nothing. Just some citrus and ginger – very, very light citrus and ginger.

Happy International Mother Earth Day! For a tea that “reminds you of our good planet” I grabbed this one out of the French tea samples Dustin sent me (thank you, Dustin!) since the cherry blossoms have been in full bloom around here! (Also, Ode to Tea F entry!)

Steeped 2.4g per 350ml 175F water for three minutes. Smells more like proper cherry than sakura, but that floral nature of French teas has given it a sweet flowery, bordering on perfume aroma which is easy to imagine as sakura.

I do like the flavor! It’s like a candied cherry sort of note, but the cherry flavoring is not waxing medicinal at all. There is a slightly sharper, warm fresh grass note that hits after the sweet cherry of the green base. They are very complimentary!

It’s a nice cuppa; tomorrow I’m going to have Mariage Frere’s Sakura The Blanc, courtesy of Cameron, for French Friday to compare the two sakura teas.

T is for…Thé des Alizés

I brewed this and The du Hammam for 3 mins at 160F – 1 pftsp in an 8 oz cup. I am writing this down because they came out super well. The base in both teas are completely muted, allowing for the lovely fruit flavors to come though. This one is just sweet peach perfection. Peach candies, to be specific as opposed to the fruit.

T is for…Thé du Louvre – Courtyard Tea

Most of my “T” teas (lol…sorry) are by Palais des Thes since they all start with “Thé”. I picked this despite the many options because I don’t actually know what is in each tea offhand but this one is in a large tin so figured I should probably try it sooner rather than later.

I believe this is some sort of bergamot tea. That is based on smell of the dry leaf and having now drunk it, its definitely a bergamot tea. It’s a really nice bergamot tea though. Super smooth and light. It also has a touch of jammy blackberry that lingers after you finish drinking. So, as far as bergamot teas go, this is a good one. Or I am just excited and wanting to like it because I have a whole tin.

Kiki:

“Ok, I though it was strawberry at first and grape candy but it tastes like, uh, bergamot and black tea. It tastes berrylike. That’s good. It’s got a little tartness in there, too. Maybe it’s a little hibuscus or something. I like it, it’s good. I could drink it again. I’d say it’s an 8.5. It’s got that exotic smell, you know. Can I have another cup?”

derk:

This smells really good. I see where Kiki is getting grape candy, it has that tone but lacks the sweetness. I interpret it more as blackberry. It’s a smooth, dark woody but mild black tea that transitions to some tartness and astringency. Seems mostly like a Ceylon black. Bergamot is definitely there, stronger on the swallow, but I think it melds well with the berry and black tea. Dang pleasant. This tea oozes French. I’ve never been to France, but I think about its Mediterranean coast and while there is no lavender in this blend, my mind keeps wandering there. I enjoy this one. (Edit: except now I have a headache.) Thank you, Cameron B. :)

Sipdown (275)

Thank you for the share Roswell Strange. As far as detox teas go, this was pretty enjoyable. I was a fan of the berry flavor. However, being branded as a detox tea really kills it for me. I am happy I got to try it and it certainly surprised me but I am also okay saying good bye to this tea.

I made this tea. Then I ate part of a cookie that was so big it was stuffed with an entire krispy kreme cake batter donut, among other things. Then I watched The Falcon and the Winter Soldier. Now I’m drinking the tea. The tea is cold but alright. It’s got a natural berry flavor. It’s also not too verbal-tasting despite being a detox tea. I almost always expect to hate detox teas and was even mentally preparing to drink this and pass off the rest of the sample Roswell Strange was kind enough to share – thank you!! Thankfully, I don’t feel like I need to since it’s alright.

Kiki:

“Ahhh… Fruity smell. I think it’s herbal. It’s really tasty though, I like it. I don’t taste one thing but a combination of many. Fruits, like apple or orange, lemon, berry. And some kind of spice. It’s very good. I drank it all, hahahaha and I’d say this is an 8.5 for sure, if not a 9. Thank you, Cameron. Or is that cherry? I have nothing left so I’m smelling the bottom of the cup now. …Very nice, I really love the quince. You know how quince has that really fragrant flavor, like perfume… It all disappears quickly, but the smell is really good.”

derk:

Smells sweet, fruity and floral – apple juice, quince. Tastes like dry grass, clean, then the swallow blooms fruity and sweet like nectar, apple, quince, yellow plum, pear. I get a hint of cherry, too, like Kiki. Well rounded fruit perfume. Really easy drinker and great thirst quencher even when hot. I think it would be really good as an iced tea. Would be better if there was more to the actual taste than the dry grass of the green tea.

This is the second tea in today’s tournament style sipdown challenge pairing. It went head to head with another single-estate Palais des Thes tea, Genmaicha Yama. Check out the note for that here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/415972

Normally black teas trump green teas for me. That said, I do enjoy genmaicha quite a bit so I didn’t think this would be such an easy defeat for this black tea. Drinking it now, I am surprised that my preference is actually for the genmaicha.

While this may be a black tea, its not the type of black tea I usually go for. I like smooth, malty, bready, dessert-like black teas and this is not that. Instead, this is more brisk and a touch astringent. It’s got the floral quality of a darjeeling (I looked it up and it is a darjeeling) that might be nice for many but to me always reads drying. So this was a miss for me and thus Genmaicha Yama is moving on!

Check out a picture of the teas here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMA1JvPgOwi/?igshid=17oukytf2p49j

Sipdown (270)

G is for…Genmaicha

These little tubes of tea hold quite a lot. This tea got through a large part of the March sipdown tournament and I was able to pass some along for a friend to try. After all that, I am on my last cup so I decided to finish it off on my day of “G” teas.

I have already said so much about this tea that I don’t think I have much new to say in today’s sipdown note. Being the last of the leaf, I expected the green tea base to come out a bit more and to perhaps be a little bitter but honestly, this is consistent with every other cup I had. It really highlights the roasted rice on a smooth base. It’s comforting and warming and delightful while still managing to stay light. A really nice genmaicha.

Entering Round 3 of March Sipdown Madness – this tea is facing off against What the Fluff? by 52 Teas. I think I have an idea which tea is not only going to win this battle but which tea will win the whole tournament. Still, I will work through the blends and enjoy my teas.

I don’t have a lot new to say about this one – it’s consistently very roasty without much flavour from the green tea base. As I mentioned several times, that’s my preference but I know others enjoy green tea and would want that more present in their tea. That said, this is one consistently good tea against another and at the end of the day, even though I do enjoy genmaichas, I prefer marshmallow.

Check out the flavor for What the Fluff? here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416535

Yesterday was the last of the first round of battles in my sipdown tournament. While I thought through the initial pairings, I didn’t think to pair the pairs so that the winning teas were also well suited. So today I have this genmaicha going against a TeaG Caramel black tea. Weird combo. Also, I did it again and overestimated how much I had of Caramel so this one wins, even before I drink either. Oops.

Thankfully this is a pretty nice genmaicha. The base stays muted which means its mostly a whole lot of the roasty rice notes. That is my preference so I have been enjoying this one.

Check out the tasting note for Caramel here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416358

Thank you Mastress Alita for the fun way to encourage us to sipdown teas! I learned of the tournament style sipdown challenge when Roswell Strange asked me to help her pick 16 teas and I thought it sounded like so much fun that I decided to join as well. Thankfully, Roswell was kind enough to return the favour and picked 16 teas for me to work on. Today’s clash is between two teas from the single-estate teas box by Palais des Thes that my sister bought me for Hannukah. I paired this tea with Grand Himalaya since those were the two straight(ish) teas, Ros had picked.

As far as genmaichas go, this one is pretty good. It leans more heavily into the popped rice, at least in this cup and that could have been because a lot of the rice made it into the filter. It’s smooth and buttery and not bitter or grassy at all. Honestly really comforting – popcorn tea for sure.

To see how it stacks up to Grand Himalaya, check out the note here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/415973

Check out a picture of the teas here: https://www.instagram.com/p/CMA1JvPgOwi/?igshid=17oukytf2p49j

I am surprised by this one. My sister got it for me for Hannukah and she got me a large amount, which isn’t ideal since its a green tea and I don’t usually drink those. This is pretty smooth and has a lot of caramelized pineapple notes. Sort of like the pineapple you would get at a Brazilian churrascaria. It’s actually pretty tasty but not something I think I would drink often so I am putting the bag into the TTB to be enjoyed by many.

As part of my Hannukah gift, my sister got me a box of single origin teas from Palais Des Thes. Thankfully the box is mostly black teas, which are really the ones I tend to drink straight. However, a couple plain greens are in there, including this one. With that in mind, I am working on filling a TTB and am trying to include both straight teas and flavored. I am also trying to have a variety of tea types and so I figured that I would give this a try and toss the rest into the TTB, since the likelihood I would drink it over other options, even if I like it, is low.

As someone who doesn’t drink greens, I think this is decent quality. Mild flavor. Not overly grassy. No bitterness. It has notes of sweet spinach. Sort of creamy. Honestly, as far as greens go, its nice but it is still a plain green tea that I don’t care to drink again.

sample from VariaTEA and i think? it was a tasty one. I got distracted with work so i’m glad i have a few more bags to try lol. oopsy!

For Channukah my sister got me two Palais des Thes samplers – one with straight teas and another with flavoured teas. I likely wouldn’t have got either for myself but now that I have them, I’m intrigued. Over the years, I’ve grown to really like straight blacks but I don’t usually buy them unless a store specifically focuses on straight teas. In my mind, Palais des Thes does flavoured stuff so I wouldn’t have thought to explore their blacks. Now I have a few to try though so that’s fun.

This tea is middle of the road for me. It’s smooth with the tiniest twang at times, but not astringent. It’s a little bready. It’s robust. And there is a muscatel/floral element, which I think is what’s reading metallic/coppery to me. It’s fine but like I said, middle of the road.

I do not like tasting flowers. As I have said in past reviews, I wish I liked tasting flowers; it seems like the kind of fairy-tale loveliness that appeals to my soul. However floral flavors always make me feel like I got some shampoo in my mouth. This blend, despite the addition of rose and orange blossom, does not taste like flowers to me. The first two brews definitely tasted like fruit. On the third steep, more of a sweetening of the grassiness of the green tea. I love sweet things and I love fruit – particularly berries, so this tea is definitely one of my favorite flavored green teas from Palais des Thés.