This one came from a sample I requested with my Mariage Frères order today in the shop Place de la Madeleine.
This is something I dislike with MF, the fact they NEVER propose any sample even if you have bought 3 or 4 teas (and even if you buy more…), if you request one or 2 they would add them to your pretty bag Mariage of course but from a trade view I cannot understand them : why do they wait the client to request, why don’t they propose systematically to gain another possible sale the next time if the customer had appreciated the sample ? Bizarre…vous avez dit bizarre…comme c’est étrange…
So I requested this one because and only because of its name, it was reminding me l’élixir de longue vie from Honoré de Balzac that’s the only reason, I didn’t know what the ingredients were.
The dry leaf scent was absolutely strong on sweetness.
Immediately after steeping, it was a kind of bitterness, cooling it disappeared (thanks God !)
I wasn’t able to drink it hot but only warm because of an over perfume-y taste.Too strong on the essential oils for my taste.
Cooling, it was a very acceptable and decent tea, high on aromas of flowers (rose and lotus in the leading roles) and on fruit (citrus, even if I was not certain to recognize really bergamot, it probably was + orange-probably a bitter one.
Vanilla was lingering on aftertaste and gave this tea a kind of festive intonation.
Something was disturbing me with this tea,it may have been the presence of lotus as I already noticed some teas with lotus were not among my favourite.