Boléro

Thanks to MissB for a sample of this tea. The description sounds very interesting (fig, peach, and apricot) and I love figs, so I am happy to try it out.

I have to say, this is definitely the most success I’ve ever had with a MF tea. No strange bitterness, no odd tartness. It’s smooth, fruity, and tasty. Huh. I actually do taste the fig in this one, what I don’t quite taste is the peach. That’s fine, fig and apricot are nice. And yeah, there does seem to be some red fruits (strawberry, cherry) buried in here as well. A nice, fruity black tea for sure. I am certain this will make a delicious cold brew and the rest of this is earmarked for that!

Sipdown!! (well sort of as the last cup is being sent off to Courtney).

Thank you MissB for sharing this with me. I find that I often forget it but when I do finally remember to make a cup, I am always pleased with the taste. This has a great peach-apricot flavor with a hint of strawberry deliciousness right at the end of the sip. It really is a nice tea but for some reason, I just don’t think about it all that often.

A sad sipdown. It’s also sad because I think this is going onto the “don’t reorder” list. I do like it, but I don’t think I like it enough.

With cranberry honey, it’s really fruity even though I steeped it for something ridiculous like 10 mins. Apparently I forgot to press “go” on my timer! Oops. :)

Thank you for the chance to really try this one out, MissB.

Thank you VariaTEA (and MissB?) for this sample? Without even reading the note I could taste the apricot and peaches – it was so fruity and sweet. I am enjoying this, and I suspect that it would be a cold-brew staple in the summer time!

Sipdown (163)

hello beautiful.

if you had predicted it in advance i likely would have laughed (okay guffawed) in your specific direction but this blend jolted a DISCONCERTING (and embarrassing) movie quote from me…… MissB. were you aware of this? hmmm

in any case… as i was sifting through the beautifully packed bag of treasures B packed for me last night i was drawn away to an ethereal world of fauchon crosswinds and mariage freres chinooks. after a long day i settled down (gleefully) to choose my own adventure.

what stood out about this blend was the colours…. bright yellows and red against the tea. bright and festive, and the smell! a bolero indeed. that is when it happened— that is when words from a movie i saw ONE time under duress squeaked out: ‘you had me at hello.’ yeah. ‘jerry macguire’. it’s like finding yourself singing along with the canned elevator music. how appalling.

dry the blend smells intriguingly like grapefruit! once the water was added the spanish dancer became a chameleon. no more grapefruit, fresh peaches mixed with sweet smoke, a background of fig, but a spicy version as opposed to the straight succulent sweet.

beautifully sweet, brilliantly executed. thank you MissB. i don’t think even you could have predicted a spontaneous ‘jerry mcguire’ recitation. you know what though? i’ll wear it…. a blend like this is worthy of such a dire confession, LOL!

I’m at work today, avoiding working (really should get on that).
I brought with me the sample of this tea that MissB so generously sent me.
What I’ve learned so far, it that’s it a little too fussy to be drinking at work. First cup I think I oversteeped and overleafed, second steep was better but still not where I would like it. Second try, less leaf – less steep – way better this time. It’s really nice and light, fruity, delicate. I think it’s more peachy than apricot, but for sure nice real fruit flavors that are “floating around in the air” rather than hitting you over the head. I really like this and I think it will be even better at home under better steep conditions. Reserving rating til I get it right.
Thanks MissB for the sample.

Huh. I can honestly say I’ve never had a tea like this one before.
Fruity, lush, and mellow. You do get the peach and apricot, which is amazing. It tastes like some fancy drink with a little umbrella in it.
Now, I must admit to not being the worlds biggest fan of peaches, but I have enjoyed this so much.
Thank you to JustJames for providing this impressive tea.
Sipdown!

Opening the tin, it is a fireworks of colours : yellow and blue flowers everywhere mixed with loose-leaf. This is very beautiful.

The smell is amazing : to me the head note is apricot, more than peach but both are present. I cannot smell any fig even if Mariage says there is fig in this tea.

The steeped tea was amber and the taste is really very sweet. So sweet that it makes this tea a little bit strange because as Rijje said we can just feel a very thin bitterness behind it.

Boléro is really a very strange and adorable tea.

I tried it iced as well and it is really appropriate too.

This is a beautiful tea, both in how it smells and what it looks like. My immediate thought was Mediterranean, which is a bit odd considering I think more olives, feta and pasta -like smells when thinking of that part of the world. The apricot/peach is strong, as is something else fruity and deep.

I was a bit concerned with my first sip that there are strawberries in here, which I’m allergic to. I tried finding a list of ingredients however I gave up; the box just says black tea, cornflower, mallow and flavors. Sigh.

I took two sips, even though the first one confirmed for me there are strawberries in here, I just had to taste to make sure. (Call me willful). It’s a tart, earl grey -like black, with apricot and peaches at the forefront, and I think a flowery fig in there somewhere, too. Definitely strawberries as well, and something rosey. I’d love it and drink more if I could, and it would likely hold up well to some cream and sugar.

And so, I will package this up for my teenage daughter to drink, because I know she’ll love it. If anyone would like to try some of this in the impending swaps, let me know.

Which, incidentally, three packages showed up today, however Canada Post just left the note to pick them up tomorrow. I’m really hoping it’s my Red Leaf and 52Teas orders! :)

Had this with me to class.
It reminded me very much of Copacabana in apperance, black tea with blue and yellow flowers. The steeped tea was yellow brown colored, and the smell was sweet. It tasted sweet, fruity, but it had a Earl grey-ish bitternes. What is in this? I can’t figure it out!

All in all I like it. Next time I will steep lesser leaves and steep for a shorter period to make it sweeter. (note to self)