Thé des Amants

While it is hardly the “indulgent, voluptuous black tea” saucily promised on the teabag, this is much better than previous Palais de Thes.

It states it contains almond, cinnamon and vanilla, spiced with a hint of ginger. I get no ginger, but the cinnamon and vanilla come through well. There’s also alleged apple but it’s minimal.

It tastes rather like a poor imitation of Mariage Freres The de Noel brewed at half strength. I have taken to brewing my Palais de Thes in a small Japanese cup with about 100-150ml of water, since that is the only way they taste of anything to me.

I bought the Advent Calendar so am working my way steadily through. I think The des Amants is the best of a bad lot. But if you like this profile, just go for the Mariage Freres Noel. It’s a similar flavour profile and exceedingly more pleasant.

The #cuppateaathon on Instagram ends Sunday so I’m trying to get in another prompt. This was about drinking a tea from your favourite mug. I wasn’t sure if the mug I picked was actually my favourite, but it’s the one I thought of when I read the prompt.

Since the mug was the focus, I could go with any tea so I did my random number generator to randomly select a tea. This was the randomly selected option. I have to say, I don’t love it. It was a touch astringent and sort of flat maple nut flavour. Just meh. I think it’s going into the swap box since someone else will probably enjoy this more than me.

Very “autumnal”. Lots of apple and warm spice. I didn’t like it at first, but it grew on me. Lots of flavor. Palais des The tends to very very perfumed and so is this one.

GCTTB

Perhaps it is my steeping technique, but I am not getting any richness here. Apple, yes. Cinnamon, yes. Very light black base. Not satisfying to me. Just not my cup of tea. Back into the box it goes. Perhaps others will have better luck with it.

Thank you, Ubacat, for adding this one to the box.

Was at the local French cafe and wanted to try something new. While this wouldn’t have caught my eye normally, it’s the holidays, so why not!

This smells like a genuine, fresh-baked apple pie with plenty of cinnamon and sugar. And there’s a whiff of a clean, crisp tea base underneath it all. The taste itself is a little lighter on the apple and spice, but sweet and smooth. Looking at older reviews, I wonder if they hadn’t improved the tea base over the past few years. Overall, it’s nice and cozy and not too in-your-face!

EU TTB Round 2!

Spicy and a little fruity. 62, no keep.

That’s the extent of my original note on this tea. Unfortunately I don’t remember enough to add any more to that.

I didn’t know what to expect with this tea. I like it. It smells like the holidays and it has a very pleasant taste. Spiced, but not overwhelming. I’d buy this any year I would be hosting a lot of holiday breakfasts – would be an excellent addition to the offerings.

Another tea from my November 2014 Steepster Select box!
(The Des Amants means "The Lover’s Tea. Maybe the February Select box would have been more appropriate?)
I was worried about this tea from the get-go. I have a strong aversion to red hots. When I stuck my nose in the package that was all I could smell. When I brewed the tea, it looked like liquid red hots. Sniffing the brew smelled like nothing but fucking red hots. Oh no.. I took a sip and….
No Red Hots.
It had an assortment of other flavors besides cinnamon, although that was the major player. I got a sweeter flavor, like maple syrup and marzipan. There was also a bread like quality from the black tea base. Hmmm. I noticed that there were little pieces of something in the packet as well. Curious, I popped a piece in my mouth. I have been watching too much Korean Dramas to not want to investigate and find out the truth before making assumptions. Almonds! They were blanched, so you couldn’t tell what they were without the skins on.
This is a nice Christmas tea, if cinnamon makes you think of Christmas. Maybe a European Christmas perhaps?

I’m finding out that I really enjoy spiced teas. This was no exception. It smelled amazing even before I brewed the tea. The spices were a bit more subdued after steeping, but all in all a pleasantly spicy tea experience.

It really is finally cold enough to enjoy tea :) so this was in my November Steepster box. It’s okay, smelled nice and tasted cinnamony. I don’t get much of anything else, but it’s a pleasant taste.