Thé du Louvre - Courtyard Tea

Preparation:

- Temperature: 167°F / 75°C
- Time: 0 min, 20 sec
- Tea Amount: 2 g
- Water Volume: 3 oz / 100 ml

This tea is part of the list of the [teas I got this month](https://skoomaden.me/posts/teas-arriving-in-may/).
It was recommended to me by a person I know is as big of a tea enthusiast as I am!
As always, I prepared this tea Gong Fu style, using a gaiwan for steeping and a small transparent cup to see the color accurately.

Now let’s see how Palais Des Thés describes this tea:

From Palais des Thés:

“The fruit of a collaboration between the Louvre Museum and Palais des Thés, the thés du Louvre are fragrant new blends which pay homage to the two faces of the Louvre: the monumental aspect of the palace with its elegant architecture and the poetic charm of the Tuileries Garden.
The Thé du Louvre – Garden Tea is reminiscent of a gentle stroll through the Tuileries Garden, between colourful flowerbeds and shady copses. A gourmet green tea with notes of apple, plum and quince."

I decided to steep the tea for 20 seconds for the first infusion, as I wanted to get a good idea of the tea’s flavor and look, without letting it become too bitter.
Now, this is unusual; first steeps are almost always meant to feed my tea pets and warm up the cups, but this time, I was really curious about this famed tea.

The color was a light yellow. The taste was light, with a slight acidity that was quite unpleasant. The bitterness was also present, but not overwhelming.
It was definitely not as round and sweet as I expected.

Of course, this is the real deal. The second infusion is where the tea really shines, right?

Well, not really. The taste was still quite light, with the same acidity and bitterness as the first infusion.
That acidity I mentioned earlier was still lingering, directly affecting the overall taste of the tea.
As I feared, and as I keep experiencing with Palais Des Thés’ flavored teas, it is more about smelling the tea than tasting it…

Bye-bye (?) acidity, hello sourness.
After this steep, I started seriously asking myself what was wrong with this tea. The acidity was still there, hiding the floral notes, polluting the aftertaste.
Unlike a citrus-y acidity, refreshing and invigorating, this one was more like a bad grape juice, leaving a bad taste in the mouth.

Gone is the acidity, gone is the sourness.

Here, I tried both drinking it hot and letting it cool down a bit.
However, both methods tasted the same.

The taste was now quite light, with a slight bitterness and a slight floral note.
No more of that horrible bad grape juice taste, but also no more of the original flavor.

Crazy how good this tea got after it lost all its flavor, right?

Less flavor, hot water with a hint of nothing and some floral notes.
Honestly, it keeps getting better as it loses its flavor, I really don’t know how to feel about that, but what remains of the acidity reminds me of the reason why I don’t like this tea.

Bear in mind that this is not my first time trying a flavored tea from Palais Des Thés, nor is it my first time being disappointed by one.
I have tried a few of their flavored teas, and I have yet to find one that I really enjoy.
Truth be told, this isn’t my first time trying this tea either, but I wanted to give it another chance by trying it gong fu style.

Palais des Thés, like many other tea companies, has a reputation for making high-quality teas, and I have no doubt that this is true.
Their pure teas are excellent, although their Bai Mu Dan and Grand Jasmin Mao Feng disappointed me greatly.
However, their flavored teas are a different story: Teas that smell like a dream, but taste like perfume. They’re uninteresting, and more often than not, downright disgusting.

I was really hoping that this tea would be different, but it was not.
To be fair, it’s not the worst tea I’ve had from there, far from it, I’d even go as far as to say it’s not a bad tea, it’s just a tea, like an adventure that is only memorable after it’s ended, it’s only good when the session is closing to an end; it’s too bad really.

I couldn’t be happier I was recommended this tea, as it was a great opportunity finally to find the words to describe why I don’t like Palais Des Thés’ flavored teas.

- Flavor Complexity: 12/30 – Limited and unbalanced flavor profile.
- Brewing Forgiveness: 10/20 – Slight improvement with each steep, but overall disappointing.
- Consistency Across Infusions: 8/20 – Inconsistent and unremarkable across steeps.
- Overall Enjoyment: 12/30 – Slightly enjoyable as it loses flavor, but not enough to recommend.

- yaro

2022 Palais des Thés Advent Calendar

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! (37 | 73)

I’ve been trying to get back to sipping down some of my teabags, rather than forgetting about them at the back of the cupboard… ^^’ So I try to have a box of caffeinated bags and one of herbal bags on my tea nook counter so I’ll remember to drink them. I guess it’s working, since I finally finished off this tea!

The bergamot here is a bit too much for me if I drink it plain. I find that I’m not enjoying plain Earl Grey or bergamot-heavy teas at the moment, even though I have in the past. So I sipped down the last few bags of this as lattes, with oat milk and a dash of vanilla syrup. And I really enjoyed them! The bergamot is definitely front and center, but I can still taste the jammy sort of blackberry note as well.

Not one I would reorder at this point, but I did enjoy it while I had it. Plus the packaging is just so completely stunning…