Today marks the very first time someone else has researched a tea for my blog. I’m always very excited to meet other tea-lovers and encounter new teas and recently I had the pleasure of doing both. This year Tethysdust (a colleague and fellow Japanese translator from my manga scanlation days) moved to Ann Arbor from Geneva, and last week I had the pleasure to be invited over to her place for tea and board games. It turns out they’d brought a plethora of European teas to the States with them that had me salivating in no time. It didn’t take long for me to realize that I’d never actually had tea from France and took the opportunity to try a couple. The provenance of one was easily found (as the company is older than most), while the other was much more obscure and going to be very unlikely to determine. My friend did a little back checking and was able to send me the website of the vendor. I’m tickled pink to be given a hand in my tea research and raise my glass to Tethysdust.
Mariage Frères – est.1854’s Thé des Impressionnistes is a Jasmine-flavored Green with a very lovely and enticing “well-tended flower garden”~ish aroma. In flavor I was struck by its marshmallow and citrus notes. It’s always a nice treat to find a Jasmine Green that’s well-blended wherein the jasmine doesn’t blow out all other notes. Highly recommended.
I don’t have a specific name for the second so I’ll simply call it “Thé à l’hibiscus”. It’s possibly the predecessor of one of the eight Herbal Hibiscus-base infusions found on Cookme-shop. In aroma, a sweet and fruity pastry. Flavor-wise, quite sour and juicy, reminiscent of TG’s dearly departed Rumtopf. It’s texture was especially complex and engaging. Recommended (assuming you’re miraculously able to somehow run across it).
選別 parting.gifts 