1711 Tasting Notes
Advent Day 12
I missed two days in this advent and am catching up now. Of course one of the missed days was a blue tea! I finally took MF’s advice and steeped this for a full 5 minutes. This tastes like perfumy cherry blossoms. Very delicate, light and airy. There is a slight sweet feeling to it that is almost taste with a light fruitiness behind it. At the end of the finish there is a flash of savory. Or maybe that’s my breakfast sausage lingering? Who knows! I like this one better than most of the other blue teas, but I’m really over the entire blue tea with ethereal flavors thing.
Preparation
Advent Day 25
I always panic when a tea steeps up bright pink. Lucky for me it’s more beetroot and not hibiscus. I don’t understand these steeping parameters that MF gives. 5 minutes for a white tea? I don’t doubt that they are tea masters, but it’s hard for me to take that leap of faith and steep a white for so long. I did a 3m steep instead. At first this tea was a muddle of mineraly flavors. I walked away from the cup to witness the festivities of the tiny roommates opening Xmas gifts and came back to a cold cup. I think I like it better this way! The mineraly flavors have diluted into a fruity flavor. The finish is almost fruity candy like, but I couldn’t say what fruit. I’d have preferred a good hearty black to get me through the holiday, but I’m grateful that this tea isn’t blue! LOL!
Preparation
Advent Day 24
No. NO! No, Noel! I do not consent to more blue tea! I feel blue up to my eyeballs like I’m in Dune or something. This doesn’t even have the spice to be interesting. I can taste a hint of mint with a muddled tea base with a bitter bit in the finish. It’s supposed to be hazelnut, citrus and candied fruit, but I get none of that. These blue teas all taste the same to me, a confusion of muddled indistinct flavors. I don’t even know how many days in this advent have been blue teas, but I’m tempted to open the last day right now so I don’t have to dread the very last day being blue or not.
Grumbles in blue *Preparation
(Cackles insanely in blue)
I didn’t get hazelnut or anything until my second cup from the pot and then it was like oh, that’s what the flavouring’s supposed to be. It was weird. my brain wants to lump all the blue together at this point.
I’m also willing to gamble that tomorrow is “Noel Rhapsody.” the other guest that outstayed their welcome. I hope I’m wrong but…
aw man, what a weird advent. I’m sorry it was so disappointing for you.
It WAS really weird! It was still fun, but I definitely didn’t expect it to be so blue heavy! I hope they do one next year with all their classics.
Advent Day 23
What a dirty rotten trick! Took this tea out and noticed the name didn’t contain any “In Love” in it, it’s labeled as a green and smelled slightly savory. Not a black, but at least it isn’t ANOTHER peaflower tea. Joke is on me! It steeped up blue! It’s peaflower in disguise! Is that what the name was about? Masking and hiding it’s true nature?
This tea is really light on the flavors. It tastes like a green tea with old ginger and orange peel. Like preserved orange peel, not a bright bold vibrant orange. Same with the ginger… or maybe it’s ginseng? I can’t tell. The blue teas reflect my mood about this advent all together, it leaves me feeling blue. It’s almost comical how blue tea heavy this advent is!
Preparation
Fantome de L’Opera is actually a novel:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Phantom_of_the_Opera
My friend have seen a theatre play and says it is awesome, but that’s all I know about it.
They could’ve thrown in some glitter for a change.
lol, glittery Fantome.. It would be a twist on the tried and true ending at this point..
Your reaction to the blue mirrors my reaction when I saw my steeped cup. Whhhhhyyy.
I’ve never read the novel, but I did see the play and didn’t enjoy or get it at all… much like this tea!
Blue glitter perhaps? It could be like a fancy bathbomb turning the water blue and glittery.
And who wants to drink that? Gah.
Maybe if the tea is called Rainbow Dash & Twilight Sparkle’s Fun Bash Tea… I’d drink (once)! :P
I only ever heard the musical soundtrack. The book’s on my longlist.
My mind steers towards the name “Magic Pony Vomit” for a tea like that which makes me think of the time a tiny roommate of mine got car sick after eating a red and blue shaved ice! All we needed was glitter to make the disaster complete!
Oh, man… lol. “Magic Pony Vomit” is such a great name though. There was a tisane from David’sTea we nicknamed “Unicorn Vomit” (ie – Unicorn Dreams); I think it steeped purple-pink but don’t remember if it sparkled.. The concept exists!
Advent Day 22
I’m thrilled to be trying another black tea! This one smells smoky. I was drinking it while eating breakfast and my food totally drowned out the flavor of the tea. When I was able to taste it again it didn’t seem as smoky, but had a smooth flavor. I had to dash off for the day and am now retuning to the last few sips left all day in my cup. There is a light fruitiness to it with just a hint of smoke. It’s still smooth and doesn’t have a hint of bitterness. It’s very nice and I’d like to drink it again someday.
Preparation
How does this one compare to Smoky Nara? MF name drops tonka bean notes for both of these and I still haven’t tried tonka :)
The Smoky Nara is MUCH heavier on the smoke with a leathery taste and slight umami, almost seaweed like in miso soup. I was sad to realize the tonka was notes and not actual flavoring in the tea, but I can pick out the notes. I like Nara way better than this tea. It’s so much more flavorful and complex.
Interesting! I don’t always like leather or heavy smoke notes, but definitely want to see something “punchier” from MF after this advent.
This advent was not the impression I expected to have from MF. They have teas with more solid flavors, but only a couple seemed to make it into this selection which showed more of their newer blends, not the tried and true classics. Casablanca is a really nice Moroccan mint that is excellent cold steeped on a hot day. They have a very good jasmine mandarin tea. French Breakfast was good, their French EG is pretty solid which I unexpectedly went through rapidly. It took a while for me to warm up to Black Orchid, but once I did no other vanilla tea compared.
I felt similarly about the bold and well-balanced flavouring of Thé de Lune, the one tea I purchased alongside the advent. I wish I’d taken a chance and bought others, since the advent didn’t deliver, but I wrongly assumed quintessential teas like Thé de Lune or Chandernagor would be included anyways. :|
It’s so hard to take a chance with MF when their minimum is 100g. You could have ended up with several 100g bags of tea like the peaflower line and that would have been a huge disappointment!
Advent Day 21
I saw “blue” in the name of this tea and nearly groaned after the onslaught of blue peaflower teas in this advent. Luckily for me it’s an oolong devoid of peaflower. I’m not usually a fan of oolongs, but this one is really nice. Slightly floral at the start of the sip, creamy smooth with an almost sweet caramel sensation that lasts long into the finish. It’s very lovely. If I didn’t already have a favorite french oolong (Theodor’s JE Oolong Milky) then I’d seriously consider having this on hand. To me this tea is a great example of MF’s capabilities of producing a great tea with balanced and interesting flavors. I was really hoping that this advent would be exploring more of those teas instead of two collections specifically. Still, I’d consider getting this advent again another year in the hopes that they mix things up a little and go with their classics.
Preparation
Advent day 20
This smells like a light EG. It is supposed to be white, but when I opened the bag the tea looks chopped up and green like a mate. It steeps up really pink which made me think hibiscus, but it doesn’t have that hib tang that I so despise. It think it has beet instead. It just tastes like a very light barely recognizable EG that has a minerally taste when it cools down.
Preparation
Advent Day 19
I see that after a hearty breakfast tea yesterday we are back to our regularly scheduled blue teas. MF is really pushing those in this advent. I opened the bag and spotted cinnamon and clove bits along with the tea and pea flower. It steeped into what looks like a deep inky indigo color when peering down into my mug. The flavors are so light and delicate. I can pick out the baked cinnamon flavor and other spices. The clove isn’t prominent enough to stand out on it’s own. I don’t taste the pea flower thankfully or the tea base. All these blue teas are so ethereal and light in flavor. There isn’t much for me to grab onto and love. I do like this one much more that the others, but I wouldn’t buy it.
Preparation
So disappointing that they don’t seem to have included many (or any?) of the classics in this advent…
“our regularly scheduled blue teas.”
I’m cackling here XD
I was really looking forward to trying a variety of teas and not a sampling focused on a single collection.
I swear that if I open another day in this advent and find more blue tea I’m going to throw myself to the kitchen floor and have a toddler style fit. :D
Despite usually loving oolong, I don’t think I’ll be far behind you on the journey to the floor. I was almost there today :P
Maybe we can synchronize our advent inspired meltdowns!
Advent Day 18
A black tea!!!! If only this was strong enough to knock me out of being so cranky and irritable with my household! It felt like everyone needed something from me before I had gotten breakfast or tea in me.
My cup has cooled now that I’ve tended to all the things. I noticed it was brisk when gulping some of it down with breakfast. It doesn’t quite have that smokiness that I have come to associate with teas with “Russian” in the name. There is a citrus flavor in the depths that comes out more when it cools. Took a few sips to get over or past how strong this is. I bet it would be great with cream and sugar, but I can’t be bothered at this point in my cup or take the risk that I’d ruin what is left. I get wood and tannins in this as well. I’m liking how heavy this tea is, but I don’t love it enough to open my cupboard doors to it and invite it in, especially when French Breakfast lives there.
Preparation
Advent Day 17
How are we at Dec 17th already?!
My spirits sank a little this morning when I pulled out ANOTHER __________ In Love tea. No black tea for me today. I was in a rush to get out the door this morning and poured my cup into a glass travel mug. I’m glad I did because this is a lovely blue with a hint of grey tea. It’s cold now that I’m home and able to take notes. It has a light minty flavor that left me wanting more mint. I’m pleased to say I don’t pick up on any pea flower taste. There is almost a light rose flavor in the finish. The color of this tea is so pretty that I want to be really excited about the tea and drink it again, but the flavor doesn’t match the visual.
I don’t think there’s much tea leaf in the tea bag, and it’s weirdly light (ethereal!) even for an oolong, so I started doing this near the end too!
I think the peaflowers take up a bit of space in the bags. The Milky Blue Absolu leaves unfurled significantly when released from the bag, but it didn’t have a bunch of other ingredients like the peaflowers in it.
Yeah, the Milky Blue was alright! Also, another reason to be resentful of the peaflowers..