Mariage Frères Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 22
I often struggle with cherry and plum teas – finding them overly sweet, candy-ish, or medicinal. However, a fruit blossom-inspired tea appears to be a good work around for me. The stone fruit flower notes are still on the sweet side but subtler and lighter.
The plum is a deep shade to the cherry’s brighter high note – working in tangent to provide extra scope and depth. The flower hues are a good match for the Japanese sencha base – rich in sweetgrass and umami notes (and more than a little marine air). The addition of chrysanthemum may or may not be influencing the blend; it’s been a while since I had the flower and I don’t know if MF is using it in a way that would impact the blend much, if at all – beyond aesthetics (which are completely lost in a tea satchet). There’s definitely a sweet, almost sunflower nectar-like, floral note though.
The tea makes me think of spring and new beginnings. It also pairs spectacularly with the salami & cheese spread I’m munching on. Like, it’s totally annihilating that special lingering salami aftertaste with its sweet flower power. What a gem.
Steep Count: 2
Flavors: Cherry Blossom, Cherry Wood, Floral, Fruit Tree Flowers, Honeysuckle, Marine, Nectar, Plum, Smooth, Stonefruit, Sweet, Sweet, Warm Grass, Umami
