If all you've ever drunk is supermarket tea, you're missing out.
Great tea is like great coffee and great chocolate (and great wine, and great cheese, and great bread...). There is a world of difference in the quality, and therefore enjoyment of the experience, between loose-leaf tea and the ashes one finds in the supermarkets.
This tea is made for pure luxurious enjoyment.
Not all of it is expensive - there are teas that go for 40 euros a kilogram, like the Rooibos (Red) Tea - but some more unique and rare ones can get up to 1000 euros a kilo.Nevertheless, it is an opportunity not to be missed. When you walk into one of the shops, you are transported back a century, with dark wooden panelling, and old-fashioned scales that are used to weigh the teas.
The staff is bilingual (at least), knowledgeable, friendly, and efficient. I went in with a long list of teas and I could smell any that I desired. In fact, I didn't want to stop shopping, and I didn't want to leave!
I walked away with my staples (experimentation has to wait for sometime during the week when the shop isn't so crowded):
1. FRENCH BREAKFAST
This is a deep, rich, black tea with a hint of sweetness to it in the form of malt and chocolate. I like to buy it in sachets, but it's also available as loose tea.
2. PU-ERH
There are 12 different types of Pu-Erh available, as well as a 500g brick of packed leaves, but I chose the original, matured tea from China:
Here is what the brick looks like:
This compressed square ‘brick’ of large, shiny tea leaves
comes from the misty slopes of Yunnan's mountains. Notably known for its
refreshing, energising, beneficial properties, this tea has the unusual feature
of improving with age.
The 1999 vintage is stamped with the Chinese ideograms for good luck: a vestige of the 20th century, a gift for the 21st.
Dim= 15 x 16 cm, weight = 500 g
The 1999 vintage is stamped with the Chinese ideograms for good luck: a vestige of the 20th century, a gift for the 21st.
Dim= 15 x 16 cm, weight = 500 g
3. ROOIBOS (Thé Rouge/Redbush Tea)
Rooibos originates from South Africa with a natural sweetness to it, and doesn't contain caffeine (theine), so it's an ideal afternoon or evening tea. There are 13 different mixtures available - here's the original:
4. ROUGE D'AUTOMNE (Rooibos + candied chestnuts)
But then I smelled this one, and fell completely in love. If you have a sweet tooth but are trying to stay away from chocolate and cakes, this makes a delicious supplement:
Mariage Frères has employed an almost forbidden fruit - marrons glacés, a famous
French indulgence ever since the days of Louis XIV - to create its new "Autumnal
Red" tea.
A red rooibos from South Africa, mild in taste with very little
tannin, has been combined with the flavour of fine candied chestnuts and Bourbon
vanilla, yielding a most striking yet smooth cup, warm and festive, with fruity
and slightly spicy harmonies that precede a final note of honey and dried fruit.
CONTACT INFO:
Vente à distance - online boutique and mail orders:
35 rue du Bourg-Tibourg
75004 Paris
FRANCE
tél: 01.43.47.18.54
Where I went:
LE MARAIS
30-32-35 rue du Bourg-Tibourg - Paris 4e
tél: 04.42.72.28.11
Also, go visit their Tea Museum or sit down for a special tea in their tea room. Enjoy!
Sounds very good, i am going to try in this afternoon.
ReplyDeletePS. U r natural and beautiful.