ahhhhh now THIS is what I remember! my terrible marco polo experience from last time has now been banished from memory and replaced by this delicious tea sensation.
Fruity, floral, black tea. Mmmmm.
My only regret is that I played with the steep time and cut it down to 4 min. In contradiction to my tea-loving past, I like the flavours to come out strong. I like it best just before it starts to get bitter which can be a little difficult to time.
There was a day when I loved “weak” tea. Funny, I never thought I would see the day where I would evolve to enjoy it so!
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whew, what a relief! thanks QG :)
We need to find a place to buy this in Toronto!
I know!!!
Apparently the distillery district has some Mariage Freres, but I’m not sure about which flavours exactly.
Do you have a Williams-Sonoma there? They carry it in the US.
yes we do! I shall check it out, thanks for the tip!
This is the cafe that sells MF in Toronto (two locations): http://www.balzacscoffee.com/. I was told they don’t order stock frequently so what they have’ll depend on when you go, but they seem pretty helpful and if you call ahead they’d be able to tell you what’s in stock. They have Marco Polo and the vanilla rooibos as well as a few others to go, so I assume those would be the options to buy.
ahhhh thx Jessie :)
Now I know where to go in the DD! Too bad it’s such a pain to get there… ah well, it’s so worth the walk!!
I was at Sherway Gardens today and checked out their Williams-Sonoma. They did indeed have this tea…for $32. I promptly put it back on the shelf XD. They also had some Harney & Sons (English Breakfast and Paris) but they were marked up considerably as well. The Blue Banana in Kensington has a bigger selection of H&S teas for better prices.
OH MY! Did you that Harney sachet tins are only 10.95 at Barnes and Noble but are $16.95 at Williams-Sonoma for the SAME TIN? I have only purchased Mariages Freres at Southern Season so I have no idea how much it costs at WS in the USA.
Yeah, that’s the general feeling I get from W-S. “Oh, hey, our stuff might look a bit nicer than the stuff from Wal-Mart or Sears, it works the same, but we’re gonna jack up the price anyway.” Designer kitchen stores make me sad…thank goodness I live five minutes away from IKEA!
Just curious, how much does it cost at Southern Season?
I am pretty sure we paid about $22 for a tin of their Vanille des Iles, which is why we switched to Harney and Sons Vanilla Black! Much cheaper, and tastes as good to me! I think I paid about the same for Marco Polo.
Yowza. Of course, I’ve paid that for tins of DT, but MF’s tins seem so small! Harney’s too, for that matter. I guess it really just depends on how much that tea is worth to you.
The MF tins are 3 1/2 oz or 100 grams, so that is a bit pricey! I think we pay about $24 for one pound of Harney Vanilla Black, so it is quite a savings! But there are one or two special teas I don’t mind paying a bit for, especially if they resteep well.
Yeah, I paid $22 for a tin of Whisky White today, but it’s so very worth it to me. Still made my heart stop at the price, though. I need to find a good Vanilla black, vanilla is my one true love.
the price we pay for tea… and yet I will never have enough. Still, $22 for whisky white! I hope they keep that one around :)
XD Have you see my cupboard lately? I so feel your pain. So far it’s still only around for Father’s Day, but hopefully it has staying power.
I think enough people like it that they will keep it. Fingers crossed! SO much better than buttered rum, IMO :)
whew, what a relief! thanks QG :)
We need to find a place to buy this in Toronto!
I know!!!
Apparently the distillery district has some Mariage Freres, but I’m not sure about which flavours exactly.
Do you have a Williams-Sonoma there? They carry it in the US.
yes we do! I shall check it out, thanks for the tip!
This is the cafe that sells MF in Toronto (two locations): http://www.balzacscoffee.com/. I was told they don’t order stock frequently so what they have’ll depend on when you go, but they seem pretty helpful and if you call ahead they’d be able to tell you what’s in stock. They have Marco Polo and the vanilla rooibos as well as a few others to go, so I assume those would be the options to buy.
ahhhh thx Jessie :)
Now I know where to go in the DD! Too bad it’s such a pain to get there… ah well, it’s so worth the walk!!
I was at Sherway Gardens today and checked out their Williams-Sonoma. They did indeed have this tea…for $32. I promptly put it back on the shelf XD. They also had some Harney & Sons (English Breakfast and Paris) but they were marked up considerably as well. The Blue Banana in Kensington has a bigger selection of H&S teas for better prices.
OH MY! Did you that Harney sachet tins are only 10.95 at Barnes and Noble but are $16.95 at Williams-Sonoma for the SAME TIN? I have only purchased Mariages Freres at Southern Season so I have no idea how much it costs at WS in the USA.
Yeah, that’s the general feeling I get from W-S. “Oh, hey, our stuff might look a bit nicer than the stuff from Wal-Mart or Sears, it works the same, but we’re gonna jack up the price anyway.” Designer kitchen stores make me sad…thank goodness I live five minutes away from IKEA!
Just curious, how much does it cost at Southern Season?
I am pretty sure we paid about $22 for a tin of their Vanille des Iles, which is why we switched to Harney and Sons Vanilla Black! Much cheaper, and tastes as good to me! I think I paid about the same for Marco Polo.
Yowza. Of course, I’ve paid that for tins of DT, but MF’s tins seem so small! Harney’s too, for that matter. I guess it really just depends on how much that tea is worth to you.
The MF tins are 3 1/2 oz or 100 grams, so that is a bit pricey! I think we pay about $24 for one pound of Harney Vanilla Black, so it is quite a savings! But there are one or two special teas I don’t mind paying a bit for, especially if they resteep well.
Yeah, I paid $22 for a tin of Whisky White today, but it’s so very worth it to me. Still made my heart stop at the price, though. I need to find a good Vanilla black, vanilla is my one true love.
the price we pay for tea… and yet I will never have enough. Still, $22 for whisky white! I hope they keep that one around :)
XD Have you see my cupboard lately? I so feel your pain. So far it’s still only around for Father’s Day, but hopefully it has staying power.
I think enough people like it that they will keep it. Fingers crossed! SO much better than buttered rum, IMO :)