Bouddha Bleu

I feel bad about my feelings towards this tea, but I’m enjoying it so much more now that’s it’s a little older.

The floral and juicy fruit components held up fine, there’s even a bit of lychee and pineapple I can distinguish now. Even the slight green flavor of the tea is still there. But the baby powder finish is all but gone, and it’s more mellow than it used to be, which makes it so much better.

I’ve come to learn that I don’t care much for flavoured greens, but this is probably my favourite one. It’s also my favourite of the four mariage frères tins that I was gifted almost a year ago, and the only one I’d repurchase.

It drives me absolutely bonkers that I still don’t know what it’s scented with. That’s actually part of the reason I’ve taken so long to write a tasting note for it. I just end up frustrating myself with “mystery flavours” instead of enjoying the tea, which all of me agrees on being fruity sweet and mildly floral (isn’t that enough to know?).

The tea tastes light, smooth, and sweet, before an moderately astringent and tart finish- which makes me think citrus rind or seed. That smoothness reminds me of the best moments of a juicy orange, but I have a feeling that there is more than one fruit behind this cup. The lingering aftertaste is a gentle fruity sweetness.. like that of a ripe frozen persimmon!!! I tried frozen persimmons for the first time a week ago and I am almost positive that that is what I’m tasting. Sorry. Mid-tasting note epiphany. I’m so freaking excited; if I identified that right this tea puzzle would make a little more sense. Hopefully, that now familiar flavour sticks around in further sessions with this tea.

Yum. This is pretty good. It’s a creamy, fruity, floral green tea. It is really difficult to pick out which fruits I am tasting. By the aroma, it seemed like a lychee/pineapple/citrus tea. There is also a hint of spice. I’ll probably add this to my order list. Thank you greenteafairy for giving me a chance to try this one!

Traveling Tea Box C #23
OH MY GOODNESS! This tea! I love it. This is my nee favorite green tea blend. I don’t know why the ratings are so low :( there are subtle floral notes and a great sweetness to this tea. This is amazing. This would make a really great, sophisticated hard candy or sweet mint! Like those rose mints with the rose seed in the middle! That’s what this reminds me off! Less floraly though! I love it!

Wow! I’ve been on a green tea kick lately. This was a sample from Crowkettle
and I must say, this little guy is pretty darn good! The leaves are just beautiful and it has this light, sweet and fruity taste. The smell is a cross between fruity and floral.
Just mmm!

It is time to go into another happy place. I have a lot of work to do before I can study for another midterm next Tuesday. Luckily Monday is a holiday, however I have plans to go into San Francisco for part of that day.

Light with a hint of floral. Next month my friend is going to Paris for her honeymoon so I asked her to get me some MF teas while she was there.

Tea #3 from Another Traveling Tea Box

Aside from one (now discontinued) green tea, I’ve strongly disliked every green tea I’ve ever had. But I figure it wouldn’t hurt to try another. I’m actually glad I did. This one wasn’t at all bad.
There’s a very faint green tea taste for this, but mostly I get a fruity/floral type of taste. Not sure what sort of fruit, just that it’s fruity and pretty tasty. Actually, if I didn’t know this was a completely green tea, I wouldn’t be able to tell. I’d just think it was some sort of floral fruit tea. And after adding some Truvia the fruit taste came out even more and the green taste pretty much disappeared.
I’d actually consider ordering this one if I ever make an order with the company.

My first tea from Mariage Frères! I’ve been eyeing a bunch of theirs for some time – they have so many intriguing blends, although I do wish they’d provide more information in terms of ingredients, or at least more concrete descriptions of each tea’s flavor profile – and this one seemed like it’d be totally up my alley. Green base? Yes, please – that’s how I like my flavored teas best. Fruity? Definitely. Floral? Tell me more, Mariage Frères! Plus, “a blend of fragrances recalling the ripe fruit on a tray laden with offerings”? I’m sold.

So, my expectations were high. And, unfortunately, this tea is not meeting them. It’s very sweet. I wouldn’t say the sweetness resembles the flavor of any particular fruit, or even possesses a quality I’d consider fruity in a generic way. It reminds me of something, but I can’t quite put my finger on it. There is a bit of a generic floral taste, but it’s nothing particularly complex or exciting. The sencha base is solid – it’s light, smooth, and ever-so-slightly vegetal – so that’s a point in Bouddha Bleu’s flavor. The tea has a sweet aftertaste that I don’t entirely care for – but, I can finally place the not-quite-fruit flavor: bubblegum. Definitely bubblegum. I happen to pretty much hate the taste of bubble gum, so that’s kind of killing this tea for me.

I’ve tried Bouddha Bleu both hot and iced (brewed hot and then chilled), and have had pretty much the same experience each time. I really wanted to like this tea, but it’s just not living up to the hype (or the price) for me.

My favourite tea. I’m very new to the business of tasting tea, notes, etc., so I’m afraid I won’t be able to do any justice to this green tea. What I can say is that it is much more subtle than Stash’s Zen tea and MF’s own black tea, Marco Polo.

I had heard many good things about Marco Polo so I took a chance and bought both it and the Buddha Bleu online. Sadly, I found the flavour way too intense in the Marco Polo but the green BB is just gorgeous. It is fruity but very naturally so. David’s Tea makes a similar tea but it tastes artificial compared to this. I can’t put my finger on what the flavours are. See? I told you I’m a rookie!

Last of the MF advent blends. Kind of a creamsicle thing happening. A bit grassy. Meh.