Esprit de Noël - Noël

I purchased a box of tea bags as a treat on Cyber Monday. Before I got it, I wasn’t sure if I will like it from the flavors descriptions: orange, vanilla, orange zest, and Christmas spices. I don’t mind hints of clove, but don’t like it when it gets overpowering. I remained skeptical up to the moment I pulled pulled the cellophane from the box and gave it a whiff.

First impressions include warm aromas, doesn’t come across as too spicy. The first steep delivered milder flavors than I expected. The orange comes through, along with the spices. The vanilla doesn’t stand out, but it’s there in the background, marrying the orange and spice. I found the flavors to better developed in the second steeping.

Overall, I think I enjoy this tea. Sipping it while working, the warm aromas becomes a pleasant distraction. One thing I found though was the slight tannic feel in the mouth (almost unnoticeable), but only because I leave my teabag in the cup all the way.

I was seriously confused as my tea canister reads ESPRIT DE NOËL but I guess it also goes by it’s nickname, NOËL. Either way this is a great holiday spiced tea. Think Constant Comment only much more sophisticated. I can’t wait to have it again this holiday season.

Evocative, but heavy on the cinnamon/cloves. It does smell like Christmas to me, but I’ve been known to sneak a cup or two in summer. It’s also nice as iced tea but can get too astringent quickly.

Aptly named, a quality black with lots of orange peel, cinnamon and nutty flavour for a zesty but smooth brew. It’s highly flavourful but not dominated by the cinnamon or orange. Definitely a cousin of Mariage Freres Mandalay, but the cinnamon in this amps it up.

Oddly enough, the usually over the top description is waayy toned down:

“A festive tea blended specially for the occasion.
Flavoured with mild Christmas spices, it includes pieces of cinnamon and almonds.”

What’s going on here, Mariage Freres? No mention of “distant lands shrouded in mist evoking the splendor of forgotten ages?” This is one of your better teas and it gets this totally blah description! Thumbs down, needs more mystique.

Anyway… the tea is great if you like cinnamon and orange with a dash of nut. Also makes a great base for hot toddy and hot rum drinks.

Adventaggedon Day 24 – Tea 6/6

Last advent of the day – technically the second to last of all the advents because I do have one more day of the MF advent left – they included a tea for Christmas Day. This was probably the most festive tea of the day – I’m curious to see if MF can “up” the festive feeling tomorrow, but my money is on it being the same profile on a different tea type. Maybe green tea or herbal!?

The smell of this is intoxicating – it smells like super cinnamon heavy Christmas baking. I haven’t done any Christmas baking since moving to Montreal, and I used to bake pretty much every Christmas so I kind of miss it. It made me nostalgic for Christmases at home in Saskatchewan – which, with the pandemic, isn’t something I got to do this year. I’m all alone in Montreal for the year; no family and even if I had friends who wanted to do something for the holidays it wouldn’t be an option with the lockdown…

I steeped this one up with some whipped cream and a bit of candied cranberries on top and it felt luxe and fancy! It’s one of the most flavourful blends in the MF advent so far; definitely a bolder and sweet cinnamon note but complimented by a brisk, slightly tannic and malty/grainy black tea. Tasted sort of like cinnamon buns and with the whipped cream on top that only emphasized those flavour qualities/comparisons.

Super yummy – and I great penultimate tea from MF.

Advent Photos: https://www.instagram.com/p/CJM0NCOgiTR/

Not rating because, well, I really dislike clove unless it’s delegated to a very minor supporting role, and unfortunately that is not the case here. But it seems churlish to low-rate a Christmas tea for having too much clove. I mean this flavor is exactly what one would expect from something named “Esprit de Noël,” but I had hoped MF might handle it a bit differently and give me a nice surprise. All the other ingredients with no clove, or just the tiniest bit, would be right in my wheelhouse, but the amount of clove in this just undoes me.

I did have it steeped in hot milk this afternoon, and that’s probably the only way I can enjoy it … once in a blue moon. I need to give this to someone who will appreciate it.

A favourite tea that I do my best to refrain from drinking till December. It’s lovely and orange-y, quite floral but then the body of it is sweet and spicy with a warmth at the end. The orange flavour is quite intense upfront but fades away in a satisfying way. Just lovely!

I am finally finishing my reviews of GCTTB because I lost my samples in a box but found then yesterday.

1.5 tsp leaf, 500 mL hot (not boiling) water, ~5 minutes (although I kept the teabag in and it has now been about 30 minutes)

This is a comforting, warming black base that is both flavourful and smooth. The spices are reminiscent of winter. It was sweater weather today where I live, and so I grabbed this for my morning cup. The clove and cinnamon (mulling spice) are there, but not overly strong. I can taste citrus peel (orange). From the ingredients list, I can see there are a few ingredients present in the flavor that were subtle in the background: molasses (raisins?), nuts, and vanilla. Definitely more molasses/raisins and not very much nutty or vanilla flavor.

Overall this is a really nice choice for a cold day. I think it would take sweetener or milk well, but I find it very palatable by itself.

GCTTB

I made this as a latte and this is probably a terrible description but at first sip all I could think was “this tastes like the air smells during Christmas time”. Fresh and spicy that reminds you of home cooking with a touch of orange and nut to keep things sweet and rich. It is quite nice actually and yet I feel as I have had this tea many times before. This is very much representative of a standard Noel tea and as lovely as it is to sip on now, it is just not a flavor I reach for often and it just seems I can get this much more easily from another company for a cheaper price. So, even though I wouldn’t turn away another cup, this is not something I will be pining for when its gone. Nonetheless, thank you Shezza for the share!

Well, I pulled this out of the stash to have today and then decided to finish the Truffles from Todd & Holland since it wasn’t a favorite. I’m just now getting around to this, and then it will be go directly to non-caffeine for me.

There are hunks of what look liked dried apple in among the very dark leaves. Perhaps that is the orange zest. The tea has a nice smell in the tin, like so many French teas. The French tea houses really seem to pay attention to how their blends smell as well as taste, which I suppose isn’t surprising given the perfume connection. I can detect the orange and vanilla in the dry tea, though I get more of a cinnamon, apple and clove smell in the steeped aroma. The tea is a clear reddish mahogany color.

It has a mild and pleasant orange spice tea flavor. It makes me think of Constant Comment, but the flavor in this one is far less heavy handed and the tea is obviously better quality than what one gets in the Constant Comment bags. The tea base is lovely and smooth. It’s a nice blend.

I read in a description of the tea at the Mariage Freres site that it includes almond, but the most I get of the almond is just a little in the aftertaste. Then again, blends like this tend to differ from steep to steep depending on the mix that shows up in your teaspoon each time, so maybe next time I’ll get more almond. And then again, there is no indication that this contains apple, and yet I get an apple-like aroma and flavor from it, so go figure.