Chandernagor

I have a feeling that Mariage Freres shop people in London are far more friendly than the Paris ones. Now, this is not one of those ‘Parisians are snooty’ things, since I’ve met plenty of lovely Parisians, including lovely tea shop clerks, but Mariage Freres Parisians aren’t among them. I’ve seen other people complain about how they grumble about samples, and I had the same thing – I bought 50 eur worth of tea, and they turned their nose up at giving me a sample! They gave it to me, but they weren’t happy about it.

In London, on the other hand, I bought Chandernagor for a friend and then asked if it would be possible to get a sample as well, and the very friendly shop fella started packing up a sample for me right away – a very generous one, too! (To be fair, so was the Parisian one). And he smiled! So. Much. Nicer. And the last time I was at the London Mariage Freres, the other shop guy had a nice chat with me about his home town. I love it.

Anyway, on to the tea. I don’t love it! I am utterly unhappy that I don’t love it. After reading all the glowing reviews here I had really high hopes that I’d found my perfect classic chai, but it’s just far too spicy for me when I leave it in for long, and not particularly special when I don’t. Sigh. The search continues…

Mmmm!

I say that with an exclamation point rather than a period because I am surprised.

I had decided that if I didn’t like a Mariage Freres version of chai tea then I was officially not a fan of chai at all.

However, I found it really pleasant and non-offensive!

At first I drank half the cup black, then decided that the only time I’ve really enjoyed chai was in latte form, so I decided at least to add milk and coconut sugar!

Then I really liked it. It became creamier, more desserty, and the spices were toned down which I prefer. Because this one is peppery and strong!

I will keep my mind open to chai tea in the future knowing how good it is with milk!

Thanks for the sample, OMGsrsly!

(PS – even a much weaker second steep was good with milk and sugar!)

Backlog from yesterday evening:

I got this from the Balzac’s Cafe at the Reference Library and just stared off into space for a bit while drinking it. It was a nice mental holiday.

This is a very smooth blend, with no one spice taking predominance over the others. I could taste the cloves, pepper, and ginger, and the cinnamon seemed like a little platform underneath it. The cloves were strongest in the scent and at the beginning of the sip, with the pepper being strongest in the aftertaste. Overall, a nice, relaxing cup.

Oh gosh. Sleeping schedule has gone completely to hell. woke up at 4:30 again and of course couldn’t get back to sleep. There are a few loose ends going on in my life right now, and I expect I’ll probably be feeling a lot better once they’ve been addressed. Still though—possibly uncomfortable work situation today, and I think I’ll just be glad for the weekend.

I needed the type of comfort only a warming tea could bring this morning. And this tea manages to be both assertive and warming, which suits the outlook I need to have quite perfectly, actually. I sullied it a bit by adding too much milk, but hey-if that’s the worst thing that happens today I’ll be lucky. you know how all tea is warming, but some are more warming than others? this is among the warmest, I think.