Celebration

ok, I think I have now in cupboard a lot of Vanilla teas : vanilles des îles (MF) Phénix (MF) and this one now.

On my packet (sent by Theodor shop on line) it was requested to brew it at 85°c so did I and to do a quite quick steep (3 minutes) so did I too, I am not a tea rebel !

To me Celebration is really much more on the vanilla side rather than on the chocolate side – and this is a brilliant vanilla (oh joy !)

The tea base is so delicious, so smooth, so mellow, there is none bitterness, none astringency here.
I can get the hazelnut without problem, a rich hazelnut.
I get much of the malty chocolatey notes in the liquor scent but not that much in the beverage itself except in the aftertaste.

hummmm c’est trop bon, j’adooooore !

Thé-o-dor is a brand which has some interesting multiple takes on the same “ideas” – for example Adèle H and Mélange de Galice are both black teas with peach and are totally totally different. If you check the brand´s description of this Celebration it is:

CELEBRATION
Flavoured black tea with major notes of chocolate, vanilla and hazelnuts

as compared to their Thé du Loup

THE DU LOUP
Flavoured black tea with major notes of hazelnuts and notes of chocolate.

I had and finished and loved to pieces Thé du Loup. But it was sold out, and I was advised this instead and OK, I will try it.

This tea smells incredible – like a rich thick dark chocolate mousse drenched in Frangelico and yeah, a little bit of vanilla as well. It is very rich in little cocoa pieces, cocoa husks I think and I think there might be vanilla bean pieces in there as well – when brewing this up keep in mind to up the dose a bit, since the cooca husks will take some of the space of the tea itself.

Brewing it, following their 95 º advice with some trepidation but being unintentionally careless with time (they advise 3 minutes, it was closer to 4, and let´s not check which side of 4 minutes it was) this is an extraordinarily smooth tea. No bitterness or roughness at all, a very smooth base. It tastes less potent than what it smells, but the scent is so rich, so evocative I am not sure any tea could really live up to it. It is more about the chocolate than the hazelnut, and the hazelnut is almost liquorish, sweeter than in Thé du Loup.

I think when comparing similar teas of a similar quality, the first one tried always has an advantages, we are always comparing the second to the first, which somehow got canon status due to having been first. Maybe that is why I prefer Thé du Loup, do not know for sure. If you are likely to prefer something sweeter, then this; if you would prefer something “drier”, then Thé du Loup.

And I am amazed at how the same company does two very good flavoured teas with almost the same flavourings but which manage to have quite different personalities (and wonderfully smooth but different bases).

I think this’ll be my last tasting note for a while as I don’t have any new-to-me teas in my stash. This is lovely. Thanks again Ysaurella for the generous sample.
It’s very creamy – you’d think the base was milk instead of tea leaves. I get the hazelnut instantly and the chocolate as an aftertaste. I can’t pick up the vanilla at all but it doesn’t bother me, the cup is very well-rounded as it is.

I had a very interesting dessert tea orgy this week and I’m happy it’s ended on such a positive note. I’ll definitely purchase a full bag to keep in my permanent rotation.

I got a sample of this and enjoyed it for Easter. I am undecided on this tea and doubt I will make a full purchase of this. If you enjoy Florence, you might enjoy a trip around the tea cosey with this.
I fear I am not a friend to chocolate scented teas.

My mother enjoyed it quiet a bit and even commented on its lovely aroma. I found the taste improved as it cooled. But on the whole this was not for me.
C’est la vie.

Thank you VariaTEA for a sample of this!

Now, it could be my fault for brewing it for a few extra minutes (~10 minutes, just under boiling water), but it is soooo bitter. Completely undrinkable. I diluted it with half water, but it isn’t tannic, it’s extremely bitter. I did get a bit of hazelnut brulee and vanilla in my few brief sips, and some of the black base.

From my samples basket. I can’t recall who was kind enough to share this with me. Perhaps it was Sil way back when?

This black tea has what I’ve come to think of as a French undertone—whatever that might mean to you . To me, it means a particular type of base and an intricate overlay of flavour. And then there’s a delicate nutty chocolate. Light and delicious.

Thank you to the person who shared it with me. It has been an enjoyable cup.

And it’s a sipdown!

Sipdown 65

I attempted to make a tea smoothie with this tea today and I got all excited, measured everything out, steeped the tea, threw it all in the blender and…nothing. The blender at my sister’s place is apparently broken. Something I had not known when I started this endeavor. Alas, with it all just sitting there and being sad, I had to toss it. I did try a sip of the milk, tea, pudding, frozen fruit mix but without actually blending it together, it made for a very weird and lumpy drink.

so busy. working from home so i have a little time to focus on tea while multitasking work things. Pulled this one out because i really need to get through more of my flavoured teas but haven’t really felt like drinking them all that often. i tend to prefer drinking them out of ceramics for some reason. This one is nearly done and while i enjoy it a bunch, there are other teas with that vanila flavour that i prefer.

From the queue

This came out of the EU TTB round 2. Cream, vanilla and roasted hazelnuts. What, I ask you, could possibly go wrong? I lurve vanilla, I’ve quite fallen for nutty blends recently, and I can imagine what the cream must add to this. I can’t actually in anyway at all imagine this not being awesome. Therefore I looked shifty and filched it. I can’t remember if I’ve had any of this before. I haven’t really been buying very much of the European blends, tending to look more towards the East and the UK.

This smells awesome! All roasty nutty! Also a lot of sweet sweet vanilla that makes the whole thing remind me of hot white chocolate. (I’ve got some powder for that from Whittards of Chelsea. It’s luxuriously awesome made up with warm milk) I can’t really detect any notes of actual tea, though, which is the only thing about the aroma which I can find fault with. I can’t smell any cream either, but I expect that more in the flavour than the aroma in general. It always surprise me when I can actually smell cream in cream-flavoured teas. In this particular one I’m also expecting it to be more a question of texture than of taste really, so I’m not too bothered about not being able to find it here.

Oh my giddy aunt, this stuff is fab! First a lot of hazelnuts, then the sweetness of the vanilla and a smidge of cream onthe swallow. I think the base tea must have some cocoa notes in it, because while it is definitely primarily a nut-flavoured tea, it all reminds me largely of chocolate. I think I’ll sum it up in one word.

Nutella.

As it cools a bit the flavours meld more, enhancing the nutella-y impression, and if you drink it with a sleepy cat in your lap there really isn’t much left to improve here.

I greatly enjoyed this one.

This has been a bit of a revelation, to be honest – I have come to a realization. I’m just going to come right out and say it. I don’t need chocolate teas in my life.

Honestly, that’s pretty huge on a tea preferences scale, seeing as I love everything else chocolate. Seriously – chocolate is where it’s at.

But in a tea? No. I think this reflects my shift in tea preferences lately – I find myself craving lighter, greener, fruitier, less desserty teas. It might very well be a spring thing, but it’s definitely here to stay for now.

That much said, this is a deliciously elegant tea. I wouldn’t say the chocolate tea to end all other chocolate teas, because there are several flavour layers here, and a definite complexity beyond just the chocolate, but it’s definitely one of the better chocolates I’ve tried, if not the best. (Chocolate-orange will always have a special place in my heart, though.)

Nose wise, it jumps from lush in the bag to a little bland in the cup, but the flavour lands on the lush side of things.

Hazelnut, vanilla and chocolate are the three main taste notes for me, but in no particular order – this is a very playful brew, as each sip stacks the flavour chips a little differently. I’m sure this would kill with a dash of milk or cream, and as usual, I’m happy I never keep those in my fridge, because this would have gotten pretty decadent pretty fast.

It’s hard to rate this one, so keep in mind that this really is an excellent tea of its kind, and that my grade reflects preference rather than quality.

Many thanks to Ysaurella for not only letting me try some The O Dor, but helping me address complex existe(a)ntial quandaries in the process.

[Sample from Ysaurella, spring 2014.]