Thé des Amants from Le Palais Des Thés

Tea Information:

Leaf Type:  Black

Where to Buy:  Le Palais Des Thés

Tea Description:

Rich and sensual, Thé des Amants is a heady, fragrant blend of black tea, apple, almond, cinnamon and vanilla, spiced up with a hint of ginger.

Learn more about this tea here.

Taster’s Review:

I have been mesmerized by the aroma of this tea since I first opened the little cylinder tin.  It smells very autumnal, with its lovely cinnamon and apple notes, and hints of vanilla and almond.  The fragrance is so deliciously comforting that I find myself continuously lifting my mug to my nose just to inhale this delightful scent.

This is a pleasant tea.  I would classify this as medium-bodied, and a little lighter … thinner? … than I expected given its powerful aroma.  It is quite tasty, but I find that I enjoy the fragrance more.  I think this blend would benefit greatly from a stronger black tea base, one that could withstand the strength of the cinnamon notes.

What I do like is that the flavors are all there.  The most dominate flavor is the cinnamon, but despite its power over the black tea base, I don’t think the cinnamon is too strong.  The apple flavor is more subtle, but it melds nicely with the cinnamon, which seems to bring out some of the sweet apple-y tones.  The ginger is surprisingly soft here, and I say surprisingly because ginger has a way of being very strong even when its not intended to be.  I taste the ginger as a hint of pepper toward the end of the sip, a peppery note that lingers into the aftertaste along with the spicy tones of the cinnamon.

The almond and vanilla are very soft here, and didn’t really expose themselves much until I reached about mid-cup.  I taste light creamy undertones and a sweet, nutty background from these flavors, and they add a nice dimension to the overall cup.  I taste an occasional hint of orange with this blend … which sometimes I think I’m imagining because the overall “holiday” like flavor of this cup seems to inspire tea blenders to create orange-spice blends, and perhaps it’s just flavor association because of that.

A very pleasant cup, quite nice as an afternoon tea after lunch, as it satisfied that desire for me to indulge in something sweet.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *