Mariage Frères: Eros

A lovely friend recently gave me some rather posh Mariage Frères tea, and I have been drinking it today as I write. Appropriately, since I’m writing a romance novel, the tea’s name is Eros.

I’m no connoisseur (in fact, I have great difficulty in even spelling the word), but I would describe it as having a scent between fruity and floral – not overpowering, just right – similar to Lady Grey but far subtler and less citrusy. Some floral teas have such a strong aroma that you feel as though you’re drinking pot pourri. Not so Eros; it’s so perfect I could easily drink it all day, and I don’t think gentlemen would find it too feminine either (alas, I have no-one to experiment on at present).

I thought the small blue flowers might be cornflowers, but the website informs me that they are in fact mallow flowers (whence the colour ‘mauve’). The tea also contains hibiscus petals, but I’m not sure what the white flowers are that float to the top. Can anyone enlighten me? The scent lasts a long time; I brewed Eros in my Bodum Thé de Chine glass (which is quite brilliantly convenient) and left the infuser full of used tea-leaves on my desk to savour it further.

Searching for this tea I also discovered a new social network: Steepster, the tea-drinker’s equivalent of (the now sadly defunct) cork’d. I was amazed at the number of teas, and the dedication of tea-drinkers in recording their tipples. For my part, I think I’ll take things a little more lightly and amuse myself by discovering teas for all genres. Recommendations, of course, are most welcome!