As much as I love tea, and would be more than happy to drink almost any tea you could put in front of me, I must admit that I am not typically a fan of flavored teas. Most of the time I find them to taste artificial, with the flavor overpowering the natural flavor of the tea leaf. However, many tea-loving Bois de Jasmin readers have recommended various flavored blends from Le Palais des Thés. My curiosity was piqued and, eager to test these teas myself, I ordered the Teas and Flavored Blends Box Set.

Much to my delight, all of the teas are scented delicately enough to accent the flavor of the tea, but strongly enough to be clearly tasted. I like some more than others, but overall, I’m happy with the purchase. The beautifully boxed set includes twelve screw-top metal tubes that each contain enough tea to prepare about six cups. Also included is The Théophile Guide, a small paperback book complete with detailed information about tea history, preparation, and detailed descriptions of all the teas sold by Le Palais des Thés.

I found the samples to be generously sized and conveniently packaged, with brewing time and temperature labeled on each one. All in all, this set would make an excellent gift for a tea lover, and could be equally appreciated by someone new to tea or to a seasoned tea drinker. Below are my impressions of each tea in the set, which includes Thé des Moines, Thé Vert à la Vanille, Thé du Hammam, Fleur de Geisha, Thé des Fakirs, Thé des Alizés, Thé des Amants, Blue of London, Thé des Lords, Thé des Sables, Thé des Concubines, and Thé des Songes.

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The French tea house Kusmi Tea has released a new flavor called BB Detox. It’s a blend of green tea, maté, dandelion and rooibos inspired by the “all-in-one” idea of BB (beauty balm) creams. Kusmi makes grand claims that the ingredients will detoxify, protect and hydrate the skin, but I can only say that the flavor is very nice–zesty, bright, and refreshing.

BB Detox de Kusmi Tea, 125gr, 14,80€. Available at www.kusmitea.com and directly from Kusmi boutiques.

Neela Vermeire Creations has recently presented its new fragrance Ashoka. Inspired by one of India’s greatest emperors, perfume was created by Bertrand Duchaufour. It is “a tribute to an emperor who was conquered by his own compassion at the moment his victory was assured. He converted to Buddhism and devoted the rest of his life to spreading the Buddha’s teachings, to truth, to justice and to compassion for all living creatures beneath the sun…. His own evolution from ruthless conqueror to benevolent emperor is reflected in Ashoka’s journey from the fierce opening to a softly floral heart & the gentle embrace of its richly complex drydown.”

Ashoka includes notes of fig leaves, leather, white and pink lotus, mimosa, fig milk, osmanthus, rose, water hyacinth, vetiver, styrax, incense, sandalwood, myrrh, tonka bean, and fir balsam. Ashoka will be available in select stores from early autumn 2013.

In other news, Mohur will be released in a higher extrait de parfum concentration. Its amethyst glass flacon and other bottles from Neela Vermeire’s collection were recently re-designed by Pierre Dinand, a renowned bottle artist. Via press release (the image of King Ashoka via wiki-images, some rights reserved).

This spring, in addition to Caligna, L’Artisan Parfumeur will add two new candles to its Grasse Collection: Le Printemps (spring) and L’Été (summer).

Le Printemps (spring)

Inspired by spring in Grasse, this candle blends laurel, rosemary, lentisk and thyme, and accents the herbs with spicy star anise.

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Aftelier Wild Roses is a rose perfume with character. It smells like the Summer of Love, with a dash of sweet incense and flower-child rosy cheeks (thanks to a dose of patchouli, I think).  When I smell it I imagine walking through the Haight, the epicenter of hippy culture in San Francisco, during that trippy era, with incense wafting from the shops and a kaleidoscope of other smells—ice cream, hashish, strawberries, flowers—all mixing together in fragrant nirvana.

The fragrance was inspired by the roses grown by its creator, Mandy Aftel, in her California garden. She must grow roses as large as dinner plates because Wild Roses smells almost surreal. To smell Wild Roses is to take an olfactory journey through the tangle one imagines in Aftel’s Berkeley back yard. As Aftel notes, Wild Roses is all about a “hundred petals unfolding: balsamic, spicy, apricot, and honeyed roses, mixed with the smell of warm earth and herbs.”

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