Christmas Spirit at Mariage Frères

Mariage Frères in the world

The first time I discovered Mariage Frères was in Japan. I knew it was a French tea brand, but I didn’t think it was particularly famous until my Japanese friend told me about it. Sometimes, it’s interesting to notice that some brands were better known abroad than in their countries of origin. For example, Agnès B. or L’Occitane, they even have cafés opened! You can find Agnès B.’s Cafés in Hong Kong and Taiwan or L’Occitane’s Café in Tokyo. Thus, my first tea time at Mariage Frères was in Tokyo and I was more than excited to renew that experience in Paris!

We went to the branch close to the Champs Élysées, which has the boutique on the ground floor and the tea salon in the basement. The interior, same as in Japan, made me think of an explorer’s or a navigator’s home! It was decorated with ancient furniture, boxes of tea from all over the world, different shapes of teapots, old suitcases and paintings representing the art of tea. I was delighted that the room was well lightened since it’s always more pleasant to contemplate the visual of pastries before tasting them.

Christmas Tea time

We got the Chestnut Cream Puff, paired with some red fruits tea, and the Carré D’Or with some Sakura tea. The puff cream was light and had a nice flavor of chestnut. Then, when cut in half, we could see milk chocolate leaking out. This perfect mix of textures and its great dough made this pastry one of their best Chirstmas’ Specials!

Now the Carré d’Or. My friend Rémi described it not only as a “must-try”, but also  as one of the most delicious pastries in the city! He always goes for it and never gets enough. It’s a dark chocolate entremet infused with Black Magic Tea with a layer of caramel inside, entirely surrounded by gold leaves and served in a red currant coulis. It was indeed a memorable dessert! At first, I was afraid that it would be too heavy, but it definitely wasn’t. The taste of the dark chocolate mousse  itself was already amazing. Additionally, associated with the melted caramel and the  sweet and sour coulis, the Carré d’Or also made it to the top of my list!

 Try it to know it

Rémi was one of the first friends I made at university, so we’ve known each other for almost a decade (Happy Friendship Anniversary!)! I remembered that he had always wanted to work in finance. He did but realized he hated it. SInce he had always loved sports, working for the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) was be his dream job. He made it there but disliked it. Finally, he had always wanted to do marketing for International news channels. He tried, but ended up detesting it.

This may sound like a row of unfortunate experiences, but I think he is the luckiest person because he has tried everything he wanted to try. Therefore, he has no regrets, is clear in his mind and can move on to his next challenge. Although he may not have yet found what he likes, at least he knows what he doesn’t like.

Mariage Frères – Étoile

260 Faubourg Saint-Honoré
75008 Paris
France

Tea time
Mon – Sun: 3.00pm – 7.00pm

Written by Lucia Chauvet