Many years ago, one of my husband's English students went to France and brought him back an enormous bag of butter cookies from a bakery there. They were like nothing we'd ever experienced in Japan or America and my best guess was that was because they were made with enormous amounts of butter and relatively less sugar.
My husband and I have never eaten anything like them since, and I wish I could say that the La Mere Poulard cookies in the little red box that came with my "Try the World: Paris" box came close to those cookies, but they did not. They are buttery and rich with an amazing texture, but they are shelf-stable cookies so they can't have that fresh-baked flavor or reflect a recipe that is likely fine-tuned over years of baking experience. For shelf stable (boxed) cookies, however, they are quite impressive.
The tea I chose to go with the cookies was the plain old earl grey that is named The des Lords for some reason. As earl grey goes, this is a pretty present, but somehow subtle expression of bergamot. It was quite tasty and lacked any strong bitter notes despite my somewhat long steep time.
I took a picture of the tea bag in the cup because I wanted to note that it is a very high quality linen bag rather than mesh- or paper-based. These are supposed to be better, but mainly I think they are valued for not dispersing any toxins into the tea and for being reusable for those who are "do-it-yourself" types. I can't speak to the value of the bag, but it is a good cup of tea for something that comes from a bag.
For uniqueness, this was not an especially unusual experience, but it certainly was pleasant. I probably would not buy the tea again unless I was offered it at a bargain price (a huge one), but I'd probably pick up the cookies for a reasonable price if I found them available at an import store.
My husband and I have never eaten anything like them since, and I wish I could say that the La Mere Poulard cookies in the little red box that came with my "Try the World: Paris" box came close to those cookies, but they did not. They are buttery and rich with an amazing texture, but they are shelf-stable cookies so they can't have that fresh-baked flavor or reflect a recipe that is likely fine-tuned over years of baking experience. For shelf stable (boxed) cookies, however, they are quite impressive.
The tea I chose to go with the cookies was the plain old earl grey that is named The des Lords for some reason. As earl grey goes, this is a pretty present, but somehow subtle expression of bergamot. It was quite tasty and lacked any strong bitter notes despite my somewhat long steep time.
I took a picture of the tea bag in the cup because I wanted to note that it is a very high quality linen bag rather than mesh- or paper-based. These are supposed to be better, but mainly I think they are valued for not dispersing any toxins into the tea and for being reusable for those who are "do-it-yourself" types. I can't speak to the value of the bag, but it is a good cup of tea for something that comes from a bag.
For uniqueness, this was not an especially unusual experience, but it certainly was pleasant. I probably would not buy the tea again unless I was offered it at a bargain price (a huge one), but I'd probably pick up the cookies for a reasonable price if I found them available at an import store.
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