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Advent Calendar from Dammann Frères: Day 4

This is one rich tea – full of roasted chestnut, almond, and chocolate malt goodness. It also smells like marzipan which is my kryptonite. The profile has a lot in common with my seasonal favourite from Mariage Frères: Rouge d’Automne (but this oolong would be cheaper to order, so that’s a thought…).

Steep Count: 3

Advent Calendar from Mariage Frères: Day 4

Still meh on this minty oolong.

Advent Calendar from Dammann Frères: Day 3

It’s lovely to see an orange flavoured white tea that’s balanced to compliment, not overpower the base tea or be particularly sweet. It leans towards aromatic citrus blossoms and a tranquil floral palette, rather than a lively, juicy-sweet citrus. Notes of cucumber, unripe melon, and other green things, make this tea feel like a day at the spa.

Imo, flavoured white tea blends often have chemistry problems — where the flavour pairings either diminish or clash with the original tea’s subtle but distinctive profile. This is gladly not the case here. Judging by taste and appearance, DF also made the decadent choice to use a silver needle variety. It pays off.

Steep Count: 3

Advent Calendar from Mariage Frères: Day 3

Day three gave me two white teas… In theory, I should love this because lavender, rose, and “red berries” are all things I enjoy. In practice, it’s too much hibiscus on a white tea base that doesn’t handle it well. I wish I’d picked up that there was hibi, because I would’ve iced this one instead.

Advent Calendar from Dammann Frères: Day 2

Backlog: Both of my advent calendars gave floral green teas for day two. This one also has fruity notes, including a decadent lychee, canned peaches, and mellow but refreshing grapefruit. A perfect, bright tropical tea, for a bright sunny day (we are currently between atmospheric river episodes; it stormed last night and is supposed to pour most of the week starting tonight. So, I’m counting my blessings).

Steep Count: 2

Advent Calendar from Mariage Frères: Day 2

Backlog: The description says green tea with jasmine and rose. So, not for the anti-floral crowd. The tea base is mild and neither flowers seem to overpower the other. The rose is more distinctive than it was in day 1’s tea and reminds me that I actually like what MF does with rose. Enjoyable.

I wonder if there will be a lot of rose featured in MFs calendar this year (hindsight on Day 7: there was and is a lot rose so far).

Steep Count: 3

Advent Calendar from Mariage Frères: Day 1

OK… I didn’t love this when it made it’s appearance in the 2021 calendar – but I kind of like it now? The candy-sweet floral aroma of this tea is beginning to win me over. I’m also happy to get my violet oolong fix in any way I can, even if it comes with blue pea flowers (in 2021, I picked up more rose – and the label says rose – but I swear there’s violet too).

There’s also a zesty vegetal-mint aspect too, which could either be due to the natural profile of the Oolong, an added ingredient, or contamination. I hope it’s intended because I like it.

Steep Count: 5

Advent Calendar from Dammann Frères: Day 1

Maybe I’m not mentally ready to start the December countdown yet. Luckily, DF decided to throw me a nice, neutral black tea blend on the first day. It’s not particularly exciting, but it’s makes for a solid breakfast or a late evening tea (hindsight: I drank this late in the evening and then was up all night lol). It was tasty without milk too!

Not something I’d go out of my way to purchase more of, but still nice. My dad would probably enjoy it the most.

A friend brought back some tea samples from her trip to South Korea and the teas are delightful.

The dry tea satchet smells strongly of coniferous tree with a touch of tangerine. Surprisingly, the prominence of the tree note swaps place with the citrus once it steeps up. It’s such a juicy and smooth tangerine. It’s delicious, clean tasting, and refined. I wish I could spend more time with this blend.

Steep Count: 3

I received this as a sample in my last order and I liked it more than I remember. I’ve been feeling crummy lately (what’s new), and the combination of grassy and grainy flavours paired with the balanced but bright sweetness of raspberry is simply soothing to the soul.

I don’t usually go for herbal blends but I wish I’d picked up more of this now.