Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

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A nice way to bring my Keemun drinking day to a close, at least for now. Of course, this isn’t a straight Keemun, but there’s enough in this blend to lend the gentle smokiness & sweetness. I love Andrew’s & Dunhams Damn Fine Teas!

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @ 95C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

I need to give my tin of Double Knit blend, which only arrived on Friday, a little rest. Between sharing some samples and, er, drinking a lot of it myself, my tin’s already one-third gone. So I rifled through my holdings on this overcast day when I feel ghastly and thought: Yeah. Horns up. Caravan Resurrected.

A light-to-medium-bodied black blend — mostly China black, I think — with some delicious and nuanced smoke flavour. It never gets tarry. With slightly cooler water, 95C versus boiling, sweeter notes release. The smoke tastes very natural, and a tiny bit savoury, almost salty, though that note is not as strong as it was in A & D’s original Caravan. The smoke is neither dusty nor powdery, as happens in some Caravans and Lapsangs. Refreshing and distinct. Not my everyday cup, but always enjoyed.

I like this tea. It screams BREAKFAST!

Assams are my favorite, and this is a decent one. It doesn’t knock my socks off, but it is nice. No major flavor notes jump out. It smells good. It gets tart as it cools and didn’t resteep worth a damn. I’ve had equally good ones at a lower price from upton, so I don’t think I’ll reorder (unless it grows on me which happens), but I will enjoy this big purty can of nice dark tea.

Steepster is the suck today. Totally not cooperating with me. Sipdown! Loving the smokiness of this one and I’m so glad i got to try it. Thank you Terri!

sipdown!

I figured today was the day to try and get down some of my 1-2 cup samples. In that vein i wanted to kick off the day with a nice bold cup of black. I do quite enjoy this blend though the tiger assam is for sure my fav of the 4 a&d teas currently available. This one has a bit to it that, if you don’t enjoy that in a black, will make you not like this tea. Not the case for me, but for others that might not make this as enjoyable.

SIPDOWN!

At least for the moment until my tin of this arrived…which is the reason i chose to have this one this morning. I know it will be back :) Really enjoying this one – so much so that i picked up a tin of it (4.4oz) which is the most i’ve ever picked up of any tea…It’s a totally different beast than say laoshan black or other divine teas. this is an every day kind of tea :) love it!

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

WOW.

I don’t drink a lot of Earl Grey, because I’ve had so much crappy Earl Grey, stuff that tastes like it could be furniture polish (Twinings), or just tastes stale, or uses a crappy tea base (again, Twinings). Damn Fine’s Earl Grey, which came with in a set with Caravan and Jasmine, was lovely. I think Mount Gray is even better.

The black tea base seems to be a China tea: light body and a slightly sweet finish, no malt. The bergamot is beautiful. Not harsh but deeply fragrant. I brought some Mount Gray to my worklace, and I can smell it through a sealed Ziploc bag. The mineral finish works very well with the bergamot, which does not overpower the tea. All in all, an excellent, and vert refreshing, Earl Grey. Once again, Damn Fine lives up to their name.

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I’ve been working at my desk all morning, answering phone calls & emails, booking gigs, etc. There is still a ton to do, always…

So it’s my lunch break, & I was trying to decide on a tea. Some part of my conscience keeps saying I should drink more green or white, or whatever, but really I just want another cup of black tea. Why not this?

Smokey teas are not my passion, but while drinking a cup of Keemun awhile back, I realized I do like a little smoke, as long as it doesn’t get to crazy! Also, drinking this tea, which is substantial through & through, not just a cup of smokiness, is making me want to BBQ something, or maybe use this tea as a marinade for something…

Blargh. Not enough sleep. We had storms roll through DFW early this morning, and it woke me up.

Been drinking this tea at work all week, it’s a really good blend for that. Makes a nice morning cup.

PS – give to the Red Cross if you can please – between storm season and the fertilizer plant explosion in West last night, they are going to need the resources!

man another winner from Terriharplady I’m so terribly torn because after trying out these three from A&D i really want to order the tiger assam but holy crap that’s 4.4oz. That being said it appears to be free shipping today, even for the 25$ priority shipping to canada…so that would be a serious win if i do it.

This tea? Also a great one, though if i had to pick only won, the tiger assam would win first since it’s such a great smooth blend. This one has that same smoothness but there’s an added splash of bitterness in the cup that goes well with the tea but makes it just a little less delicious than the other. So glad i got the chance to try these since the 4.4oz is for sure a barrier when you’ve never had even a try. :)

I feel like there may be a lot of teas in the near future that thank Terriharplady. So Terri, if i forget, don’t think i don’t love you any less for all your wonderful teas!

Sadly i fell asleep mid cup while drinking this one, so the last of is was a cold, cold cup of tea. What i do remember of this one hot, was that is was a beautiful, rich, smooth assam. Really no smoky going on here, just a sweet(in the way that black’s are sweet) cup of tea. I’m glad i made an unsual small cup of this one so i have more left to have a good normal Sil cup with later :)

Also…i’m in trouble because i really want more of this one for sure but 4.4oz is a lot of tea. a LOT. eep.

So I’m not feeling well today and stayed home to get some rest and sleep. My Tummys been queasy for the entire weekend so I haven’t even wanted much tea. However when my swap box with Terri showed up, I couldn’t resist!

My Internet isn’t working very well today BUT I needed to say that this is one hell of a beautiful smokey tea :)

http://instagram.com/p/YJQ-hRkyFb/

Good morning Steepster! I should be sleeping, but I have a gig at noon, so I’m starting my day with a cup of Damn Fine Tea. Bold, Beautiful, & I’ll be taking the resteep to the bubble bath (because I drank the first cup too fast)

The bills are paid!
I fixed myself some lunch & a cup of this tea, which is bold & manly, & then I checked my mail & I have a package from Canada! YAY!!!
I didn’t expect it to come so soon. While I’ve been enjoying this cup of damn fine tea, I’ve been playing with all the samples Sil sent to me. I’m SO excited! Thanks for trading with me, Sil!

Now I’m keeping my fingers crossed & holding my breath until the box I sent arrives…

Mmmmm. Good tea for my late breakfast. Tempted to take this to work.

Bear with me Steepsterites, I’m logging a teaful day. Got lots of teas recently, so I’m going through and trying them all.

I love A&D’s design sense, and adore the Mt Gray magnet that came with the tea. Even though I had a hard time finding the tea on here since as far as I’m concerned, they spelled Grey wrong :D

I made a latte with Mt Gray this morning, and it was all right. I think I’m kind of tired of Earl Greys, there’s so much else to explore. It’s decent though. But I have so many other EGs and love my Kusmis, so I kind of wish I’d gotten the trio with Russian Caravan instead of this.

I’m sure I’ll drink it though, and probably make a few for my hubby.

This is from the “Here’s Hoping” Traveling Tea Box I just received and opened today! I had yet to try this one from A&D so I was very excited to try this one when I first saw it! YAY!

This is a very satisfying EG – nice and vibrant – strong and eager to please – and it DOES! There are lovely little woodsy notes in there that are surprising yet appreciated!

This is delightful! I really like this!

I love Assam and Ceylon teas so naturally this one was a winner for me! I love the packaging. The small painter’s tin is original. When I opened the tin, it was a no-brainer that this one was a nice smelling Ceylon. It smelled malty and warm with fruitiness to it.

The brew was a nice dark amber. This is a bold tea that can be tampered with to make it more or less bold. Upon my first sip, it wasn’t very bitter, but I wanted some milk with my tea. I’ve been drinking cups of milk these days! I can taste the bread-y, malt flavors with fruit undertones. It makes me happy to sip this cup! The milk didn’t really bring out any flavors but it did make it less bitter. Good tea overall! Now I am off to do my night shift!

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Captain Assam is a pristine example of assam tea. Milk & Sugar added. Just as good as my favorite english breakfast blends. I would recommend this to anyone who wants a bold black tea. Thanks Alphakitty for the sample :-)

Thanks CrowKettle for the sample! (Took me long enough to try it /0\)

I have to agree with the others that this is a very nice, and damn fine dragon well tea. It’s lightly vegetal and very buttery. How would I compare this to the one from Verdant? IDK. :| But I do know that this is much nicer than the dragonwell I bought from Murchies.

I’m looking forward to resteeping this all afternoon!

EDIT: I wanted to make sure I wasn’t misremembering the murchie’s dragonwell so I made some of that to sip side-by-side. It’s far less buttery than the Dragon Power, and it tastes very spinacy/sea-weedy. It really reminds me of the Tie Guan Yin oolong I ordered from there. So, not as smooth and delicate and buttery as the Dragon Power.