Dammann Frères

Advent Calendar Day Seven

Slept in a little bit this morning and didn’t get to make my advent tea for the ride to work, so instead I drank it at work today. Second job, that is – at DAVIDsTEA.

I had started steeping it when I got pulled away from my tea to help a customer so instead of the three minute long steep like I’d intended it got closer to thirteen minutes. Amazingly, and completely to my surprise, it didn’t taste even a little bitter! In fact, it was super silky smooth with really nice rich vanilla and almond/marzipan notes that comprised the body. The top note was a bit fruitier; sort of apple-y? And then the finish had hints of cinnamon and green tea. It was a really, really solid tea! And I’m especially surprised by how well it held up to that long infusion overall.

When I make teas at work, I always share them with my coworkers on shift as well because that’s just how I am – if I’m having some, then you can too! The more the merrier; and sharing good tea is a great feeling. So, when my coworker Leah tried this one today I was really, really happy that she proclaimed this was “the best tea I’ve brought yet”, and that includes some straight stuff from What-Cha (black tea, I think), some RLT matcha, and the odd flavoured tea from other companies. So, general consensus between everyone was that this was/is awesome!

Advent Calendar Day Six

I think this is the simplest tea in the calendar thus far; it’s essentially a more orange-y Earl Grey… which is already sort of orange flavoured/citrus flavoured?

As weird and basic as this seemed to be to me, it was fascinating though because as much as bergamot is just citrus itself I could actually taste a clear difference between the bergamot oil and the added orange and I didn’t expect to be able to. Definitely a really pleasant cup, and very smooth overall. Not something I’d think about getting in the future because even if I can taste a difference between the citrus notes it’s still quite basic and I’ve got plenty of Earl Grey type blends on hand.

I do like that the tea basically went; “You’re gonna judge me before trying me? Well fuck you, prepare to be surprised!”. It was a nice thing, in this case, to be proven wrong.

This is an interesting one. The rooibos itself is lovely – the type of rooibos full of color and flavor. There is definite additional flavor here though. In a blind taste test, I’m not sure if I would call it pecan pie, but it would be tough to get that in a tea anyway. Oddly enough, there was some definite toasty nuttiness but only towards the very top of the cup that could resemble pecans. Otherwise there was an odd sweetness that clearly could be the sugary goodness of a pecan pie (my favorite!) The second cup the next night still had plenty of flavor, and steeping at boiling for a number of minutes didn’t seem to ruin the flavor at all. It will be a great late night dessert tea option!
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

Advent Calendar Day Five

Well, it finally happened – this is the first tea from the calendar that I just flat out didn’t like. It’s supposed to be mango/tropical fruit with hibiscus and apple, I believe? But as soon as I brewed it up and saw it was firetruck red I knew all it was gonna taste like would be hibiscus…

I was right; it was so tart and really didn’t taste like much else other than really concentrated hibiscus and apple. I wanted to taste the other flavour notes, but they just did not come through at all. So this was a miss for me as I’m not a fan of just straight up hibiscus…

Additional notes: Another one I’m trying with the cooler/shorter steep parameters. This one always tasted pretty much like cherries to me, just like the Noel Paris blend but it definitely isn’t supposed to be cherries. This time around, I get an odd flavor at the top of the cup that I realize after looking at the description could be pear. I’m not sure how different a mirabelle plum tastes to a typical plum. But possibly all these other fruit flavors are combining to taste like cherry to me somehow. SO with these parameters, I think I was able to parcel out a bit more of what the tea is supposed to taste like. But this still isn’t a great tea for me.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a mug // 14 minutes after boiling// 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 min

I get four holiday teas to try from DF! This is the first. I’m going to try to guess the flavors before I look them up again and remind myself what they should taste like. This one turned out to be much different than it was supposed to. To me, the scent was more cherry. With apple pieces and roses in the blend. I was tasting cherry and almond, almost like a marzipan. The flavor should be anything but that basically. hah. The flavor isn’t bad but I would have loved to taste the peach, pear, and plum with hazelnut and chestnut that should be here. I guess DF is just setting up the disappointment with their lovely descriptions. Looking at the tasting notes of other Steepsterers, they were tasting more of the notes that should have been there. Maybe this was just an off blend of this one this time around.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a full mug// 10 minutes after boiling // 3 minute steep
Steep #2 // few minutes after boiling // 3-4 minute steep

#adventageddon Day One – 2/5

Second advent tea today – drinking it currently. Most of the teas I pulled today are caffeinated/black tea so I’m gonna try to bunch them all into the morning as much as possible. I’ve had this one before and I know I have a love/hate relationship with the blend where sometimes all the flavours click together and become this sweet nutty/fruity harmonious victory in a cup and sometimes they’re messy or flat to me.

I think today’s mug is somewhere in the middle of that!? I don’t think it’s bad, but it’s definitely a little “busy” in terms of the flavours happening in my mouth and it’s leaving me feeling somewhat meh about the whole infusion. I taste a mix of chestnut, wafer cookies, dried apricots, candied orange peel, and just a general floral vibe and all the elements on their own are nice but as a sum it’s too much. I can’t just loosen up and relax because I feel like there’s too many notes grasping for my attention.

A bit of a shame, and not a grand start to advent season for DF this year…

(Lowering my rating from the 90 it’s currently at…)

Sipdown (628)!

Now this was magic. I steeped it up with a tiny, tiny amount of milk and the flavour was really wonderful. Notes of caramel, cream, brown sugar and caramelized/macerated fruits like papaya, apricot, and sweet apple. It all came together really pleasantly, with all of the flavours ‘bleeding’ into one another. Wow.

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZZCyYUJVH0&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=2

Didn’t really get any flavour out of the cold brew I did of this not too long ego, but now I’m drinking this one hot and it’s definitely flavourful – but in a weird way? Hard to describe, exactly, but it tastes like a sort of mix of apricot, black licorice, smoke, caramel, and papaya notes!? I’m digging it though. Just – what even is this flavour combination!?

Anyway – thanks VariaTEA

Song Pairing: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ld-2ajawhxs&list=LL1M1wDjmJD4SJr_CwzXAGuQ&index=85

Drinking a cold brew of this one right now, and I’ll be honest it doesn’t really taste much like anything other than MAYBE papaya? Like, I’m taking sips and it’s immediately the most forgettable flavour profile in the world. Which is a HUGE shame because I see that I’ve drank/reviewed this one before and based on my ‘90’ rating I’m guessing I quite enjoyed it…

Suppose I’ll got back to drinking this one hot, and maybe read over that all tasting note(s) before I actually steep it up to see if I can recreate whatever went so right when I first had this one. I guess it’s also possible my tastes have must changed a lot, though.

Thanks for the share, regardless, VariaTEA!

Advent Calendar Day Four

This is one of those Dammann Freres teas that I feel like I’ve seen it reviewed a million time, and always sort of gone “huh, that sounds nice” and then promptly forgotten about until the next time I saw it reviewed – so I’m quite excited to actually be getting around to trying it myself.

This is just so motherfucking good. That’s right; good enough to surpass ‘fucking good’ and go all the way to ‘motherfucking’! I took my first baby sip when it was still hot, and was like instantly drooling and ready to go back for a big gulp even though that would have most definitely burned my tongue.

The flavours just come through so well, in particular the sweet candied apricot with is just so sweet, fruity and uplifting. It almost feels like it’s just bouncing off my tongue; the flavour is so playful and juicy. The maple/toffee come through well too in the body of the sip, though I did feel like the finish was maybe a bit more like a soft honey note rather than maple/toffee/caramel. It also has complimenting notes of sweet, freshly sliced orange and light apple-y undertones.

Really magical, and smooth with such a lovely profile that’s clear and has rich, full bodied flavour while still feeling light and whimsical! This is my favourite from the calendar so far – though I’m hoping that I haven’t peaked at day four in this advent as there are many more teas to go…

Advent Calendar Day Three

Ooh, a tisane!? I don’t think I’ve actually had a Dammann Freres tisane before, so part of me was really excited to pop that cherry. The other part of me was all “Darn, caffeine free for my commute tea…” and somewhat bummed out. I’ve been F/T at both jobs this week, so I’m essentially running on fumes. Caffeine is pretty well my best friend in the whole world right now.

But this was SO good! The range of fruit flavours was just perfect because it featured several clear and distinct notes, but was harmonious and didn’t feel bogged down with ingredients either. I’d definitely have to agree with DF that rhubarb was the key note here; and what a note! I love rhubarb so much, so any chance to try a new tea with that lovely sweet and slightly tangy profile is bound to be a winner in my opinion. The linden in the blend was also quite strong. I think because I drink a lot of Bluebird Tea Company’s Lime + Cola guayusa blend I associate the flavour of linden with lime now because linden makes up such a large part of that blend. So mentally I kept flipping between tasting linden leaf and rhubarb and tasting rhubarb and lime. Funny how the brain works like that. Other fruity notes present were orange/fresh citrus, and a strawberry-esque note. I say “esque” because it wasn’t quite strawberry OR raspberry, but leaned a little more towards the former than the latter.

Medium bodied overall, and really fresh! Perhaps a little weird for a winter/holiday tea given the summery fruit notes – but delicious regardless. Only thing it’s missing, in my opinion, is the caffeine content.

Advent Calendar day 1 ! (3 days late)
so, i’m watching Fantastic Four. yes! the most hated movie of 2015 haha.
and i think its bad yes. and dumb. it’s pretty dumb.
wheeee!
i also have to go to a 4 yr olds bday party in 20 min and i’m really not interested.
procrastination!

i ordered a bag of the pecan pie when i ordered the advent calendar. i don’t hate it but i wish i liked it more.
i suspect it will grow on me though. you know how that can happen with a tea.

#adventageddon Day Thirteen – 4/6

This was my first advent tea today. I like starting with the DF teas because the sachets are really convenient for my tired ass self to just quickly pop into a teacup. I’m honestly the more crotchety person in the office until I’ve had my first mug of tea.

Weirdly, I thought the dry leaf aroma was quite spearmint smelling but I’m like 99.99% sure there’s no spearmint in this tea so IDK what my crazy morning brain was on about. I think it was just the concentration of the orange oil/flavouring on the dry leaf doing weird things with my mind. The tea didn’t actually taste like spearmint though – very orange forward and bright/sweet, with a warming spice/ginger undertone that lightly ticked the back of my throat. Really smooth, easy drink and while not overly complex it was solidly executed.

I enjoyed this cuppa – as I’ve said not too long ago, I think ginger is growing on me.

Advent Calendar Day Two

So, I was pretty rushed this morning getting ready for work which meant no morning commute tea, which is definitely how I plan to drink most of the teas from the advent calendar this year…

However, I do work at a tea shop in the evenings so I just brought the little sachet/bag with me to work and I drank it there – it meant crossing off one less thing from the Project Tea Wall list, but I didn’t get behind on my advent and so early into the month too! so I’ll take it…

This was pretty lovely, I’ve gotta say. It basically tasted like gingerbread cookies without a super strong molasses-y note. For someone who doesn’t like ginger, I sure do like gingerbread. It’s gotta be the added sweetness, I think. And then of course that warming, sweet gingerbread flavour was supported by light, fresh orange/citrus undertones. I’m at the point in my “tea drinking career” where I’ve tried my fair share of gingerbread teas, but I’ve gotta say this is definitely one of the better ones! Plus, totally in line with the season/appropriately Christmas-y!

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s tea is!

Sipdown!

I’m not sad to see this blend go. It is a year old and it isn’t my favourite nutty blend out there. Outside of the rooibos, there are notes of pecan and marzipan, dry cedar wood, minerals.

Loose leaf smells nutty, rooibosy, sweet, very fresh. The red rooibos looks quite even or plain, but I personally find the smell to be quite appetising.

Brew: Nutty flavour is almost more almond than pecan, but at least there is plenty of nutty aroma/taste. It also has a thick mouthfeel, which is nice.

This is a fairly plain nutty rooibos, but it is still a nice simple evening tea.

I brewed 10 minutes with hottish water (just below boiling). It smelled a bit plain and like artificial pecan flavour, but it tasted much better. That caramelly buttery taste of pecan, as well as the butteriness, were present.

Coldbrew – 2 tsp leaf, 750 mL cold water, 2 hour steep

This is a sipdown (or close to it). I’ve had at least 20 cups of this over the past 6 months, and can say it has grown on me a lot. I love the peppercorn + cardamom + cinnamon combination. I disliked the licorice root for it’s sickly sweetness, but I do find it brings a nice Earthy/bark/root flavour. This tea is just all the sweet spices in my spice cabinet. Quite tasty, plenty flavourful, but could be improved (with less licorice root).