Dammann Frères

I split my last Dammann order with two tea-loving friends, and one of them gave me a sample of her Old Man Tea. I have to say, I was primarily in love with the name (because – how could you NOT be?), but I was a bit sceptical because it very much sounds like an ‘autumn’ tea of the kind I thought I’d love until I bought both Noel en Provence (Dammann) and Autumn Blend (Betjeman & Barton) and …. didn’t really like either one. They just felt too heavy and black tea-ish that kind of way that I associate with getting a headache. And they were sweet in a way that didn’t work for me. Which was sad.

BUT – I kind of rather like Old Man Tea. For one thing, it is very strong on the grape note. It smells just like hot grape juice, which I love. And it also tastes very strongly of grape. It was definitely the dominant flavour for me, and it was rather pleasant. Also, it didn’t feel too heavy even though it was decently strong. So, go Old Man Tea. I will be trying you again, what with my very generous sample. And knowing me, I’ll be doing a triple side-by-side tea comparison, cause hey, why not?

Sipdown! (32)

I didn’t get much tea in today, after going out in the afternoon and then spending much of the evening cooking and eating dinner. But my mother is going home tomorrow, and then I should have more tea time again. :)

Anyway, this was the oldest tea in my cupboard! I ordered it in December of 2016. It’s amazing that it still has any flavor left, let alone one still recognizable as dried cherries. Obviously it’s not what it once was, but still perfectly pleasant.

I would definitely consider this for a reorder, though maybe in a year or two since I’ve been drinking this every day, and I’m a bit burnt out at this point…

I was inspired by the lovely and wise VariaTEA to figure out which of my teas are the oldest and sip them down. So I went back through all of my tea purchase emails and order histories and added all of the data to my spreadsheet (also a recent thing). Added a filter view for oldest teas and put the first five into a separate sipdown box to work on!

This happens to be the oldest tea in my cupboard, and it’s from December of 2016! Not only am I slightly embarrassed by that, but also shocked that this still has this much flavor left! I still love this tea, it has such a nice tart cherry flavor that reminds me of the dried cherries I love to eat with cheese and olives. There are pops of other red fruits as well, notably raspberry, and a hint of sakura. Apparently there is blackcurrant here as well, which makes total sense as it does have a dark syrupy note to it.

I have a good amount of this left, so I’ll likely be working on it for a little while. But it’s nice to have such an old favorite in the sipdown box! ❤

Home – 6:30 PM

So for those who don’t know, this tea is named for this French children’s song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrBIhEfSBE

This is one of my favorites from Dammann Frères. It’s basically a red fruits black tea that’s a bit heavier on the cherry. According to the ingredients list, it has raspberry, blackberry, wild strawberry, cherry, black currant, and sakura flavors.

The cherry is the strongest flavor here, and it’s dried sour cherry, with a nice tartness. I also get some raspberry and strawberry. Now that I know there’s sakura here, that makes total sense. It does have that sort of tart floral quality that I find in sakura-scented teas. The base tea is smooth and unobtrusive, perhaps a bit malty and a touch brisk.

Still love this one, as I love sour cherries and red fruits teas. ❤

Another sample from Dexter! Yyz was kind enough to explain the source of this tea’s name in Steepster chat – it comes from this French children’s song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4KrBIhEfSBE. Cute, right? :) The leaves are small and black, and somewhat broken. Dry scent is mild candy-like cherry that is both sweet and tart.

Steeped up, this tea smells like cherry pie filling, which makes me very happy. There’s also a pastry cream note for me. Yum, this is a very tasty cherry tea! I would describe the flavor as being closer to dried cherries than fresh, it has that concentrated deep cherry flavor. I added a touch of sugar to mine and it’s lovely cherry pie tea! Definitely put this one on your wishlist if you’re a cherry lover like me.

This is my third try with this tea, and I’m giving it a not great score (76) because I really do seem to find it underwhelming considering how interesting the ingredients are. And yet, I have a feeling I’ll be increasing the rating later on… let’s see if I’m correct.

I still get the perfectly nice oolong base here, though I also have that bit of extra ‘heaviness’ that I seem to get from flavoured greenish oolongs when compared to just flavoured greens. (Not sure how else to describe it…) I also still get the slight sourness of I think rhubarb. But then I noticed a rather distinct lilac flavour all of a sudden in the middle of drinking this cup – or, at least, what I’d imagine lilac would taste like based on its smell. And I love the smell of lilac, so that was lovely, but then it kind of went away again. A bit of a shy note? Still smells like lilac, though, and something else… maybe a bit of that raspberry? I’m really not sure. But I think something vaguely sweetish. Will have to keep playing with this tea and see what happens.

One interesting this about this one – I have a lot of trouble getting it into a spoon in order to measure it. It has these rather firm, very long and thinly twisted leaves, which just doesn’t like my Perfect Tea Spoon… or any spoon, really. I wonder what kind of oolong it is.

So, I just accidentally deleted the first two paragraphs of the review. Gah. And since I hate repeating what I just wrote, I’m going to summarize. Basically, I’m not that great at detecting different notes in tea, and the best way to start to get them is by doing a side-by-side comparison with a supposedly similar tea. So, with the rhubarb and berries and flowers business, I thought of Yumchaa’s Enchanted Forest right away.

The first time I tried this tea (which was yesterday?) I have to say I was disappointed. It just tasted like floral oolong to me. Very familiar and not particularly special. Reminded me of Jardin de Luxembourg (also Dammann), which has a ton of mostly unusual flowers. I was mostly going for the rhubarb note with this one, so that was a bit of a downer. Also just the fact that I couldn’t really notice anything unusual about it.

Then I did my side-by-side, and boy – flowers! And unusual flowers at that. It also had one of those 1-2 punch flavours, where I first strongly taste one thing and then quickly another thing. I have no idea what, but I’ve never tried tea with either Tulip or Lilac before, so I’m guessing something to do with those. Also, the smell of this tea really started to stand out after comparing it with Enchanted Forest. I’m guessing it must be the lilac, because it smells rather wonderful and I love lilac. Also, tulips don’t smell.

I’m also pretty sure I taste some rhubarb now. It’s got a bit of that lightly sour note somewhere in there, which gives the tea an interesting complexity when mixed in with the florals. I’m also pretty sure I can smell it a bit. I can’t find any raspberry in there, though. But then again, raspberry is also a tad on the sour side, so maybe it’s participating in the slight sourness going on there.

No astringency here, by the way. I don’t usually have a problem with that with Oolongs anyway, but it’s nice to know I keep not having it :)

Still not sure how to rate it. Will be back. Oh, but I definitely like it better than Enchanted Forest. Seems I was right – I’m getting over Yumchaa…

I just got this one, but my first try wasn’t that great. I did have it after Fleurilege, which was yummy, so I think there might have been some disappointment from comparison. Still, I’m pretty sure I can make this taste better, so I’ll have to play around with brewing methods. I’m thinking more tea, more time. It wasn’t at all bitter this time, so I’m hoping it can handle more.

I am always quite impressed by all the Steepster folk who make their black tea with a tsp per 250ml and 4 or more minutes and then say it’s not bitter. I don’t even know how many times I’ve dared to even try that… but I may need to, especially with the really good, low astringency blends.

Hm, I’m getting more of a sweet note this time. Although that may be because I forgot my tea in the cup for a while and now it’s cooler. This one’s growing on me, so I’m bumping it up to 79 (from 77). I still taste the non-existent grapefruit… and the “green” coconut is still nice here. The lime is very subtle, not nearly as acidic as I’d imagine lime tea being. Just gives it that added bit of complexity.

Also, this tea is very pretty. Different yellow and pink petals and a nice green base… very nice :) Makes me happy to look at it.

Huh, just realized that Steepster doesn’t let me say I put in 1.5 tsp of tea. Well, I did.

This tea reminds me quite a bit of how I remember The Des Riads (also Dammann) tasting. I do seem to remember Riads being more sweet, whereas this one… funnily enough, reminds me of grapefruit, which it doesn’t contain, whereas Riads does. I think what it actually is is the lime and coconut combination.

I don’t usually go for coconut in my green teas – I find that it tastes very different from my idea of coconut, and not in a way I like. But this one seems to do that green coconut thing better than other teas I’ve tried (e.g. the Dutch one from TeaBar whose name I now can’t remember for the life of me). There’s also definitely a background of spices, though I don’t recognize any particular spice. It’s more like a subtle bitter quality that isn’t actually bitter. If that makes any sense.

As for the mango, I don’t think I taste it specifically, but there may be a bit of very subtle sweetness that comes from it. It’s funny, this tea. I feel like it has this very complex but not very strong flavour. It has shades of sour, bitter, and sweet, without actually being any of those. But I also feel like it doesn’t really taste very strongly of anything ‘real’. Then again, I’m not this tea’s target audience – which is why I only asked for 1/3 of a bag when a friend of mine was ordering it for herself.

I’ll play around with brewing methods, though, and see what happens. Also I think I’ll have to do a side-by-side comparison with Riads (which I am quite fond of).

Darjeelings… with me it’s really all or nothing . I am often disappointed or completely horrified by the taste of some , and I’ve found some gems befitting me completely (some Sungmas in particular).

So we have a very classical leaf with a pretty vegetal but fairly low odour.
as I fear the highly outstanding capabilities of Darjeeling in terms of bitterness , I infused it for 2 minutes only.

Very green wet leaves, chopped wide are obtained. We see the classic mix brown leaves and green leaves typical of many Darjeelings.

The liquor is amber , quite dark for a tea brewed 2 minutes only.

Taste : it is a very vegetal Darjeeling , vivid, dynamic with this unique and so special boost typical of this type of teas. But it’s a little Darjeeling. Unpretentious. So not bad. But nothing more. Not the kind of tea for which I would wake up in the middle of the night to make me a cup of !

So I dip my homemade lemon & poppy seeds cake in it … that’s good anyway

pics of the tea (dry, wt and liquor) and of the cake are visible here : http://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2014/10/12/darjeeling-f-o-p-2nd-flush-dammann-freres/

This is an extremely interesting tea ! It has beautiful golden tips and an odour of undergrowth .

Once wet, bye bye golden tips , they are becoming invisible. Like all golden tips actually.

It is an extremely strong tea tastewith a hint of tartness . undeniably a tea dedicated for breakfast.

It is so strong,almost smoky .

I like this tea but probably not enough to consider a re- purchase. It has an earthy and tobacco taste that I often found in Yunnans and that are not my favourite flavours .

I’ retry my next experiments with a water a little cooler and a reduced steeping time . Story to be continued so .

Here are some pic of the tea (dry and wet +liquor) : http://thevangeliste.wordpress.com/2014/10/11/yunnan-celeste-tgfop-dammann-freres/

Tried a cup without milk today, and it’s just as delicious and easy to drink. The sugary, candy-like sweetness is just beautiful, and the black base tea is light and smooth. It’s an airy afternoon sugar rush, and a definite addition to my cupboard.

A sample from Cteresa. I gave 1 tsp of leaf 3 minutes in boiling water, and was rewarded with a light golden liquor, which smells sweet and delicately floral. First sip, and I immediately thought cherry. Cherry jam? I also get an almond note, and a light buttery, bakey, biscuitty flavour. Sipping this one does remind me of a jammie dodger! It’s a dessert tea if ever there was one.

As a fan of dessert teas, this one is obviously going to score well with me. I like the almost over-sweet candy-like notes, and like how accurately the biscuit flavour takes shape, and I’m enjoying the fruity-floral notes that really help to round this one out. This is definitely one I’d look to add to my cupboard. It’s completely delicious as a mid-morning treat!

A sample from Ysaurella. While brewing, this one smells just like a parma violet! That unmistakable sweet, powdery, floral scent, that’s so reminiscent of childhood for me. I used 1 tsp of leaf, and gave it 4 minutes in 95 degree water.

Brewed, it TASTES just like a parma violet! I was hoping this would be the case, because it’s a flavour I absolutely adore. It’s one of those flavours that surprises me, because usually floral teas (or floral anything, really) aren’t my thing. This, however, is clearly the exception that proves the rule. It’s sweet, almost candy-ish, and very, very smooth, with a distinctive violet flavour and light generic-floral aftertaste. It’s a little powdery-tasting, very perfumey. It’s almost a scent as much as it’s a taste.

I’m pleased to say that I really love this. I’d hoped I would, and I’m glad that I actually do. Definitely one I’d add to my cupboard if the opportunity arose! In the meantime, I shall seek out more violet teas. Avidly.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 1

It was funny finding this as the first tea in the calendar, since I had requested (and received) a sample of it with my previous order.

I feel pretty much the same way about this tea that I did the first time I had it, which is to say, it’s ok. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it. It’s a fruity green tea on a pretty grassy sencha base. I don’t really care too much for Dammann’s sencha base, and I don’t have a lot of green teas by them. I mean, I don’t really care for nearly any flavored green tea these days. But I do still like them cold brewed, so I will have to remember to cold brew my last sachet of this (from the order). I will say that I left some of this in my cup and it got quite cold, and it was a nice tasty fruity green, and the fruit was even fruitier.

I got two sample bags of this one with my DF order. I have to put a caveat first that a lot of fruity greens all taste the same to me, and this one falls in that category. It’s a very fruity green tea. Definitey tasty! But also it doesn’t make a huge impression, and it’s not something I crave. I think ic an taste the passion fruit and the peach, mostly the peach. It’s also got a somewhat boring sencha base. That said, it probably would be very refreshing as a cold brew, which is really where I prefer to drink fruity greens these days anyway.

Last time I drank this one (#13), I wished for more creaminess. Not sure if I was off my rocker or what but today it couldn’t get much creamier. This is an intensely vanilla-y tea, and if you appreciate Dammann’s standard black base (which I of course love), it doesn’t get too much better in terms of a simple vanilla black tea (which is to say, not one that relies on a complex black base but rather those that are all about the vanilla). I’ve had a few others and none seem to come close in terms of pure vanilla power. It is amazingly sweet and creamy. Drinking it nearly back-to-back with Fleurilege I can see the similarities: Fleurilege is this plus hazelnut. Not sure I would need to keep this one around, although it is tempting just because it is giving me a delicious cup today.

Another sample! I thought it would be nice to try Dammann’s plain vanilla black tea, since I am used to trying all of their various multi-flavor blends.

Let me tell you, I don’t think I have ever smelled a dry tea leaf that smelled more boozy than this one! It pretty much smells like straight up vanilla extract. INTENSE. The booziness goes mostly away in the steeped tea, and then it just smells like a vanilla bomb. It smells like the tub of Madagascar vanilla beans in my cupboard at home. It also smells like a nice black tea; I can smell their characteristic Ceylon/Chinese base shining through as well.

Once again, I find myself drinking a very tasty cup of tea. Strong, rich vanilla, with an aftertaste like you were just eating vanilla candy. What this one is missing is the super creaminess. I know Fleurilège is a vanilla hazelnut tea, but it is almost more vanilla-y to me than this one because of the creaminess. This one comes out a tiny bit flat. Still, I find it very tasty, lots of sweet vanilla, smooth and tasty base. Glad to have a bit of this one to try!

This tea (#12) would be awesome if it lacked the maraschino cherry flavor. Otherwise, apple and caramel are great. I still like it enough to drink it and defintiely enjoy it, but it wouldn’t be a re-purchase for me because that hint of cherry is enough to keep me from reaching for it often.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 20

I laughed when I pulled this one out because although this tea is new to the calendar, it is still not new to me. I got a loose sample of this with a previous order, although I am drinking my sachet because I’m at my parents now.

I enjoy this tea because I love the caramel and apple flavors, but I’m not super fond of the cherry added in. This sachet has more cherry flavor than my cup had in the past, which is unfortunate for me. But I still drank the whole cup, so it must not have had too much extra cherry.