Nuit à Versailles

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 18

Like a cousin to to August Uncommon’s Dark Iris: violets, peach, umm.. other fruits?(definitely citrus) It has the Bellini/ fuzzy peaches vibe to it. Sweet, smooth, aromatic florals, candied fruits…

The tea base is likely a Chinese Sencha but it’s not bugging me too much today. Every once in a while this green base uplifts the kiwi. But for me, this is predominantly citrus/peach fronted for the fruit. I’m enjoying it but wouldn’t go out of my way buy any!

I was a bit worried, steeping this up, that the flavors would be drastically ruined like the other green tea I bought from DF the same time as this one – it tasted like a mix of flavored teas thrown together.  Seriously, I’m debating on just throwing the other tea away, which I have very rarely ever done.  Luckily, this one tastes GREAT.  It’s very floral forward, like a fancy garden, with undertones of something fruity, maybe peach on a buttery green base. This is ACCURATE as the description mentions gardens in Versailles.  Versailles would definitely qualify as a fancy garden.  Two flavorful steeps. I like this tea.  Very glad it’s aging well.    (The muddled aged mess tea was Thé des Marquises. I shudder to think of it.)

Advent day 12! I found this to be another odd choice for an advent calendar. There seems to be a lot of fruity greens. This one was fine but not particularly special. Some mild peach and orange blossom, but generally pretty one-note.

Fruity and floral but nothing earth shattering. At times when the fruity was more intense, I enjoyed it. When the floral was more intense, I was less enthused. It was nice and I would not turn away a cup if someone offered but I also would not pick this over something else…well most things….there are some teas this is better than

Advent Calendar Day 2 ( and repost from correct account). I tend to prefer black teas and I don’t love bergamot so maybe my expectations were low, but I thought this tea was delicious! The combination of bergamot and orange blossom with peach and the violet makes for a wonderful cup of tea. I thought maybe there was some yuzu in there, but I think that might have been the kiwi. It is perfumey but it works beautifully with the fruitiness. I didn’t find it grassy at all which was wonderful. Definitely one that we’re adding to the “Buy List”.

Flavors: Bergamot, Flowers, Orange Blossom, Peach, Violet

Day 2 of my Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

It’s a good thing I didn’t look at the ingredient list before I made this cup. I don’’t care for green tea in general because I don’t like that grassy flavor. And I greatly dislike floral teas. To my mind, lavender, rose, bergamot, jasmine, etc should be reserved for perfumes.

So it is probably no surprise that I didn’t like this one. Not because there was anything wrong with the tea. If floral green teas are your thing, then I heartily recommend this one. I am not rating it because I don’t feel it is fair to rate a tea low simply because I don’t like the ingredients. I am very glad I had a chance to try it, but I don’t see myself ever including this in an order.

The dry leaf smells of perfume and orange. Bergamot is the dominant flavor and it’s not exactly subtle. I add just a pinch of this tea to regular green tea which balances the flavor just right. Along with the bergamot there is lots of violet and citrus. I don’t really taste any of the fruit flavorings, namely peach and kiwi.

This is the best of the DF teas I bought, but I’m not sure whether I would go out of my way to purchase it again from France. I like subtly flavored teas and I’m finding theirs to be too perfumey. The blends are unique for sure, they just need to be toned down a little. Lupicia does this well. I may check them out or maybe Mariage Frères for flavored tea in the future.

Advent Calendar Day Twenty-One

Tragedy has struck, tea friends!

I slept in this morning, so in my rush to get out of the house and catch my bus I didn’t have time to brew my advent tea, so I grabbed the sample and tossed it in my bag. I had intended to drink it at work for lunch. However, when I went to do so the bag of tea was missing! I figured that I’d probably left it on the counter and, in my sleep deprived state, had maybe only imagined I’d tossed it in my bag.

Well, I just got home from my second job and… the tea is no where to be found.

So, this is basically a tasting note to say that I didn’t get to taste the tea. I have absolutely no clue where I lost it; but it’s gone and I’m incredibly bummed out/sad because I feel like my advent experience is incomplete now! Something that’s been a key part of my day for twenty days in a row now is just gone.

So on that notes…

If anyone, perhaps from the group order(?), happens to have any of this on hand I will HAPPILY pay you to send me a sample of it. I don’t need much – just a cup or two worth. It’s really bothering me that there’ll be ONE tea from the advent I wont have tried though so if I can get my hands on some that’d be great!!!

Will review later (taking my comprehensive exams at the moment!) but I am LOVING this tea.

Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – December 21st

Hmm… I was not excited when I saw this one. Any tea with Versailles in the name immediately makes me think of roses and other florals, so surely this one will not be for me. Thankfully, reading the description assuaged my fears a bit. There is no rose in this tea, and the florals that are involved (orange blossom and violet) are sweet and not overly heady ones. There are certainly a lot of flower petals mixed in with the green sencha leaves. However, the dry scent is strong on the bergamot, with perhaps a touch of fruit.

The steeped tea smells very lovely – a nice balance of bergamot, fruity sweetness, and light floral tones. Wow, the base tea is very strong here, and quite grassy. The bergamot is, thankfully, nice and light as opposed to overpowering. For some reason, this is coming off a touch bitter to me, and I’m not sure if it’s because my sense of taste isn’t quite all there yet or if possibly 3 minutes was a touch too long this time. I don’t taste much peach until the very end and the aftertaste, though there is a light floral presence throughout the sip. Overall, it’s not bad, but not my favorite. I don’t think I particularly enjoy bergamot on a green base.