Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea
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1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C. Steeped 3 minutes 15 seconds.
When, oh when, will I learn to stick to a 3-minute steep? Those 15 extra seconds make a difference. If you really like astringency and pucker in your tea, steep over 3 minutes.
I’ve need a while to warm up to this one. It’s bright and cheerful, with some pucker — but with no bitterness, no acid. The body is medium to heavy with a creamy heft that I really like. Mouthfeel is smooth; I can see lots of down floating in the dark copper liquor through the walls of my glass mug. An assertive India black tea that will wake you up and remind you just why you started drinking tea in the first place.
1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped four minutes.
Bright and sparkly up front. I was expecting more of a Nepal-Darjeeling sort of taste profile, but this deepens into something stronger and a bit maltier. I’m guessing this has a lot of Nilgiri in it. I notice the steeping suggestion is three minutes; my four minutes have brought out a bitterness I am not enjoying. Next time, I’ll follow the instrictionsd.
This is a lighter Keemun that “the usual suspects” that hold the depth of “Middle Earth” in their mouthful. Named appropriately, Spring Keemun by Andrews & Dunham is light but full of flavor, for those who are patient with steeping. This is a Keemun Xiang Luo (Fragrant Spirals) and when I opened the tin, it looked like tiny little elves had been working away on a piece of black wood on a lathe all night long and put the little twirly shavings in this tin….it looks magical! There is a mild smell of the leaves in the tin, but I didn’t linger there, because I wanted TEA!! Into the cup the wee millings go!
Everything about this tea says Spring. The gentleness of the notes and color and how it feels on my tongue. The smell is earthy, but not middle-earthy. More like your neighbor is digging up their little veg garden on a breezy day. There’s a light baking bread note, a wee bit of sweet potato skin that wafts by, as well as a weensie floral note to top it all off.
That’s all I can write, cuz suddenly I looked in my cup and all my tea is gone. I’m glad it’s just the beginning of spring, because I have the tea to match the season. RAH!
Oh, this is a limited edition (aren’t most teas?) and they have a ticker of how many tins are left on their website….as of this morning there were 57 left of 150. I tweeted this company and asked if there were any coupons and they sent me a code to use for free shipping. So if you’re thinking of ordering for the first time from them, tweet them at @damnfinetea… it’s worth it and they are super responsive. Gotta love a company like that! It’s exactly what creates loyalty from me!
Flavors: Bread, Earth, Flowers, Sweet Potatoes
Preparation
I open the tea cupboard each evening and try to choose what I’m going to take to work with me the next day. Sometimes I choose well, sometimes I’m digging through my haphazard stash of tea at work because I guessed wrong the night before. Last night, the tiger wanted to go to work with me to help me through my Friday, and here he is. I’ve written notes about this tea before, how it is simply a delicious assam. The key word is simply. Simple. There is a beauty in a tea with just a few notes (in this case cocoa, malt and raisin) when it is balanced just right. And this tea is. My tea ritual at work is different than that at home. At home life is simpler, so a more complex tea is welcome. At work, however, it is not simple. It is, at times, absurdly complex, so a good simple flavor profile is often exactly what I’m looking for. I think I’m going to leave this tin at work. :)
Flavors: Cocoa, Malt, Raisins
Preparation
Somehow, in April in Southern California, a 85 degree week has turned into a blustery 55 degree weekend day….and my Tiger Assam arrived YESTERDAY!! Perfect timing! Since I’m a terminal milk and sugar girl, reviews of this tea built up my curiosity up so much that I paid $20 for 4.4 ounces of this stuff before I tasted or even sniffed it. This could go terribly wrong…but here goes.
Dry leaves: Malt. Definitely very assam-y.
Wet: more malty goodness. I was so excited to smell this tea wet that I fogged up my glasses huffing what was in the cup. And I wasn’t even embarrassed.
Drinking: Oh nom. nom nom nom. Not extraordinary like Butiki with many notes. Not astounding….. just assam NOM. Malty, a bit of a raisin bottom note, a touch of cocoa. I don’t think I could drink this without sugar and milk, as there is an astringency to this tea. …but the astringency is what makes this tea a “mouthful”…which on this wonderful surprise of a blustery day in Southern California is truly appreciated. YAAAAAAAY! Recommended to the milk and sugar crowd.
Flavors: Chocolate, Malt, Raisins
Preparation
205F and 3min I drink it without milk or sugar. You have a tin to try. Enjoy!!!
boychik, I’ll give it a go! do the leaves go a second round, or are they just good for one steep? I don’t seem to have much luck with second steeps with any tea….
It’s pretty good for me but again lower temp and less time. I had a cup of it yesterday and resteep and I remember resteep pretty decent. I think I’m going to make one right now;)
I’m so sleepy. I thought this tea would give me a nice boost. It did, nice and gently. It’s very smooth, not bitter or doesn’t need any additions if you make it @200F for 3min
Preparation
Monday… :|
Monday means that I brought some of this to work just so I could have it for my morning tea, and because it’s Monday (and morning at that!) I ended up dumping it all over the floor. Whatever. I’ll risk it and drink it anyway! #badasseryachieved
It’s a good tea.
I just had an image of you with a straw attempting to drink tea off the floor. :P
You won’t be the first steepsterite to rescue tea from the floor, nor the last!
Hahaha. That’s too much work, Courtney.
And Terri – that’s so true. Sadly it’s probably not my last time rescuing spilled tea.
When I got my first order from A & D, I dropped the double knit canister & the lid popped off, spilling about a third of it’s contents. I scooped it back up into a different container, & Ms Theresa made a rule that we had to drink it before we could start drinking out of the tin. :)
The way I look at it, you’re going to pour boiling water on it, so most bacteria it could pick up will be neutralized. But I agree Terri, I don’t contaminate my main stock with tea that’s been on the floor!
Not sure if I’m grumpy or what, but I don’t feel like talking about tea today. Too bad because this one is great. SO great. I’ll just sip it in silence.
(unrelated: I’m at home today and after cleaning the house all morning, I’m now relaxing in a sundress because I want to enjoy spring, and sweat pants, because i’m cold!)
Warning, opinionated post, read at your own risk!
Today I am feeling frustrated and opinionated. Mostly because many of my clients seem like they have lost their minds. It’s the equivalent of asking, “What color is the sky” and them answering, “Giraffe.” It makes me wonder if I am speaking in tongues!
So anyway, I want you all to know that I read each and every review that comes up on my feed. I rarely “like” them, because the damn heart is so tiny and I most often read them on my iPad. I invariably hit something next to the heart and lose my place. Why can’t they make the heart huge?
So this morning I woke up and was lying in bed reading Roswell Strange’s many reviews, and it occurred to me that I enjoy reading them far more than many of the (official) bloggers (not all, don’t get your panties in a wad) whose posts I also see. Roswell’s posts are so funny/quirky/interesting, and I have two daughters about her age so I guess I relate to them in a way, but I really do enjoy reading every one of them, beginning to end. But many of the bloggers write huge long posts that really don’t say anything. /rant off, and good job Roswell Strange.
So I picked this tea (thank you Stephanie for the sample) because I had had it before and knew I would like it, and this morning I didn’t feel like gambling.
In other news, you know I run a company, and that makes us plenty of money and keeps me plenty busy, but because I’m a FREAK I always have to have things going on on the side. You probably don’t know that I own an online bookstore that has a few thousand books. And, I recently bought a bulk lot of 60 handbags to sell on ebay. Just because. They’re inexpensive Chinese made ones, but some of them are cute, and I’m sure someone will like them.
So there you go.
I’m not a blogger, but I think I may be guilty of the long posts that don’t say anything crime. Sorry Marzipan! QQ
I haven’t noticed it with you! But if I am being totally honest, every time I think “Cameron means crooked nose” because my nephew is named that, and we looked it up. (sorry!)
Just don’t read the ones that aren’t interesting to you. Problem solved. ;-)
That’s what ends up happening.
Sometimes I kind of balk when I see ye olde wall of text coming at me, but I usually try to read everything anyway. I need to learn to shorten my own notes as well. :P
Giraffe!
I skip a lot of stuff. Some people treat Steepster like their own personal diary and I just don’t have the time to read it all.
Like me on this post!
Lol… well I wasn’t talking about you necessarily. But I am following 400 people so I get a lot of posts.
I feel you on those hearts! I always have to pinch and zoom and pinch and zoom until the hearts big enough and even then I accidentally click something else sometimes. And I’m on my iPhone most of the times so it’s real tiny, lol.
And I am so guilty of using the tasting notes like a diary. I do a lot of thinking while drinking (who am I kidding? I do a lot of thinking all the time. Pretty much everyone I know thinks I talk to much but they should hear how much is going on in my head. If I didn’t talk too much I’m pretty sure my head would explode from all the thoughts), and sometimes my thoughts spill out into my tasting notes.
I’m guilty of bad tea log posts. Sometimes I have a lot of detail about the tea and nothing about life, and sometimes it’s all about life and “oh this tea was good.” I like knowing about my tea friends and what is going on in their life. I hope that the people that follow me feel the same way about me.
I understand completely about people just not listening and understanding what one is asking them and giving an answer that doesn’t have anything to do with the question. I’m dealing with that sort of thing right now at work. So I’m letting it sit and I’ll get back to it when I feel like asking again.
I actually really like the personal posts. I just hate the ones that use 1000 words to say “the tea was astringent”
My next note is going to be the word “astringent” 1000 times.
Haha!
Aww, thanks for the super kind words Marzipan! I am definitely one of those people who writes massive walls of text about non tea related things (sorry not sorry), but I do always try to include some tea related stuff as well as keep a balance between long and short notes. Hopefully my essay long posts don’t annoy everyone though. (I also typically only write the long ass notes for teas I’ve already reviewed several times).
Roswell, your long notes are usually more about personal story which is much easier to read than a wall of text about all tea. I like reading your notes too, they have a lot of personality. :)
You have a book store too? Dang! I sometimes skim notes, or if I’m really busy I might miss out on reading notes for a couple of days completely. I usually find time on my breaks at work to read most of the notes in my feed during the week though :)
Long story, but my brother used to buy big lots of books and sell them for fun. He got really sick (Crohns) so I took them over. You’re welcome to come look through! I would love to sell through them and be done with it.
I love the personal stories along with the tasting notes. :) People have such varied and interesting lives. I agree that some of the notes can be too long but I usually skim those. I only follow about 90 people and not everyone posts everyday. I find it pretty manageable at my level.
I like giving likes so I still like the notes I like even though I don’t like how small the like button is.
Uh??? Ok, what I’m saying is I think most people like getting likes on their notes, so I try to do it as long as i do like the note. But I so agree that it’s a pain, way too small with the ipad!!
I like both diary notes and tea notes, and I’m guilty for writing both! I do realize i must be boring as hell sometimes, but I don’t analyze what and how I’m gonna write a note, I just feel the moment :-)
I love how different everyone is, we all have our distinctive style, makes things interesting and fun :-)
I just love you guys!!!
Personally, I do like getting likes on my notes. But I’ve tried to like notes on my iPhone and it’s almost impossible, so I understand that. Has anyone asked for a bigger like button in that suggestion thread? It seems like that wouldn’t be crazy hard to accomplish, but what do I know. I agree that I like both personal and tea notes, but my favorites, I think, are a mix of both :-)
Also, I think TheTeaFairy wins nicest person on Steepster. She’s always so positive!
Agree, she is adorable.
A lot of times I skim the long ones but I do like everything I skim – because it’s nice to get likes and because it helps me keep track of where I am in the Steepster day. :) It seems like my likes don’t stick very often though – if I don’t click on it just right (and this is even with a laptop, not a phone), it dumps me back up at the top of the screen and none of the hearts are red. So if even if it doesn’t “take”, I do like posts. :)
And I generally like a mix of tea and personal. When I am buying a tea or can’t figure out if I’m nuts for tasting smoke in something, I go directly to the tea and scroll through reviews. So not sticking to just tea reviewing doesn’t bother me. :)
I’m not hating on the personal notes as sometimes I do those too, I just can’t keep up with all of it/them.
I almost wish there were two kinds of posts. Sometimes I want to post things to my tea friends that have nothing to do with tea.
I love the notes
Awww, that really made my day mj and Marzipan, I am humbled by your kind words :-) :-) :-)
Marzipan, I know what you mean…but did you know you can PM as many people as you want at once? You can have a group chat that way…but you probably know that already…
I could… But I don’t know for sure who is interested. :)
Oh! Book store! Can you link to it?
I think this will take you there, they are all on Amazon.
http://tinyurl.com/phddoz4
This will sound worse than the reality, but for your first world problems enjoyment: today I can’t sleep in because the cleaning lady is coming.
I know, I know. That sounds just awful. But let me temper it by saying I work from home, nights, weekends, holidays are all fair game, and most days I choose to sleep until 9 or so (although I get up at 6 to make breakfast for my daughter and go back to bed). Then I get up and work until…..? Whatever it takes. That doesn’t sound as bad does it? I haven’t had a vacation in 8 years that I didn’t work every day. It’s just my reality. It’s also why I have a cleaning lady. Since I am always working in my home, by the time I stop working, the last thing I want to do is work ON my home. I just want to BE. She’s inexpensive and comes every other week to do the heavy stuff.
I started a company quite by accident 8 years ago, and now have 35 people who work for me, all from home. The beauty of the job has been the absolute flexibility to be a mom to my kids since they were in middle school. I never had to miss anything, and I was always home with them after school.
Anyway, the cleaning lady comes early, so I can’t catch a little nap before starting the day today. This tea is waking me up! It’s nice. I like it. Not as much as Butuki’s Malty Irish Breakfast but it’s a nice bold kick in the pants nevertheless.
Marzipan – That does not sound awful (not getting a nap in before the cleaning lady arrives). Flexible hours and working from home is not as uncommon as it used to be. I’ve been working from home (engineering) for 17 years and you’re right that nights, weekends and holidays are all fair game for work. Whatever it takes to meet the deadlines and get the job done. You nap when you can.
I think it’s awesome that you can work from home! I don’t work from home and I’m still considering getting a cleaning person :)
What sort of work do you do, Marzipan? And congratulations on your company’s growth – 35 people is pretty good!
This is always a little difficult to explain, so please bear with me. Lots of major companies have mystery shopper programs, and they hire companies to run those programs. Those companies often find that they can’t find shoppers for the shops that they have, and they hire a scheduling company to recruit for shoppers and manage the projects. That’s what my company does. We have a lot of big projects, things like Costco, Godiva, Northface, Stop & Shop, Giant, Hyvee, Progressive, I could go on and on. It initially started out being just me with one client, then I started getting more and more work and had to find people to help with the projects, and we branched out into editing them too. So I have a staff of about half schedulers and half editors who work on the projects. I still do a few of the projects myself, like today I’m trying to fill my last four Costco shops, about 15 Holiday Inn dinner shops, and four dry cleaning shops. But for the most part I try not to schedule much anymore so I can maintain a management/support role. Today I also have to jump in and edit because one of my editors had a death in her family. https://www.facebook.com/SummitScheduling
Aww, that’s too bad about your colleague. But that sounds quite interesting.
Marzipan – Just browsed your FB page … fascinating stuff! Congratulations on a successful home-grown business!
There are advantages to working from home, and advantages to coming into the office. I do have to point out, though, that even though I generally work from the office, I feel like my weekends and evenings are fair play as far as my boss is concerned. (Like last week, were I was super sick, but still on call overnight when that is never supposed to happen.) Then again, I could also use a house cleaning service. It’s on my list of things I want, and I can afford it. I just don’t have my house in a state where I would hire someone to come in and clean it.
To be honest it used to be super weird for me to have someone cleaning the house. Some parts I just ask them to leave alone, like my desk, and just have them do things like the bathrooms, floors, vacuum, etc. It was super weird being here because my tendency is that if someone is doing something near me, I want to get up and help them, but after a few years I got over it. It’s $70 every other week and totally worth it!
As a self-employed work from home person, all I can say is, “Rock on!”.
Your page on FB IS amazing! I’d sign on to be a shopper in St. Louis, but I’m kind of weirdo who almost never buys anything at the stores, can’t eat any of the free samples due to allergies, & am in general a pain in the ass, LOL.
Don’t worry Terri, I’ll eat all of the free samples you can’t eat.
It’s a deal! :)
Thank you for a generous sample of this, Cavocorax! I am so happy to be able to sample the famous Damn Fine Teas!
I had this on a Saturday morning, when I was still in the woods, while sitting on the porch and listening to birds chirping. I decided to also have it this morning and right now I am sipping on the very last drops of the second steep of this.
I remember the time when black tea used to be just… black tea. Terroirs? Harvests? Blends? Single origins? Whaddya mean, my friend? Those times are long gone ;)
The first time I had it I recognized it as a kind of black tea I am usually less drawn to. It’s bold, noticingly astringent (although not unpleasantly so), even a tad bitter. But then, at the same time, it also appears to be mild, a little sweet and refreshing. The balance here is amazing because you can just go on saying “this tea is x but it’s also y” about most any quality of it. You’d think it makes it careful kind of boring? No way! This tea is taking some names with its bold uniqueness, it certainly takes mine. You just want to keep on drinking it even though it might not be entirely your thing, like in my case. It’s just DAMN GOOD.
The only complaint I would have is that this tea seems not to be able to go well beyond two steeps. And even with the second one you gotta make sure you add at least 2 minutes on the top of 4 minutes you wait for the first infusion. Also, the second steep comes out much more mild and docile anyway. Which is not a bad thing for a fan of sweeter blacks like myself.
Thank you so much for this sample, Cavocorax! I still have enough left for about 2 servings. Yum!
Preparation
It’s strong, it’s dark, it’s punchy.
It will wake you, shake you, smack you….and then…it will sooth you, comfort you, love you.
Yes, this tea is kind of abusive. “Stay away” you’re gonna say…but I can’t…I loooove it!!!
It’a Damn Fine Tea.
And it knows how to treat a fairy on a Sunday morning in her tea nook.
Pic:
Wham! Bam! Thank you “Damn”!
That’s all.
(Oh and thanks Dexter3657 for sending more of this my way!)
I just love the name of this tea. I don’t know why.
Me too! Just feels so cozy :-)
Incisive & very clever!
I figured since I have reviewed it before, there wasn’t much else to add ;-) This tea is effective and does exactly what I described, lol!
You’re very welcome madame… :))
Oh they know they are special, don’t they…I now understand why they don’t offer samples, why they only sell 4oz tins. Who’d want just a tiny little supply of this god damn fine tea?
I promise, you have a sip of this, and you want to curse like a lumberjack in action. %$&#&?!?&# this is good!!!
Full bodied, malty, just a little smoky, very assertive yet smooth, a Mr. Personality!
It’s not fancy, there are no poetic inspiration that comes to mind when I drink it…
It just pleases me in every possible way.
It’s as if I had spoken to my tea this morning and said something like this «TEA, I command you to taste like a slap in the face and satisfy my every desires like no other tea has ever done in the morning!» and this is what I would have gotten.
Thanks Dexter3657 for paying attention by adding this one for me, I understand why it’s her favourite blend. I was dying to try, but not willing to commit. Now it will be hard to stop me from placing an order.
Really? I wasn’t so sure that you would like this one….
Happy that you do – buy we need to talk about “stop me from placing an order”
Lol, I said «it will be hard» this means I’m HOPING someone WILL stop me cause the last thing I need is more tea!!! But this is sooo goood!!!
Sorry lady, its very very good. I love all A@D teas;)
I have about 3/4 of a can if you want more – can send you some to tide you over until you get your cupboard under control….
Boychik, you are not helping at all ;-)
Awww! Dexter you are sweet… But considering how expensive they are, it would be very selfish on my part to accept such an offer. I just have to control myself!!!
But the tin I have was gifted to me by an incredibly generous Steepster friend – it’s a tea in my cupboard that I feel I should share… I won’t force it on you , but if you ever want more, just let me know. :))
Haha! Then…yes please!! :-):-):-)
And I can always return the favour when I order… eventually …
And while we’re on this topic, have you tried all of A & D’s other teas yet? If not, I’ll be glad to send you samples of them :)
LOL ok I’ll toss some into your next box. :))
Terri, it is my understanding that they have only a few blends, right? I have tried only Tiger Assam (which I equally loved) and this one… I would NEVER ask you to send me something without giving in return :-) :-) :-)
So far, Double Knit is a regular item with Damn Fine, versus a limited edition. Double Knit is one of my favourite blends, EVER.
Michelle, I see that many people have fallen in love with this tea and I now understand why :-)
Let’s see…Here’s what I have:
double knit
tiger assam
Caravan – smokey black
Redtailed Hawk – black blend leaning more in the ceylon direction, a little bright, but still very drinkable
Chinese New Year aka Golden tips – A Dian Hong type
Spring – their latest, a Keemun type
I have a bunch of tea from you already, that were sent to me by Sil, so in a way, we’re already deep into a trade! :)
Terri, please see PM :-)
A&D have a special on: choose your own three-pack (from the regular stock) for $48, versus $20 per tin.
Thank you michelle, will sure keep that in mind when comes time to order :-)
My first impressions of this tea were of texture, even when thinking about flavour. I found it to be smooth and soft,with fruit and biscuit above malt and smoke, with a dense texture provided by tannins and a sharper aftertaste. It is pleasant and easily drinkable with a slight astringency on the tongue. There is a hint of cocoa but not really chocolate, a hint of apple blossom, leather, malt and biscuit with smoke in the aftertaste. The flavours all blend smoothly into each other. The tea smells of smoke,biscuit, leather, dried currants, apple and malt and the colour was a rich mahogany. I think I was expecting this tea to be a little more robust than it tasted but it is definitely well crafted. Thanks Dexter3657 for the opportunity to Try my first Andrews and Dunham tea!
Preparation
Great review, love the detail. This is my security blanket tea—when I’m stressed or upset, I turn to it and it always comforts me without asking much in return.
Great review yyz, as always :-) I fell in love with this tea this morning!!! My review of it was not as pretty as yours though, haha!
This sounds great! Very positive reviews from both yyz and TheTeaFairy in one morning … I’m off to have a look at the A&D web site. (you are all such a wonderfully bad influence, and I thank you for that)
I received this tea as part of the Steepsteristas’ Yarn and Tea Swap! So pumped to try this tea – I was on the verge of doing an order, but since A&D didn’t take paypal, plus the large tin sizes, it was enough for me to back off for now.
This is pure malty goodness. First sip was, “now that’s a black tea!” Very bold, smooth yet sharp. Malty, little raisin notes with a brisk finish. Slight creamyness too. Small amount of dryness at the end.
Yum! Now I need to sample more of A&Ds teas, or just cave in with an order!
Preparation
I had this multiple times while in vacation and this morning i was finally able to finish off the last of it. Nice to be getting through some of my older teas. I enjoyed this one while i had it, but it’s not my favourite of the damn fine teas. If something like this one comes back, not sure if i’d pick it up again. just not interesting enough to be worth the price, and if i’m getting an every day sort of tea from DFT, i’d rather pick up double knit or one of the other larger tins.
