Compagnie & Co (formerly Compagnie Coloniale)

Compagnie & Co Day 22

Based on their other nutty teas, such as Thé des Impératrices, this sounds like it could be a good one! I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of chocolate, almonds, and charred hazelnuts. The first steep has notes of charred hazelnuts, almonds, chocolate, butter, and tannins. The black tea is somewhat evident and the nuts are more prominent than the chocolate. In the second steep, the buttery hazelnut basically takes over from the chocolate. The final steep is much lighter, with buttery hazelnut and some minerals from the black tea base.

This tea indeed tasted like a chocolate praline, particularly in the first steep. I would have liked a bit more chocolate, though the hazelnut was nice. I enjoyed it, but it wasn’t as fantastic as some of the earlier teas in the calendar.

Compagnie & Co Day 21

This is another of the holiday teas I was hoping to see in this calendar. Red fruits and orange is kind of a strange combination for a winter tea. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of jammy red fruit and orange. The first steep has a nice red colour and has notes of strawberry, other berries, orange, and hibiscus. (At least I think it has hibiscus in it based on the tang and the colour.) The tea is fairly mild and not too sweet. The next steep is a bit tangier and more hibiscus heavy, though it still has a nice berry flavour. The final steep is similar, with some orange and berries, though it’s a bit more drying in the mouth.

This is a pleasant but generic fruit punch-type tea. I’m pretty sure it has hibiscus, though I don’t see it in the ingredients list. Either way, the flavours are mild and not abrasive. This is very similar to their other “red fruits” teas and the effect is not memorable.

Compagnie & Co Day 20

Happy new year! I took a much longer hiatus from advent teas than I expected. I was sick over the holidays and it’s taken me a while to get back on the horse. The Siam advent calendar also has another puerh for the 20th, which is quite discouraging. Too bad I can’t “lose” it in my tea museum …

I tried gunpowder tea a long while ago and haven’t felt the need to drink it since. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of spinach, grass, and smoke. The first steep has notes of spinach, grass, smoke, butter, roasted nuts, minerals, and seaweed. The tea is slightly astringent if held in the mouth for any length of time. The next steep is nuttier, with smoke, roast, minerals, and grass. The final steep has fainter notes of spinach, lettuce, smoke, grass, minerals, and roast.

This tea wasn’t as bad as it could have been, but there are much better green teas out there. So far, Compagnie & Co hasn’t impressed me with their unflavoured teas.

Sipdown (3088)!

This is definitely one of my favourite tea blends so far from C&C! It’s very fresh and juicy with notes of sweet, ripe strawberries that feel straight from the garden instead of being more jammy/syrupy or candy-like. The finish is crisp with a light but not weak note of basil. Sometimes I feel companies want to have these fun twists of teas with herbs like basil, rosemary, or thyme but then when it comes to the execution that kind of wimp out and go waaaayyy to light in order to appeal to a more conservative palate. In this case, though it’s not INTENSE, I didn’t feel like I’d been cheated out of a good strawberry basil blend.

Would definitely buy this one again!

Sipdown (3094)!

I had a bit of a stressful day yesterday because I woke up and went to open my laptop only to realize that one of the hinges had snapped (it had shown no degradation signs prior) and I could not physically open the screen. When I tried I just heard a series a very concerning crunching noises, so I stopped and didn’t try to force it…

After frantically Googling I found a well reviewed repair place near me that was thankfully still open giving the holidays. It was very weird though because it was actually just a (very polite and kind) Russian guy operating out of his apartment building. So, on the surface a bit sketchier seeming than the website and reviews had maybe made him out to be. I left my laptop with him, went home and made a mug of this tea not sure when the repair might be done or if it was even salvageable because it sounded like maybe I’d cracked the screen trying to get it open. I chose this because Genmaicha is just so cozy and soothing, and I felt like maybe I needed that.

Well, no sooner had I finished my mug of tea than I got a call that everything was fixed and I could go back and pick it up. Like, less than two hours. Closer to an hour, really. I went back and like a miracle worker he had seamlessly fixed the hinge and the corner of the casing by the screen that had started to break apart from it being opened. I was charged quite fairly, especially given how damn fast he’d repaired everything.

Like… apart from the stress of thinking I was going to be down a laptop and stuck with an unexpected and very large bill to fix or replace it just before the holidays, it was a VERY smooth repair job. Wow.

Compagnie & Co Day 19

This will be my first cacao shell tea! I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of dark baking chocolate. The first steep has notes of dark chocolate and milk. The taste is a bit oily and sharp, like cheap baking chocolate. The second steep tastes more like sharp hot chocolate to me. The final steep is less sharp, and tastes like watered-down hot chocolate with milk.

I wasn’t as impressed with this tea as I expected. I’m not sure if all cacao shell teas are like this or if it would have been improved by adding milk (which I don’t particularly enjoy and am mildly intolerant to). Either way, this isn’t going on my list of teas to repurchase.

Compagnie & Co Day 18

Well, today’s Siam advent tea is another puerh. Sigh. I don’t have the intestinal fortitude to attempt that right now, so I’m trying to catch up on these Compagnie & Co advent teas. A chai sounds nice for this cold day. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of clove, cinnamon, other spices, and malt. The first steep offers notes of clove, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon, and orange. The base tea isn’t too aggressive. The next steep is also very spice heavy, with the orange and black tea staying in the background. The final steep is a bit fainter, but the spices, particularly the ginger, are still strong.

This chai could have been more assertive, but as it is, it’s a pleasant Sunday afternoon tea. It’s nice that the orange never takes over. I’m also glad that the black tea isn’t too tannic.

Compagnie & Co Day 17

Red fruit and apple seems like a strange combo for the holidays. Maybe it’s supposed to evoke a fruit punch? I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of apple and strawberry. The first steep gives me strawberry, other berries, pears, and apples, with a hint of astringency from the base tea. It has some of that note I found cloying and artificial in their Fruits et Fleurs des Bois. Maybe I don’t enjoy their generic berry flavour? The second steep is a little softer and still has nice strawberry and pear notes. The final steep has soft berry notes and is still quite sweet.

This tea was just okay. Like another reviewer, I detected pear, which wasn’t one of the ingredients, and the tea was very sweet. This seems to be a popular tea, but this vendor has teas I like much better.

Compagnie & Co Day 16

Another green tea today! I can’t say I’m too excited about this one either. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 185F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of toasted, slightly burnt rice. The first steep has notes of toasted, slightly burnt rice, butter, popcorn, and hints of grass. The body is smooth and silky. The next steep is similar, with a bit more of that charred rice note. The final steep has gentle notes of toasted rice, roast, popcorn, and minerals.

This genmaicha was a little more roasted than others I remember, possibly because it uses bancha instead of sencha. I was glad it didn’t have the grassy, vegetal profile of some other green teas (why yes, I’m thinking of the Ganesha Green from this morning). It was a rustic, cozy tea that I liked more than I expected.

Compagnie & Co Day 15

I must have had speculoos at some point. Either way, a cookie butter tea sounds wonderful! I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma reminds me of cookies, with pastry, molasses, and spices. Smelling the steeped tea, I know I’ve had speculoos before and that this is a good match. I get notes of cookie, butter, molasses, and spices, cut with some malt and tannins from the black tea. The next steep is even more buttery and cookie-like. The final steep has some tannins, but is still pleasant.

This was a decadent way to wind down yesterday evening. The flavour can get cloying at times, but it’s a good imitation of spiced cookies and is perfect for the season.

Compagnie & Co Day 14

A tropical tea sounds like just the ticket on this cold, windy winter day. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of pineapple and passionfruit. The first steep has heady notes of pineapple, passionfruit, and papaya, but also a hint of overly ripe banana that probably isn’t supposed to be there. Steep two is very similar, with the pineapple predominating. The final steep has a hint of grassiness, but is mostly sweet pineapple and passionfruit.

As expected, this tea is very sweet. It conveys the fruit fairly realistically, though there’s something a bit overripe about the combination. This was pretty good overall.

Compagnie & Co Day 13

It’s nice to see another holiday tea! Chocolate, orange, and spices are a suitably festive combination. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of orange, chocolate, cardamon, and other spices. The first steep presents a pleasant mix of chocolate, orange, cardamon, other spices, and faint berries. The chocolate is the most noticeable flavour and persists in the aftertaste. The second steep is consistent, with fairly realistic chocolate, orange, raspberry, and less distinct spices. In the final steep, the chocolate is less apparent, while the orange and berries provide a sweet finish.

This tea is nice and cozy, though the chocolate and spices fade before the end of the session. As with most of their other green teas, the base isn’t obtrusive. It’s a sophisticated take on a chocolate orange tea that works pretty well.

Compagnie & Co Day 12

It’s been a while since I had a regular Earl Grey, and I don’t think I’ve ever had one with a sencha base. This should be interesting! I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of citrus and bergamot. Wow! This Earl Grey is strong! The first steep gives me heady bergamot, citrus, earth, and astringency. The next steep is similar, focusing on the fresh bergamot without highlighting the sencha base. The final steep is earthy, citrusy, spicy, and still quite strong.

If anyone wants to drink sencha for some reason but hates how grassy it is, this would be the perfect tea for them! It’s also a fresh, strong Earl Grey in its own right. It’s very bergamot heavy and has good longevity. I enjoyed this more than I expected.

Compagnie & Co Day 11

Carrot and celery in a tea? That doesn’t sound too appealing. However, what’s the point of an advent calendar if it doesn’t offer teas you wouldn’t normally try? I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of pumpkin, clove, earth, and caramel. The first steep presents quite realistic pumpkin, squash, and carrot flavours, with some clove and caramel in the background. The tea is quite earthy and has some tannins. Clove, nutmeg, and cinnamon are more prominent in steep two, although the earthy squash and carrot are still there. The tea is a little drying. The caramel and milk come out as the tea cools. The final steep is earthy with some caramel and spices, with little squash or carrot left.

This tea was fun to try, though it might be too earthy to appeal to the pumpkin spice crowd. I’m still not convinced that carrot makes a good tea ingredient.

Compagnie & Co Day 10

I enjoy elderflower in tea and don’t see it that often, so this should be an interesting one. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 185F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of elderflower, strawberry, and other berries. The first steep has notes of elderflower, strawberry, schisandra berry, hibiscus, and other berries. The taste is a little artificial and sharp. I get plenty of elderflower, strawberry, citrus, and other berries in steep two. Unfortunately, the steep has a musty aroma that I sometimes associate with elderflower teas; it reminds me of smelly feet. The final steep is softer, with tangy berries and elderflower and thankfully, less of that pungent feet aroma.

I’ve had elderflower teas that I’ve liked, but though this tea wasn’t bad, the weird, musty aroma was a turnoff. The tea came off as kind of artificial and too sweet. This wasn’t a winner for me.

Compagnie & Co Day 9

The description of this anniversary tea sounds lovely. I enjoy anything with raspberries and almonds, so I have high hopes. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of marzipan, raspberry, and cream. The first steep has notes of marzipan, slivered almonds, raspberry, cherry, and cream, plus a tiny bit of astringency from the base. The jammy cherry and raspberry persist in the second steep, along with the mouth-watering marzipan and almond. Although this is supposed to be a raspberry tea, the cherry is more prominent. The final steep has an attenuated version of these gourmet flavours with some grassiness from the green tea.

As expected, I enjoyed this tea a lot. The marzipan note was especially realistic, though I’d consider this more of a cherry tea than a raspberry one. This is going on the list of teas I’d repurchase from this company.

Compagnie & Co Day 8

Oh dear. Along with hibiscus, licorice, and fishy puerh, smoked lapsang is among my least favourite things. Authors who don’t know much about tea tend to have their characters drink smoked lapsang as a sign of connoisseurship, which seems way off the mark to me. I guess readers haven’t heard of aged sheng or Wuyi yancha. To me, smoked lapsang is about as subtle as a hammer. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of heavy smoke, with overtones of ashtray and burned rubber. The first steep has notes of smoke, malt, tobacco, and wood. At a stretch, I could call this pine smoke, but it’s really like drinking the ashes of a campfire. The aftertaste lingers. The second steep still tastes overwhelmingly of smoke, with malt, wood, and honey in the background. The tea is a bit sweeter, but the liquid smoke aftertaste is pronounced. The tea calms down slightly in the final steep, with the smoke being less obtrusive.

I’m not giving this tea a rating because I knew from the outset I wouldn’t enjoy it. Having said that, the later steeps were more balanced than I expected. I think this tea is of decent quality; it’s just not my jam. I tried a 2015 pine-smoked lapsang from Daxue Jiadao and even that didn’t persuade me to enjoy this type of tea. I have 30 g or so left in my tea museum, awaiting the day that my tastes change or I find someone to swap with.

Compagnie & Co Day 7

This sounds like an interesting one! I don’t think I’ve ever had a tea that included basil. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of slightly candy-like strawberry and something herbaceous. The first steep has notes of strawberry, vanilla, and basil, in that order. The strawberry is a bit sweet, but the tea isn’t too cloying because of the basil. The basil gets sharper as the tea cools. The next steep gives me more strawberry and vanilla; the strawberry tastes kind of like those Campino candies, though that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The final steep is more basil forward, with a bit of grassiness that might be from the green tea, but there’s plenty of sweet strawberry and vanilla as well.

Even with the basil, this tea is on the sweeter side. However, strawberries are sweet and I don’t particularly mind. This was a nice tea to try, but I don’t need to run out and repurchase it.

Compagnie & Co Day 6

Steepster has been super slow these last couple days, to the point that I couldn’t post this note last evening. We’ll probably be dealing with this for the rest of the weekend at least.

Day 6 is another rooibos. I can’t say the inclusion of apple and hibiscus fills me with anticipation. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, and 7 minutes.

The dry aroma is of cinnamon, orange, and apple. The tag fell off the string of the teabag as I was putting it into the cup, so I had to fish it out with a spoon. The first steep leads with cinnamon, followed by orange, apple, some tartness from the hibiscus, lemon, and almond. The tea is quite sweet and a little cloying. The almond and orange are more pronounced as the tea cools. I’m not sure what verbena is supposed to taste like, though I think it’s lemony as well. The apple and tart hibiscus take over a bit more in steep two, though the cinnamon is still there. Most of the tartness disappears in the final steep, leaving this as an apple cinnamon tea with some almond.

This feels like a more sophisticated version of Constant Comment that has a bit too much going on. It’s also rather too sweet for me. I was wondering whether they included something like stevia, but the sweetness is probably attributable to the apple. Either way, this tea was pleasant but not a favourite.

Compagnie & Co Day 5

I’m even more behind on this calendar since I skipped a day yesterday. I spent several hours getting my hair cut and running errands, and by the time I got home, I didn’t want tea. It’s been a while since I’ve had a lemon and ginger tea, probably because I associate it with being sick. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 4, 6, and 8 minutes.

The dry aroma is of lemon and freshly grated ginger. Both flavours are lovely in the first steep, with the lemon being sweet, tart, and not cleaning-product-like and the ginger being earthy and spicy. I can see how this tea could clear someone’s sinuses. The green tea is not in evidence. Steep two is quite consistent. In the last two steeps, the flavours are slightly diminished, but not by much. The ginger still tickles my palate and the lemon is a little more restrained. I really don’t taste the green tea.

This is a great take on a basic flavour profile. It’s a lot better than some of the other lemon and ginger teas I’ve had. I’m not sure if the green tea added anything, but it wasn’t noticeable. The ginger they used was especially potent. I’d drink this again, though I wouldn’t go out of my way to purchase it.

Sipdown (3095)!

Another wonderfully smooth and flavourful black tea with pretty well defined notes of sweet and nutty pistachio with bright, jammy raspberries. I don’t know about anyone else, but I’m definitely sick of seeing chocolate and pistachio products everywhere. Let Dubai Chocolate die and instead lets get more fun and fruity with our pistachio pairings, like with this raspberry combo.

I’m not sure what it is specifically, but this is definitely reminding me of something though. I thought maybe the Strawberry and Pistachio fruit/herbal blend I have from Dammann Freres, but this isn’t nearly as sweet and candied tasting – though the raspberry in particular is more jammy. It’s balanced by the briskness of the super rich black tea, though.

Overall I enjoyed this blend! I think pistachio is such a lovely flavour and I love seeing it used in all different ways. This was refreshingly ethereal, balanced, and velvety.

Sipdown (3096)!

I think I’m kind of always going to have a soft spot for a black tea (or really any tea) with a combo of almond and cherry flavouring. Sometimes it’s the almond and sometimes it’s the cherry, but usually one of these flavours dominates the other and creates an especially rich and sweet profile. In this case, the cherry is the stronger of the two, but it has a bit of that nutty marzipan-like note in the finish. It’s very much giving off Cherry Bakewell flavours, in a cozy and surprisingly festive way. I like it SO MUCH.

This might be the first tea from C&C that I’ve quite strongly wanted more of now that I’ve finished it off.

Sipdown (3099)!

I know that Hiver means Winter, but I’m not actually sure what Austral is in this context. Nice to see that after seven years of living in Montreal I’ve picked up the tiniest sliver of French language…

Taste wise, this is simple and pleasant. It’s an orange flavoured rooibos with what looks to be like a bit of jasmine blossoms in it? Definitely on the more mild and mellow side, with a citrus flavour that makes me think of the mandarin slices in the fruit cocktail cups you’d give a kid. Maybe less sweet, though? Not a ton in the way of florals, but I still enjoyed the delicate, almost dewy notes of the orange. It’s always funny to me how orange is so wintery feeling, but also can channel the vibes of Spring/Summer REALLY easily as well. There aren’t a lot of fruits that have such deep, intense seasonal associations across that many seasons…

Compagnie & Co Day 4

This is one of the teas that I saw on the gourmet store’s website that I hoped would be in the calendar. I like violet things and have high hopes for this tea. I steeped the 2 g sachet in 250 ml of 190F water for 3, 5, 7, and 10 minutes.

The dry aroma is of heady lychee and violet. The first steep has beautifully realistic notes of lychee and violet, with a barely there black tea base. The lychee is more prominent, but the violet is clear and distinct as well. The next steep is equally good, with undertones of citrus and cream and not much of a contribution from the black tea. The third and fourth steeps are still very aromatic and flavourful with no off notes, though the final steep has traces of tannins.

If you like lychee and violet, which I do, this is a very, very good tea. I could see how some people could think of it as too perfumey, and the aftertaste does tend to linger, but wow, this is lovely. It’s going on my list of teas to consider repurchasing.