Dammann Frères

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 8
So Christmasy! The sweet orange takes center stage for me, but it’s quickly followed by a delicious blend of holiday-ish spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Much more sweet orange than I remember in DF’s My Gingerbread. Think Christmas orange.

I’m so glad DF includes it in their advent calendar every year. When else would you drink it? I like it a lot and it’s fun to come back to it. It’s lovely. In fact, if I loved spiced orange teas, I would absolutely love this tea. As it is, it’s a wonderful tea that I would only reach for in December.

Day 6 of the 2020 Dammann Freres Advent calendar. I tried this tea a couple of years ago, but I had completely forgotten that I liked this tea! So it was a delightful surprise to smell the orange and spices when I opened the little packet this morning. The scent was so Christmasy on this cold gray rainy day, it cheered me up. And once brewed it was just as lovely.The orange and spices are well balanced for my taste and the cinnamon doesn’t overpower the nutmeg and cloves. The perfect cup to sip as you decorate the Christmas tree… I definitely enjoyed it! it reminded me of my childhood’s Pain d’epices with an orange twist.

It’s too bad you can’t buy it in 50 gr increments. I can’t imagine drinking this tea outside of the month of December, but I would love to have a little bit of it then. I might have to find someone to split it with next year, so I can enjoy it.

Dammann advent calendar, day 4.
Such a Christmas-y black tea. The sweet orange, nutmeg and cinnamon bring the holiday season front and center but in truth, although I like them, those are not the flavors I crave generally, so it might bias me a bit. I will say that while it’s similar in terms of ingredients to H&S’s Hot Spice, the orange is much more present here than in Hot Spice thankfully. I definitely enjoyed my cup but I can’t imagine drinking it any other time of the year, and I much prefer Esprit de Noel from Mariage Freres which feels much more layered and special than this one. Still, I was glad to try it and I would not refuse a cup if a friend served it :)

Day 3 of the Advent Calendar. I like mint and I love licorice candy so this was right up my flavor alley. Plus I have been struggling to find an evening tea I can have. I actually have some Dammann Freres licorice tea that I love so I was wondering what the addition of the mint would do to my beloved tea. as it turns out, I thought the mint was delicious with the licorice. It softens everything and makes it a little fresher. Overall it’s a very straightforward tea. It’s simple but it’s good. I agree with Maddy Barone, it would be a great tea to have on hand after a heavy meal. So while it may not be a taste I crave all the time, it was a very good cup of tea and I’ll be happy to get a little bit at some point.

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

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 4
This tea and I have a misunderstanding. It smells of toast, pecans, and maple syrup and I want to love it. But once brewed, it’s a faint echo of what I want it to be. I don’t know if I brewed it at too low of a temperature or if I had a weak batch, but it doesn’t live up to its promise for me. Maybe I was expecting too much. I was hoping for a raisin nut bread toasted with a drizzle of maple syrup and I got a bit of sweet popcorn or rice cake with a hint of pecan. I liked it much better in previous years. It’s good but it’s mehhh for me this year.

This is a tea I only get to taste when I get the advent calendar so I will have to wait another year to give it another chance.

Advent Calendar – Day 14 Argh, I’m all over the place with this advent calendar. But miraculously, I drank Day 14 on day 14. I liked this one, I just didn’t love it. The toasted wheat and the maple sweetness was still there and maybe a little dried raisins, but barely. All in all, it was a lovely cup so I wouldn’t change my rating, but this time I got more of a slight roasted grain hugged in sweetness. I didn’t get much popcorn this time. Glad I got to taste it again even if it’s won’t make it to my wish list this year.

First year I get to enjoy Dammann Freres’s beautiful Advent Calendar (I was so excited I got one for everyone in the house!!!). Granola d’Hiver was Day 1. I love dessert teas or “thés gourmands” and this is a nice way to start. I like this tea. It’s sweet and soft. I can’t say that I love it, but I’m absolutely enjoying it!

I’m not very good at describing teas, but to me it tastes a bit like caramel popcorn with raisins. I get the sweetness of raisins and a little bit of nuttiness and maple syrup, a some toastiness (is that even an english word?). This tea is a little reminiscent of Nina’s Japon with its toasted rice and sweetness but Granola d’hiver is a little more fruity. It’s even more enjoyable as it cools.

I would not necessarily buy some next time I’m home in Paris because I like other dessert teas even more, but I’m so glad I tried it and I would be happy to sip a second cup if DD decides to pass hers on to me :p

Sorry for the duplicate note, I realized after I posted it that I had done it from my husband’s laptop under a different username. So I took it down and just now reposted it under my normal one so I don’t get confused :)

Day 3 Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

Day 1 was a black tea, Day 2 was a green tea. Day 3 is an herbal. Each day I’ve gotten to try a different sort of tea than I’ve ever had before. This is no exception. I really enjoy a cup of peppermint tea at the end of a day, especially if I over ate and my tummy is unhappy, so I was eager to try this one. Since it was herbal and I was away from the apartment from 6:30 am until 9:00 pm I decided to enjoy this one before bed. And I do enjoy it. Not a keeper, but this would be great to have on hand for the unhappy tummy moments.

My high school French is pretty sketchy, but I knew Menthe was mint. I didn’t recognize Reglisse. I had to look it up. Licorice. Black licorice. The DF website says this is ment with licorice as a secondary flavor. But the flavor of the tea is for me predominantly black licorice, with mint being very much in the background. If you like black licorice, like those black licorice Nibs candies, you will probably love this tea. I quite like it. I don’t see myself ordering 100 grams anytime soon. but a small amount of this tea may be on the Dammann Freres order I plan to make early next year. We’ll see which other teas I find to love.

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.

Day #1 of my Dammann Freres Advent Calendar.

This was different. I’ve never had a tea quite like this before. My sense of smell is weak, so I might not be really tasting this properly. The listed flavors are grape, buckwheat, pecan.

The little silky sachet bag was so easy to use and cute. The teas was not too sweet. It was not sour or bitter. The flavor had hints of grape-y tartness which was fine. There was also a cereal-like flavor. It didn’t care for that at first. It grew on me. I got pulled away and when I came back the tea was almost cold. I liked it better that way.

I give this a cautious recommendation. I didn’t hate it. I certainly didn’t love it. But if I was with a friend and she served this I could drink it. Looking forward to Day 2!

This is a really interesting tea, a very unique flavour. It does have a very subtle flavour, and the lime is also very subtle, not sour. It’s delicately floral, with a bit of a woody taste. Probably not a tea I would go out of my way to buy, but it was nice to try once.

I hate to be the first to review this, because I really don’t like it very much. It’s frustrating, because it’s almost good, but for me the coconut ruins it. And I like coconut. When I read the site description I thought it sounded like a weird combo (“green oolong tea combined with the flavours of pecan, coconut, cereal and blueberry”), but also possibly delicious, and I wanted a nice blueberry-featuring tea. But hey, guess what, maybe there’s a reason that coconut isn’t often paired with forest fruit type flavors. To me, it really is a strongly dissonant chord in the composition.

I’ve tried it hot, and I’ve tried it cold brewed, and I slightly prefer it cold. I may use it up with added cranberry to nudge it more toward a cold fruit drink, and I had a weird thought that it miiiiight could do with a bit of cinnamon, so I’ll also try it hot again with a little cinnamon stick to test that stray notion.

Anyway, it’s very possible that others will find the coconut element to be perfectly nice, which is why I don’t like to be the only voice on this at the moment!

Finally, I’d like to complain about something I’ve noticed a couple of times now: mismatches between ingredient descriptions on the Dammann Frères site and ingredients listed on the packaging. On the site, it has blueberry as the main flavor, and no mention of cranberry at all. On the packaging it lists oolong and cranberry pieces, and blueberry as just one of the arômes. This is a bit frustrating, and while I like cranberry fine, I wouldn’t have bought this if it had the actual ingredients and their clear related prominence in the site description. (I wanted a blueberry tea, not a cranberry tea)

Update: So I’ve been using this for cold brewed tea, and it’s actually really nice this way. I think the mildness works well for this and the tea can steep as long as the jug lasts. I’ve been adding a bit of Turkish Apple tea powder (grains? granules?) from T2Tea with it, and the combo makes a tasty, refreshing cold drink that doesn’t get tiresome. Silver linings!

Speaking of which, I picked up the stainless steel tumbler I use for cold drinks today, took a sip, and was suddenly very confused. “What?? Why is this tea so flavorless?!” Well, because it was water. The same thing I’ve been drinking every day throughout the day and with every meal my whole damn life.

Tea. People think it’s so polite and dainty, but it’s sly, it’s tenacious, and it’s taking over.

Okay, so here’s the thing: with all the teas I have, there was one that I didn’t have that I needed — good old plain black tea, preferably a cheery, dependable, brisk but comforting British character, there for you in your times of need or times of joy, a hearty, stout companion. I actually wanted to get PG Tips, but it’s a pain in the butt to get it shipped here for a sane price, and I haven’t seen it locally.

“So, yar, but, but…” you might ask, “why order from a French tea company?” Damned Good Question! Well, I made myself a promise (which I’ve already broken) that this order would be my last (from anywhere) for several months, and it happened I was ordering from DF, and so. I mean, THEY’RE TEA PEOPLE. They know what they’re doing, right? If they called this one out of all their blends, “Anglais,” who am I to doubt their expertise?

Sadly, this so-called “Anglais” chappy really does not meet my (fairly quotidian, I thought?) expectation, and to be frank, I’m not sure a Lipton’s bag would not be better. I mean it’s not awful. I don’t have to choke it down. It’s just very, very, very meh. BUT, check this out: when trying to look up more about this Mèlange Anglais online to find out what to avoid in the future (since they provide almost no info on the order page), I discover that DF has another tea named … wait for it … Mèlange Anglais Supèrieur. Which, I guess, makes mine the de facto Mèlange Anglais Inférieur. AND it’s only 50¢ more. Gee, thanks DF. It’s not like you could have said, “psst, by the way, we also have…” or anything. Or here’s an idea: just sell the Supèrieur? It’s almost the same price? Not that I would actually trust that description at this point; it’s possible they just hate the British.

Aaaanyway. Lesson learned. Maybe don’t try to buy British tea from Fancy Frenchy French ooh-lala tea shop?

(Still, I will make an effort with this, and try different amounts and steep times, but I don’t really detect any promise in it. We’ll see.)

I had to upgrade my ranking (which was already high) on this after living with it for a couple of weeks. I’m finding this blend absolutely delightful, never tiring to my tastebuds (as most flavored teas are apt to become), and it is now not only on my must-always-have list, it’s moved to #2 after Noël à Venise — both of them elbowing a couple of amazing Mariage Frères teas down just a bit (Wedding Imperial and Marco Polo) . I vote this my “most drinkable, any time of day” and “most comforting.” I’m a bit worried that after hitting upon these two in my very first order from Dammann Frères it will be diificult for them to live up to my now crazy high expectations!

Note that I’m using a generous amount (roughly 1.5 – 2 grams per 100 ml, which is maybe 2 – 2.5 heaping teaspoons per 300 ml? ), which I’m finding is a good rule of thumb for black teas for me, and going with medium milky and sweetened most of the time. It’s tastiest once it’s cooled just a bit.

And now I’m off to make my third cup of the morning. mmm.

This is the other Dammann Frères Christmas tea I bought, and after being utterly moonstruck by Noël à Venise, I can return to earth a bit to say that this, too, is rather lovely. The site description for this tea is “blend of black teas perfumed with notes of chocolate, apricot and vanilla. A subtle and tasty blend evoking the greedy taste of the famous Sacher cake,” but on the bag, it also lists orange peel and pineapple. Perhaps it’s better I did not see that, because I might have had second thoughts — it seems a bit of an overwhelming mix that could have you searching for the tea … or maybe the exit. Not to worry, though; they don’t lie when they say this is a subtle blend. Nothing, including the chocolate, is very assertive in this tea, but all together it makes for a very tasty, refined cup that teases out a bit of all these notes without blasting the tastebuds. I’m enjoying the restrained elegance.

I must say that in my personal experience so far, I do prefer this approach to chocolate as a nuance of of the blend rather than a main attraction. With the chocolate-forward teas I’ve tried so far, I’m always wondering why I don’t just have a cup of good cocoa, or maybe a mocha, if that’s what I want, rather than a watery chocolatish beverage with some tea taste. All that said, I did hope for a bit more apricot in this, but maybe I’m wrong. As I sit here with my empty cup, the last bit of lightly lingering flavor at the back of my tongue seems to be … maybe? … apricot?

Actually a little annoyed I like this and Noël à Vienne SO much, since it means I stand in fear of running out (for good reason, apparently, as I’ve managed to mostly plow my way through the original order of both), so I’ve had to re-up each of these on the back of my current “Hey, I’m just going to treat myself a little for Christmas; I’ll definitely definitely wait Several Months before ordering again” new DF order — but I find I can only order up to six 100g bags before my posting cost jumps up a level (and smaller quantities are not offered) … which means I can only try four new ones. What if I love two of the new ones as much? Then I’ll be ordering four Absolutely Must Replace! teas and only be able to try two new ones. etc. Until I have six AMR delicious teas, yet a relentless desire to try new ones. Now we see the violence inherent in the system.

sniff, sigh, sniff, steep, sip, sip, sip … Well, hallelujah! orchestral music plays. I’ve found my “if there could be only one” tea (for now, anyway). I received my Dammann Frères package today, and I’m walking on clouds because this one seems to be made perfectly, exactly for me. Like damn royalty. ;0. I adore creamy lemon desserts, and lemon curd is heaven to me, but I was worried about this blend being too sharp, too overpowering, or single note … and it is not. I think the papaya tempers the acidity of the lemon, and the caramel toffee adds just the perfect complement of sweet smoothness and creaminess without hogging the stage. I audibly sighed with pleasure when I first opened and sniffed the package, because it smelled perfect, but I steeled myself, because I often find that with flavored teas, the aroma can be much more compelling than the brew. Not so in this case! I’m only on my second cup, but it’s wonderful with milk, and wonderful black, and I’m in love love love.

A congratulatory caffeine-free beverage after taking my Linear Algebra and Differential Equations final exam this evening. I needed something just like this. Bumping up the rating a little because it’s almost perfect and impossible to oversteep.

I bought a box of Ahmad Linden Flower bags and also some bulk loose flower from the co-op. It would be convenient and light on the money clip if one of those compares to this Dammann Frères because it’s not cheap and neither is shipping :(

I can’t believe I went from hating all math my whole life to loving a little bit of the higher level stuff. Whew. One more final exam to go!

Wow, this is something totally different and my first Dammann Freres. My favorite florals in teas are citrus blossoms – orange, pomelo and lemon – but they’ve only been mixed in with true teas in small amounts or used in scenting.

I’m not sure what else is in the bag, possibly lime leaf? I was initially put off by the smell of the bag with its strong perfumey aroma but I went through with an infusion. It turns out the brewed tea smells incredibly of floral perfume, not fake and sickening but nevertheless intense in its own way. It is absolutely intoxicating. The taste is light and smooth, a tinge woody and tart but it is mostly dominated by the retronasal activity of the heady and floral lime blossom.

I’ve never been to a spa, but I’ve read about Cameron B mentioning a tisane as being a ‘spa blend.’ This lime blossom tisane seems like one such a place would serve. It’s heady yet light and relaxing and would best be kept a rare treat, at least for me.

Edit: bumped up the rating a little. Wanted to add that I do think tasting this would be a polarizing experience.

One of my last samples from Cameron B! This one is definitely desserty. My uncultured tongue said chocolate, but maybe that’s because I was drinking it at the same time as a chocolate one. The black tea is nice, a tiny bit bitter. There are citrus notes. It tasted good, but I wouldn’t choose it over other similar teas.

Love the almond flavor in this. You can also taste the black tea underneath. It’s definitely brisk! A little bitter, but I never time my steeps, so that’s probably my fault. I don’t prefer this over other almond teas I’ve had, but it does taste good! Thanks to Cameron B for yet another sample.