Noël à Pékin

This tea, along with the next, was technically acquired at the same time as Coquelicot Gourmand in Paris, and as such they are all the same age. I just manually added this one to my cupboard after that one.

I also recently restocked this one, but I didn’t mix the old stash with the new. I should probably just use up the old (probably 15g) with some cold brews since I have another 100g of this. There is still a lot of flavor in the older leaf, but it lacks a bit of subtlety. It’s pretty much all bright! passion fruit! pineapple! and none of the jasmine. Still, I drank this one up easily and happily.

bit of a guilty review here… sortof sleep-steeped this one today as a black… oops!

however, lovely anyway. christmas in peking (at least when steeped as black) is orange… not a typical orange though. i taste tangerine. well, tangerine when hot…. tangerine/apricot as it cools. honestly, while it was an accident to steep it so strictly, i would do it again =0)

thank you for the treat yyz!

very nice… back to study.

I think I overleafed this one a little and as it is a sample I get with my Instant thé order I won’t be able to taste it properly now… I won’t rate it so but can tell some of my feelings disregarding the bitterness I stupidely created myself.

This is a lovely exotic fruits blend, I can get the natural notes of pineapple and mango for sure.
Jasmin is there but is very discrete.
I’m pretty sure it is a fantastic blend where the aromas pair very well together what a pity I wasted it so stupidely.

Interestingly, if you compare the English and French descriptions for this tea, there is no mention of citrus (or, well, agrumi) oils in the translation – I picked this as the first to try from my Instant-Thé tea haul, as it smelled so strongly of blood orange – which I can never keep my hands off.

Green/black tea blends really appeal to me, as they are often so clear and light. My main issue with all-black (flavoured) teas are their muddiness, to be honest. But this turns a perfect shade in the cup. I steeped it for three minutes first, deemed it too weak and then gave it another minute. The recommendation was for 4-5 at 90C, and I think it could take the full 5 without any bitterness.

This is very peculiar. I’m not really a fan of jasmine (this was a free sample included with my order), but it works very well here – it’s a subtle, elusive perfume both in the nose and the cup.

Flavour wise, I get mostly passion fruit and blood orange, but a deep, rich blood orange – there isn’t any tartness to speak of. This all plays out against a very complex backdrop of intermingling fruit flavours, which is just lovely.

I find myself really enjoying this one, and I very badly want to try it with various forms of baked goods – it would be an excellent tea party tea, in all its complexity.

Some astringency.

[Sample from my epic Instant-Thé order to Rome, October 2013.]

I had a St*rb*cks *c*d C*ff** this morning (that’s Starbucks Iced Coffee, shhhh!), so I thought something with green tea in it would be lovely for the afternoon. I’ve started perusing the Dammann Freres website for the Future Order of October, so I thought what better tea to drink with that than a French one!?!? :)

Mmmm. I’m definitely getting jasmine and tropical fruit. I can’t really say which one, but maybe mango or passion fruit? The black tea is giving it a nice base, and the green a fresh taste. I don’t much care for green tea, but when it’s used in a blend I love the little oomph it gives – that little bit of grassy freshness is very nice, almost like another flavor in the blend!

Another bonus for a work afternoon is this reminds me in no way of anything Holiday-ish or growing up-ish :) In fact, I don’t think I had a mango until I was in college and living on my own!

Thank you Dinosara! This is so, so good! It makes me wonder how it would taste iced, too. I bet refreshing.

Advent calendar, day 13.

I am loving my little routine of getting up and trying new teas every morning. Such a fun little present to myself. I’m also loving all the different “Noel” blends. It brings me to their website every day, making lists for future orders. Honestly it seems as though they have enough teas to where I could make my own advent calendar for a year. I’ve never once felt inclined to visit France (despite loving the language, and wanting to see the rest of Europe), but now I know I’ll have to stop in just for the tea alone.

Steep notes: No additives, below parameters.

Black and green blends always make me nervous about steep temperature, but I’m less nervous since the Dammann teas seem incapable of bitterness no matter what you do to them. I don’t think I’m getting jasmine in the dry leaf, but I’m not good with florals. I am definitely getting pineapple, maybe mango. The tea, as usual, is not immediately discernible in the scent.

Steeped, the pineapple is 100% at the front of the taste. Surprisingly it’s the green tea that follows right behind, but I think it’s a perfect counterbalance to the sweetness. As it cools it takes on a more tropical flavoring, which I guess is the mango peeking out more. The very, very last sip was all passion fruit/guava. No floral (no biggie, not my thing anyway), and the black tea base is its typical mild, unassuming self.

I liked this – can’t say I would buy more, because green/black blends aren’t really my thing, but it was awesome for an unexpected, one teabag treat.

Day 13!

I think Damman has to get a little more inventive because several of the teas are the same day this year as they were last year.

I quite liked the smell of this dry tea. Reminded me of tart grapefruit. I was really looking forward to trying this tea. Same thing I thought last year. Then I read my review and didn’t seem to like this tea a whole lot last year.

I brewed it up, I am actually not getting too much jasmine at all this time, which is pleasant. The tartness now is definitely pineapple and not grapefruit. It is almost as if the jasmine with the pineapple makes grapefruit. The black base is fairly smooth.

Overall I wish this tea tasted a bit more like it smelled.

This is just lovely, and Day 13 in Dammann Freres’ advent calendar. I was so very happy with this purchase, even though it was a bit pricey for samples. The packaging, the labeling, the teas themselves – stunning. All of it.

This is a wonderful tea, and I’m contemplating buying more of it. Very light floral notes from the jasmine enhance a light black tea base, with something tropical and fruity in the mix. It makes me think of the black teas I’ve had at many an Asian restaurant, but with an added layer of complexity and sweetness.

EDIT: Oooh! The pineapple pops with sweetener, backed up by the jasmine. So lovely. Almost wish this was a exclusively a green tea, although it’s still lovely on it’s own.

when i have a lot of teas i’m excited about trying i tend to brew small little 6 or 8 oz cups.
this one i brewed once, and then brewed again immediately. i just wanted to be sure is all.
i wanted to be sure that what i thought i tasted was really what i thought i tasted.
and i’m just gonna go for it and declare …Apricot.
i don’t even know why apricot.
i mean, no pineapple or mango. i feel like apricot.
APricot!

thanks Dinosara! it’s a euro tea adventure!

For some reason I thought I already tried this but now I am 2nd guessing myself!

It smells like Mango and green tea.I can see the Jasmine in it tho.

This ‘brews’ very light…almost like a pale green or even a ‘white’ type tea. by the look of the post-infused liquor I wouldn’t know it had black tea in the base at all…that’s how light in color it is.After infusing I can now smell mango and jasmine.

It has a very light flavor – which is good in this case – I was afraid it was going to have all sorts of conflicting flavors but it doesn’t. It’s gentle in just about every way. The Jasmine is the first flavor then the mango. There are other fruit flavors that are being hinted at but they aren’t as identifiable. This is way better than I thought it would be!