Noël à Paris

Yes I am having a Christmas tea for breakfast in the middle of Summer…I wanted to taste it for ages and now I have the opportunity thanks to a sample I received with my Instant thé order.

This is a classical blend more than clearly the same kind as Thé de Noël from Compagnie Coloniale exactly the same ingredients cherry,ginger, cornflower on a black tea base.

I need to make a special tasting with a cup of each but I have the impression now that the tea base of Dammann is maybe a little bit stronger vs Compagnie Coloniale.

Well this is clearly not my favourite christmas tea even if nice but these flavours change from cloves, orange, mandarin…

I am gloomy today as I have to come back to work on Wednesday and I really would have loved to remain in holidays – That’s so weird to me as in my previous job I was always so happy to wake up to go to work.
I know what it means so…

Day 23!

Christmas in Paris, yes please!

This one is a nice smooth black base, I am getting a slight metallic tinge from the ceylon. I am getting sweet cherry and smooth almond. I am unfortunately not getting any ginger, I think this one would be quite delicious with ginger, well it is already delicious. Ha ha. The flavouring is light and compliments that black base very nicely. The pink cornflowers seem to provide some thickness to the liquor. I am imagining walking through the Paris streets in the evening with a bit of snow falling around me. Le sigh!

It’s almost time for Christmas Day tea. I am excited to see what it is. I’m assuming, best for last.

This was the second tea of tea party. It is very good, but honestly the aroma of the dry leaves is a little off-putting for me. The cherry flavor comes across as medicinal in aroma, but the taste is good. Fortunately, the almond flavor hasn’t faded as that is my favorite part.

This tea is rather old now and we are working hard to sip down the oldest teas. Fortunately, my youngest daughter puts away copious amounts of tea every day and doesn’t mind drinking whatever I am working on a sipdown for, so she always asks what to get rid of and I choose a few things. Of course, we also indulge ourselves with a tea or two that we are hankering for, regardless of how long it has been around.

Skipping around the remaining teas from my advent calendar. This one sounded good, cherry, almond and ginger! The dry tea smells promising! Cherry and almond scents are sometimes hard to decipher, but I find the two rather distinct in this tea with the cherry dominating. It is a syrupy cherry smell. When brewed the scent is still present, but faded. I’m finding it difficult to be patient enough to let it cool before sipping. First few sips… I’m finding it has a very flat taste to it, like cherry juice soaked into cardboard. Is that the ginger? Adding sugar makes the cherry stand out more, but I’m also getting a dry mouth feeling from it too. I was really hoping to fall in love with a tea or two from DF, but I think this brand is just not for me.

Dammann advent calendar, day 23. Christmas in Paris!

When I smelled the dry leaf of this one I correctly picked out the flavors: fruity (I thought perhaps cherry), almond, and a hint of spiciness (turns out to be ginger). We’ll see if this cherry goes over ok for me.

This one isn’t too over the top cherry, so I’m good with it. I mean it’s cherry, but it’s not cherry. Perhaps it’s a bit more natural and less candy-like (I do like fresh cherries). Anyway, the cherry and almond are the main flavors, with some mild spices. Overall not a bad cup, but I wouldn’t go for it again.

Advent calendar day 24. Backlog from this morning.

Cherry almond, yep. That’s the scent I get from the dry leaf. I wish I could pick up on the ginger, though – I am guessing that I won’t get it in the flavor if I don’t get it in the scent.

Steep notes: no additives, below parameters.

Sure enough, cherry and almond are at the forefront in the taste. It’s a pretty flavorful blend, too. I feel like I’ve had some iteration of this before in some of their other blends, though. No ginger to speak of, and I went the longest I could while steeping.

Eh. It was good to have (especially because the only other tea I have is my beloved Frissy and I’m traveling until Dec. 31st) but it’s not the Noel a Venise that I was so hoping I’d get for Christmas. (Sigh – guess I’ll just have to order some!)

day 23 of the dammann advent calendar !!
I actually drank this days ago and I’ll probably have my second and last cup in a few moments this morning.
I ordered the advent calendar as a way to taste 20 or so new teas. And seriously having all these individually wrapped tea bags is so fun! Easy to bring them along to parties as back-up or enjoy while out and about.

This tea smells super cherry. Like candy cherry. But after it’s brewed the almond is very strong. I’ve been tasting a bunch of almond related teas lately. I’m totally into it.

Advent 22.

Tastes like Christmas Tea Blanc on a black tea base. The cherry flavor pretty much overpowers everything else except the woodiness of the black tea. Cherry Jolly Ranchers, sour cherry juice concentrate. I swear I taste orange, too. No almond to be found by my senses.

2020 Advent Calendar – Day 22. Finally caught up with this advent calendar! And just in time too. This one smells very much like cough syrup but the almonds show up beautifully in the cup. Thank goodness. It’s still very much about the cherry but the artificial medicinal cherry flavoring disappears and I get this almondy, cherry pie. I get some “pain d’epice” vibe from it but I can’t say that I can pick out the individual winter-ish spices.

It would have been a great Thanksgiving morning tea to put you in the mood for a fun day of cooking and a hint at desserts to come. It did go down easy (and fast)

Day 13 of the Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

Ah, at last a tea I thoroughly enjoyed. No bitterness or astringency. No bergamot or green tea or hibiscus. The cherry flavor is a teeny bit reminiscent of kids cough syrup. The almond must have been too subtle for me to pick up. The tea base was smooth. I liked it quite a bit. If I do place an order (which I had planned to do in late January, but the offerings so far has caused me to re-think that plan) then this will be one of the teas I get.