1445 Tasting Notes
Mariage Frères Advent Calendar – Day 6
Finally, a blatantly holiday themed tea from this advent (Dammann Frères did the same on Day 6, because apparently these advents are doppelgangers this year). That’s fun!
I recall trying the oolong and black tea versions of this tea last year and, unfortunately, I don’t like the festive spice thing as much on this green tea base (in general, not a fan of spicy green tea, regardless of quality). I think old 52teas had a Smaug themed cinnamon pepper green tea – and this is kind of like that? A nostalgic, cinnamon heart tea with fruity and vegetal hues.
Flavors: Cinnamon, Fruity, Pepper, Spicy, Vegetal
Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – Day 6
Advent calendars are fun because of the possible novelty of discovering new-to-me teas at random. But sometimes it’s lovely to be offered a well-established favourite. I adore this delicious passion fruit jasmine tea. Its profile is bright, energetic, and multi-dimensional; that vibe can be such a godsend on a December weekday.
Flavors: Astringent, Bergamot, Citrus, Floral, Fruity, Jasmine, Lychee, Mango, Passion Fruit, Sweet, Tart, Tropical Fruit
Mariage Frères Advent Calendar – Day 5
Mariage Frères does a good chai, some of my favourites that I’ve tasted. This blend is no exception and is a welcome surprise in this advent. Of course, it fits the (ambiguous) floral-fruity advent trend too – always an interesting dimension in chai.
The description says this blend would be good hot or cold, with or without milk. I felt unadventurous though, and took it hot with milk. It’s a lovely, velvety chai that I had to quickly finish off on the way out the door (boo). It’s tasty, but I still think I prefer the Chandernagor blend from this company (bought a tin of that with this advent order, actually).
Flavors: Floral, Fruity, Spicy
Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – Day 5
I’ve come to accept that I just don’t like rooibos all that much. Despite that, this tea tempts me with it’s lemony cake aroma. When I tried it last year I was undecided about whether I’d want 100g of it. Second year in the advent calendar and I’m still undecided. Dammann Frères obviously needs to send me another half a dozen samples…
Flavors: Cake, Citrus, Cookie, Honey, Lemon, Sweet, Tobacco, Vanilla, Woody
Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – Day 4
This is one rich tea – full of roasted chestnut, almond, and chocolate malt goodness. It also smells like marzipan which is my kryptonite. The profile has a lot in common with my seasonal favourite from Mariage Frères: Rouge d’Automne (but this oolong would be cheaper to order, so that’s a thought…).
Steep Count: 3
Flavors: Almond, Chestnut, Chocolate, Cocoa, Malt, Marzipan, Roasted, Vanilla
Sounds delicious! I will have to check this one out.
Someone shared a packet with me a long time ago, and even after years, it was still delicious. Fresh, it must be stellar.
Ooo, this sounds amazing!
Agreed, this sounds lovely! It seems like the Dammann Frères advent has some nice teas this year.
Yeah, I’m a fan of this tea and the Dammann Frères advent. I find them extremely consistent despite not particularly loving their “Christmas” blends :P
A lot of the French teas you’re writing about sound like things I’d enjoy. I’m also having advent FOMO from everyone’s notes! :)
Even though I have advents, I feel a bit of FOMO about some of the other selections I see lol (the B&B and the green tea-centric ones. Ahhh)!
I heartily recommend the Dammann Frères ones if you’ve never tried their teas before; I’ve always found it to be a good way to sample what they carry.
The Mariage Frères one though… that company carries some amazing teas that rarely, if ever, seem to make their way into the advents. Instead, MF usually over-highlights their “In Love” or “Rainbow” teabag series. I keep going for it because flavoured oolong and floral teas still feature a lot and, once in a blue moon, a unique tea will make its way in there.
After the holiday season, I should send out samples of some of the MF teas (I can’t promise anyone will like them as much as me, but they’re usually interesting).
Dammann Frères does such a nice advent! I’m always a bit sad when I don’t get it ha ha. I’ve still never tried the Mariage Frères one, every time I see someone else doing it, it seems like a weird selection of teas, like all butterfly pea flower or something. I wish they would do a more classic selection, as I would like to try some of their core teas…
Crowkettle, many of the Dammann teas sound nice, and I’d actually be happy to get only a single teabag given the size of my tea museum.
I’ve wanted to try Mariage Frères for a while, but they provide absolutely no info about their shipping other than that it’s via DHL or something and the Canadian resellers have very high markups. And I agree, I’ve seen some weird teas in their advents.
Shipping to Canada is another issue. I already pay exorbitant amounts to ship my fancy unflavoured teas, and I’m not sure I could justify spending a lot on something I’m not sure I’d enjoy (and they always seem to come in 100 g packages, too!).
Maybe we could do a swap in the new year if you like unflavoured tea. I have a lot of oolong at the moment. :)
Yeah, unless you or a friend can visit a physical store, or are withing their free shipping range, Mariage Frères is pretty expensive and inaccesible. I’m in Canada too, and buying their advent (plus extra teas) is such self-indulgent splurge that I can barely justify it, honestly (Christmas gift to self). Even though it’s not consistently wonderful, I do believe that the advent has helped me form a better idea of what I do like, and what to look for, in their teas though. This in turn makes me feel more comfortable taking a chance on 100g…
The more I see of the blue pea-flower oolong the more I don’t understand it as a choice. It’s mentally jarring to drink a nut, brioche, or chocolate flavoured tea that some shade of murky blue/green/grey. Luckily, the special colour disappears on the second or third steep, which is personally when I think their oolong blends tend to peak. XD
Yes, I love unflavoured tea, especially the greener spectrum! Whenever I buy oolong for myself it tends not to last long. :)
Christmas gifts to yourself are sometimes the best gifts because you know what you like. :) I’ve definitely splurged on tea gifts to myself this year as well.
I didn’t realize MF had a free shipping threshold. I’m guessing it’s pretty high.
I’d be happy to message you next year if you have some French teas you’d like to trade for some greener oolongs!
Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – Day 3
It’s lovely to see an orange flavoured white tea that’s balanced to compliment, not overpower the base tea or be particularly sweet. It leans towards aromatic citrus blossoms and a tranquil floral palette, rather than a lively, juicy-sweet citrus. Notes of cucumber, unripe melon, and other green things, make this tea feel like a day at the spa.
Imo, flavoured white tea blends often have chemistry problems — where the flavour pairings either diminish or clash with the original tea’s subtle but distinctive profile. This is gladly not the case here. Judging by taste and appearance, DF also made the decadent choice to use a silver needle variety. It pays off.
Steep Count: 3
Flavors: Citrus, Cucumber, Floral, Hay, Melon, Orange Blossom
Mariage Frères Advent Calendar – Day 3
Day three gave me two white teas… In theory, I should love this because lavender, rose, and “red berries” are all things I enjoy. In practice, it’s too much hibiscus on a white tea base that doesn’t handle it well. I wish I’d picked up that there was hibi, because I would’ve iced this one instead.
Flavors: Hibiscus, Red Fruits, Rose, Tart
Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – Day 2
Backlog: Both of my advent calendars gave floral green teas for day two. This one also has fruity notes, including a decadent lychee, canned peaches, and mellow but refreshing grapefruit. A perfect, bright tropical tea, for a bright sunny day (we are currently between atmospheric river episodes; it stormed last night and is supposed to pour most of the week starting tonight. So, I’m counting my blessings).
Steep Count: 2
Flavors: Citrus, Floral, Fruity, Grapefruit, Jasmine, Lychee, Peach, Rose, Sweet, Tropical
Mariage Frères Advent Calendar – Day 2
Backlog: The description says green tea with jasmine and rose. So, not for the anti-floral crowd. The tea base is mild and neither flowers seem to overpower the other. The rose is more distinctive than it was in day 1’s tea and reminds me that I actually like what MF does with rose. Enjoyable.
I wonder if there will be a lot of rose featured in MFs calendar this year (hindsight on Day 7: there was and is a lot rose so far).
Steep Count: 3
Flavors: Floral, Jasmine, Rose, Smooth
Yep, came across Smaug in my tea stash today, actually. :D