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This is another Dammann tea that we ordered from Summit Tea Company. It still doesn’t taste quite as yummy as Coquelicot Gourmand but it was a very good tea. The prominent aroma was almond or amaretto, delicious! At the first sip I picked up a very faint citrus flavor as well. We took it sans additions, and I wonder if this one would benefit from a touch of sugar. Nice, but I wouldn’t make a special order to France for it.

Nice quiet morning (for a change) with a pot of this and an Everything Bagel. Aaahhhhh!

When a water main breaks and your city is put on “boil water” status for three days what do you do? You make tea! I was disappointed because five minutes of boiling is supposed to make the water a bit flat since so much oxygen is dispersed from it, but my tea was yummy anyway.

This is a wonderful tea that to which JacquelineM introduced me. It has the aroma you would get if you made a plate of Pepperidge Farm dark chocolate cookies and some of the chocolate melted on your hands. I supposed that is what they call unsweetened cocoa notes. It was wonderful with my Everything Bagel, sans additions. I usually add milk and sugar to my breakfast tea “just because” but I had this one without because that is how I normally drink it in the afternoons with my cookies. Ah. Nice start to the day.

What went wrong? I loved the first Dammann Freres teas that I tried but I am pouring this one out! Life is too short to drink bad tea. This tastes like a badly brewed astringent tea with bad lemon added. Is it because it came from Summit Tea Company instead of straight from Dammann Freres? We bought this sampler hoping to find a US source for their tea, or at least to find a variety of teas we could order all at once from France. This one will NOT be on my list. I am getting no apple or caramel flavor at all.

For some reason I just didn’t feel like eating breakfast this morning, and I ALWAYS eat breakfast! I made do instead with a pot of this. A whole pot. There is a tiny hint of smoke in this 100% keemun tea, and it is dee-lish-us! I must confess that after drinking a whole pot by myself followed by 4 teas at the tea party, I sloshed by late afternoon!

I gave this one a second chance at the tea party today. The first time I tried it I made it by Teavana’s directions which call for a lower temp and time than most black teas usually do. It was….unspectacular, though the aroma was marvelous. Today I tried making it the same way I make Golden Monkey (may it forever be in my cupboard!) by Harney and Sons. The leaves look like Harney’s, the aroma smells like Harney’s, but the flavor – alas! Not even close! This tea is simply not as good and costs twice as much. We were drinking the two side by side so we could be sure it wasn’t our imagination that Harney’s is so much better.

We must have this tea in our cupboard. Always always always. This one is at the tea party every week now because we all love it so much, so even if one of the other teas isn’t a hit we know we will be oooo-ing and ah-ing over this one! Golden, sweet, and caramel – it can’t be beat.

I liked this one more the first time I tried it, but I think this was our fault! We oversteeped it a little and for me an assam needs to be UNDERsteeped if anything! Still, it is a good tea!

One of the tea party teas today. It was a hit! This was the second tea we tried and our guest exclaimed, “Now that is good tea!” We took it sans additions today.

We are putting up a couple of hospital workers these next couple of days because the roads are icy and we live so close! This was our warming tea tonight before one of them went to work the night shift. I expect we will need more of its warmth tomorrow as well. The clove is the prominent note to me, but not overly spicy. The rum flavor is just right, and the cinnamon is a middle note and seems like a sweeter one. Lovely!