Compagnie & Co (formerly Compagnie Coloniale)

2024 sipdown no. 55 | This also works for September 22 – Fall Equinox: drink a tea for the new season. :)

This tea is decently strongly scented (S&V still beats it out though), and the scent comes across really clear in taste. There’s some cookie-ness, cinnamon, and hints of brown sugar. This is a really tasty tea that doesn’t come across cloyingly, and it even resteeps fairly well. For some reason, I found myself thinking of Brioche while drinking this — it seems to be at that level of quality.

Thanks for the opportunity to try another great tea Cameron!

Thanks very much again for the awesome box of teas, Cameron B! I was wondering what this one was reminding me of…. and it suddenly dawned on me that it’s those orange flavored cinnamon rolls! But mainly the frosting and not the actual roll. I do really like that flavor of frosting, even if those aren’t really my favorite base of cinnamon rolls. Anyway, there is also a hint of floral flavor on a lighter black tea base. This would definitely be a flavor I would occasionally crave, and when it’s good, it’s good! But if you aren’t really in the mood for this type of flavor, I can see how it might be cloying. The tea flavor this is closest to would be Della Terra’s Orange Brulee. (Not to say these are the same teas at all — they have different bases.) I like it!

Ooh, this is lovely! The “Balade” series are all inspired by and named after places, and so I learned “Terre Neuve” is actually the French name for Newfoundland (hence the maple).

This tea is almost like a different spin on my favorite Momijigari from Lupicia. Really nice balance of sweet and natural-tasting maple with really nice apple flavor. They call it baked apple, but to me it has more tartness and dimension than cooked apples usually do. Definitely a red apple though. There’s also a nuttiness, which to me tastes like pecan.

Really nice, happy to have 100g of it. My only critique would be the black base seems a tad bit more prone to bitterness than other black teas I have from them. But it’s just a touch, so certainly doesn’t ruin the yummy flavors. :)

I thought I remembered not being impressed by this one, but today it’s really reminding me of speculoos. The flavoring is on the light side, but still very noticeable, and pretty spot-on. A balanced combination of buttery cookie, brown sugar or molasses, and gentle cinnamon, ginger, and perhaps nutmeg. The only departure is there’s an almondy note here that is reminding me of Simpson & Vail’s Almond Sugar Cookie. So perhaps speculoos with toasted almonds and a touch more butter?

Quite tasty, and very enjoyable even when it’s stone cold (oops…). It would be interesting to see how it does as a latte since the flavoring is restrained, maybe I’ll have to try that out this fall. :)

I love fig, so when I saw Compagnie & Co offers an oxidized oolong with fig, I couldn’t resist. There are even fig pieces mixed in!

Unfortunately, it doesn’t quite live up to my expectations. It does have a syrupy dried fruit sort of note to it, but it doesn’t taste specifically of fig to me. It’s in the ballpark, but reminds me more of perhaps golden raisin or even dried apricot. There’s also a sort of floral note to the flavor that I don’t love. The oolong itself is nice enough, smooth and woody without being too roasty or strong. Perhaps next time I’ll try more tea with a shorter steep to see if I can get more of the flavoring to peek through…

This one is a bit strange…

It’s their version of a pumpkin spice black tea, but it’s very savory? I definitely get pumpkin, and also specifically pumpkin seed (which makes sense given there are pumpkin seeds in it). Very squashy overall with no sweetness whatsoever, and no discernable spices.

It’s not bad, per se. It’s just not what I was expecting from “pumpkin & spice flavors”, and it’s a bit odd to have a tea that kind of tastes like a pumpkin soup ha ha. Probably going to put this into my rehoming box, maybe someone else will enjoy it.

Really unsure why I chose this tea to order, as I never like honey flavoring in tea. It always tastes artificial, and reminds me of those honey cough drops. :P

This is a nice enough tea. The orange is sweet and juicy, and the honey isn’t horribly artificial-tasting. It still doesn’t taste like actual honey (it never does), it’s more cloying in a way? Maybe it’s the floral notes that are off to me.

Regardless, this one will go into my rehoming box, because although it’s drinkable, I can’t see making it through 100g of it ha ha. Serves me right for ordering something I know I don’t like. XD

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 24

Of course, the Christmas Tea! See, this is what I mean about saving a festive tea for the last day, heh heh… :P

So, unfortunately this just isn’t a good match for me, ha ha. It’s almond and cherry together – my two nemeses, joining forces! XD So needless to say, I dun like it. Very candy-sweet and cloying, and also medicinal. Jergens lotion, but make it tea! But I wouldn’t expect to like these flavors, so I’m not mad at it ha ha.

In terms of the advent overall, this was sort of middle of the road for me. I’m never a huge fan of when companies mix in unflavored teas, because they’re never great and I’m always disappointed to see them. I guess I’ve been spoiled by mostly getting my plain teas from specialists, and usually directly from the country of origin. But I do think the variety here was good, in terms of different flavors and types of tea. A good smattering of herbals without being too many, and only a few single-flavor teas like vanilla and caramel (which I don’t typically love). I don’t think there were any teas I was totally in love with, but there were a few that I would consider picking up if I were already making an order. I don’t think it’s a bad advent, but I do enjoy Dammann Frères more, and I think they’re somewhat similar so I would recommend that one over this.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 23

This is mostly just honeybush and rooibos – there’s linden, but I can’t really taste it much. Mostly it’s mellow and woody with a slight sweetness. Fine, but not something I would reach for.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 22

A straight-up caramel black tea with flower petals. I thought I smelled something tart and fruity when it was dry, but clearly I was crazy. :P

It’s on the lighter side, more of a fluffy and creamy caramel sort of flavor. Maybe like one of those decadent Starbucks blended drinks with the caramel drizzled all over the top. There is a nice caramelized sugar note that adds a bit of depth, but overall it reminds me of some kind of caramel whipped cream or maybe a caramel pudding.

Tasty, even though caramel isn’t my favorite solo flavor in tea. Enjoyed it as my first tea of the day!

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 21

A goji flavored green tea? Interesting…

I don’t have a ton of experience with goji by itself, but in blends it usually tastes a bit tart to me, and this doesn’t have any tartness at all. It’s quite sweet, in fact, with a flavor that maybe reminds me of strawberry? It’s not quite, but I can’t think of anything closer. The base is a mixture of green teas, but I feel I’m mostly tasting the grassy sencha with a bit of extra earthiness and minerality from the chun mee.

It’s a nice fruity tea, but it doesn’t really taste like goji berries to me. More like strawberry meets dried apricot maybe?

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 20

An interesting choice for a holiday tea, green and white teas with red fruits and baked apple. It’s a nice evening tea, very mellow base with a similar candy-sweet red fruits flavor to the black version I had the other day. I do taste the apple as well, it actually blends seamlessly with the green tea. The red fruits is the stronger of the two flavors, but the apple gives a nice sweetness and makes the whole thing just a bit more comforting.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 19

Ugh work. Don’t they know I have advent teas to drink?! XP

Ah, red fruits, a French classic. This one is quite nice – I mostly get raspberry and a bit of strawberry, and it is somewhat candylike but not cloying. Very sweet and more syrupy instead of tart.

I don’t know that I would order it, but I very much enjoyed my small mugful this morning. Classic for a reason! :)

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 18

So this is a lapsang. It smelled quite smoky dry, but I’m finding the smokiness to be very mild steeped up. Mostly tastes like a very smooth, woody, and earthy Chinese black tea with just a touch of savory smoke.

Very smooth and pleasant, with a hefty texture.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 17

Another of their holiday blends!

This is quite nice – a very mellow mix of sweet candy cinnamon, gently herbaceous lemon balm and verbena, and subtly bright orange. There’s something slightly cookie-y about it as well, perhaps it’s the almond mentioned in the description. It’s just a hint though.

I like it more and more as I sip. I would consider ordering some of this, but I probably wouldn’t go out of my way to make an order just to get some. We’ll see if there are any other teas I end up wanting once I’m finished with this advent. :)

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 16

Don’t you love it when companies tell you nothing about what a tea is supposed to taste like? “…flavoured with our secret Angel aroma” LMAO! So it tastes like angels then? :P

Honestly, I still don’t know what the “angel aroma” is, because I’m mostly getting the verbena. It almost tastes lavender-ish, maybe that was in the flavoring? There’s a light fruitiness in the finish, but I’m not sure I could hazard a guess at which fruits.

Mostly tastes vaguely floral/herbaceous with verbena and potentially lavender in there, with a touch of something fruity. Not bad, but meh.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 15

Just a classic Moroccan mint style tea – gunpowder with mint leaves.

Really enjoying it tonight though, there’s a nice balance between the earthy, mineral, and slightly toasty green tea and the light and cool mint. It’s a really good choice for winding down on the couch in the evening. :)

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 14

This is a sort of salted caramel oolong, though technically I assume it’s inspired by the sablé Breton (since it’s named for Bretagne). But it’s similar to other salted caramel oolongs I’ve had, like the one from Dammann.

It’s very smooth, and the oolong is somewhat oxidized which gives it a nice toasty vibe. The flavoring is somewhat subtle, though I do taste the butteriness and brown sugar notes. Very pleasant as an evening tea, but these caramel oolongs never seem to taste as good as I expect them to, given the name. :P

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 13

Fruity rooibos and I don’t generally get along, but this wasn’t terrible. I would’ve preferred it without the red fruits, because they make it lean slightly medicinal, and I like the mandarin more. There is a slight bubblegum quality to it.

Drinkable, but not a favorite.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 12

This is nice enough, it reminds me of a similar tea from Dammann (Paul & Virginie I think?). Mostly red fruits, heavy on the strawberry, with a bit of a creamy vanilla note just smoothing out the edges. It’s a bit watery, I probably should have used 6 ounces of water instead of 8 for this one.

Pleasant for the evening, though I think I prefer Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla if I wanted this type of tea.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 11

Boring! XD

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly pleasant Darjeeling (second flush, seems like). But I just can’t get excited about an unflavored tea in an advent calendar from a company that mostly specializes in flavored teas. Personally, I tend to buy my unflavored teas from different companies than my flavored ones.

Anyway, it’s smooth and somewhat bready with a noticeable hay note to it. A bit of underlying grapeyness as well. Slightly astringent on the backend, but nothing major.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 10

I think I may have use a bit too much water with this one, because it’s quite bland. These sachets have been consistently good with 8 ounces of water, but maybe this one had a bit less in it?

So a bit hard to review, but mostly getting watered down black tea with a bit of clove and a whisper of cinnamon.

Sorry, tea! :P

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 9

This is an interesting mix – green and white teas with red fruits, almond, and honey.

There is a vague fruitiness to it, the almond makes it lean more toward cherry to me, maybe with some raspberry in there as well. I do get a little touch of honey. Honestly it’s a bit difficult to pull the flavors apart, as they almost combine into a single, more complex flavor? I don’t think I would be able to pick out the notes (other than the almond) if I didn’t already know what they were. There’s almost something a bit citrusy as well? It almost hits bubblegum, but not quite.

An interesting one. I don’t love it, but mostly because of the almond ha ha. I wish there was a bit more freshness to the fruit (it’s more jammy) to help brighten up the flavor overall.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 8

Ooh, this is my favorite kind of Earl Grey – the kind where the bergamot brought some other citrus friends to the party. :D

Really nice blend, in particular I’m tasting a sweet and bright orange flavor. I do also get the bergamot in the background adding an almost lime-y note, and probably the lemon blending in as well. The base is earthy and smooth, most likely a Chinese black tea.

Just lovely, and really an ideal tea for the morning.