Dammann Frères

Day 7!

This one dry, smelled like a Christmas tea. There was sweet cinnamon and a fruity flavor I thought was cherry.

The green tea is smooth and creamy, but not buttery. It is a bit more dry than what I would have assumed from the smell. There is a definite fruity taste. Not necessarily orange or apple, but it is sweet and tart at the same time. I am getting a definite cinnamon taste. There seems to be other spices as well, maybe some nutmeg but I am having a hard time putting a name to the taste, the best I come up with was kind of chai but not really. There is a very light vanilla-y taste. Maybe this tea is kind of like some kind of Christmas cake taste.

This tea tastes good, but it is not as good as the other Dammann teas I have tried so far. I am having trouble distinguishing the tastes of this one. Maybe I am trying to hard…

This was day 4 of the Advent calendar, but I’m just getting around to it now.

This is mostly to do with the fact that I really, REALLY don’t do smoke and the Keemun base was scaring me a bit. I can’t smell it in the leaves, necessarily (I get a kind of chocolate/caramel smell more than anything) but knowing it’s there, and knowing the accuracy of the tasting notes/blends has me a bit uneasy.

Unfortunately this tea is exactly what it says it is. The smoky taste and smell are at the forefront and end of the sip, with a little bit of chocolate in between. This is what I envisioned the 52 teas smores tea to taste like, absent the graham cracker and marshmallow notes.

This is definitely a case of a tea not being to my taste. I hate to rate it so low but it just isn’t one I’ll even be able to finish. I’m glad it was in the calendar to try, though. And I’m glad I just had the one teabag – instant decupboarding!

Gave this a shot cold brewed to use up the last of the leaf sent to me by Sil!

Cold the pure orange turned a bit more like bergamot, so kind of an iced earl grey? Eh. I wish it hadn’t done that – earl greys are exclusively hot, breakfast teas to me.

Oh, well, it’s gone now. I got called off work tonight so at least the ice storm will be something I can watch rather than travel in. Off to make some hot tea to stay warm with. Stay safe everyone!

I like that this is orange instead of bergamot. I don’t know why there is even a difference to me (probably because I associate bergamot with cream and vanilla flavors since I love Earl Grey Creams…) but this orange is bright and juicy with its base.

Bergamot screams breakfast to me, and this really seems more of an afternoon tea. Like, instead of having hot tea with lemon an orange slice was used instead. Fitting since I believe that’s the story behind this blend in the first place, haha.

Oh, Dammann. I love your teas – the only thing I don’t love is how all the accents in the names make it really hard to search for you on Steepster. (If anyone has keyboard shortcuts for this, let me know – this feels like a terribly frivolous thing to be picky about).

Day 6 of the advent calendar.

I am not following along very well, it seems. Also, I am kind of picking and choosing my way through it for whatever reason.

What a gorgeous tea. I have had a few of their citrus ones and its enough for me to see that they do this flavor well. The scent of the dry leaf in particular with this one smacks of bergamot – I was assuming it was an Earl Grey, in fact, until I tasted it and got mostly orange. I am also assuming there is some Ceylon in the base as that has particularly bright citrus characteristics to me and the base is working VERY well with the flavoring.

I’m having trouble remembering why I ever needed to drink any tea with milk and sugar. It seems like all teas should stand on their own as well as DF teas do. All teas should be this smooth and unfussy to make, as well.

I’m so glad someone posted this advent calendar in our forums…it’s made my holiday season so far!

Heh. So funny that I commented on this the other day with someone (yyz?) and now here it is, Day Two of the Dammann Freres 2013 Advent Calendar. Duh me.

This tea smells like Christmas to me, or at the very least, the holiday season. A hint of black tea with citrus (?) and another hint of clove. It’s got depth to it, and I’m just sitting here, sniffing it in. Just the smell alone is worth my getting more than this tea bag.

It’s still a bit hot for my tastebuds to really enjoy it, however this is a lovely tea. It’s sweet – sweeter than I was expecting – while full bodied. It almost smells like a green the more I drink it, even though it’s definitely a black. Zero astringency… smooth. Touch of black tea tannin in there to remind me, and the citrus lingers ever so slightly, even minutes after I’ve had a sip. A touch of Truvia lifts the citrus (and something else – cherry? fig?) to mouth-watering heights.

Yes, this is most definitely on my to-buy list.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 7

I looked at my note from last year and found that this was on the same day last year, and in fact that was the day we went to get our Christmas tree. How appropriate, because this year we are also getting our Christmas tree today! Just call this my Christmas Tree Tea.

I had it in my head that this was the same as the black Christmas blend, but it is not. But that one has cherry so initially I was tasting cherry even though there is none in this blend. Oh, impressionably minds. I think its the almond + unknown fruit that ended up being cherry-ish.

Anyway, now that I know that it’s not cherry I’ve sorted my tastebuds and I’m more ok with it. I think I would like it better on a black base. I do enjoy the lingering almondy aftertaste, which combines nicely with the spices, but the main sip itself is a little lackluster. Definitely a factor of being a flavored green, not my favorite. But it is pretty holidayish, so it’s a nice blend for today anyway.

Dammann advent calendar, day 7. Christmas tea, on the day we went to get our Christmas tree! Perfect!

When I opened the sachet of this one it smelled like orange candy and spices. Brewed up the spices come out much more, with the orange blending well with them. It really reminds me of the holidays, that orangey spicienss. As usual, I find this one quite tasty. It’s a bit simpler than some of their other blends, but nice and well-balanced. Neither the orange nor the spices really overwhelms the other. The vanilla is subtle and basically provides a nice smoothness. I could take or leave the green tea base, as it isn’t as interesting (to me) as their black base, but it’s pretty nice and not astringent or grassy. A tasty blend for this evening but not something I would restock.

Day 7 of the advent calendar.
I was surprised when I opened this bag of tea. I really didn’t smell anything. I hope it isn’t my sore throat morphing into a head cold and ruining my sense of smell and taste! When it is brewed I can smell a little more, cinnamon mostly, but it is very subtle. I can taste cinnamon and a little fruit, but that is it. As always, the tea from DM is very smooth, but I don’t even taste the tea in this one. I wish I could amp it up a little. I’m starting to think the flavors of DM teas are far to delicate for my taste. Still, this calendar is a fun and great way to try out a company’s teas!

Day 5 Advent calendar, but I’m a little late getting around to it.

It almost seems a shame to have this hot. All the fruity flavors just seem like icing it would be the way to go. Alas, it is December and I really only have the one teabag so maybe some other time.

This smells amazing dry – I mostly get the red fruits. Once steeped the smell remains unchanged (yay!) but the taste is strangely all the fruits that aren’t in the smell – namely orange with a tiny bit of peach.

I’m having this with no additives but I do think that sugar when iced would knock this out of the park. So far my experience of Dammann has been that the teas are all very smooth, true to flavor, but delicate at the same time. Perhaps sophisticated would be the word? All I can of is that my boyfriends mother, who loves all things French, and who loves tea, would probably enjoy a few of these for Christmas this year…

This tea smells incredible dry! Red fruity and juicy. The water turned pink as soon as I put the bag in my cup which makes me weary about my old foe… hibiscus. It is tart, but a bit of sugar makes the hibiscus tolerable for the most part. The fruitiness is good, but there is a lingering taste at the end that I don’t like and can’t put my finger on. Not a fan of herbals.

This is tasting… less amazing than the first time or two that I steeped it. It’s just… okay now, although a bit buttery and fruit-like, I’m just missing anything really wowza tonight. Unsure why, I’ll have to try again soon, considering how darn expensive this tin was!

This was the first tea (other than the advent calendar) that I cracked from my recent Dammann Freres/Vendomme Cadeau order. A huge thanks to yyz for letting me know about this optional way of purchasing DF teas! (Note: shipping was only 8 euros to Canada, and it got here in a week. Beautifully packaged as well).

So why did I pick this tea? Because it’s the only one I’m not sharing with others in some fashion, and because it’s such a small amount (cute 30g tin). Plus I love greens, and haven’t had a lot of late.

For some reason, I’m getting spicy in this blend. Cinnamon perhaps? Which is odd considering there’s zero cinnamon, just variations of orange (orange, orange peel). I definitely get orange though, and a touch of vanilla. It’s quite a lovely tea, although much better with a touch of Truvia. Light, refreshing, pleasant. I might order more if I could find a better price for a larger amount…. $20 for 30g including shipping seems a bit pricey for me, if only compared to the other teas I grabbed that were in the $11/100g range. Or maybe I’m just spoiled.

Day 5!

This dry tea smells like fruit punch to me. Almost like Hawaiian Punch.

The brewed tea smells more like just black tea with a twinge of sweetness. The brewed tea again tastes like fruit punch. I am definitely getting strawberry and strong cherry. But I also get hints of peach and blood orange. Hooray for blood orange that actually tastes like blood orange. This one is sweet on its own but it could have used a touch of sweetener to bring out more of that fruit punch flavour. The black tea base tastes fairly mild to me. I am not getting much mallow or sunflower but the liquor is thick so I attribute that to those ingredients. As the tea cools, there is a definite creamy feel to the liquor. I feel like if there was a twinge of bergamot in this one it would make a phenomenal earl grey.

As always, this one was delicious!

I really like the smell of this dry tea. I could wear it as a perfume with its citrus sweet spice notes. The orange is a sharp orange almost grapefruit flavour and the sweet aspects of this tea remind me of vanilla.

The tea is a nice copper colour, and smells of sweet spice over sharp bitter orange notes mixed with a hint of pastry from the tea base. The spice is more dominant than in the dry tea.

The sweet almost vanilla like flavour blends with the citrus notes, followed by cinnamon, nutmeg and more peppery spice. The tea has enough astringency to give the tea a thicker mouth feel and is otherwise sweet with a bit of malt. The spice becomes stronger as the tea cools, with the nutmeg making a stronger presence. A nice morning or afternoon tea, as the spice is warming but the sweet citrus creates a sense of brightness and alertness.

I bag in 10 oz for @ 4 min.

this was one of the last teas remaining from my truly life changing exchange with Ysaurella…. life changing how? well, french teas are wont to do that.

…. ……. unless you are james and the blend has any caramel or toffee basis whatsoever. because i can’t taste it. the tea was very smooth. but it was just tea to me…. there was no other flavour. sorry Ysaurella!!!!

no numbers because this is a genetic oops, not a tea oops.

it really is weird… i can smell the stuff, but i can’t taste it =0(
not once— every single time in every single tea.

Tea #50 from HHTTB2

This tea totally just looks classy and tastes fancy.

It’s a lightly fruity, definitely floral, with very subtle elements of almond and biscuit/pastry. The base pairs perfectly with the more delicate flavors here, and is smooth and not at all bitter. Every component of this tea was clearly thought through and tweaked to make a masterfully blended cup.

Day 5 of the advent calendar?
I’m smelling chocolate and raspberry in the dry tea? Like the other DM teas, it is very smooth, but thankfully lacks the citrus that has been prominent in all the other teas in the calendar. It is a nice break. There is a honey like scent once brewed and a subtle caramel chocolate flavor. I can’t pick out any other flavors, but so far this one is my favorite.

Dammann advent calendar, day 5. Another new-to-me blend. This one I never went for because of the strawberry and cherry, neither of which I am usually that much of a fan of in tea. Of course, I should know better than to think that I would actually dislike this tea, haha.

A lovely blend. The cherry and strawberry remind me of their typical deployment in “red fruits” blends, where I do like them, with nice citrusy blood orange notes and sweet peach. It’s a very fruity blend, but very well balanced. I definitely drank this one up with pleasure. It would probably make an amazing iced tea.

Day 6 of the advent calendar.
Dry, the tea smells citrusy, like an Earl Grey. What is with all these DM teas having citrus in them?! The taste is silky smooth and doesn’t have that unbalanced bite that some teas with orange have. It is good, but not amazing. It is just a smooth black tea with orange.
I love the presentation of this company. I love the black tins, the design they use to frame the name of the teas and that they put out an advent calendar, but I’m still waiting to fall in love with the tea.

No floral. Anywhere. This is okay by me but I double checked the packaging just to be sure. It’s all caramel in the dry leaf. Reminds me alot of the DAVIDs salted caramel really, and I’m kind of meh on that one. Once steeped it does smell a touch more nutty. Chocolate/caramel and nutty.

No additives (this is amazing!) and the first taste gives me a cherry/fig note along with the dry/astringence of a nutty flavor. I’ve never had chestnuts that I know of but I guess that’s the flavor I’m getting? Makes me want to try them as a food. :) The nutty flavor it is most reminiscent of, to me, is almond.

This doesn’t actually seem like a tea to me, though. The black tea is very meek and hiding under the other flavors, so it’s almost like I’m drinking the essence of cherry&almond. It is smooth and stands very nicely on its own with no additives, but it doesn’t seem like something I’d want to try again. A fun novelty tea, though!

Yay, I’m catching up!

Advent calendar, day 2.

It’s funny how for the most part this has the exact same ingredients as Hot cinnamon spice by Harney & sons, but is completely different in taste.

For one, this actually tastes of citrus in equal parts with the spices. The Ceylon was a good choice as a backdrop because that always has a naturally bright orangey note to it. It’s such a sweet orange, too…a slightly spiced orange juice. It is very smooth without additives (I am thinking this is going to be a theme, and I like it!) and it really does evoke the sense of the holidays quite well.

Another winner for me!

YAY! A tea advent calendar! I’m a few days late starting because I just got it last night but I imagine I’ll catch up soon. I’ve never tried any Dammann Freres teas before so I figured this would be a good way to get a sampling and have a bit of surprise to it as well.

This is day 1, and it is December 6th today. I need to catch up as quick as I can so I don’t get any surprises spoiled for me. That, or stay off Steepster, which, let’s be real. This is practically my internet home.

Dry leaf smell is very sweet, cloyingly so. Mostly I get the mallow and the vanilla. It’s the kind of strong that I think the hot water will dilute, though. I couldn’t imagine drinking it if it smelled this strong when steeped.

Steeped: sure enough, much more toned down marshmallow notes. Still it’s the dominant smell, though. I’m trying to search for a bit of the fruity components, but maybe that will happen more once it cools off.

More than anything there is a creamy thick texture. Herbals are usually always too thin for my liking, so this is fabulous! There is still an indistinct sweetness in the flavor. It is a sweet, creamy tisane that has a slightly woody undertone as it cools…maybe licorice if I look hard enough. I think that speaks to the skillfulness in blending more than anything else, though – this was a smooth and unique mixture of ingredients that just worked.

Well, first impressions of Dammann Freres are favorable so far. Now it’s on to tea #2!