Maddy Barone Send Message

What a lovely tea. Here is a good black tea bases with a great peppermint flavor. The temp is -12F right now, with a windchill of -24, and it will get much colder tonight. There is no way I’m putting on a little dress and going out to celebrate tonight. I’ll settle for a good book, a cup of tea and a kitty on my lap. Happy New Year, Steepsterites!

This is the second of the teas I received for Christmas and I quite like it. One of my favorite bagged grocery store teas is Good Earth’s sweet and Spicy. That one tastes like liquid red hots. This one is a bit more subtle.

The weather here in North Dakota seems to have a split personality. We had a two day blizzard (just plain nasty). The temp dropped to -6 with a high today of 6 above zero. Tomorrow is going to be up to 28, with another 3-4 inches of snow, followed by high winds on Monday, creating a ground blizzard. The temps will fall to -20F, and on Tuesday the high will be -8. Yes, the high will be -8F. Then it will get warm, like above freezing.

All that was to tell you that I’ve spent a lot of could hours digging out my car this week. And when I come in I want something warm and soothing to drink. This tea has been my go to for the past few days. I’ve developed quite an affection for it.

Day 24 of the Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

I actually got a good whiff of this as it was brewing. Nice. Tangy sweet pineapple was all I smelled. So refreshing, just like pineapple . I didn’t detect it in the flavor, probably because my nose decided to go on strike again. The tea brewed up nicely. I didn’t taste anything, but neither did I taste bitterness or astringency. I drank the cup and did a small re-steep.

So, the tea advent calendar is done for another year. I brewed every bag. A couple were way sour for me and I drank only a few sips. Others I drank half a cup. Some I drank the full cup. I’d been looking forward to trying Noel a Prague, but it wasn’t included in this.

So, although I didn’t find any tea that I adored, I did get to try teas I’d normally pass by without a second glance. It widened my horizons but also confirmed what I do and do not enjoy in tea.

Day 23 Dammann Freres Advent calendar

I’m a few days behind. I liked this one. It had a delicate flavor. I could almost smell the pear while it brewed. With my bum nose, that means the scent must be rich. Or it was one of those rare moments when my sinuses open enough to let air go to the olfactory nerve. At any rate, I liked this tea. It was darker in the cup than most white teas I’ve had. Smooth, with a silky mouthfeel and no grassy taste or bitterness.

I got a tin of of this bagged for Christmas. My brother knows I like tea, and enjoy spicy teas especially. So he got me this and one called Cinnamon & Cardamom. So far, only made this one.

I see it has rather low ratings here. I thought it was good. Unremarkable, but good. I used about 9 ounces of water instead of the recommended six. I am a weirdo who prefers weaker tea. I let it steep about 4 minutes. I can’t really tell what it tastes like. but the spice was faint. That might be just because of my stupid sinuses, although I see a couple of other reviewers had a similar experience. The end of the sip had a slightly bitter edge. Just a hint. I don’t take milk in my tea, but a bit of milk or sugar might have evened that out. My brother said his cup was “okay” which I interpret as he did’t care for it much. :)

I think this tea will be a pleasant cup from time to time.

Dammann Freres Advent Tea Calendar
I think this one was Day 22. Maybe. Anyway, I quite enjoyed it. It was mild and nutty and sweetish without being cloying or sickeningly sweet. Possibly my favorite from the tea calendar thus far.

Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

I don’t remember which day this was. My days have all smeared together and I can’t keep track.

I had this one and my brother had Dune d’Epices since he likes green tea. He found that one very refreshing. He said he would have been happy to have a tin of it.

My cup was quite pleasant. I liked the sweetish tang of citrus and didn’t detect any of the earthy grassy flavor that often accompanies oolong teas. There was another flavor that I didn’t care for as well, but I didn’t recognize it. After reading the description I think it must have been the buckwheat.That didn’t set as well with me., But overall, a pleasant cup.

Day 19 of the Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

This one was pretty good. The woody flavor of the rooibos was there, but not prominent. I got a bit of the citrus, a bit more of the cherry, and some of the spices. I often get an odd dry feeling on my tongue from cinnamon, but I got only a little of that with this one. For me the cherry was a little out of place. I liked the spicy/citrus just fine without it.

Day 18 of the Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

this one was okay. I was hoping for more ginger and spices, but I got a big shot of floral perfume. For someone who enjoys rose tea I think this tea would have been a good choice. It is not at all astringent or bitter. The rose flavor really comes out as the cup cools. So, not may favorite. But this is another tea that I would never have =tried on my own, so it was a great chance to stretch my tea horizons.

Day 16 Dammann Freres Tea Advent Calendar

This one was a ok. A black tea, a teensy bit astringent, sort of apple-y, a little bit cinnamon-y. Not a bad tea, but not one I’ve ever order.

Days 14 & 15 were Carcadet Pomme d/Amour, which was a gorgeous reddish purple in the cup and horribly, horribly sour, and a Christmas Herbal Tea which I did not enjoy either. We’ll see what I get to enjoy tonight.