Figue Fraîche

Sweet, juicy, fruity tea.

Thanks so much, MissB!

I’ve really enjoyed this one, but I’m not sure I’d ever pick any up. It’s just not a flavour I think I’d reach for a lot. But you never know. Maybe in the future… :)

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This was a ZOMG diamond prize in the awesome swap box Dexter3657 sent me—I’ve been DYING to try it; it’s the tea from Dammann that was the main motivation every time I’d go through the hoops of online shopping basket calculations and fretting about customs—huge THANK YOU! Every time I nearly pulled the trigger on an overseas or through-some-mysterious-North-American-vendor-and-still-expensive order, I teetered on that ledge and walked off just in time by reminding myself until I know for sure I love this or other similar gorgeous sounding blends from them it’s silly really.

So to be honest, I’ve been secretly hoping to be let down a little so I can breathe a sigh of relief and forget about all the hassle/cost. Well. Turns out not quite. There are not angels blowing trumpets in my mouth or anything, but this is quite good. It’s hard to find many fig teas at all, harder still to find any that really taste of fig, and then nearly impossible to find ones that taste of fig AND are tasty as tea. While not the rapturous perfection I was fantasizing about in my head (a perfect fresh fig is, for me, one of the most transcendent and dizzingly sexy gastronomic experiences one can have), this is good and grows on me the more I linger on it. I can see why the smell could be offputting to some—it’s a very ripe bordering on spoiled fig, or maybe like a jammy, cooked down or dried one. You know that aromatic element of extremely soft, sweet-to-bursting, floral-rot funk fruit gets, kind of wine skin-ish? It’s like that. What’s interesting is flavor-wise it does not taste overly sweet at all. It’s a bit woody-drying thanks to the Ceylon I think, and it fits well because it captures the seed-filled sticky quality of a real fig. There’s a subtle tartness too that works well with that texture. And I like that you can taste the tea, and it contributes naturally to the impression of figginess.

So. I rather like this. I’m not blown away though, so I’m thinking it’s a good thing I didn’t go crazy ordering DF for myself in full-size amounts just yet. Thank you so much Dexter3657 for helping me figure this all out. Super useful opportunity.

This is a juicy fig tea for sure! Thank you Dexter3657 for sharing this tasty cup. I don’t know how often I would reach for it just because fig is not a flavor I think about. However, when I do have a fig, it is a delicious treat and this tea captures that flavor perfectly.

The dry leaf of Figue Fraîche strongly smells like dry fig to me.
It is very pleasant.It smells really like summer, Mediterranean countries.

4 minutes steeping later, I get the classic medium bodied black tea base of Dammann with a strong fig taste + a bakery taste.
Drinking it it reminds me some little biscuits we have here, the Figolu which is something similar to your newtons fig.
The fig is really natural and tasty, no doubt this is a greedy fruity fig tea.

Even if it reminds me the figolu biscuits, it is absolutely not an over-sweetened tea, it’s a perfect fig tea.

I’m very happy to finally have the opportunity to enjoy it, I had difficulties to find it (Dammann frères shops didn’t have it ! and the salesman even asked me if I was sure Figue Fraîche was one of their teas…you know with a stupid snobbish way to speak ! YES I was sure, grrrrrrr Working here, are you sure to know the teas of the brand ? hehehe). I managed it to find on line and now I have 50 g to enjoy. YES Figue Fraîche is typically a Dammann Frères Tea, natural with a smooth medium bodied black tea base from China and Ceylon.

Like Ysurella, I smell figs when I opened the bag. Ripe, juicy figs. It smells a bit less so after steeping, and I’m getting astringency from the brew after sipping, however in a good way? I find it pleasant and fitting the tea, oddly. I’ll have to play with this one a bit more on the steeping parameters however; I think I can get it more… fleshy. Juicy. Better.

Another from the Doulton-organized Dammann Freres shopping spree.

Wow. The dry leaves smell like fresh figs! Fresh juicy figs, not the drying and overly sweetened stuff that goes into Newtons (although I have to admit I have a weakness for that as well). It’s amazing.

The tea’s aroma, if anything, makes the figgy smell sweeter. It’s warmth makes the figs seem baked, but doesn’t change the fundamental character of freshness that I’m getting. Fresh baked is still pretty fresh. The tea has a really nice biscuity quality, with some floral notes as well.

The figs aren’t as present in the taste as they are in the aroma, but they’re still there, and they have a fresh, fruity aspect to them. It’s a deeper, rounder fig flavor than I expected, again much more reminiscent of the fruit itself than of anything made with it.

I haven’t had figs in tea before (at least knowingly) and it’s a pretty unique taste. But one I can totally get behind.

Attempting a resteep. This still smells incredible, and I think I could easily get addicted to it. There’s more black tea this time around, but it’s still nice and fruity.

After a few quick searches I’m despairing a little, however; none of the U.S. sources for this company seem to sell this one! And everywhere in Canada/elsewhere has shipping over $20… I’m willing to pay for shipping from France (which is cheaper than Canada?!) if I have a big order, but surprise customs fees also scare me. Sigh.

Anyway, the tea: I think this actually worked as a resteep but it’s about half as dark so I won’t attempt a third. It’s more watery but the same flavor is still there. Honestly, when I say “watery” it’s not really fair—this is about what I would expect from most fruit-flavored blacks. It’s just that the first cup was so flavorful it just about knocked me out. I’m glad I’ll be able to make it last this way since I’m not sure when I’ll be able to restock! :(

i loved this sample from ysaurella…. it’s funny, when i look at the amount she sent me for each tea it’s almost as though she anticipated that i would mess up the first attempt! because although i messed up all of the damman first steeps, i had enough left over to try again and add the extra that made it perfect, lol.

as i mentioned in a review yesterday i am happy with damman freres blends with 1.5 times the recommended amount.

once i got the amount right this blend was exceptional. i am a fig fan, big time. i have a fig tree in the front yard… though sadly it does not produce fruit for me.

if i could design an old growth forest i would do it with fig trees… that as they aged bore immense pear sized figs that were light and sweet and tangy. the fruit would be harboured under the canopy of broad leaves. my forest would be hectares long and acres wide.

all the houses bordering my forest would be equipped with windows that had built in wipers because whenever there was a wind storm the great soft figs would splatter against the glass and no one would be able to see! (welcome to my world?)the deer and cariboo would also leave your flowers alone in this imaginary place because the grounded figs would more than satisfy! (we have a ‘small’ deer population in our area, lol)

with the blend amount amended this tea gave me everything: i got sunshine in the summertime, the mild tang of an italian honey fig, a sense of juiciness, ripeness, i even (somehow) gleaned the light taste of seeds!

all fruit, no floral. not creamy, not astringent. this tea very accurately reflects a fresh fig. beautifully done.

Do you know what happens when you put 5 tsp. of this in a DAVIDsTEA mason jar (25 oz. volume) and let this cold brew for about…oh, 18 hours?

Well, first of all, you get the most fabulous fruity iced tea that there ever was. The base Dammann uses here allows for the juicy fig note to take center stage but this is still very much a good black tea that does not need sweetening to be awesome.

Second of all, you can use the leaves twice and get a lighter black tea with even more sweet figgy notes that is just as amazing as the first go around.

This was a definite win – the mason jar (I love it so hard), the tea, everything. I’ll be experimenting with other fruity teas cold but honestly this may take over peach tea as my cold tea of choice this summer.

Sipdown! This is another tea from the lovely dinosara and man…this is delicious! I really am loving this one – i wish i had a bit more to send to gracebtlb as it might just fill the figgy void i know she has. This is a medium bodied tea, that tastes just like black figs to me. It’s like a fruit garden and reminds me of biting into a fresh fig. I love it! thanks dinosara!