Thé des Poètes

This tea came from Roswell Strange. I always jump on any chance I get to try French teas, since they tend to be a pain in the ass to get here in the US. So anytime I’m browsing someone’s cupboard for swap requests, these always jump out at me. I’ve definitely had good experiences with French flavored/scented teas so far! This one smells like black walnuts, hah! So clearly there’s something that contaminated the teas around it, maybe the Candied Almond tea? Not sure, but I don’t really care as long as it doesn’t carry over to the taste. :P I brewed this one with a very level teaspoon because I wanted to get two servings out of the little baggie, but I also did a tad bit less water than I normally use.

The brewed aroma is very mild – it mostly smells like a mellow black tea with caramel elements and maybe the tiniest hint of spice. I do get a little bit of a licorice smell for some reason, although I don’t think there’s licorice flavor in here. I added a scant teaspoon of sugar. Hmm… this is a very subtly flavored tea. I think I taste the black tea base before anything else. There’s some caramel sweetness swirling around, and I definitely get a touch of sweet orange and lemon (more of a candy lemon than a fresh one). The cinnamon manifests as a lovely warming sensation, and I’m tasting something that reminds me of anise or licorice, although it’s extremely mild. The apple comes in at the very end of the sip and combines with the caramel for a lovely aftertaste.

Overall, I think this is the most subtly flavored French tea I’ve had yet, and even though there are several flavors involved, they do merge and play beautifully together. Very nicely done, Dammann Freres!

Aww… I am getting a little bit of a black walnut flavor as it cools… Sad day. I’ll be sure to drink the other half of my sample while it’s still hot!

Sipdown (138/145)!

OK SO SOMETIMES I AM A BAD TEA DRINKER AND I AM SORRY.

So, thank you very much CelebriTEA for the sample from way back when in the 12 Days of Christmas tea swap. I honestly have NO CLUE why it took me so long to try this one, but it did and I feel terrible. If it makes you feel better though; I use the cute little hen pot holder pretty well every day. It’s on my table in my bedroom/the living room and it’s my go to coaster for hot cups of tea that I drink during the day or at night. It’s very, very well loved and used.

As for the tea itself; I don’t know how I feel about it. It was nice enough and I really don’t have anything negative to say about it – it just didn’t leave much of an impression overall and I think that, if it weren’t for the circumstances drinking it (having it for so long, and receiving it in the Christmas swap) it’d probably be relatively forgettable.

But anyway, I picked up on notes of lemon, licorice/anise, and caramel. Apparently there was lemon/caramel in this – but not licorice/anise. Hmm, weird. I didn’t really get much apple/cinnamon from the leaf – in fact, I didn’t get any apple and I guess maybe the cinnamon could have been misinterpreted as anise? Possibly. Black base was smooth; no bitterness or astringency. I feel like I should have loved this one; I just really only found it to be kinda decently good though.

From Here’s Hoping Teabox 3

Woot, my first Dammann Freres tea! This has an amazing scent steeped – florally and fruity. Big black tea base that is slightly astringent. I’m getting apple, bit of tart with a bit of a licorice aftertaste. Not bad, but not fantastic either. I’d love to try more Dammann Freres tea and happy I was able to try one via a travelling tea box. (rest assured, there’s still more of this tea in the teabox!)

Very loving. This tea saves me from my sweet tooth.

Well dadgummit. This was gonna be the ONE. The one to change my mind about flavored/fruity teas. When it appeared in the Teeny Tiny TTB thanks to jump62359, I “jumped” on it (sorry) because: French! Cinnamon! I thought it would be really accessible one for me to try.

Alas, this is just Not. My. Thing. I think it’s the apple. It was nicely balanced and the cinnamon wasn’t overwhelming and I can see how flavored tea lovers would really like this.

I don’t think it would be fair for me to rate this and bring down the rating so I won’t.

(213)
Ummm… meh? It wasn’t for me. Sorry!
But now I know, and thank you Sil.

I got a pretty large sample of this from MissB so I decided to brew a bit more than usual! Bringing 12oz. of this to class tonight and just drinking the rest right now :)

I was literally inhaling all my teas last night, not gunna lie. My roommates just looked at me. THEY SMELLED SO GOOD OKAY.
The last time I had a fruity tea from Dammann Freres, it was like over-fruity, almost medicine-like. This one, however, smells nice and balanced! Does have the fruity bits, and I like how I smell the black tea base :)
It’s brewing right now and it almost smells like a smoky-fruity concoction?
I don’t even know what kinds of fruit I’m supposed to smell though. Too lazy to look through the Dammann Freres site and the steepster page doesn’t list it so imma go with my gut and say it’s umm… fruit. A bit of cherries and apricot?
Hmm I like this!
NOPE NOPE I ADDED A BIT TOO MUCH LEMON AND NOW IT TASTES WEIRD. NO DON’T ADD LEMON.
I was debating between adding lemon or sugar, and I thought that the tartness of the lemon might bring the flavours out a bit more but nope. Maybe a small splash of lemon but.. I think I added too much oops.
Luckily I have this tea completely untouched in my timolino!
Yeah I had like probably 2oz in my mug and a wee bit of lemon goes a LONG way if you’re working with that little liquid.
I might actually just bring sugar packets with me, and possibly hide a lemon slice under the cap so I can so whatever the heck I want with it during class hahah.