Flocons d'Épices

Dammann Frères Advent Day 6 (6-February 2021)

This smells just like Market Spice! I miss having Market Spice in my cupboard at all times.

I love the spicy sweetness of this tea, with hints of the orange bursting through. True to DF style, it’s more subtle than other MS teas I’ve had, but very enjoyable. Another tea I’d order in the future.

Advent 6.

Sweet vanilla-spice cola syrup in the nose with smooth orange oil and a hint of pink bubblegum. Not sweet in taste but cleansing and refreshing. That empty cup smell…

Don’t let my brevity fool you. This tea is some [expletives]: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FzKo5twEKIw

ashmanra: You’ve been craving soda? Try this.

I could not tell you what is in this. I really have no idea. But I really liked it. Like two sips and it was gone and I was sad. Citrus. Awesome mix of spices. Holiday tea through and through which is awesome b/c my holidays officially started as of 11:30 am. Also paired nicely with the cinnamon sugar coated caramel apple I have been saving for celebrations.

Advent day 13! More citrus? The DF website describes this tea as having a “bouquet of spices,” which I’m just not getting. Perhaps a bit of cinnamon, but it’s mostly orange. I found this to be another boring offering, but in no way bad.

And SIPDOWN!
Haha, I had just one sachet of it. It was a sample in package of two boxes I received from Swiss friend Fabiana. Thank you!

Dry leaf aroma was soo great. Orange, grapefruits, maybe some other citrus fruits too. And then! Spices – nutmeg, cinnamon, clove, orange zest, lemon zest.

Used 85 °C hot water, steeping for 4 and half minutes with quick rinse afterwards.
Wonderful clear, golden-copper colour. Shiny.

Wet aroma is full of spices, mainly cloves and cinnamon combined with oranges. Ripe sweet oranges.

And in taste? Yep, oranges again with spicy aftertaste. Hmm, so good. Tea base is nice, not overpowering the fruity taste of this tea. I am not sure if it is not freshly squeezed hot orange juice combined with spices. No tartness, no astringency. It even reminds me maybe some kind of cake?

LOVELY!

Day 4 of the Dammann Freres Advent Calendar

Of the four teas I’ve had so far, this is my favorite. I like a slightly sweet, spicy tea. This one was very good. Like a far superior version of Constant Comment. I shared this with a visiting friend. With only one tea bag for two cups I let it brew longer than usual. The end of the sip had a lightly bitter after taste. Perhaps if I’d brewed only one cup, it would have avoided the bitterness. At any rate. I’m very much enjoying trying some teas I’ve never had before. This is a possible re-order in the future.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 8
So Christmasy! The sweet orange takes center stage for me, but it’s quickly followed by a delicious blend of holiday-ish spices like cinnamon, cloves, and nutmeg. Much more sweet orange than I remember in DF’s My Gingerbread. Think Christmas orange.

I’m so glad DF includes it in their advent calendar every year. When else would you drink it? I like it a lot and it’s fun to come back to it. It’s lovely. In fact, if I loved spiced orange teas, I would absolutely love this tea. As it is, it’s a wonderful tea that I would only reach for in December.

Advent Calendar Day Two

So, I was pretty rushed this morning getting ready for work which meant no morning commute tea, which is definitely how I plan to drink most of the teas from the advent calendar this year…

However, I do work at a tea shop in the evenings so I just brought the little sachet/bag with me to work and I drank it there – it meant crossing off one less thing from the Project Tea Wall list, but I didn’t get behind on my advent and so early into the month too! so I’ll take it…

This was pretty lovely, I’ve gotta say. It basically tasted like gingerbread cookies without a super strong molasses-y note. For someone who doesn’t like ginger, I sure do like gingerbread. It’s gotta be the added sweetness, I think. And then of course that warming, sweet gingerbread flavour was supported by light, fresh orange/citrus undertones. I’m at the point in my “tea drinking career” where I’ve tried my fair share of gingerbread teas, but I’ve gotta say this is definitely one of the better ones! Plus, totally in line with the season/appropriately Christmas-y!

I can’t wait to see what tomorrow’s tea is!

Oh, I love the scent of this tea. Delicate honeyed spices and sparkling citrus in the background. It doesn’t smell anything like those typical holiday orange/citrus spice teas you see floating around.

I agree with Lala that this smells/tastes slightly syrupy, and also with Dinosara that the said syrupy note is akin to DF’s fig.

As glorious as it smells, I’m having a more difficult time with getting the flavours out without the base going too bold or bitter. The spices and syrupy fruit are quite delicate and thus, struggle to compete with the base. I’m glad I got 50g of this in the group order because it’s giving me lots of room to play with this and figure out what works parameter-wise.

I tried this as an eggnog latte a couple times now. It’s alright but I find the eggnog flavours completely drown out the flavours in this tea, and steeping it stronger does not help. Even adding 2% milk to this places a damper on the flavours. So it’s best straight, which is how I tend to enjoy DF teas in general, but it comes back to the need to peg down those parameters in order to achieve maximum flavour.

Dammann Frères Advent Calendar – Day 6 (from November backlog)

Why does this smell and taste like bubblegum to me?!

It’s meant to be an orange and gingerbread black tea, but to me it smells and tastes like a big ’ol roll of Bubble Tape. Or maybe Juicy Fruit?

It’s not necessarily a bad thing, just odd. I’m not sure if it’s the orange flavor that gives me weird associations? I do get a little hint of cinnamon and perhaps clove. The orange is sweet and candylike.

But mostly, it’s Juicy Fruit in tea form. XD