My Gingerbread

DF Advent Day 1 (1-Feb 2022)

I’m smelling hints of orange from the steeped tea, and perhaps the scent of baked goods. The taste has a lovely almond baked good flavour that’s reminiscent of an almond croissant. There are hints of orange that come in as well, but subtle and complementary. I’m not getting very much/any ginger. This is a really delicious tea. I would definitely consider ordering this one.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 1
Advent calendar time! This year 4 of us in the family are doing it. My husband and daughter as well as my sister-in-law. Should be fun to compare since we all have such different tastes.

This tea was a complete surprise as I don’t care for gingerbread cookies at all. But this was nice! It’s the scent that convinced me to try it. It smelled delicious! This is not a shy tea! I got orange, spices, and almonds; and some sort of cake or baked sweet bread. I might sound crazy but it reminded me of an orange-themed carrot cake with lots of white frosting.

Once brewed, the ginger was front and center but I didn’t find it overpowering. It’s definitely very prominent, but behind it, came delicious orange, almond, and winter spices. Pretty spot-on for what I imagine a gingerbread cake might taste like, rather than a gingerbread snap. The almond is probably why my mind kept going back to cake or baked holiday bread. I couldn’t really find the raisins, but they might have been hidden by the little bit of stevia I added to my tea.

All in all, I really liked this one. It was a fun way to start the month of December. I enjoyed my cup and look forward to my daughter’s cup since she wouldn’t give this one a try. Ginger is not her thing and she wasn’t going to risk it. On the other hand, my husband loved his. But that makes sense since one of his favorite teas is Mariage Freres’ Christmas Orange. It most definitely made his “Buy List” so I will get to try it again. I have a feeling this one might grow on me…

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 1

I can’t believe it’s already December. I’m not mentally ready for this. I’m finishing up a physical geography course right now (a prereq for Teaching PDP, which I’m working towards… slowly). That, coupled with our regional events have left me absorbed (with rivers. fragility. life). This tea is a nice way to kick off festivites though. Also, I won a TV today (don’t need but it’s nice to get lucky once in a while) through Save On Food’s something, something Hockey-themed event. So, life is good for me right now!

This tea smells lovely. I forgot how perfumed French teas tend to be which can be as decadent as it can be overwhelming. The citrus oils are bright and what dominates this blend for me. There are also hints of ginger, almond, and baked goods. Seeing Evol Ving Ness’s note and the size of the black leaves (small frags), I added milk to my cup and I’m not looking back (I can tell this would be a lot without milk).

This blend is sort of cookie-like but the almond-fruit sweetness and their related “bitter” traits recall marzipan as opposed to a true gingerbread cookie (at least the North American grocery store “snappy” versions. It does have a “cake” profile though). I love marzipan (it’s my weakness) so am pretty happy to get a whiff of it here.

So today, I gave the leaf a good shake before dipping my spoon in. I steeped each cup for a good four or five minutes.

The result is far better today. The cup is far more layered and the flavours are more nuanced. The Chinese base tea is far more present and supportive. Much much better. Much more of a balanced cup.

Still, the overall impression is that of Polish or German spice cookies, the hard round ones drizzled with crunchy icing sugar glaze. Bright orange lingers in the after sip.

There is still a bit of that mystery unpleasant—to me—flavour which I have dispatched with a glug of evaporated milk. With milk, this is quite lovely.