Dammann Frères

SIPDOWN #2 for the day! GONE!

I’ll miss this one…smells more like chocolate than it tastes but it’s yummy regardless. There really isn’t a flavor that stands out in front of the others – they all blend well!

tasting the black tea and orange flavors today but no chocolate. Still yummy!

Had a cuppa this earlier this morning…

Smelled more like an orange cookie this time around. It was lovely! YUM!

Another one from Doulton! I was spoiled!!!! Thanks!!!

This is a medium strength black flavored tea. I can taste the nut and hint of chocolate. There is a sweet citrus which I could account for the blood orange! YUM! This is D-lish!

Very sorry to see this one disappear from my stash…tear

I finished up my stash of this the other night…I got 4 infusions out of that and thought it was great for a black flavored tea! The Caramel, Apple, and Citrus ingredients blended together to make for a candy-like treat. This was quite juicy and a memorable tea. Upping a few points for the rating!

YUM!
NomNomNom.

Caramel, Apple, then Lemon…light on the cinnamon…VERY light on the Cinnamon…it works VERY well tho!!!!

This smells beautiful! Another Doulton goodie!!!!

At first I was thinking I was smelling BING Cherry, but then realized it was apple…then when I tasted it I could taste apple and lemon but knew there was something more in there…I then read the description and noticed CARAMEL…Yup! I can taste it…

This is just a neat mix of flavors and I’m such a HAPPY Tea Drinker right now!!!! Thanks again D!!!!

Sipdown no. 4 of April 2019 (no. 53 of 2019 total, no. 541 grand total).

I love the name of this, but unfortunately the tea was just very good, not spectacular.

As I’ve been revisiting my teas working from the lowest rated up, I have been trying to pay particular attention to whether I ought to change the ratings on some of them. In some cases, that does seem warranted, either upward or downward. In others, the tea is exactly where I would have placed it were I trying it for the first time. This one’s rating seemed to me pretty spot on.

Also, it is starting to bother me that most of my lowest rated cupboard occupants are fruit blends or herbals. Particularly the chamomile blends. I have been focusing on sipping those down for a while now and I can’t seem to make a dent in them. Sigh.

This morning I felt like giving myself a treat, so I decided to depart from my morning habit of attempting to drink up some of my starter teas before my tastebuds are fully awake and drink something new and likely to be quite nice. So I reached into my box ’o goodies from the French buying co-op that Doulton organized and picked this out.

The name of this one is so romantic. Makes me think of sidewalk cafes; lofts on the West Bank; misunderstood, tortured souls bursting with angst. In other words, being in my 20s and an American in Paris. ;-) Or maybe Rimbaud and Verlaine.

All of the flavored Dammann Freres teas smell divine when you open them up. Like walking into a pastry shop. They look rich and dark and beautiful. Steeped, this one smells like apples with a touch of cinnamon and caramel. There’s a lemony high note that seems ornamental rather than necessary to the substance, like a grace note.

What a nice way to start the day. Apple pie fans should like this one. It’s tea, but it’s also apple pie flavor, and the flavor emanates organically from the tea rather than feeling pasted on or dropped in. It’s not overly strong, nor is it too subtle. It’s mostly apple and cinnamon, but like the best apple pastries, it is well balanced between the two flavors.

I got this tea mostly so I could compare caramels. I’d thought I shouldn’t give up on caramel flavoring after my bad Necessiteas caramel apple experience so I decided to try a number of caramel flavored teas to get a sense of the possibilities. This isn’t really a caramel tea. The caramel is around the edges giving the flavor a depth, rather than a sweetness. But it is still a very nice apple pastry tea.

I had two cups, so I could stay in Paris just a little longer.

Finally! My inaugural tea of the Doulton-engineered French buying extravaganza!

MmmmmmMMMMmmmmmMMmmmm.

And that’s just the smell of the dry leaves. Amazing raspberry. Reminds me of the filling in linzer tarts, which I used to get from a little pastry shop in Cambridge, MA. I can smell it from several feet away; if I stick my nose into the bag (that has an adorable little giraffe sticker on it :-)) it becomes extremely concentrated. Dark chocolate color leaves with flecks of lighter brown.

The variety and complexity in the aroma becomes more apparent after steeping. I can smell some vanilla, and berry, but I’m also getting a note that seems lemon or orange. Some citrus in any case.

The taste has wonderful berry things going on. It’s not the Kool Aid of some berry teas I have tried, it’s more of the kind of berry note you’d find in a nice wine. It adds a tiny bit of tartness to the tail of the sip. Vanilla is there, but not a strong presence. I’m trying to figure out what berry I’m tasting and I think it’s mostly raspberry and strawberry, but what a contrast to the strawberry of other flavored teas. It’s subtle, but deep and smooth. Apart from the tart berry-tail, the tea is medium-sweet. Not sugary like some blacks. I can see what they mean when they say caramel, though it isn’t the sweet caramel of the Sugar Caramel Oolong. It isn’t bitter either, it’s just a number of notches down from carmelized-sugar sweet. There’s a fresh note to the finish which strikes me as floral.

Note to self: try more leaf next time. I used about 1.5 tsp in about 8 oz water. I think it could go stronger and perhaps unfold even more.

Chocolate perfection in a cup.

This chocolate blend is unbelievable. Smooth, decadent, sugary heaven! Both the leaves and the liquor smell like chocolate cotton candy. It might sound crazy, but I distinctly smell that “spun sugar” smell. Very intriguing. I tried the tea plain at first, but I just knew in my heart that it needed milk and sugar. I couldn’t have been more right. Haha! It’s not a rich as a cup of hot chocolate might be, but it’s damn close. The almond is slightly present but everything takes a back seat to the chocolate. I had to google “helianthus” to see what kind of flavor it might yield. Turns out that helianthus = Sunflower. I learned something new. I can’t say that I particularly tasted notes of sunflower…unless I automatically associated it with the general nuttiness of the almond. I’m so happy with this tea. Charlotte au Chocolat is masterfully blended. Today was truly a “tea experience”. All of you Florence lovers really need to try this tea.

Thank you so much Doulton!!! What a gem!

The tree murderers are here and my nerves are shot from the incessant chainsaw sounds coupled with the wood chipper! I also saw some fallen branches on my rose bushes! They may look puny to a tree murderer but I fuss over those roses sometimes twice a day! I hope they are not damaged.

I thought a nice French flavored tea with some half and half and sugar would be calming so I made a pot of this. I am tasting a chewy slightly burnt caramel/smoky Yunnan and figs. At one point I actually felt around my mouth with my tongue for the little seeds you find in fig preserves! I definitely taste cooked figs not fresh ones. I think milk and sugar are the way to go with this one – I’m getting a really nice pastry like flavor as well. The clementines come as an addition in the fig preserves (of my imagination ;) and not a distinct, separate taste. I don’t taste any of the other flavors listed.

This is another one that brings me back to my childhood. Around the holidays we always had dried figs and cookies with fig preserves inside. Barely sweet and very delicious. Not like Fig Newtons at all. This tea reminds me once again of holidays as a child.

Well, so much for my smell accuracy … this came to me by way of Lori in a little care package, so there was no package description to read. When I steeped and sniffed this morning, the first two flavor words that came to mind were “darjeeling” and “pineapple.”

Not even close, according to the manufacturer description—green with strawberry, passionfruit, peach. But it’s a beautiful gold color and light and fruity. Something that would definitely fit a Mother’s Day high tea in the garden with gloves and feather boas.

Similar to figs, this is flavored with a lightly sweet, mild flavor. This tea is very pleasant. Not much more to say though….

Doulton mentioned this was similar to fig newtons…but my own experience w/fig newtons are those Italian fig cookies flavored w/anise. And of course, this tea is not similar to those cookies at all…

I steeped this tea for 3 1/2 minutes, and I think that was too long for my taste. There is a bit more bitterness to this tea than I like. I also think this tea is much better iced than hot.

As an iced tea I can taste the peppery notes from the Yunnan, which I wasn’t getting when it was hot. Very pleasant. A hint of citrus and definitely a sharp floral note. Not getting as much lavender as I would like, nor am I getting much of the fig.

Overall, I like this tea quite a bit, although I think Noël en Provence is still my favorite (thus far!) from Dammann Freres.

Many thanks to Doulton for this sample! I was looking for something a bit different this morning and the smell of this package just appealed to me. It was very much like chocolate but with an indefinable something else.

1st Steep: 5 minutes, Water temperature around 190F
I love the deep red of the liquor. The taste is malty and chestnut (I’ve never had chestnuts before but that has to be what it is). I could almost swear there’s a hint of white chocolate in there as well.

2nd Steep: 5 1/2 minutes, water temperature around 190F
The liquor is a bright amber this time. It’s still malty and tastes of chestnut but has a lighter body and is a tad sweeter.

Definitely a good morning tea. Very glad I picked this one out this morning.

Another very appreciative THANK YOU to Doulton for making this tasting possible!

One thing about these teas from Dammann Freres – at least the ones I’ve had so far – they all smell amazing! This one is no exception. The dry leaf possesses a very fruity aroma, yum! I can smell the strawberry and the fig! I can also smell subtle hints of the lavender.

But… the brewed liquor smells even better! It doesn’t happen as often as I’d like it to, where the brewed tea smells as good or even better than the dry leaf. It’s so nice when I happen onto an exception!

The taste – lavender is much more pronounced in the flavor than it is in the aroma. The black tea base is very pleasant – smooth, brisk, and pleasantly astringent. The strawberry and lavender together creates a very unusual – but enjoyable – flavor. The fig is also very nice. Not particularly strong but it is delicious.

So far, this is my favorite tea that I’ve tasted from Dammann Freres!

Thank you Doulton!

The aroma of this tea is very inviting. The strong citrus fruit fragrance mingles with a soft yet fresh grassy scent of green tea, with hints of spice and flower lingering in the background. It’s positively lovely!

The flavor is quite nice, as well.

The citrus flavors are strongest. The grassy notes of the Yunnan green tea are slight but very fresh tasting. I wish that the spices in this blend were a bit more pronounced. The peppery notes do come out to play in the finish, though, but this tea is not nearly as spicy as the description might lead one to believe.

Overall, though, it’s a very pleasant tasting tea.

This tea courtesy of Doulton!

The dry leaves smell great; the brewing leaves smell INCREDIBLE! I smell melon, something like strawberry, green tea, and something almost creamy.

Steep 1: The fragrance is divine. The taste is so good. A great green tea flavor balanced with what I can only describe as strawberrytropicalfruitmelon and cream.

Steep 2 (4 min): I am almost enjoying the fragrance as much as the tea!!! Such pleasant sipping. More melon-y this go ’round.

Steep3 (5min): More goodness. Is that banana?

I am giving this a rating just a touch lower than the cherry because I enjoy cherry flavors more, but this is yet another super enjoyable French Green Tea. I just love how balanced the flavors are, and how nicely the green tea comes through. I’m hopelessly addicted!!

I was sent this tea by Doulton (Thanks so much). I was in search of a black tea in my cupboard and decided to go dig through my stash and here I found this little gem of a tea. I didn’t know anything about it besides the name and who blended it but while steeping I noticed an interesting smell filling up my kitchen. I then sipped and boy was I surprised it is this wonderful cup of black tea with hints of peach. I really do not get much more than that taste wise but the thing that really impresses me is this is a strong black tea that has NO astringency a very smooth cuppa. Thanks Doulton! :)

Thank you Doulton

This tea smells amazing! The fruity aroma is very strong. The blood orange is the most pronounced scent, but I can smell that there are other fruits there, and upon closer examination, I could detect a distinct berry-like scent as well as that of peach. I knew there was something else there too, but I wasn’t sure what… so when I checked the Dammann Frères website, I saw that this is a blend of blood orange, peach, strawberry and cherry. It was the cherry that I couldn’t discern, but now that I know what it is, it seems very clearly to me to be cherry.

As other Steepsters have noted, the flavors are quite a bit softer than the aroma would lead one to believe. But that doesn’t bother me at all, because I like that I can really taste the tea in this blend. The fruit flavors are there though, don’t get me wrong. I really like the balance of flavors in this cup. I like the sweet fruity flavors, the strong black tea presence, and the slight sharp note that I detect in the finish that I contribute to the sunflower petals.

A beautifully flavored tea!

had the last of this tonight
3 tsp, 750ml, 212 F, 3:30
black tea with the smell of fig
oh the subtle flavors of the french