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Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 11

I’m going a little out of order here because yesterday I didn’t get a chance to drink my advent tea at all, but I prefer to start my mornings with a black tea, like this one, and not green, like the previous day.

I couldn’t remember if I had tried this tea before, but apparently I got a sample of it from Sil once (so it is new to the advent calendar this year). I’m not big on strawberries in any form except fresh, so it’s not my favorite blend. I liked it better cold brewed than hot, but I’m having it hot again here just to try it out.

I am enjoying this cup, and I don’t find it astringent like I did my first time. I wonder if that is the “benefit” of the sachet, which tends to mute flavors a tiny bit. Jammy strawberry, a bit of tart rhubarb. I do think I would still prefer this cold brewed, but it was a nice cup this morning (if a bit spring-y).

I could have sworn that I’ve drank this tea before, long ago, but I don’t want to blame Steepster for eating my note because it is entirely possible that I haven’t and just thought I had.

Anyway, my work tea buddy Equusfell got a sample of this in a recent Upton order, found it to be very bergamotty and thought of me, the bergamot lover. :) She described the scent of the dry leaf as bergamot and cookies, and I can agree with that. The vanilla in this really brings out the cookie-ish notes that I can sometimes find in Earl Greys.

This is both heavy on the vanilla and heavy on the bergamot. Whatever base they put on this can’t really stand up to it. It has a slight tendancy to go almost bitter on the aftertaste, like the pith of a lemon, and the sweet vanilla cream can’t quite cover it up. But overall a pretty tasty tea.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 9

Hey, it’s a DF tea that I haven’t had! Seems like a rarity these days. They seemed to have switched out the standard EG for the Yin Zhen this year.

I never quite know what to make of black teas with silver tips thrown in. Do they make a difference? Should I compensate for the fact that most white teas don’t really like boiling temps (at least western style)? For this one, I dropped it to just below boiling to make sure I wouldn’t shock them.

I find this to be a very tasty Earl Grey. Bright and citrusy, with a smooth, nicely blended base. It’s been so long since I had DF’s regular EG (or avec fleurs) that it is impossible for me to compare the two, but I remember liking them but wishing the bergamot was a bit stronger. I don’t really have that complain here, but I also don’t know if it’s really that different. I’m not sure I can pick out anything that says white tea to me; perhaps a slight added creaminess? I just got a sip that maybe had a hint of hay, which is definitely white tea. Overall a tasty Earl, though I’m not sure the silver tips provide any added value.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 8

A new tea for the advent calendar, but not for me. Having some loose and saving my advent sachet for later.

This can be a somewhat finnicky white, but when you get it right it’s very nice. Very rosey-floral, with some nice passion fruit and apricot notes to it. One of those teas that I enjoy but don’t drink often.

Man, this tea is delicious. Why don’t I drink it more often? It’s one of the oldest teas in my cupboard, plus I find it very fall/winter/holiday appropriate, so I decided this morning to have a cup. And it was delicious. Sweet almondy cranberry goodness. Maybe I will try to get this in my regular rotation so that I can use up this old stuff, although age does not seem to have dampened this tea much at all.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 7

I looked at my note from last year and found that this was on the same day last year, and in fact that was the day we went to get our Christmas tree. How appropriate, because this year we are also getting our Christmas tree today! Just call this my Christmas Tree Tea.

I had it in my head that this was the same as the black Christmas blend, but it is not. But that one has cherry so initially I was tasting cherry even though there is none in this blend. Oh, impressionably minds. I think its the almond + unknown fruit that ended up being cherry-ish.

Anyway, now that I know that it’s not cherry I’ve sorted my tastebuds and I’m more ok with it. I think I would like it better on a black base. I do enjoy the lingering almondy aftertaste, which combines nicely with the spices, but the main sip itself is a little lackluster. Definitely a factor of being a flavored green, not my favorite. But it is pretty holidayish, so it’s a nice blend for today anyway.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 6

Am I good or what? Yesterday I said I wouldn’t have Goût Russe as my citrusy tea because they would probably have it in the calendar, and sure enough, it was today’s tea! I have this tea in loose form but it’s at work and I’m at home, so I drank my advent sachet.

As soon as the water hit this I got a wave of memories (yay limbic system LOL). I first had this tea in Mongolia and I drank it nearly every day, and it still brings me back. I love the blend here; a fantastic Earl Grey variation with a tasty base blend.

When I opened today’s slot on the advent calendar, before I could see the name of the tea, I could see the orange wrapper and I knew I wouldn’t be drinking it. Rooibos! Blech.

It was a citrus rooibos, so I decided in its place I would drink a different citrusy Dammann tea, but I wanted one that was unlikely to show up in the calendar. That ruled out any of the “Nöel” teas, and also likely Gôut Russe Douchke, so I went with this one, which is blood orange, rose, and raspberry. Close enough!

This tea is very tasty, and I love how the way the orange, rose, and raspberry play together. I might say the raspberry is the most prominent note, but none of them really take over too much. It works.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 4

It’s been a long time since this tea was in my cupboard, and I am happy to have some around. Incidentally this was also one of the free sample sachets that they sent me, so I still have another serving, yay!

I never restocked this tea, despite its very high rating from me, because I kind of got tired of it after a while. I mean, I do love the almondy cookie flavor combined with the floral and sweet poppy. I think I just get overloaded after a while. But I am very a happy to have this back for a bit.

Dammann Advent Calendar, Day 3

This is not my favorite Dammann blend, but I will drink it anyway because it is day three and I don’t actively _dis_like it.

I’ve said a lot about this tea before. For whatever reason the orange blossom and chestnut don’t work for me and get perfumy. If you ready my tasting notes often you should know that is a rarity for me, I love floral teas. Not this one. I ended up drinking my stash of this one down as a cold brew. This is actually less powerful in the sachet than loose, and I appreciate that.