Easter Tea

I made cups of this for the boy and I this morning. I was excited to try it, since this was my first tea from Dammann Freres. I like the name of this tea, as Easter is by far my favorite holiday. There is nothing better than getting a colorful basket full of goodies on a sunny spring day! The dry leaves smell wonderful – extremely sweet and fruity with just a hint of champagne or white wine. Maybe the alcoholic smell that I’m noticing is from the maraschino? Whatever it is, it smells wonderful, although a little strong. The flavor is chocolatey and malty with a heavy fruity aftertaste. With a little milk and sweetener, this becomes a creamy cup with flavors of vanilla and maraschino. I am glad that this tea came out so nice, I was a little put off at first from all of the heady aromas from the dry leaves. A big thank you to Shelley_Lorraine for this wonderful sample! The fiancee is loving this tea also and already asking when we can get more – anyone know where to purchase Dammann Freres online or in the US??

-Dry blend has small black tea leaves and twigs with pink and yellow rose petals and small blue petals.
-Dry leaves smell overwhelmingly sweet and fruity with a hint of champagne or white wine. Tea liquor aroma is malty with sweet floral and fruit notes.
-Tea liquor is a cloudy dark brown color.
-Chocolate malty flavor and finish with a heavy fruity aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A decadent and creamy cup with a light flavor of maraschino and chocolate vanilla.

Sip down! Final verdict on this tea is that I am a fan. Maybe not enough to restock as a permanent member of my collection, but something I would for sure stock off and on. Thanks again shmiracles for letting me try this one!

hmmmm, i don’t get the chocolate really but my sister was like “super marachino city!” and i was all AWWW cuz i basically bought it for her. she loves teas with flowers and rose petals in them.

also, dry in the canister, it definitely smell like wine to me. it’s a very true and strong wine smell. almost like a turned wine, like a white wine that has sat opened in the fridge too long. i certainly like it more than i expected to.

This is one sweet confection! It smells a bit like one of those Easter baskets my parents would prepare when we were young—a melange of fragrances. The black tea seems to be a foundation for the candied fruity florals. This tea is a bit like the Easter Bunny on steroids of sweetness.

I am absolutely loving these Dammann Frères teas, but it is getting a bit cloying. They are so delicious and maybe I’m at the point today where I’m craving the smokiness of a Lapsang Souchang. I think I need to bring them out sparingly and not try to dash through them so quickly. I’m bedazzled by the wonder of it all!

I got the most amazing mystery box from shmiracles. Seriously, if she ever offers to send you a box, don’t miss the opportunity! There are some 20+ teas all indivually wrapped in foil pouches. It took me about 10 minutes of sifting to decide where to begin. I chose this one.

It was described as chocolaty and maraschino cherry. I totally got the cherry, a little chocolate. The fun thing about the mystery box is you get a bunch of teas that you probably wouldn’t have tried otherwise. A great chance to expand the horizons! This tea was perfect example of that. And I really liked it. Probably not a keep stocked on the shelf tea, but a tea I would happily drink if offered.

Thanks shmiracles!

I made some of this to take to class tonight (thank you Doulton!). I used my new Liquid Solution travel tumbler, and…the brew basket is the worst! Leaves floating in my tea! I had to restrain it with my fine mesh strainer, and put it back in the tumbler. This will not bode well for keeping my tea hot, methinks.

I did take a little sip and I unfortunately did not use enough leaf. I taste some sweet, yummy flavors, but they are too faint. My tea is weak to boot. Oy – tea fail! I will update this log later once I drink my tea during my three hour class…stay tuned!

EDIT: When I started sipping my tea in class – it tasted like Scotch and water! How strange is that?! It was also lukewarm. I hate my travel tea tumbler – it does not keep things warm very long, the brew basket is a joke, and it is also so unpleasant to drink from with all the plastic :( I think I am going to host a giveaway on discussions since it was only used once. The tumbler and a few teas…

Can anyone tell me a bit about naranquilla?

Anyways… this tasting note is made possible because Doulton was so wonderful and sent a sampling of this tea to me.

The black tea is very smooth tasting and does not interfere with the flavors. The vanilla is sweet and creamy, and the chocolate is so yummy in this blend, and although it isn’t strong, I think that for this particular blend, it’s just the right amount (because, ordinarily, more chocolate is better) I can taste a hint of the marachino, and there is also a fruitiness to this tea that I guess I must attribute to the naranquilla because I don’t know what that is!

A very nice tea – would be a delightful dessert tea (or even a substitution for dessert!)

Sipdown, 165. Thanks to Shmiracles for this sample!

Got back, exhausted, from DC, and wanted a nice comforting tea. I asked for a sample of this from Shmiracles because even though I dislike cherry-flavored things, I trust Dammann to blend it right. Nevertheless, I was a bit hesitant to try this for a while.

Well I drank one cup of it, and then immediately decided: I want to have another cup. So I brewed up the rest of the package. There is certainly cherry in here but it is not CHERRY to me. This is actually one of those blends where I can’t quite suss out all the flavors. They are just there, and well blended, and I want to keep drinking. I do taste a flavor that reminds me of the Melange du Cherubins that I had a while ago… Dammann’s chocolate flavor. It is perhaps not the most chocolatey of chocolate flavors, but it is pleasant and nutty and slightly cookie-ish to me. So all in all, quite a tasty blend to me.

The boyfriend’s nose says (knowing nothing previously about the tea): smells like flowers… then chocolate… and maybe some fruit. Haha, I am training his nose at least, even if he doesn’t drink the tea!

I just samples a whole bunch of teas (all from my mystery swap with Shmiracles). As I have a bunch to log now, my notes will be brief.

The dry leaves of this one smell like champagne. I’m really not so into champagne or most alcoholic beverages really. I do pretend to like them when the occasion calls for it or if I really just need the after affect (^^) but that’s about it. I brewed this one tea up anyway, hoping it might taste different than it smells. Oh, sure it does. It tastes like, like, well I don’t really know. Fruity, sure, but the rest? Something in there tastes nasty. Is that the chocolate or the bluebonnets? It doesn’t taste like either, its just a strange flavor mixed in with the fruity. But on the brighter side, it didn’t taste like alcohol (^o^)

Holy doodles, another instance where I’m not writing about a tea until I’m already sipping it down. This brings me down to 49! I don’t remember the last time I’ve seen a number that low.

What a unique, fruity blend. Cherry and vanilla are in the forefront but there’s more to it than that, and I suspect it’s the naranjilla. Never had the pleasure of trying one but it looks awesome, and it’s supposed to taste like a cross between rhubarb and lime according to Wikipedia. Now that’s my kind of fruit!

Although I don’t detect rhubarb- and lime-like notes in here, this has a sparkly, lively fruity vibe going on. My mom is enjoying the last of this with me and when I just commented on the sparkly vibe, she said that she does get a rosé wine impression from this. I imagine this would have been great cold brewed.

Would I take the plunge and order a full amount? Not really sure. It’s interesting but I don’t know how often I’d reach for this.