4 Fruits Rouges

“You know that tea…?” Husband asked me last night.

EEK! Well, that was a good fifteen minutes steep, I think. And I didn’t even know what the base was at that point. Turns out to be a blend of Chinese and Ceylon, and as we know Chinese blacks can take a lot of abuse while Ceylon can really go either way. No adverse effects then.

This is a tea that Cteresa shared with me and I have to admit that I found it difficult to concentrate on it last night for some reason. It simply just failed to hold my attention for very long, so I’m writing this on a flimsy memory.

The base held up to the mishap very well, without a single bit of bitterness or astringency. The fruit flavouring was… well, fruity, obviously, but I couldn’t pick out each individual fruit. This may have something to do with my lack of concentration, but my immediate thought was that it was somewhat generic red fruit-y.

It’s a fairly classic flavouring, this, so I’ve had it and enjoyed it before from other vendors. Then, I definitely remember being able to ‘find’ each of the four red fruits in the flavour. Knowing what to look for obviously. I doubt I’d have been able to do so without knowing what they were in advance. I couldn’t do that with this one (at least not at that particular level of attention) and I’m not sure if that’s really a bad thing or a good thing.

It’s a shame when one can’t pick out the flavours, and one feels like the whole things is just a big muddle with a generic taste. On the other hand, when each flavour clearly stands out on their own, the tea can end up tasting a little bit unfinished. Smoothness is lost, and it’s just a cup full of edges and corners that don’t quite join up.

Pros and cons, really. The smoothness of this one rather suited me last night, though. I think precisely because I couldn’t concentrate on it. Edges and corners would have thrown me off completely, I think.

sipdown on this one! the last little bit is off to share with a tea friend heh I have enjoyed this one, though i still hold firm that “4 fruits” are not my favourite thing. Thanks again for sending this my way cteresa

I bought a sample sachet of this at Pacific Mall of all places, and saved it til today when I really needed it.
And guess what, it is super tasty. Intense on the sweet berry, which I LOVE!! Definitely some strawberry, and maybe cherry. Not sure about the currant.
Without any sugar or milk, I enjoyed every single sip even though I got an extra large cup, for maybe a regular sized serving of leaves. Oh yeah, so worth it. No idea what temp it was at either so I’m going to surmise that this blend can take a lot of abuse and still end up amazing.
I’d keep it in my cupboard if I could.
In some ways, it reminds me very much of Marco Polo. They are pretty much the same tea, only one has a whole lot more vanilla. Ok so that makes them pretty different in one very big way lol
Still, I doubt I’d carry both in my cupboard if I had an opp, since I’m not a huge vanilla fan and thus much prefer this version!
Also, Sil, did you give me a sample of this?? I can’t recall!!

Thank you so much cteresa for sharing this 4 red fruit tea with me.
I already mentioned in the past my daughter’s favorite jam is the brand Bonne Maman’s 4 fruits and I think this tea is just his twin in a tea version.

As habitual with Dammann Frères, the tea base is their classic base of Ceylon and China teas.

The way the red fruits comes is lovely even if I cannot really detect each flavour separately.
Anyway this is not important, I love its mellowness, the global flavour of red fruit is very natural.
There is just a little hint of tartness so typical of red fruits (especially red currant -groseille).
Don’t think this tea especially needs a 5 minutes steeping as 3 and a half were enough IMO.

Gorgeous, thanks again cteresa

Sipdown #47, also from Sil, thanks sister!

This is nice. I added a little stevia, just a pinch, because I really couldn’t get the fruity tastes without it. It’s a little tart & tangy!

I am usually attracted to trying novelty ideas on flavoured tea (that darjeeling with tomato and courgette, on my watch list!), and sometimes the plain old ideas are not my first pick. Example peach and vanilla tea, this red fruits tea, plain old (but excellent) jasmine tea. And often simple really is best.

This is so far my favorite Dammann tea, very very fruity black tea, noticeable cherry, strawberry and raspberry, just right. And as is the peach-vanilla flavoured black tea a very cheering tea to drink in winter and plan for the summer.

I received a few samples of different black teas from cteresa today, one of which was the 4 fruits rouge from damman freres. Thanks so much Teresa!

I love this tea! Its fruity, its sweet but has a freshness and lightness to it, that I usually don’t associate with red fruits or black tea. There seems to be a very light astringency that is quite pleasant. On the other hand it may be due to the fact that I’ve tasted quite a number of teas in a few hours time.

Come summer I’m going to try to make an iced tea from this. This is the second tea I’ve tasted lately that probably will make an excellent iced tea (the other being Peche Mignon from Theodor).

I was served this tea at a restaurant in Paris and loved it! So many other teas with fruit get bitter before I’m done with the cup. This has a really lovely flavor. Real fruit pieces are combined with good quality black tea.

SIPDOWN together with my brother. I had two tea bags left, so one for me and one for him.

I needed something simple, yet flavourful and this tea delivers both very well. Base tea isn’t too strong but it is there. From fruits I notice strawberry, raspberry and red currants; all in some unique combination which I can’t describe well. It just works!

The last but not least flavour should be probably cranberry and it is there as a tart element. Good one!

If you want simple and flavored black tea, this I can suggest to everyone!