Charlotte aux Fruits Rouges

So I drank this one inspired by Cameron B’s note that I read today.  This won’t be as good as Cameron’s note!  I have never written a note for this tea, since I have never tasted as many flavors as Cameron noticed.  So today I went with two teaspoons in a big mug and that made a BIT of difference.  Using two teaspoons at a time would also help finish those 100grams faster if I ever bought that much of DF’s teas (this tea is from a LONG ago group order, so not much left.)  So flavorwise, I’m tasting strawberry and cherry… and a bit of booziness to that cherry, or maybe it tastes like those fruits if they were dried.  The black tea is dark and tasty enough.   I do like it steeped this way, probably a bit more flavor than I was getting from previous steep sessions.  So I think I have learned how I like DF’s teas steeped best for me(though I’m sure 1 1/2 teaspoons would probably work too.)  I think it was Courtney that mentioned that possibly DF’s cherry flavor might just last longer than their other flavors… and then it might seem like DF has mostly cherry teas as those teas age. haha.
Steep #1 // 2 teaspoons for a big mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3-4 minute steep

Also, sidenote: the name of this tea is fitting today as I’m reading the lovely book ‘Chouette’ by Claire Oshetsky and the mother of the owl-baby Chouette is worried that anyone will confuse the owl-baby’s name as ‘Charlotte’.

This one has a lovely aroma, and I do taste a lot of strawberry pastry here, but there is a bit of something floral in the background – rose, maybe? I don’t know, I’m not super confident identifying perfume-y notes since I don’t care for floral teas, but there is something there that makes this one not a total win for me. I really am enjoying the cup despite that, and I find the floral note is dissipating somewhat as it cools.

This is another one from the samples Courtney delivered to my house last week, and so far I haven’t been disappointed with Dammann Frères.

2021 sipdown no. 39

The fruitiness here is so lovely – very red fruits, but also different than other French tea red fruits. There’s also the delicious DF pastry flavour that I really enjoy. This tea will be missed in my cupboard.

Sipdown! (25 | 477)

A sad sipdown, but also a needed one, as this was my last tea from 2017. Unfortunately Dammann doesn’t seem to carry it any more…

To me, this isn’t really a charlotte. Don’t get me wrong, I love this tea. But a charlotte (I think) has quite a lot of whipped cream, and there’s no creaminess in this tea. What it does taste like, to me at least, is a shortbread cookie sandwich with red fruits jam in the middle. The biscuit note is rich and buttery, and the red fruit is sweet and jammy. I definitely taste raspberry, strawberry, and cherry (specifically a more tart dried cherry). And there’s a hint of lavender-esque floral that I always seem to find in Dammann’s red fruits teas. It’s not enough to bother me, and does make it feel slightly fancier ha ha.

I will miss you, tea. I know there’s a rooibos version, but it’s just not the same. Sigh.

The 8-year-old kid next door had a birthday this week. Hence, the adults surrounding the kid had to get wasted and party through the night.

And now there is more joy. They’ve set up some sort of video game with various repeated pings, dings, and doorbell sounds alongside my living and dining space, so just yay! And then, there are the considerate joy cries of the whole family when the kid scores a goal or hit or whatever the aim is. Hurray for considerate neighbours. Gee, thanks.

Tomorrrow is Family Day here, so I expect more of the same. And then after that, for quite some time. What are the chances that this kid is going to be enjoying this quietly while wearing headphones? I am doubtful.

This tea is a comfort though. The scent while steeping was black currant with hints of caramel. I really hoped that these scents would translate into flavours in my cup. And they did. Black currant and various red fruit and jam flavours, such as red currant, perhaps a bit of strawberry tartness.

Delicious.

Thank you, VariaTEA, for the sample. It is making my day far more pleasant.

Another sample from VariaTEA to be honest i don’t really care for the french “red fruits” this one is along that vein. Is it a good solid cup of tea with really nice flavouring….yes. but it’s just not my favourite :) thanks V!

Sipdown

I went to add this to the Sororitea Sisters TTB only to realize I have never actually tasted this myself. At least not that I could recall. I also noticed the package this was in had a tear so I decided to just brew it up and turns out I only had enough for one cup.

This is typical Parisian red fruit flavoring though perhaps sweeter than it usually is. I guess that’s why people get pastry notes since the flavor is almost jammy or like pie filling. That coupled with the thick black base is leaving me underwhelmed. With that in mind, this is a welcome sipdown as I am not loving this.

After the disappointment that was The des Marquises, I’m happy to say this is a return to form for DF. It’s quite fruity, in a jammy sort of way, not unlike DF’s 4 Fruits Rouge. I don’t know that I would’ve pegged it as strawberry, necessarily; I’m getting more of a mixed red fruits vibe. I can’t say I’m tasting biscuit, exactly, but there’s a sweetness—and richness—that I suppose might be vaguely reminiscent of a delicate little tea cookie.

I still haven’t tried a ton of DF blends yet, but so far I’m getting the sense they do better with more Old World-y kinds of flavor profiles and less well with… I don’t know, modern ones? Tropical? I realize Charlotte aux Fruits does contain papaya, as did Noël à Venise—why does DF add papaya to everything, anyway?—but since I can’t detect it in the taste I’m still counting this one as an old school French sort of flavor.

I am finally getting around to posting notes about the wonderful teas from Dammonn Freres from the group order that Marzipan coordinated. Thank you, Marzipan! When my husband offers me tea in the morning I get to say, “Something French.” :). It has been a lot of fun.

I looked up the Charlotte-style dessert this tea is based on, wow, I am looking forward to making some gorgeous summer desserts! I have liked all the DF teas so far— they are all so comforting. Steeping time is key (the low recommended end) to avoid the base overwhelming the rest of the flavors. I don’t sweeten my teas, but I took a sip after a bite of cake and found the fruit flavors really popped. There is a stewed fruit quality, like jam without the sugar, and that awesome biscuit taste, reminds me of ladyfingers. A solid choice for a fruity black.

I made a huge DF order and it all arrived last week, and I haven’t had much else since then. I have been bad about writing tastings notes on them. Some of the teas are real WOW teas. Some are just normal, but by normal I mean still a really good tea.

This one was a WOW tea. I found myself thinking about the tea each time I took a drink – it kept pulling my attention because it tasted so good. Sometimes I can sort of zone out and drink the tea automatically. The description says red fruits, papaya, and strawberry bits. But the really interesting part is the “biscuit” – which of course it not like an American biscuit. It’s like a European one, or a cookie. That’s the magic here.

It’s hard for me to describe exactly what biscuit tastes like in tea, but it’s sort of like a bit of cookie on the finish, but it’s not a sweet cookie. More like a shortbread. This tea alone makes me want to order one of every one of the teas they sell.