Dammann Frères

After I gave up on that last cup my mind started wandering, thinking about tea and tea shops, and it wandered right to Dammann Freres. Man, that place was amazing. My next thought was that I wanted one of their amazing teas right away. This tea contains some jasmine green tea, but it’s certianly not too jasminey… I am a little jasmined out after that last bomb.

I steeped this one a little hotter than I have in the past just to test it out at a temp in between black and green since it’s a black/green blend. I think it worked out well! No hints of bitterness or scalding of the green tea. I think there’s a bit more of the black tea base showing up this time, giving it a warmer low note to balance the fresh, fruity, floral notes from the rest of the tea. Ahh, DF, you always hit it just right.

Not your typical Christmas tea! But it just might be a nice one for thinking of warmer times when it’s cold out. It’s just so bright and cheery! I love the jasmine in combination with the mango/passion in this one. This is also a black/green blend that really works. Some people might be missing some of the black tea notes, especially when brewed a this temperature, but I’m cool with them laying low in the flavor.

Yup, there’s definitely something off today, because I’m getting a slightly bright metallic taste from this one too, except not quite as much as the Passionate Rose earlier. Not sure what it is because I had a cup of the water plain with lunch and I didn’t notice anything odd about it. Perhaps the kettle, or my steeping basket (but neither of them look different from normal)? Who knows, but I hope it goes away soon. I have a ton of new tea coming to me, and I want the best conditions to taste it!

I briefly considered not having a French tea for my afternoon tea… but then I stopped kidding myself and grabbed this one. This tea has a powerful scent. When I got it at the shop it was the only tea that I could smell very clearly through the bag without even holding it up to my nose. I think it scented my clothes in the suitcase on the trip home! The dry leaves smell overall very tropical. The first thing that hits you is the passion fruit, mango, and pineapple. Further investigations (i.e., sticking my nose in the pouch) yields jasmine notes underlying everything.

This is a green/black blend, which can be tricky to find the right steeping parameters, but I brewed it like a green this time. The color of the liquor is a dark shade of amber, and it smells like jasmine tea with a little something extra. I can definitely detect the sweet aroma of mango/passion, but it’s not as powerful as in the dry leaf.

This tea is in the same family as Oriental by Mariage Freres: that of jasmine with fruit flavored teas. It seems to be a very French family since I hadn’t really encountered it before, but it’s certainly one of my favorites now. This is one of those teas with a lot of flavors that just meld together. In this case, not all of them do: the jasmine and the fruit maintain their separate identities, and play well off each other. But the tropical fruits have joined and I can’t really pick out mango from passion from pineapple. Perhaps it’s a bit more mango/passion than pineapple, but it’s like a good tropical fruit juice blend: its just “tropical”. The flavors of this one don’t really hit one after another as some other Dammann Freres teas have done to me; I get fruit and jasmine at the same time, over the entire sip. I feel like these tropical fruits really play up the honeysuckle notes in the jasmine, too, unlike the orange Oriental where I didn’t get those.

Yet another amazing Parisian tea; I feel crazy that my 90-100 range is getting rather populous these days, but I can’t help it. I guess I’m finding that aromatic, complexly flavored French teas are the teas for me!

I would be lying if I said I wan’t excited to get to this part of my cupboard. Almost a full page of French teas, ahh. These come from a trip to Paris I made two summers ago. They could go in almost any order but I will drink them in roughly the order I added them to my cupboard.

This tea (#72) is a long-time favorite. I love the mix of florals and fruity, and the strong figginess of it. There are seven flavors here, but I would say the dominant are rose and fig. Ok, and maybe the citrus. But on the whole the blend is amazing and always has new flavors to peek out in each sip.

I read a note from Cameron about figgy teas and it made me think of this one, which I haven’t had in a while and which I love profusely. Fig is one of the more prominent of the seven flavors here, among a variety of florals and citrus. It’s just so nicely balanced, and I really need to remember to reach for it more often.

This morning’s tea should have been another spring TGY, but all of it is actually at home with my gongfu setup. Will have to try to remember to drink it this weekend.

So instead I am super excited to have reached my Parisian acquisitions. Nonstop DF and Fauchon for quite a while? Yes please. I unabashedly restocked 100g of this in Paris last summer because I knew I would easily drink it up. Floral and fruity, this is an ideal tea for me. I love that the fruits are orange, bergamot, and fig (a somewhat unusual blend), and I love the rich florals. Sweet and delicious!

I unpacked all of my teas from the trip this morning, and was happy to find out that I had five empty large tins in my collection because five of the teas I brought back were in paper bags and needed tins. Perfect. Now I can’t get anymore 100g amounts of tea (that don’t come with their own tin or airtight pouch) because all of my tins are filled to the brim right now.

This is a restock from my very first time I went to Dammann, three years ago. I loved this tea so I didn’t hesitate getting more of it when I was just there. I was going to try one of my new-to-me teas that I just picked up, but then I remembered that I was having issues with water quality before I left (likely need to change the filter on my brita), so I decided to go with a tea I know and love this morning just in case.

Mmm, this tea is just as good as I remembered. Better, possibly. I love the combination of flavors in this, dominated by fig and florals, with some supporting citrus. I do think my water is making this a bit flatter than usual, but its flavorful enough to push past it. Must get some new filters so I can really dive into my new teas!

Well, it’s finally gone. I even had to add an extra half a teaspoon of Harney’s Rose Scented to make sure I had enough tea for this cup. I’ve had this tea for quite a while now, and it is one that I am restocking when I eventually make my Dammann order.

Of course, this cup is extra rosy now, which I have no problem with. I still love all the variety of florals and fruits, and it’s my favorite deployment of fig in a tea. I was so exhausted yesterday at the end of the day that I woke up this morning still exhausted, despite the fact that I slept in. I also have been thinking about my Dammann teas and how much I love them, and I really wanted to drink more of them today.

Ergh, I feel like a zombie this morning. I seem to be completely over the jet lag, but this chest cold is knocking me down. A friend is defending her dissertation today, though, so I drug myself into work anyway.

You know, I think I have to go ahead and bump this one up a couple of points. Over time this has definitely come to be one of my favorites. Love the sweet fig flavor accompanied by all the florals and a nice rich black tea underneath. Today’s cup has a particularly sweet aftertaste that is definitely soothing my cough-worn throat. Let’s hope it also injects some life into me this morning so I can make it through the day here!

A long, mostly tea-less Thursday means a not-ready-to-be-awake Friday morning. I knew I wanted a black tea that would help me wake up a bit, but was having a hard time choosing. I almost went for an Earl Grey, or some chocolate tea, but instead I grabbed this one. Figgy and fruity and floral, it’s comforting but also the black tea is bold enough to make for a good wake-up cup. Doesn’t mean that I’m not still tired, but at least I have enough energy to get the morning started.

Mmm, I love this tea. It’s definitely the best fig flavored tea I’ve tried, and I love how all the flavors are both a little independant and then at once meld to form one awesome flavor. I haven’t had this one in a while and I couldn’t remember whether the rose was very prominent or not, but it’s definitely in the “there if you look for it, but not overwhelming” category. This tea is for sure on my reorder when I run out list from Dammann.

Mm, I love the rich florals over the fruits in this tea. The citrus and the fig and the lotus and the rose all blend together so well. There’s something so luxurious about it; I think it’s partly the fig, which grounds what might otherwise be bright citrus notes, and partly the rose/lotus, which I think in general are pretty “thick” florals. This is no light flowery tea… these are heady, intoxicating aromas and flavors. Definitely recommended for fans of floral teas.

With a name like 7 Parfums, you know this one is going to be complicated. I chose it primarily because of the mix of floral with citrus fruits and fig. The dry leaf, unsurprisingly, has a lot going on, aroma-wise. I can pick out bright citrus notes, and I think I can find the deeper, richer fig notes with some rose and other florals, but they all mesh together very well. Not shocking, I know!

In the brewed tea the aroma has definitely changed, but it’s hard to figure out how it’s changed. I think the main thing is the citrus notes have faded substantially, and I’m mostly getting a mix of florals (it’s always hard for me to pick out any individual floral note that’s not rose or jasmine) bolstered by a rich, sweet fig underneath.

Now that I can drink it, its really quite tasty. Very floral, and the fruit notes act as a kind of base that has melded together. As others have said, it’s a very well blended tea, and very “French”. If I look really hard I can maybe pick out some individual notes, but why? They all work so well as a whole that it’s nice to just appreciate the tea almost as a separate, new, untasted flavor. It has both bright and dark notes, a kind of floral fruity sweetness and a thick herbaceous savour. Of the teas I’ve tried so far that I’ve brought back, this is probably the one that makes me think of Paris most.

Saaaad sipdown. Although not as sad as it could be, because this tea is soooo old. Over 3 years I think? I have been cold brewing it regularly and finally used up the last of it today. All that was left of the flavor was some green tea and a hint of mango, but it was still tasty enough, so I used it up.

This is the kind of tea that makes me wish I could buy a smaller amount of these teas. Black teas last for a long time, but greens fade fast. I would totally buy more of this one, but only in some future world where I don’t have a lot of other teas, so I would have a hope of drinking it faster. Until then, adieu!

Now this tea is old AND I have a lot of it. Still more than 60g. I think that’s because my love of flavored greens has waned in recent years, so I rarely reach for it. Even so, this is one of the rare flavored greens that I do enjoy.

Yeah, it’s definitely aged. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t taste like jasmine macarons with mango confiture filling anymore. Sad. I wonder if I could elicit mroe flavors in a cold brew at this point. I really should not buy green teas in anything larger than 50g, which makes buying them from the French tea companies difficult since they only sell in 100g amounts. Ah well.

Mmmm. I guess today is a day for old favorites or something. I haven’t felt like adventuring to a tea I hadn’t tried before. Just the smell of this tea steeping makes me think of Paris and the Dammann Freres shop. And of course of Laduree, where I buy my macarons (which reminds me, I still haven’t been to the Laduree in NYC! I can’t believe I forgot it was there).

Man, now I want to go to Paris.

Going back and trying all of these teas is amazing because I’m pretty sure I forgot how awesome they were in the intervening time, but I also feel like have nothing to write for my tasting notes. But I still write them because I like tasting notes.

This one is almost sweet today… it’s a tantalizing, lingering sweetness that isn’t as much in the sip as in the aftertaste. The main part of the sip is mango-y and a bit floral and lightly almondy (like a macaron, of course), but I can taste the vegetal grassiness from the Sencha as well and it’s a nice grounding note. They combine well but also remain distinct, as if you were eating a macaron and drinking a cup of green tea at the same time. Delish.

I was going to try one of my new tea samples today, but then I really needed a comfort tea after finding out that my credit card information has been stolen for the second time in 6 months! And that the thief apparently has a duplicate card, because it’s being used to buy gas and groceries (but my card is still in my wallet). Ugh.

A second cup of this tea solidifies it as one of my favorites. Floral and almondy and tropical mango-y… it’s the perfect nexus of flavors for me. Thank you, Dammann Freres, for making this tea because right now I need it!

If there’s one sweet I have to get when I’m in Paris, it’s macarons, usually from Laduree. The light almondy cookie sandwiched with flavored creams or jams—heaven. So when I was prepping for my trip by looking at all the teas on Dammann Freres’ website and saw that they had two teas flavored “macaron”, I knew at least one had to be mine. Mango and Jasmine was the obvious choice as I adore both flavors. This is the only tea I bought at Dammann Freres that I didn’t smell before I purchased (they didn’t have it in the bins for smelling), but it didn’t matter. Now I can smell it, and the dry leaf almost smells different every time I stick my nose in the bag. At first, tons of mango. Then, rich floral jasmine. Then again, a sweet almondy “macaron”.

The brewed tea added the slightly vegetal aroma of the green tea base to the mix, a floral jasmine-sweet almond scent has taken center stage. Occasionally I can detect a fruity mangoey hint to the mix, but it seems to be blending well.

Somewhat similar to Coquelicot Gourmand, the sip is divided into stages with a floral beginning, fruity middle and almondy end. The aftertaste is distinctly, strongly marzipan-style almond. I’m getting a hint of mango across the entire sip, but it plays differently with the jasmine and the almond. The beginning is very floral jasmine (influenced mostly by the aroma which is heavily jasmine at this point), which delivers a burst of sweet fruity mango that is initially more floral but then juicier as the almond comes in. The almond isn’t quite the biscuity almond of Coquelicot Gourmand, nor a straight marzipan; no, it’s pretty definitely macaron, though concentrated and a bit more almondy than the cookies usually are. The green tea provides a fairly solid background that seems to pull all the disparate flavors together.

Overall this is similar enough to evoke Coquelicot Gourmand in the tasting, but it’s also distinct and delicious. I’m sure the green vs. black tea has something to do with it, but it’s also the addition of a fruit flavor to the floral/almond mix. I don’t know if I can really choose one over the other, but I do know I wish I had gotten some of the Violet Cassis Macaron tea!

Dammann advent calendar, day 11. Ah, I’ve had this one, but not for a long time. It is one of the initial batch of Dammann teas that I brought back from Paris, and fell in love with the company.

This one wasn’t one of my absolute favorites; I think for some reason I just don’t love the hazelnut flavoring (hazelnut generally, not this one in particular). But I do enjoy this tea pretty well, and today it is nice and nutty with some fruitiness. Glad to have another cup of this in the calendar.

Sipdown, 242. After that last cup I still needed a black tea, because it’s freaking early, but I wanted one that wasn’t going to totally kick my ass (and my stomach). Decided to sipdown this one… aww, two of my Dammann teas have been sipped down now. Makes me want that order even more now! I officially have 5 large tins empty now, but I’ll have to see what kind of damage I do at Lupicia in San Fransicso next week.

Mmm, nutty chocolate, with a hint of orange. And I am appreciating my filtered water again because it is apparently certain teas taste sweet on their own… who would have thought?? This one is like dessert for breakfast. Yum!

Ugh, crappy water is crappy. I have got to get the brita filter at home cleaned and brought to work… somehow the water seems worse the more I use it. I don’t know how it manages to make tasty teas flavorless!

Nearly done with this one… only a few more cups left. While I am planning an order to Dammann (free shipping over what comes out to $58), but this one won’t be a restock. Not that it’s not a tasty tea, it’s actually a very tasty tea. But it’s very similar to Harney’s Florence, and if I’m going to buy a pile of teas from Paris I’m going to choose ones that I either love or haven’t tried yet. Also for whatever reason although I do enjoy the flavors, I rarely find myself craving chocolate hazelnut tea.

Of course, as if to prove to me how good it is, this tea is really tasty this morning. Chocolatey and nutty and almost sweet. Really quite delicious. I have also really come to love Dammann’s black tea base, which is present in all of their flavored teas and has great flavor itself. Well, now I just want to make that order sooner. :P