This was a ZOMG diamond prize in the awesome swap box Dexter3657 sent me—I’ve been DYING to try it; it’s the tea from Dammann that was the main motivation every time I’d go through the hoops of online shopping basket calculations and fretting about customs—huge THANK YOU! Every time I nearly pulled the trigger on an overseas or through-some-mysterious-North-American-vendor-and-still-expensive order, I teetered on that ledge and walked off just in time by reminding myself until I know for sure I love this or other similar gorgeous sounding blends from them it’s silly really.
So to be honest, I’ve been secretly hoping to be let down a little so I can breathe a sigh of relief and forget about all the hassle/cost. Well. Turns out not quite. There are not angels blowing trumpets in my mouth or anything, but this is quite good. It’s hard to find many fig teas at all, harder still to find any that really taste of fig, and then nearly impossible to find ones that taste of fig AND are tasty as tea. While not the rapturous perfection I was fantasizing about in my head (a perfect fresh fig is, for me, one of the most transcendent and dizzingly sexy gastronomic experiences one can have), this is good and grows on me the more I linger on it. I can see why the smell could be offputting to some—it’s a very ripe bordering on spoiled fig, or maybe like a jammy, cooked down or dried one. You know that aromatic element of extremely soft, sweet-to-bursting, floral-rot funk fruit gets, kind of wine skin-ish? It’s like that. What’s interesting is flavor-wise it does not taste overly sweet at all. It’s a bit woody-drying thanks to the Ceylon I think, and it fits well because it captures the seed-filled sticky quality of a real fig. There’s a subtle tartness too that works well with that texture. And I like that you can taste the tea, and it contributes naturally to the impression of figginess.
So. I rather like this. I’m not blown away though, so I’m thinking it’s a good thing I didn’t go crazy ordering DF for myself in full-size amounts just yet. Thank you so much Dexter3657 for helping me figure this all out. Super useful opportunity.
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There is a huge fig tree near where I work, and we often pass it on our way to lunch. The smell of the figs in season is dizzingly uplifting. I love figs!
Sorry that you weren’t blown away, but really happy to have helped you in the learning/exploration of this tea. Try before you buy is always a good thing – maybe you’ll find something else you like better that is easier to get a hold of. :))
Man Dex, I’ve been trying to no avail to leave comments on your notes all week but whenever I hit post they disappear into the ether and suddenly the page says I’m not following you. Ack! Anyway, I’ve been so happy to see you dig some of the stuff I sent—I haven’t tried the wine pu erh yet myself but now I’m even more excited to (let’s not go into what that even says about the sorry crazy state of affairs re: my out of control stash, heh).
Anyway, yes! I’ve really been enjoying the teas you sent me—had a bunch of the fancypants straight blacks last week and need to log them soon, and my husband and I have been enjoying the S&Vs for afternoon tea—and this was definitely the one I knew would be the most useful/game-changing for me, where it’d either convince me to part with a bunch of money and start stressing about DF ordering, or I’d be relieved, ha. I’m so glad I have a better grip on their tea now. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve tried of theirs but not “spend a fortune to buy 100g” in love, which is perfect really. Thank you so much!
NofarS, as a fig fiend that is my idea of heaven! (:
Not to worry – Steepster has been misbehaving for me this week too. Happy that you have been enjoying the package I sent you. :))
I don’t want to talk about the sorry state of my cupboard – I haven’t tried ANY not one of my BF teas – including this one. I haven’t tried any of the Fauchon I sent you…. out of control stash. I need to take a couple of days and drink some of MY teas.:))
I remember finding this tea somewhat discombobulating when I first tasted it because I’d never had fig in tea before, but once I got past that I became a big fan.
Heh, you two and me as well with the out-of-control stashes! :) I have a huge fig tree in my front yard.. I should see about mailing them off when they’re ripe again, because literally pounds of them went to waste last year. I posted on Craigslist for people to come and get them, even.
Sooooo jealous! I would gorge on them ‘til I got sick if I could in the summertime, nothing makes me feel quite as languid and summery voluptuous as biting into a fresh fig, yum. A few friends here have had trees in the past at the apartments/houses they rented, but they’ve since moved on. I can’t grow anything that survives past a year to save my life alas, so I am fruitless.
I also always think of that cheesy-funny scene in the movie adaptation of House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson where the guy comes on to her by offering her figs and mentioning their, ehrm, evocative qualities. Haha.
There is a huge fig tree near where I work, and we often pass it on our way to lunch. The smell of the figs in season is dizzingly uplifting. I love figs!
Sorry that you weren’t blown away, but really happy to have helped you in the learning/exploration of this tea. Try before you buy is always a good thing – maybe you’ll find something else you like better that is easier to get a hold of. :))
Man Dex, I’ve been trying to no avail to leave comments on your notes all week but whenever I hit post they disappear into the ether and suddenly the page says I’m not following you. Ack! Anyway, I’ve been so happy to see you dig some of the stuff I sent—I haven’t tried the wine pu erh yet myself but now I’m even more excited to (let’s not go into what that even says about the sorry crazy state of affairs re: my out of control stash, heh).
Anyway, yes! I’ve really been enjoying the teas you sent me—had a bunch of the fancypants straight blacks last week and need to log them soon, and my husband and I have been enjoying the S&Vs for afternoon tea—and this was definitely the one I knew would be the most useful/game-changing for me, where it’d either convince me to part with a bunch of money and start stressing about DF ordering, or I’d be relieved, ha. I’m so glad I have a better grip on their tea now. I’ve really enjoyed what I’ve tried of theirs but not “spend a fortune to buy 100g” in love, which is perfect really. Thank you so much!
NofarS, as a fig fiend that is my idea of heaven! (:
Not to worry – Steepster has been misbehaving for me this week too. Happy that you have been enjoying the package I sent you. :))
I don’t want to talk about the sorry state of my cupboard – I haven’t tried ANY not one of my BF teas – including this one. I haven’t tried any of the Fauchon I sent you…. out of control stash. I need to take a couple of days and drink some of MY teas.:))
I remember finding this tea somewhat discombobulating when I first tasted it because I’d never had fig in tea before, but once I got past that I became a big fan.
Heh, you two and me as well with the out-of-control stashes! :) I have a huge fig tree in my front yard.. I should see about mailing them off when they’re ripe again, because literally pounds of them went to waste last year. I posted on Craigslist for people to come and get them, even.
Sooooo jealous! I would gorge on them ‘til I got sick if I could in the summertime, nothing makes me feel quite as languid and summery voluptuous as biting into a fresh fig, yum. A few friends here have had trees in the past at the apartments/houses they rented, but they’ve since moved on. I can’t grow anything that survives past a year to save my life alas, so I am fruitless.
I also always think of that cheesy-funny scene in the movie adaptation of House of Mirth with Gillian Anderson where the guy comes on to her by offering her figs and mentioning their, ehrm, evocative qualities. Haha.