Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Ceylon Black Tea, Chinese Black Tea
Flavors
Astringent, Cocoa, Malt, Smoke, Fruity, Wood, Ash
Sold in
Loose Leaf
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Teatotaler
Average preparation
Boiling 3 min, 45 sec 11 oz / 315 ml

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113 Tasting Notes View all

From Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

You’re truly at your best when you drink the very best. Try our new Double Knit Blend and enjoy the rugged, stylish flavors you can only get from fully modern beverage engineering. Using our patented natural process, we’ve blended a tea that will keep you on top of your day: from your very first sip — bright as sunshine on a California highway — to your last mellow mouthful, satisfaction will be yours. You’ll feel it, and others will notice. Make it a Double Knit Day!

We like to soak this custom blend of Ceylon and Chinese teas in our favorite tub for four minutes. Invite some friends or just take it easy on your own — make sure the water’s boiling and the mood is light and this tea will take care of the rest.

About Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea View company

Andrews & Dunham knows that nothing beats a perfect cup of tea, and a great tea needs no explanation. We love the romance of tea. We love that tea might just be the healthiest thing you’ll ever drink. But if the tea you’re drinking doesn’t taste fantastic, you’re missing out. Only a few teas meet our mysterious, rigorous standards and we’re proud to offer them to you. We’re always looking for that perfect cup, so you don’t have to.

113 Tasting Notes

97
828 tasting notes

This is a good cup of tea!! I wish I were drinking it a few years back, when I really could tell a lot about teas just from sipping. It’s not clear to me all that’s blended in it, but it’s good!

There’s definitely a bit of assam. And I love that particular flavor. This cup stands up as a strong tea. I highly recommend it.

TeaEqualsBliss

What??? Is this new?

laurenpressley

I think it is. I only saw it because of an email that came through a week ago or so, and was surprised that it didn’t show up here with any ratings!

LiberTEAS

yes it is. I’ve got some on the way… probably will be here tomorrow! Yipee!

laurenpressley

Looking forward to your review!

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90
250 tasting notes

The past month has been busy. Between moving into an apartment, cooking for myself all the time now, and my school work I’ve been run a bit ragged. In fact, the only reason I’m writing this and not working on something is becuse I finished a HUGE assignment for my Artificial Intelligence class (written entirely in Lisp, a language I was learning as I went). Regardless, I have a free day, so I can actually write about the tea I’m drinking for a change!

First steep – I threw a generous amount of this in my gaiwan, and I steeped the leaves for a minute with near-boiling water. The result is a deep red tea with a very strongly of a Keemun with lovely wood notes. The flavor of the first cup was very typical of the Keemuns I’ve tried, surprisingly sweet and very clear for such a dark tea. The interesting thing about this tea is that while there’s definitely Keemun, there is something else blended in that I can’t identify. The aftertaste gives it away, with a mineral sensation and a bit of something else a bit more bitter. Regardless, it’s a very pleasant blend and is exactly what I needed to recover from a long night of programming.

Second and Third Steeps – The tea has mellowed remarkably, yet it still retinas the important qualities like the gently sweetness and the odd sensation during the aftertaste. That other sensation and the slight variations in the flavor profile are driving me a bit crazy due to its elusive familiarity, so I’m working my way through the other reviews to try to jog my memory.

Fourth Steep – The big development here is that anything remotely resembling bitterness or astringency is gone, except for an itty-bitty hint during the aftertaste that still defies classification. The main flavor present is similar to caramel, and the tea has this wonderful smoothness that transitions into a mineral feeling with a hint of something bitter/sour. Also, I agree with one of the other reviews of this tea, the other tea in this mix appears to be from the Himalayas, either northern India or Nepal. I’m personally going with Nepal, but it’s hard to be sure. It does remind me of that Jun Chiyabari I got early this year, but that was a long time ago and my recollection is a bit hazy. Whatever, I’m thinking too hard about this, the point is the blend is really great for really trying to think about the flavors, and it’s rather fun to try to guess the mystery part of the blend :)

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 1 min, 0 sec

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81
58 tasting notes

Yum. This is a nice hearty blend. Not too astringent, no weird flavors, just smooth quality tea. This could become a favorite.

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92
612 tasting notes

So I have all these beautiful perfume samples headed my way (I’m taking a weightlifting hiatus which means I can indulge my olfactory sense; when trying to hit a new PR I abstain due to some hearsay, possibly superstitious, about scent affecting hormone levels over time), and splendid tea samples from Stacy, and I’ve been boasting about this being one of the only winters on record I managed to stay well, which means naturally over the weekend I (and my husband) developed a cold that renders my entire head a mere repository for snot. Of course. (At least there’s an obvious reason—we went to the drugstore yesterday for more Nyquil and the lady carded us and then looked at me sympathetically and said “aw, you the sick one?” and I said “yeah, I managed to stay fine all winter and then…” and she goes “yeah, well jeez, this weather’ll do it…can you believe it went from 65F to 40F in a single hour the other day??”)

Been combatting it with my usual—insane amounts of Stash White Christmas (white tea, peppermint, ginger), a box of Kleenex a day, a sack of oranges, chicken soup—but I was so sick of not being able to smell anything! And my illnesses always progress the same way, downward really—they start with congestion and pressure behind my eyes and nose, sinuses, then after a couple days it moves down to my throat, then a full body ache usually with a fever, then finally to my chest/lungs. I’d progressed to “sore muscles” last night and decided to take a long bath. L’Occitane sent me a free “bath sugar cube” a while back, with rosemary, mint, and pine, so last night I soaked in that with a cup of this tea, a Paddywax candle, and Julie Doiron on the stereo low and soft. It was marvelous.

I chose this tea because I have so much of it I don’t feel bad using some while ill/not up to snuff senses-wise, and it resteeps well, and I missed “black tea taste” but knew it’s usually smooth and round enough to keep from upsetting my stomach or throat. And it was perfect. Through the wall of snot (sorry to be gross guys!) I can taste this, TEA, and it soothed me so. So I had some this morning too. I know I’m missing its full glory, but this one’s always been like a blanket, comforting like a hug (I just realized my first note for this was about the time the in-wall space heater could’ve killed us all—this really seems to be what I reach for when things are not their best!). I love how reliable it is.

keychange

I’m sorry you’ve been sick, but…well, there’s something about being sick (and the subsequent recovery) that makes spoiling yourself feel so special: lying under a pile of blankets in bed never feels nearly as good when you’re well; scented baths never feel nearly as therapeutic; tea never feels as lovely against your very sore throat.

boychik

ifjuly, so sorry you are sick. even when you sick you are hilarious. haha
my entire head a mere repository for snot. i love your descriptions for anything :)
Pls feel better soon. lots of fun is coming up

ifjuly

you guys are way too kind! what i failed to mention is (and my husband could attest), i’m a HUGE whiny baby when i get sick. even a minor headcold like this and i’m all waaaaah woe is me. which is weird because i otherwise have a fairly stout disposition when it comes to pain. dunno why i’m like this! but you guys are ace at making me feel better. (:

Stephanie

Spring colds are annoying…its such a frustrating time to not feel 100%!

ifjuly

yeah, agree Stephanie! i mean, i’d be whining no matter when it was (see above about my whiny baby syndrome), like i hate how cold and flu season tends to be exactly when you’re super busy traveling, seeing people you’ve not seen in ages, and trying to gift shop and decorate and wrap presents, and want to be able to smell/taste and enjoy holiday goodies, but still. warm weather colds are super annoying. nobody wants to be struck in PJs on the couch while the world grows sunny finally.

DeliriumsFrogs

I am SO sorry you’re under the weather! (but, as boychik said, even when sick, you’re hilarious. lol). Your bath sounded heavenly, and I’m really glad you had this tea for comfort. Warm hugs from tea are the best.

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98
20 tasting notes

So in my efforts to get into blends and stuff I ended up in a large swap with scribbles, this tea included. I drank this yesterday so this is going to be a really short tasting note but thanks scribbles!

THIS TEA IS SO GOOD. I could tell it obviously wasn’t straight tea but it wasn’t sweet or fruity or anything and maybe that’s why I liked it so much? It was perfect for a break from all of my straight teas because it had a little somethin else going on! I drank it on the train down to Comic Con and it definitely helped pass the time :) it’s bold but not KICK IN THE FACE BOLD and has a lot of yummy flavors. It basically tastes like Essence of Warm Cozy Sweater On a Rainy Day by a Fireplace. That’s what this should be called. Soooo goooood.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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86
75 tasting notes

Backlogging. I have had this as my morning tea a few times since the cute tin arrived in the mail. It is hearty, malty and smoky and holds up well to my preferred morning method: with milk and sugar.

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91
2036 tasting notes

Another excellent A&D black tea.

A&D doesn’t state what’s in this blend. People here have said Keemun. Maybe Ceylon. Maybe Darjeeling. Maybe Assam.

I’m not sure, myself. I am guessing Keemun is correct because of the smoky aspect. The tea has some astringency so I’m going with some Assam. The leaves look a little like Ceylon, but don’t give off the same color after steeping as most Ceylons do for me, and I’m not seeing the Darjeeling bit. The leaves are darker and finer than what I think of when I think of darjeeling. But there is a bit of a sharp, winey note to the dry leaves so I can understand where that thought comes from.

Mostly, the dry leaf smells earthy. The tea’s aroma and flavor has a bit of maltiness, but not the depth of the Black Sunshine. I am not tasting much smoke, but again, air quality here is poor so I may just not be noticing it. The tea leaves the mouth a bit dry, but it isn’t bitter or harsh. It’s actually what I’d call smooth.

I drank this pretty quickly while I was on the phone with a friend, so I didn’t take notes as I went. I will need to visit this again next time I drink it. For now, I’ll say there’s a really interesting cocoa note in the cup after the tea is gone and I really enjoyed this tea — though not as much as the Black Sunshine (because Yunnan is my favorite).

Flavors: Astringent, Cocoa, Malt, Smoke

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec 2 tsp 17 OZ / 500 ML
Teatotaler

Morgana, It must be Keemun and Ceylon. I read this on the A&D website -
“We like to soak this custom blend of Ceylon and Chinese teas in our favorite tub for four minutes.”

__Morgana__

Mystery solved! Thanks!

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1184 tasting notes

Thank you for the sample Sil!

This one was really good, a nice caffeine kick. I mostly get notes of malt, woodsy with just a touch of smoke, and slight fruity notes similar to a Keemun that I had recently (but I can’t remember which one). The astringency is fairly mild.

To order or not to order, that is the question….

Preparation
Boiling 3 min, 0 sec

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987 tasting notes

Today’s sipdown!

I’m still surprised there’s no puerh in this blend, because there’s such an earthy smoky note to it that I can’t imagine what else this could be.

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80
894 tasting notes

MmmMmmMm. Malty, bold and fruity. Slight woody note, but all in all really nice.

Flavors: Fruity, Malt, Wood

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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