My first “gourmet” flavored tea was by Dammann Freres, and it felt like a whole new wonderful world had been opened up to me. It astonished me that they could put so many flavors into a single tea without them competing and turning it into a pure mush in which one flavor could not be distinguished from another. I remember seeing “biscuit” flavor listed and thinking, “Hah! How can you make tea really taste like biscuit? It probably just tastes like vanilla!” And then I sipped and my eyes widened and I said, “OOOOOOOOH! It tastes like biscuit!”
Not flour-y buttered biscuits from the good old Southern USA, but a lightly sweet European biscuit. They NAILED it. Oh, delightful pastry, how I love thee!
That first tea had lots of different flavors, but this one boasts of just biscuit and four red fruits. They have achieved marvelous balance with this tea, as the sweetish biscuit flavor rises hand in hand with the fruit flavors in a perfect blending. I detect mostly strawberry, not tart but not candy sweet.
The biscuit flavor keeps it feeling like a decadent grown-up tea and not a candy tea for a children’s tea time. The base has nice heft. I steeped it just below boiling and at about three minutes. (I have found that I prefer those parameters for almost all black French teas.) I definitely made nommy noises. We all cried, “Encore!” when the pot was finished.
The good news is that the second steep was just as good as the first. Bravo, Dammann.
Want to Know More About This Tea?
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Damann Freres
Description
A blend of black teas with the delicious scents of red fruits, combining the aromas of cherry, strawberry, raspberry and red currant for an irresistibly fruity tea.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Cerise Noire from Dammann Freres. . . .
I love black cherry. It is one of those flavors that just gets me. I blame my mom. When I was a little girl she used to go to an ice cream sale and pick up pints of ice cream to keep on hand. Among the haul was always Black Cherry Ice Cream and me and my mom would always sneak down in the middle of the night (aka 10 pm) and just eat it right out of the container. I got older and the fondness stuck so to this day I can’t resist black cherry or in the case of this tea, “Cerise Noire”.
French teas, such as this one, are best suited to a low and slow steeping so I brewed this for 4 minutes in 190F. The end result is surprisingly thick. Since its scented, the black tea comes through first, mild and smooth. Then comes the cherry flavoring which is subtle. French teas have a typical red fruits flavor and this tea has that, though it does lean more to cherry than anything else.
Since I had enough leaf, I decided to also brew this up as a chocolate milk latte. Chocolate and cherries are quite the pair so I figured how could this be bad. Unfortunately it isn’t great. The chocolate milk combined with with the black tea just makes for a dark flavor that is not really chocolate nor cherry nor tea. The combination is almost a bit bitter and quite heavy. I had high hopes but chocolate milk latte is not the way to go with this one.
As far as black cherry goes, there could be more. At least for my tastes. Though it does have the typical french tea flavor profile so if that is what your looking for and you’re a black cherry fan, this could be a tea for you.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Dammann Freres
Description
A blend of black teas perfumed with the delicious flavour of black cherry.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
VariaTea Enjoys a Caramel Oolong. . . . .
Nine times out of ten I will pass on an oolong. I just don’t love it as a tea base. However, that one out of ten is usually awesome. Some of my personal favorites are A Quarter to Tea’s On Wisconsin, DAVIDsTEA’s Vanilla Orchid, Lupicia’s Melon Oolong, and this one.
When oolong teas are done right, they are just so very right and this is no exception.
The base is floral but velvety which blends nicely with the silky caramel flavor that dominates this tea. The saltiness works as a flavor booster, highlighting the creamy sweetness of the caramel.
Moreover, there’s a smooth butteryness that ties this tea together like the bow on a delightful little present. Yum!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Oolong
Where to Buy: Dammann Freres
Description
This oolong tea’s naturally velvety notes blend with the sweet-salty flavours of caramel. Enjoy a deliciously gourmet cup of this beautifully balanced blend of green and candy notes.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bourbon from Dammann Freres. . . . .
Growing up my stepfather would often have a nightcap. A hard drink on ice to relax just before bed. Sometimes it was Rye, sometimes it was Whiskey, sometimes it was Scotch, and on the odd occasion it was Bourbon. On one such occasion, he poured his drink and left it on his nightstand while he went to make a quick nighttime snack. That is when my 10-year-old me wandered into the bedroom where my mom sat on the bed. I went to my stepdad’s side and climbed in. Then, I looked at the drink then at my mom, back to the drink and back to my mom, and then back to the drink. My mom, knowing what I had in mind said one word: “okay”. Well, I jumped at the chance, brought the glass to my mouth and took one tiny sip. The liquor barely made it past my lips before I immediately spat it out and made the biggest “blech” face I could muster. My mom knew I would hate it but also knew I would be stubborn about wanting to try it so she figured it was best to let me learn the hard way. So why am I telling you this story? I decided to share because I wanted to make it clear that I have not had good experiences with Bourbon in the past and yet I still decided to purchase this tea.
For some reason, despite not enjoying the inspiration, certain flavors in tea just call to me. For instance, I am not one to drink coffee but when I see latte teas or mocha teas or even just coffee teas, I convince myself it will be awesome. Nine times out of ten that is not the case. Same goes for a variety of alcohol flavors such as this one. Luckily, this time my gamble paid off as this is one lovely tea, albeit an inaccurately named one in my opinion.
Simply named “Bourbon” and yet this tea has no alcohol flavor to it whatsoever. Instead it is more confectionery-themed with its full-bodied vanilla-caramel flavor. More natural than many caramel teas out there, this manages to have a thick mouthfeel without being overly sweet (a task not easily achieved when you consider the fact that caramel is basically just sugar). The base plays a key role here as it blends effortlessly with the flavor while still maintaining its presence. This results in the black tea imparting a caramel note, but one that is toned down and subtle by the smooth malt of the tea itself.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Black Tea
Where to Buy: Dammann Freres
Description
A blend of black teas scented with the aromas of vanilla and caramel. Ideal for lovers of warm, gourmet teas.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Bali from Dammann Frères. . . . . .
I had this yesterday hot, but got sucked into the vortex of Various Appointments and came back to it cold. And it was… much more awesome cold.
And I thought: “is it gauche to drink it cold? Where are the green tea rules?”
So today, I decided to risk being Terminally Uncouth and iced this as my Midday Ice With Lunch Soda Replacement. (Trying to quit soda is… going… okay. I’m a Trash Monster that loves stomach dissolving beverages. I’m trying to improve.)
And yum, guys. This tea is a springy garden blast. It’s got rich green notes, sparkly flower notes, and floral notes. Usually, I think that flowers taste like soap when they’re iced, but the Frères picked some that survived the process. Or they found other components around it that formed a moat around the Soap Effect.
The ingredients for this that make it click are jasmine green tea, aromas of lychee, grapefruit, blood peach and rose.
If the phrase “blood peach” stood out to you as particularly horrific/weird, that’s because you haven’t encountered one in a grocery store. (They’re ugly as sin.) They are grown in the United States, and can be found in specialty stores and at farmer’s markets. They can grow up to 12 inches. Thomas Jefferson grew them.
When I went to review this, I went to the Frères’ site and found that yes, this can be iced. It is not gauche. You can do it, too. That’s my suggestion for how to best enjoy this one.
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Green Tea
Where to Buy: Dammann Frères
Description
A subtle balance of fresh, fruity and floral notes is found in this delicately scented green tea which is just as delicious whether you enjoy it cold or hot. (jasmine green tea, aromas of lychee, grapefruit, blood peach and rose).
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
