Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

back log from this morning. Trying to have some of my favourites these days to mix in with my new teas and sipdowns. Work got away from me today so i haven’t had a chance to log anything. I still love this assam and i’m super glad i was able to pick it up with free shipping to canada. I love the tiger tin :) and the tea’s pretty damn good too!

SIPDOWN!

At least for the moment until my tin of this arrived…which is the reason i chose to have this one this morning. I know it will be back :) Really enjoying this one – so much so that i picked up a tin of it (4.4oz) which is the most i’ve ever picked up of any tea…It’s a totally different beast than say laoshan black or other divine teas. this is an every day kind of tea :) love it!

I feel like there may be a lot of teas in the near future that thank Terriharplady. So Terri, if i forget, don’t think i don’t love you any less for all your wonderful teas!

Sadly i fell asleep mid cup while drinking this one, so the last of is was a cold, cold cup of tea. What i do remember of this one hot, was that is was a beautiful, rich, smooth assam. Really no smoky going on here, just a sweet(in the way that black’s are sweet) cup of tea. I’m glad i made an unsual small cup of this one so i have more left to have a good normal Sil cup with later :)

Also…i’m in trouble because i really want more of this one for sure but 4.4oz is a lot of tea. a LOT. eep.

I am sipping my last cup of this tea at the office. It makes a good office tea- it’s sturdy and takes pretty well to the office “mini moo” tubs of half & half. Once I finish my self-imposed tea ordering moratorium, then I might have to order a new tin.

Good morning Steepsterites.

This morning’s morning tea is A&D’s Double Knit Blend. I realized my previous entries on this were positively Neandertalian in detail, so here’s a little more than the previous grunting.

I used Almond-Coconut milk in it, as we are out of half & half. I think I am getting used to the taste in tea though, I actually quite like it with this and with A&D’s Assam.

I think I agree with the other reviewers on this who feel it’s got Assam in the blend, that seems reasonable, as they sell an Assam. I should really do a side by side tasting and see how they differ. That might be fun.

I think this has a mild hint of malty spiciness that isn’t present in the Assam, though I don’t think it’s actual spices, just a quality of whatever other tea is in there. Maybe Keemun.

It’s a nice all-around, all-purpose tea.

My tin of this is getting low. I think once my Buy Nothing Summer is over, I will be down enough on this and the Assam to warrant an order. If they still have the three pack, I’ll try it with the Russian Caravan tea this time. I haven’t been going through Mt Gray like I have been through the Assam and this one.

Tea good.

Had car trouble this morning, so I am working from home. I hope it won’t be too expensive.

Blargh. Not enough sleep. We had storms roll through DFW early this morning, and it woke me up.

Been drinking this tea at work all week, it’s a really good blend for that. Makes a nice morning cup.

PS – give to the Red Cross if you can please – between storm season and the fertilizer plant explosion in West last night, they are going to need the resources!

Mmmmm. Good tea for my late breakfast. Tempted to take this to work.

This is from the “Here’s Hoping” Traveling Tea Box I just received and opened today! I had yet to try this one from A&D so I was very excited to try this one when I first saw it! YAY!

This is a very satisfying EG – nice and vibrant – strong and eager to please – and it DOES! There are lovely little woodsy notes in there that are surprising yet appreciated!

This is delightful! I really like this!

I love Assam and Ceylon teas so naturally this one was a winner for me! I love the packaging. The small painter’s tin is original. When I opened the tin, it was a no-brainer that this one was a nice smelling Ceylon. It smelled malty and warm with fruitiness to it.

The brew was a nice dark amber. This is a bold tea that can be tampered with to make it more or less bold. Upon my first sip, it wasn’t very bitter, but I wanted some milk with my tea. I’ve been drinking cups of milk these days! I can taste the bread-y, malt flavors with fruit undertones. It makes me happy to sip this cup! The milk didn’t really bring out any flavors but it did make it less bitter. Good tea overall! Now I am off to do my night shift!

Thanks CrowKettle for the sample! (Took me long enough to try it /0\)

I have to agree with the others that this is a very nice, and damn fine dragon well tea. It’s lightly vegetal and very buttery. How would I compare this to the one from Verdant? IDK. :| But I do know that this is much nicer than the dragonwell I bought from Murchies.

I’m looking forward to resteeping this all afternoon!

EDIT: I wanted to make sure I wasn’t misremembering the murchie’s dragonwell so I made some of that to sip side-by-side. It’s far less buttery than the Dragon Power, and it tastes very spinacy/sea-weedy. It really reminds me of the Tie Guan Yin oolong I ordered from there. So, not as smooth and delicate and buttery as the Dragon Power.

It’s been a while since I’ve had any activity around here, but I logged in today specifically to rate this tea. Because I like it. It is good. I happen to think it’s very good.

I think I expected it to taste like A&D’s last Earl Gray. I was fine with that, as the previous one was good. This one is better. As others have already noted, there’s no skimping on the bergamot here. This is unsurprising if one knows Mssrs. Andrews and Dunham. Actually, I don’t know them, but I buy all of their teas. It seems to me that they like strong black teas. I have no quarrel with this.

So yes, healthy infusion of bergamot here, but there’s something slightly different about it here. Good different. I haven’t yet decided what I think that is, but I don’t immediately associate it with any other particular Earl Gray that I’ve previously enjoyed. I account this a good thing because it tastes great. I agree with Jen that it seems like there’s some sort of blend in the base tea. Regardless, it’s delicious.

Fortunately this is not a limited edition. While I enjoy getting a numbered, limited edition tin as much as the next guy, I don’t feel like I have to sprint through this tin to justify ordering a second before they run out…and there will definitely be another tin of this in my future.

So I have not found an equal to Andrews & Dunham’s last earl gray. And it was a limited edition.

Needless to say my life has been an empty pit of despair since series 3 sold out. Fortunately, A&D came out with Mount Gray and I jumped on it like a drowning man to a lifeboat. Or clambered up the side, weak, wet and cold from my ordeal, whatever.

I can’t compare it to their last Earl Gray, since I used the last of it quite some time ago. But it’s front loaded with a strong hit of Bergamot, yet not the flowery bergamot. Underneath it’s smooth and satisfying.
It holds up to second steeping, retaining it’s mellow characteristics with a subtler bergamot taste.
All in all, this tea is like spinning around and around with my arms outstretched on a hill with the Swiss alps in the backdrop. And maybe a spot of Metallica playing in the background. Hey, I gotta keep some sort of dignity.

Late morning cuppa…..

Just like JacquelineM, I had to jump on this one. I love a good Earl, and also, love Andrews & Dunham. A complete ‘no brainer’ in my book. It got here in just a few days, and I too love the magnet they included. It seems they always include something extra cool in their orders. As always, the packaging is too fun.

Onto the tea….Wow! Bergamot! The tea base is nice and hearty/mellow. It needs to be that to stand up to the ‘pow’ of bergamot this one packs. I would put this one just a little stronger than Lupicia. I do think the black tea base is a blend, but I am having a hard time sorting it out precisely. I would guess China black with a bit of Ceylon. I think the bergamot in this one is less on the orangey side (like the Lupicia), and more lemony bergamot. Lovely! I am so happy I bought this, and that it is NOT a limited edition!

Usual mug method.

So my baby girl, Daliya, was born on June 10! I haven’t been getting much sleep or much time for myself lately, but I have been drinking tea in the mornings. It has been very rough.

Anyway, I drank this tea this morning. Yummy with some milk and sugar. I need to eat and drink more in general. Bfeeding is taking a toll on me!