Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

Backlog. 8 days ago. Last Thursday morning.

I’ve been drinking a lot of DFT’s previous year’s holiday blend lately because it’s older than this one and logically, I should use it up first. But decided to have a mug of this one today to change it up a little. I drank this while packing and getting ready to leave to go to my parents to spend the night there before leaving out from there early the next morning to go on an overnight shopping trip to Charlotte with a stop in Seagrove the first day.

So coming to this page, I was surprised to see this tea not only not in my cupboard but never been logged either. I’ve prolly had it half a dozen times. I see that I gave DFT’s previous Holiday Blend an initial rating of 74 so I’m giving this one an initial rating for 76 because I remember liking the smokier richer notes slightly better.

Tea of the morning……

This just gets better with each sip. Ahhhh.

When I saw that A & D was having a sale this month, it was time for me to take the plunge and buy some since they had a black blend available. I was quite enamored with their Damn Fine Holiday Blend a few years ago when Batrachoid was so generous in sending me a sample. Another reviewer mentioned that it was heavily Keemun….and that put me over the edge. I do love the look of their packaging, and it was just time. There has not been a new tea in this house for a while (with the limit on the amount I can drink, plus a near life-time supply of tea on the premises, purchases are few and far between.)

This blend is kind of reminiscent of Harney’s Palm Court or Eight at the Fort. I do think it is a little more Keemuny than either of those two (which is perhaps why I am loving it so….) There is definitely something to give it a decent amount of mouthfeel. And there is a brightness, too. (Perhaps Darjeeling?) Slight smoke, maltiness, a hint of cocoa, the ever so slightest hint of a bitterness that rounds it out very nicely (yes, that sounds off, but man, does it make for a great cuppa.) The tin looks and works just like a small paint can. While the packaging is incredibly fun-looking, and I am sure it will keep the tea very fresh, it can be a pain to open easily. It takes several pries to get the prize. However, I would totally buy more. I am hooked.

Usual teapot method.

I am sooo far behind on trying all my tea swaps! This was sent to me by Tommy months ago and I’m sorry I am just getting around to trying it now.

When I first saw the leaves I was wondering if there was a darjeeling in here because I see some lighter tips. Very attractive leaves and the tea brews up quite dark, IMO.

This does remind me quite a lot of an English breakfast tea which is traditionally made with Ceylon, assam and kenya teas. It’s a bold cup with a bit of wine and tannins in the aftertaste. It was ok to drink plain but I really felt it needed soymilk. Fairly enjoyable as a bracing afternoon cup, but would also be good in the morning.

1.25 tsp for 250mL water @100C, steeped four minutes.

I am drinking this so quickly it hasn’t got time to cool off.

An excellent blend, withheft, body, notes of smoke and cream, and some slight astengency and mineral in the finish. Great caffeine punch, too. I love this blend, and I always order more than one tin at a time, because when I’ve got it, this stuff doesn’t last long.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @ 100C, steeped four minutes.

Ahhhhhhhhh.

Been a while since i had any Double Knit. This excellent blend gives heft and malt with some subtle cream and smoke. A brilliant blend. One of my favourites.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @00C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

Copper-mahogany liquor. Creamy, smoky (very subtle smoke, like Keemun) black tea with no bitterness. Heavy body. Caffeine punch. Seriously dependable tea. One of my favourite blends, ever. Hats off, as usual, to Damn Fine.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped four minutes, drunk bare.

An excellent black tea blend. Quite robust today, after several days of drunking Yunnan blacks and tiguanyins. Reassuring. Not bitter. Solid and dependable.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

So good. An excellent, if mysterious, blend of black teas. I’ve made guesses as to what’s in here before, but in the end, I don’t much care how they made it: I just want it in my cup. A good wake-me-up tea. The last time I ordered it, I ordered three tins.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

Assertive and comforting, a bit like a take-charge grandmother. Much classic black tea goodness going on here, with the Keemun (I suspect) as ever adding a rich note. A very bold tea. The slight bot of smoke is very comforting on a dreary, wet day.

1.5 tsp for 350mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

My very last scrapings from my second tin of this stellar blend … I’ve got three more tins on the way to me, because this dependable, invigorating black tea blend doesn’t get bitter and has lots of nuance and depth. Magic. It’s gonna be a long wait for this package, though.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @95C, steeped four minutes, drunk bare.

I am experimenting with cooler water on black teas, but for this robust blend, I think a full 100C boil does the best job of bringing out the creamy heft of Assam. The smokier (Keemun?) tea dominated and got a little bitter. Very enjoyable, still, and it gave me a great boost this evening.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped four minutes, drunk bare.

I am desperate for a hit of Assam.

There is Assam in this delicious blend.

There’s also a fair bit of Keemun, I think, which can get bossy, but the Assam notes come out as the tea cools.

Damn Fine has never let me down.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @ 100C, steeped 4 minutes 30 seconds, drunk bare.

I couldn’t get to my strainer right away … the extra 30 seconds makes this tea a little bitter for me. The smoke is starting to dominate, but the smooth malt beneath is still there. Mineral finish, but defintely tending to bitterness.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C. Steeped 3 minutes. Drunk bare.

I like this better on the shorter steep. The Assam (if that’s what I’m tasting) gets to show off its creamy heft without the Keemun (?) dominating with its toast and smoke.

This is a very good blend. At my first sip this evening, I just sighed in bliss.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

I got a Damn Fine package in the mail! Woot! And I ordered it just before they put the 3-pack on sale, weh. Not to worry: I wanted to snatch the Captain for one last tryst, so I got one of the remaining Hot Teas on High Seas sets … and a big ol tin of Double Knit.

The copywriting and design of A&D tins gets me every time.

Dry leaf smelled very Keemun heavy, and good Keemun, with oaky notes but no tarriness, plus some red winey notes. Big smiles.

Liquor is a medium brown. Body quite light, almost like a Darjeeling in mouthfeel. In fact, I’d swear there’s some Darjeeling or Nepal in this blend, giving a slight bite. Darjeeling and Keemun at least … mineral notes on the finish and a faint pucker — like a gentle kiss. Not a chewy black tea, but that’s what Assam is for. A really good blend, bright and thoughtful.

OMG! I am completely in love with this tea! Yes … yes … yes! (Imagine Meg Ryan in probably her most popular scene ever there)

As I am sitting here slurping on this tea, I tried to think of an Assam tea that I might have enjoyed as much as I’m enjoying this … and only one comes to mind. (And that would be No. 49 from Steven Smith … and I just left that store about two hours ago without some of my beloved Assam, what was I thinking? I was too excited over the other, new teas that I had not yet tried that I had forgotten to restock No. 49 and No. 55)

Anyway… this is amazing. It is a strong Assam… rich, malty and flavorful. It will assuredly kick your butt right out of “sleep” mode and into get-up-and-get-em mode. It starts out smooth and caramel-y, and there is a fair amount of astringency to this that slowly dries the palate after the sip. But, I don’t find the astringency to be out of bounds or too much. It is the perfect finishing touch to this really robust Assam.

Everything about this Tiger is amazing. What else should I have expected from Andrews & Dunham. They rock.

Backlog:

I finally wrote my full-length review for this tea a couple of weeks ago, here is the link to that review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/02/02/double-knit-blend-from-damn-fine-tea/

Another great blend from Damn Fine Teas! I really like this one. Rich, a touch of smoke, full-bodied and tastes heavy without feeling too heavy. A very enjoyable cuppa.

Oh goodness, this is good.

Rich and slightly smoky, malty, smooth, slightly astringent, and really just good. Yeah, this is just what I needed to kick start my day.

I was going to take a moment or two to write a full-length review, but I think I shall do that on another day. For now, I’m just going to sit back and enjoy this before I need to get busy with running errands and such.

I agree with what everyone else said about this tea, it is smokey! when its steeped and you take a whiff of it, you can smell the smokiness. As for the taste, its delightful. It doesn’t dry you out like other black teas with that after taste. Great for a winter night.

At the end of summer I did some major reflecting and came to the conclusion that I didn’t know (and still don’t know) my straight teas very well. I vowed that I would make a noticeable effort to search out and compare “noteworthy” teas and learn how to brew them properly. I randomly decided to start with the accessible Dragonwell. I bought this brand, some from Silk Road, and a bag from Mighty Leaf, and… then I ran out of money. It’s a testament to this type of tea that, despite unintentional abuse on my part, all three of my “specimens” came out tasting yummy.

With the international shipping cost this Dragonwell was undoubtedly the most expensive. I was really nervous as I had never heard of this company except for word of mouth here on Steepster. I still don’t know what possessed me to try this as my first tea from Andrews & Dunham but I don’t regret the decision.

This is an insanely buttery green. Have you ever had boiled green veggies so soft and natural that they feel like they are melting in your mouth while performing serenades across your tongue? If yes, then you have a vague understanding of what this tea is like. It’s so soothingly creamy and invigoratingly awesome that it leaves me in a stupor. I feel unworthy reviewing it. When it runs out I’ll be sad for I fear I’m too cheap to order more of something that is limited anyways. I will always cherish the time I had with you, flirty buttery tea. There are a lot of pretty green leaves stuffed in the tin so that is slightly consoling.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, stepped four minutes forty-five seconds, drunk bare.

BAM! Smoky with other China tea notes — a tiny bit sweet — with a light to medium body: so gooooood. Caravan Resurrected has been tucked at the back of my tea cabinet for a while; time to let it party.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @ 95C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

I need to give my tin of Double Knit blend, which only arrived on Friday, a little rest. Between sharing some samples and, er, drinking a lot of it myself, my tin’s already one-third gone. So I rifled through my holdings on this overcast day when I feel ghastly and thought: Yeah. Horns up. Caravan Resurrected.

A light-to-medium-bodied black blend — mostly China black, I think — with some delicious and nuanced smoke flavour. It never gets tarry. With slightly cooler water, 95C versus boiling, sweeter notes release. The smoke tastes very natural, and a tiny bit savoury, almost salty, though that note is not as strong as it was in A & D’s original Caravan. The smoke is neither dusty nor powdery, as happens in some Caravans and Lapsangs. Refreshing and distinct. Not my everyday cup, but always enjoyed.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @ 100C, steeped 4 minutes, drunk bare.

Horns up, babeh!

Light to medium body China black teas with a mineral finish and a lovely bit of smoke. Doesn’t pack the caffeine punch of, say, a good Assam, but it does give a lift and a buzz. I miss the savoury note from the first edition of Caravan, but whaddya do — tea plants have a mind of their own. This is still one of the best Caravans I’ve ever had. Too many of them out there are dusty and point to the number one failing of many flavoured teas: a crappy tea base. Not this one. Caravan Resurrected can also be a very contemplative cup as you sit there and try to puzzle out all the nuances. Dry leaf looks a bit twiggy.

1.5 tsp for 300mL water @100C, steeped four minutes, drunk bare.

I love this tea.

Light body, mineral and crisp, good hit of Caravan smoke, an elusive sweet note, smokey finish but not heavily so. I would guess this blend had some Keemun in it. Solid performance tonight. (Ahem. From the tea.)