Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

Series 3 from Damn Fine Teas arrived on my doorstep less than an hour ago. Between the jasmine and the bergamont, the package smelled very reminiscent of Lush bath bombs. In a good way… a box of Lush bath bombs without the headachey perfumey bombs that break me out, I suppose. (I’m looking at you, Sex Bomb.)

Anyway. Jasmine Green smells amazing. All this time I’ve been blaming jasmine for the iced tea I don’t care for at a local cafe, but now I’m thinking there has to be another culprit, because this was fantastic. The green tea isn’t as… green as some of the other blends I’ve tried and disliked, and the jasmine has a really nice, delicate flavor.

I must try this iced.

Today did not get off to a good start, Steepsterites.

I set my alarm for 8am so that I could be up in time to welcome my couch, lovingly, when it was delivered ‘sometime between 10 and 2pm’. Showered. Dressed. Went downstairs to get tip money for the guys. Passing the front desk, the concierge says: “Sorry you missed your furniture delivery!”

?!?!

But they told me 10 and 2, I exclaim, flailing and looking (I am sure) generally aghast. I’m early!

“No, they were here yesterday,” he says.

Of course, yesterday I was out running errands and incommunicado, because I wanted to be sure my house was perfectly in order and prepared for my couch, for which I have been waiting for six months.

Sigh.

So instead of getting tip money at the market around the corner, I bought a chocolate toffee bar. Eff it, I tell you. Eff it all and give me candy.

I needed a tea that would stand up to a Skor bar. Earl Grey was the tea that got me interested in better quality (and loose) leaf. I love it, but I’ve strayed away from the perfumey stuff in recent months. Still, it sounded capable of cutting through the candy bar, and I’ve had this tin in my cupboard, untouched, for everrrrrr.

It’s an extremely bergamot-y tea. The scent of it is high and forward, but not bitter; there are times when Earl Grey’s bergamot tastes more floral to me than citrusy, but this cup is very much in the citrus end of the spectrum — possibly more than any I can recall. For all that it’s a very smooth cup, with no astringency even after four minutes in boiling-hot water. I think I’d enjoy it with a bit of milk and sugar (which is how I usually prefer my Earl Grey — I skipped it today because I don’t like to first rate a tea with additives).

It’s also not bad with the candy bar, though I think for the other half, I might switch things up and go with some Dawn.

So here’s what happened.

I put this into the Breville to steep, and then forgot about it and took my 4 year old to pre-K. When I came home I remembered, and the timer on the Breville indicated it had been available for drinking for approximately 54 minutes.

I figured it would be cold and probably not very good, but I tasted it anyway.

WOW.

It was lukewarm. But the first thing I noticed was the mouthfeel. Thick. Not really chewy, but thick and textured, somewhere between broth and syrup. And then, unexpectedly, the most wonderful flavor. Gently smoky, with a naturally sweet, smooth undercurrent of tea that tastes like… bread on the initial sip, and as it rounds out in the mouth, plums?

Enough. I have to go make more of this and see how it is hot.

While it’s making, I’m backtracking to the dry tea. Fairly large, brown tippy leaves. A very smoky smell, that has the salty, meaty smoke thing going on.

And yes, it’s even better hot! The thickness of the mouthfeel isn’t as apparent, but there’s a carby sweetness, sort of yam-like, to both the aroma and the flavor. The smoke is an accent, not the main event, but a noticeable one. There’s a lot of depth and character here, something that reminds me of what I like about Samovar’s black teas. That particular quality is more apparent as the tea cools. Too cold, as my first cup has now become, and the magic goes poof. Would not recommend this as an iced tea. But any range between right out of the pot and lukewarm is delicious. Like a nice wine that’s left to breathe, it changes with time. One flavor may not be better than the others, just different and equally wonderful.

I was moved to give this a 100, but I can’t bring myself to do it on a limited edition. It would just be too sad to have decided on a perfect tea, and then have it be unavailable.

My A&D Series 1 and 2 teas have been kicking around in my cupboard for awhile, but I haven’t really touched them since I didn’t want to open a new tin while I had so many teas already on the go. It says something that LiberTeas got to try my tea before I did, lol!

Cool and unique-looking tins aside the dry tea itself is quite pretty to look at – black twists of leaves with a mixture of silver-white, golden, and light brown streaks. The steeped leaves turn a uniform light reddish-brown colour, which is very close to the colour of the liquor itself.

The tea has a lot of superficial similarities to a Darjeeling tea – not surprising I suppose since the Darjeeling region of India is near Nepal. However it isn’t as astringent and while there are some muscatel-wine notes initially, the tea fades into a flavour that strongly reminds me more of a light beer. The tea also gains a sweetness as it cools off, much in the same way an oolong does, interestingly enough.

This is a very good quality jasmine green.

I feel churlish giving it a score that doesn’t reflect the score I think someone who enjoys both jasmine and green teas might give it, but the fact remains that green teas are a sporadic indulgence for me at best, and floral teas are equally a matter of mood and whim, and the combination of the two together will never be a staple in my cupboard.

This is among the stronger jasmine teas I’ve tried. The tea that it produces is slightly cloudy (or at least not crystal clear); there’s a pleasant sweetness there, but also the sort of vegetal astringency that tends to be one of the reasons I lean toward green oolongs rather than purely green teas for a lighter cup. The jasmine flavor doesn’t seem to be in the least bit artificial, and the smell of the dry tea leaves is absolutely lovely.

To me, though, it’s like having a mouth full of perfume. This is absolutely in no way a drawback in terms of what the tea sets out to accomplish…but one really ought to enjoy jasmine to drink this tea. It is unrelentingly jasmine-y.

Are A&D planning on releasing a new series like ever? Or are they maybe holding out until S3 sells out? Because there are still nearly 200 sets of that left.

I’ve only got a little of this left of mine. Who knows, maybe I’ll buy a new set. But I do think it would be nice to see what else they might come up with.

I was actually really inspired to have this last night, but due to a number of personal issues that I shan’t go into, I didn’t get around to having it. I’ll have it now instead while trying to muster some diet-motivation so I can go for walkies afterwards.

Well. That was unpleasant.

I’ve been through my follow list and removed just shy of 100 people, taking me from 160 to 61. Many of them were people who had gone inactive, but some of them weren’t. I’m so sorry to those that I had to remove. Some were people who had been on my follow list for a long long time, and people that I’ve connected with on other sites as well. It’s not because I don’t like you anymore, I just really had to do something because I couldn’t keep up.

It annoys me that it’s necessary, but I hope this helps. But I suspect that I wasn’t really harsh enough in removing people. We’ll see.

I need something light to get my feet back now, and this just happened to be standing there. I didn’t think I could drink an entire cup, so I’ve made two quick steeps in the gaiwan and poured them together in a smaller cup.

It didn’t really damage it, though. The flavour is the familiar one of strong jasmine and then something spicy-fresh underneath. It tastes rather chinese, really. None of the seaweed-y-ness of Sencha. Sencha always seem rather lively to me, and as far as I can tell, this is more sedate. Sedate, however, is not a bad thing.

I don’t know, it fits rather well with this Yoga for Dummies Beginners thing I’m giving a go. Of course the cup went luke-warm while I was following the dvd, but it was nice to come back to.

OH MY CEILING CAT WHY MUST IT BE SO HOT???

I think I’ve worked out what controls my green tea moods and my black tea moods. It’s heat. When it’s hot, green tea seems more refreshing. When it isn’t hot, it often seems to be a little boring to drink for me. When it isn’t hot, I like the strength of a good black much better. Oolongs, they’re sort of an all-round type.

It’s hot today, so I turn towards green. This one, with it’s strong jasmine flavour, probably wasn’t the best choice but it was the first tin I saw.

goes back to melting

This is the last that is left of my A&D, and it’s a little fun that this is the first time I break into this tin. I just haven’t felt like green teas much in general and when I did, I didn’t feel like a jasmine one.

But okay, this morning I was all in doubt about what to have and of course I’d already put the kettle on and the water was just getting colder and colder and made the decision for me.

It smells a little soap-y but not anywhere near close to the horrible bouquet thing from Kusmi, so I’m just coming to the conclusion that jasmine quite simply just smells like soap, the end. Okay, I can deal with that. And after brewing it’s less soap-y and more flower-y so that’s even better.

Now, I had a bit of a fail when I poured it. I just poured it like I normally would and these days I’ve taken to using a little sieve on top of the cup when pouring. So when I took the sieve away I noticed darkish clouds swirling around in the cup. What the…???

Either there’s something dark and swirly in the tealeaves or the sieve is in need of a clean. I’m thinking it’s probably the latter, so I’ve set some wheels in motion in that department. So yeah, the flavour is likely a little tainted by… something.

But then again this means that everything I’ve had for a good while now has been tainted by the same something, so I’m not really all that concerned.

The tea itself, taint and all, seems extremely well balanced. There’s a lot of jasmine in it, but not really all that overwhelming. Hands down the best jasmine green I’ve ever had.

(But green is not my favourite type and jasmine is not my favourite green, so…)

Another A&D sampling courtesy of Jillian – thank you Jillian, I really appreciate it!

This is a really nice Ceylon. Very smooth with a natural sweetness that is very pleasant to enjoy this morning. I am really glad that I decided to reach for this tea today!

Thanks again to Jillian for letting me try this – I am so very glad I was able to try it!

I’m starting my day with Thomas Sampson today – and finishing the last of the sampling that Jillian so graciously shared with me. Thank you again Jillian!

This experience with Thomas is much like my first. Malty and brisk. Bold. A lot of gusto which I need today – my first born is graduating today.

Anyway, on with the show Thomas! We’ve got a lot to do today.

This tasting note comes courtesy of Jillian – thank you so much for sharing Thomas with me!

A very nice Assam. I didn’t follow the steeping suggestions by A&D – it’s been my experience with Assam that any longer than 2 1/2 minutes and I get bitterness. But contrary to the suggestions – I don’t feel that this tea is “pale and gutless” – just very pleasant! Brisk and malty. And no bitterness! Definitely one of the better Assam teas I’ve encountered.

A huge thank you to Jillian for your generosity – thank you for sharing this tea with me!

After having tried a couple of other Damn Fine Teas from Andrews & Dunham, I really wanted to try some of their earlier offerings. Jillian was so kind to send me a few! Thank you!

My reaction to most teas from Nepal is “golden” because that is the best possible descriptive term I can find to describe the flavor of it. It seemingly sparkles on the tongue, it tastes so clear and crisp and sweet and golden

This tea is no exception. A sweet, golden taste – delightful on the palate. Smooth. A nice malty taste to it.

SIP DOWN on this one too!
I like this one because it’s nice and juicy on the bergamot and not over doing in on the Earl…if that makes sense…anyhow…check out my previous notes…

Light on the EG astringency but still a damn fine tea.

Thanks LiberTEAs!!!!!
:P

This is the first time I have tried this one and once I opened up the travel size tin that LiberTEAS sent me I knew right away it was Earl Grey…no question about it. Smells JUST like Earl Grey should smell like . The taste is special and different tho. I mean, ANYONE can do an earl grey, right!? But what makes each one DIFFERENT is what I am interested in.

Here’s what’s DIFFERENT about this one and what makes it stand out – in my honest opinion…

Sure it has an INTENSE Earl Grey nose and I ass+u+me=ed it would be just as intensely on the tongue but it was SMOOTH. YES! An earl grey that TASTES smooth! The Black Tea is BOLD but the bergamot and other stereotypical earl grey notes that are usually overdone…aren’t…they AREN’T overdone!!! YAY! Most of the time when they are over done they seem to taste very fake and have funky lingers. (OH! “The Funky Lingers” wouldn’t that be a COOL name for a band!?) Anyhow…this is NICE…real tasting and smooth but still noticeably earl grey! YAY!

This is coming right off finishing an IPA beer, but this is super smooth, lightly sweet.

As it happens, floral teas have been growing on me. Of particular interest has been the Jasmine family of teas.

This Jasmine from Andrews & Dunham has turned out to be one of the best Jasmine green teas I have had. It’s flavorful, fragrant and good for four to five steeps until almost all the flavor has been tapped.

The dry leaves are very aromatic with Jasmine petals mixed in and long thin leaves roughly 3/4 to 1in long and twisted, like twine.

If you like floral teas, Jasmine teas or teas which can be brewed many times, this infusion is for you!

This Jasmine is quite possibly noe of the best I’ve ever had! It’s light but aromatic and it keeps its flavor and aroma through a good three or four steeps.

Running low on this one… Fantastic wake up tea – with a little mint and some stevia.

Remember when I said that I needed to stop hoarding my teas? I realized this morning that I hadn’t even OPENED my tin of this tea. I’m guessing that my original review was based on a sample from a generous Steepsterite – so I trust that rating. I feel that I can’t properly review this tea since it’s ::mumblemumble:: years old. But I’m relieved to say that it’s still tasty – I just have a feeling that it’s not as “bright” as it was when I first received the tin.

In some breaking news, the amazing JacquelineM has won the “Courtesy Death Match” that we had going on for a swap. I received her package today and was blown away. Check out these most adorable tins:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabstea/4629760163/

And those labels? Each one is hand colored and decorated with absolute charm:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/rabstea/4629760379/in/photostream/

Yeah, she’s amazing — and the teas she gave me are amazing too. I’m am unworthy! And I’m also apparently dead cuz she won the Death Match. ;)

A&D’s Earl Grey won out as the first tea I selected to try: an Earl Grey sort of fit my mood this afternoon. Oy — this is some yummy tea! It’s subtle and gives me even more warm fuzzies (if the Courtesy Death Match hadn’t already done me in, then the sheer amount of warm fuzziness I’ve had lately would’ve done it. I’d be a warm pile-o-goo).

I think that I like my Rosy Earl Grey more. It’s got a bit more oomph and the Frou-Frou Factor. But this is absolutely lovely. And it has pushed me over the edge to purchase this series as soon as possible. Thank you so much JacquelineM!!!!! TG

Apropos of nothing in particular, whenever I read A&D’s full company name, I immediately think of Laraine Newman holding up a glass and saying, “Wow, that’s terrific bass!” I expect I’m the only weirdo who makes this association and I have no idea why.

Anyway, after venturing into Assam land with the Teavana Assam Gold Rain, I decided I couldn’t go farther without a visit with the legendary, incomparable Thomas Sampson. I’m always up for a challenge, so the mere fact that he’s incomparable isn’t going to stand in my way. I’m going to compare him to Assam Gold Rain just for grins.

First off, Thomas doesn’t seem to be as tippy. Though there are clearly lighter colored tips in among the leaves, the ratio of dark to light isn’t nearly as high as it is in the ASR. Thomas’ dry leaves smell better to me, though. Their smell isn’t as strong. It’s lower key, and deeper, and gives the impression of being fresher for some reason? Which is weird because I think I’ve had it longer. In any case, there’s a big difference between the way the dry leaves smell.

Thomas steeped, though, does remind me of the ASR’s aroma. It’s that anti-malty, yeasty smell, which I’m coming to realize (through a trend of two) is what Assams smell like.

But wait. How can something that smells so similar taste so different? There was something about the ASR’s taste that just plain rubbed me the wrong way. It was the yeasty thing, and it seemed sort of off to me.

Thomas, thankfully, doesn’t have that same characteristic. There’s a sweetness to Thomas that is closer to a true maltiness, and a smoothness. The ASR has a harshness that grates on me. It sits right under my sinuses and feels like it’s making the tasting equivalent of a screeching noise, like fingernails on a blackboard or a rake across cement. Thomas doesn’t even hint at harsh, at least until the swallow when he gets a little fresh and does a grab thing to my throat going down about a third of the time. But I forgive him that for what he makes up in flavor.

I’m amazed at how much more I like this than the ASR. I will give the ASR one more try on a lower temp setting before relegating it to black tea duty for chai.

Let’s end with a little of the ol’ modus ponens for those of you taking logic this semester: If Thomas is what a good Assam tastes like, then I like Assam. Thomas is what a good Assam tastes like. Therefore, I like Assam.

I have to leave it to others better versed than I am to verify the truth of the first premise, but my guess is yes. Now. What else tastes similar to Thomas? Given his limited edition status, I already have to start to worry about that.

After going thru ANOTHER Home Stash last night I found a very little bit of this left and KNEW I was going to have to start my day with it. BOY OH BOY am I glad I knew right where this one was…it was a HELL of a NIGHT! Dogs woke me up at 3 (after finally getting to sleep around 1) and ended up on the couch AGAIN for ANOTHER night and then I didn’t get back to sleep until about 4 (when DH wakes up and leaves for work) THEN the massive thunderstorms started at 4:35-ish and I tried to fight the dogs freaking out but it didn’t work…I was totally awake by 5…BLAH!!!

TEA TEA TEA – Bring me MORE TEA! It’s going to be a Hellish Day again! Actually the next 3 weeks are going to be that way! Is there an end in sight?

At least I have a fundraiser to do today! I LOVE Fundraisers, Charities, and Volunteering (Plus I get to leave work a tad early eventho I should…but I haven’t been taking my lunches, sooooo)

Anyhow…another storm on the way…and sorry for the early morning ramble…but I had to vent to someone and apparently my fellow Steepsters are the only ones who listen to me! LOL :) Thanks guys! You are great!

OH!!!! SIPDOWN!!!! See previous notes for my thoughts on this tea! Woot!