Andrews & Dunham Damn Fine Tea

Finishing this one off, finally; the last of my A&D trio to go. Perfect timing actually, as Teavivre decided to include a free sample of their silver jasmine green tea in my order.

Bumped the steep time down to two minutes, because I didn’t like the kind of strong flavour I was getting before.

Drinking it nice and hot, it’s bearable. I’m getting a very small amount of green, but for the most part, jasmine. Still like drinking jasmine soap, Jesus. At least now I can discern that the strong flavour wasn’t the green tea, but the jasmine added. Very floral. Quite strong. I’m sure I would like it a bit more if it was considerably weaker. If I had any sencha, I would probably had steeped a mixture of sencha with this, to dilute the jasminyness a bit.

The hot vegetableness sort of fills you with warmth, though. And that’s nice.

I decided that I have been drinking the other two of the set way too much compared to this one. Green tea is okay! I don’t hate it! I need to drink this more. So I decided to make a cup. At midnight.

Also thought it was a good idea to revisit it, since it’s been a while.

Strong jasmine smell still, although I think I smell an earthyness of the green in there somewhere.

I’m not getting the grassy taste as strongly, and I don’t know if it’s just because it’s been a while, and I’ve had some experience, but I’m finding it more enjoyable. Enough so that I might try to drink it more often.

I’ve still no idea if I should be tasting jasmine or not (or what it would taste like if I should be), but there is a pleasant ALMOST floralness somewhere in there that might be it. Otherwise, just light green. I think I made this weaker than I did my last cup. One teaspoon for a cup (eight ounces); I THINK I may have done it one teaspoon to six ounces. Which may have been my problem, because I’ve since realized that lighter teas (oolongs, greens, darjeelings) are best 1/8 instead of the 1/6 I’m used to.

It’s starting to cool, and I think I’m tasting the jasmine more. Hrm. Don’t know if it’s good or bad. Although I’m also getting a very faint bitterness.

It’s gone cold now, and it tastes better (going along nicely with the claim that this would probably be very nice iced), although yeah, jasmine (I don’t drink green teas often—I’m inexperienced!).

I still meant to try it iced. I think it would be nice iced. But I’ve got a LOT of teas I mean to try iced. Some day!

I’ve never been very fond of green tea, but I got the Series 3 set because I love Earl Grey, I love smoky, bold teas, and I wanted a nice green tea for the days I’m in the mood for one (plus, that Damn Fine Teas patch is pretty rad).

The jasmine smell was very strong, but I don’t use jasmine-scented products, so my mind didn’t immediately jump to ‘jasmine soap’ or anything similar.

The jasmine carried over into the smell of the brewed tea, but not in the taste at all. Three minutes turned out perfectly, so the tea was very lightly vegetable tasting and almost sweet; quite mild (in the past I’ve made green tea too strong and I can’t stand that kind of taste). The colour was a pale green, although the drips coming off of the teaball as I removed it were a nice goldy yellow.

Ever had maple-smoked bacon?

I wanted to spoil myself this evening, so I added a tsp of maple syrup to my smoky Caravan. So very delicious! 2nd steep, 6 minutes, likewise. The sweetness and the flavor just make a lovely counterpoint to the savory smoke. I have dark maple syrup, so it’s more flavorful than sugary-sweet, so I wouldn’t normally use it in tea, but I thought it would go really well with Caravan and it does.

Got this in a swap with JacquelineM. I’m currently steeping pretty much everything in Samovar’s glass oolong pot, because I’ve in love. The dry leaf is amazingly smoky, of course, the liqueur smells less so. G says it smells like rabbit food; we decided this might mean alfafa? Something grassy, anyway. It reminds me a little of puerh. The taste is a bit on the bitter side, but I think that’s my fault for over-steeping: I spilled a little water, so my ratio was more like 3oz/.5tsp. Anyway, there is a nice sweetness under the smoke. I have a suspicion this will be even better on the 2nd steep.

2nd steep (~ 5 minutes, still boiling, little more water) either smells less smoky, or I’ve adjusted to the scent. Definitely tastes sweeter, and milder, so I am well pleased. Still a dark savory tea, though. Smokier, or saltier, or something-er than Jackee, and still fairly strong.

Jackee and his compadre Thomas arrived chez Ca’ dei Gatti late yesterday afternoon. My first morning choice was Jackee. I had read the reviews and the mention of “smoke” enthralled me. I love “smoke” when it comes to perfumes, teas, salmon, prunes, paprika, nuts, and scotch. “Smoke” has got to walk a thin line between enhancing and highlighting that which is smoked and overwhelming it.

Jackee Muntz is a fine, rich, deep tea with a smoke that does manage to evoke the burnt sugary taste of caramel—but I liked to linger on the smokiness. I thought of an excellent poem I read recently called “Shopping List” by Anna Adams. The premise is that “all of life /
is hinted at on strips of scrap”. The imaginative mind can take a simple shopping list and go places—dig deeply like an anthropologist or archeologist.

“Cornfields come with the brown bread rolls,
orchards with apples, and the sea
heaves, vast, around the herring shoals,
and China swims in Lapsang Souchong tea.”

A tea that wakes me up, makes me think of poetry, and which unfolds layers of taste and meaning is a great one. I’ve already re-ordered.

I need to become a serious Buddhist to cope with all of the limited edition teas I’ve fallen in love with. I’ve wept buckets when books and perfumes go out of print, Jackee, my man, you’ve reversed the ill-effects of a bad night of sleep.

Hooray for bold, wild tea on a chaotic day!

Rich, bold, smooth, peppery and a little smokey – this is just the perfect example of a damn fine Yunnan tea. I am enjoying it immensely. Serious yumminess.

Jackee is really smokin’ today! I’ve not been a fan of a lot of smokey teas before, but the smoke here is not overpowering—and I’ve upgraded my rating!

A very bold morning cup. Rich, dark, with honey notes here and there. I did not reach caramel nirvana, but there is an enticing, elusive sweet note to this tea.

Backlogging.

Mmm… Thomas…

2nd steep: 5 min, 30 sec.

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It came out a bit strong this time – honeyed with a bite. I had the second mug in the early evening.

2nd steep: 5 min.

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I think the honey is temperature of the tea when you drink it dependent.

2nd steep: 5 min 30 sec. 205° F.

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Crave, crave. Cannot wake up today. No second steep.

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Somehow Thomas has escaped my cupboard. Steepster says he’s in there, but I did not see him. I tried a single steep of Thomas with just a touch of half and half. He still retained his honeyed touch.

Backlogging.

I’ll admit that I’m starting to go through a bit of a Thomas phase. That day Thomas had a little more bite and a little more biscuity. I had to leave right after the first mug so I didn’t get to the second steep until later.

2nd steep: 5 min 30 sec.

So apparently I have a problem with getting my teas logged in in an appropriate timely manner this holiday season – okay, for the past few months. But at least I had the forethought to make notes on an old envelope this time. It should be a New Year’s resolution for me to log my teas within a day or two. lol

So on to Thomas. One cannot ignore Thomas for too too long. Lovely honeyed again. I drank while making lists and eating a strawberry goat’s milk yogurt.

2nd steep: 5 min 30 sec.