Christmas Tea Blanc

Dammann Freres advent calendar day 12. After the terrible experience I had with Christmas Tea Vert, I was filled with dread about this one. Opening it up, though, I was encouraged to find that the dry leaf didn’t smell like bubblegum. Instead, it smells like sweet cherry, marzipan, and a hint of ginger. So, ok, maybe the brew won’t taste horrible!

It’s better than the vert, for sure, but I can’t say that I really like it. It doesn’t taste like bubblegum, which is a massive point in its favor. But it has a very strong maraschino cherry flavor, with a hint of marzipan in the background and a gentle whisper of ginger coming in on the back end. Somehow the mix of the cherry and marzipan also makes me think there’s orange in here, even though the ingredients say there isn’t. Somehow, I just don’t like this. I can’t quite place my finger on why, even – I don’t like cherries but I do like maraschino cherries and Shirley Temples. This just super isn’t working for me as a hot drink. I’m letting it cool to see if it’s more enjoyable cold.

[hours later]
I let this cool and topped it off with seltzer for a tea soda, which definitely made it more palatable for me – enjoyable, even. The sweetness of this particular cherry flavoring makes for a good soda flavoring, and works well for a cool refresher. Very much the opposite of a northern hemisphere Christmas vibe, but c’est la vie. I’m going to cold brew the second steep of this for another tea soda.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 3

Two white teas in one day! Wow – what are the odds? Is this a sign that our forecast for snow tomorrow is on the ball? We shall see (brr it’s cold out). White tea blends tend to be outliers in the flavoured tea world, but I’m not complaining at my luck. I enjoy white tea, even when the tea leaf itself isn’t the nicest (this one at leas has pretty colours). Cherry flavouring and earthy notes, on the other hand, are not always my favourite.

This one has the same quintessential white tea hay and citrus notes as MF’s Blanc & Rose offering, but the cherry is a punchier flavour than that delicate floral profile. Although candy-like, it’s a good cherry, that manages to avoid tasting like medicine (always a problem). The cherry and almond gives it a marzipan vibe (dessert qualities intensify). The ginger isn’t really here in a zippy heat capacity – it’s just sweet root stuff.. although, it does build zip as it cools.

Steep Count: 2

Dammann Frères Advent Day 1 (1-February 2021)

We are doing another advent for A’s birthday month!

This smells very marzipan-y but cut through with a tart cherry as well. Both of these flavours come through, but I would say this is more cherry with hints of marzipan. The cherry is very realistic. The cherry isn’t fresh, but more like a dried cherry that was once fresh. I can taste the most subtle hints of ginger spiciness and heat as the tea cools, but I’m going to try to drink it while it’s still hot so the ginger stays relatively hidden.

Advent 1.

Easily summed up as strong cherry candy, lesser hay and flowers with some nectary white tea body and sweetness. Along with cherry candy, I taste pure ginger flavor without any spiciness and some citrus in the second steep.

I had no problem drinking it but it’s definitely not something I’d go out of my way to buy.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 3
This is a tea for cherry tea lovers. Dry it’s full-on cherry. It smells like cherry candy rather than cough syrup, but it’s a lot of cherry. Brewed, it’s a lovely combination of cherry and bitter almond. I don’t really get ginger or gingerbread. It’s a lovely cup and if I loved cherry teas, it probably would register higher for me.

And sure enough, my husband continues to love this one. He loves Mariage Freres’s Sakura The Blanc which is another white cherry tea, so I’d love for him to compare the two. Mariage Freres’s version is insanely expensive, and this could be a good option.

Advent Calendar Day Fourteen

I’ve yet to miss a day/post a tea on a day other than when I’ve drank it for this advent calendar so I figured I best post the review for today’s tea before I drift off to sleep. I’ve been so tired all day…

Basically I think this is pretty much just the same as Noel a Paris but with a white tea base, right? The ingredients look identical with that one exception, and drinking it this morning that’s exactly what it tasted like. I will say, the cherry comes through stronger with the white base, but I don’t either it nor the ginger compliment a white base as well as they do the black one. So, I liked the black better overall – which is probably for the best given I’ve got like 90g left of Noel a Paris.

Definitely worth checking out though if you like the flavours in Noel a Paris but aren’t big on black teas, though.

The scent of this tea reminds me of Fruit Stripe gum. I also get this weird mint that pops through occasionally. I love the pretty white and pink/red flowers that are mixed in with the white tea. Very festive!

Sipping… this tea actually tastes a little bit like Fruit Stripe gum to me, but with the addition of a white tea base. There is something a little tingly in the tail end of the sip, that makes me think of spices.. but it’s so faint that I don’t really notice it. While this tea has lovely flavors, it’s very delicate. I do wish that it had a little more strength.

December 14 – Advent 2014

Dammann Frères Advent Calendar 2022 – Day 12

Not a fan of this one.

The cherry and almond together is just too much for me, similar to their Noël à Paris tea. In fact, I think they might be essentially the same tea on different bases? The flavor list seems the same anyway.

Regardless, it’s not for me. Too cherry cough syrupy and not enough gingerbread.