Compagnie & Co (formerly Compagnie Coloniale)

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 14

This is a sort of salted caramel oolong, though technically I assume it’s inspired by the sablé Breton (since it’s named for Bretagne). But it’s similar to other salted caramel oolongs I’ve had, like the one from Dammann.

It’s very smooth, and the oolong is somewhat oxidized which gives it a nice toasty vibe. The flavoring is somewhat subtle, though I do taste the butteriness and brown sugar notes. Very pleasant as an evening tea, but these caramel oolongs never seem to taste as good as I expect them to, given the name. :P

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 13

Fruity rooibos and I don’t generally get along, but this wasn’t terrible. I would’ve preferred it without the red fruits, because they make it lean slightly medicinal, and I like the mandarin more. There is a slight bubblegum quality to it.

Drinkable, but not a favorite.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 12

This is nice enough, it reminds me of a similar tea from Dammann (Paul & Virginie I think?). Mostly red fruits, heavy on the strawberry, with a bit of a creamy vanilla note just smoothing out the edges. It’s a bit watery, I probably should have used 6 ounces of water instead of 8 for this one.

Pleasant for the evening, though I think I prefer Lupicia’s Strawberry & Vanilla if I wanted this type of tea.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 11

Boring! XD

Don’t get me wrong, it’s a perfectly pleasant Darjeeling (second flush, seems like). But I just can’t get excited about an unflavored tea in an advent calendar from a company that mostly specializes in flavored teas. Personally, I tend to buy my unflavored teas from different companies than my flavored ones.

Anyway, it’s smooth and somewhat bready with a noticeable hay note to it. A bit of underlying grapeyness as well. Slightly astringent on the backend, but nothing major.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 10

I think I may have use a bit too much water with this one, because it’s quite bland. These sachets have been consistently good with 8 ounces of water, but maybe this one had a bit less in it?

So a bit hard to review, but mostly getting watered down black tea with a bit of clove and a whisper of cinnamon.

Sorry, tea! :P

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 9

This is an interesting mix – green and white teas with red fruits, almond, and honey.

There is a vague fruitiness to it, the almond makes it lean more toward cherry to me, maybe with some raspberry in there as well. I do get a little touch of honey. Honestly it’s a bit difficult to pull the flavors apart, as they almost combine into a single, more complex flavor? I don’t think I would be able to pick out the notes (other than the almond) if I didn’t already know what they were. There’s almost something a bit citrusy as well? It almost hits bubblegum, but not quite.

An interesting one. I don’t love it, but mostly because of the almond ha ha. I wish there was a bit more freshness to the fruit (it’s more jammy) to help brighten up the flavor overall.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 8

Ooh, this is my favorite kind of Earl Grey – the kind where the bergamot brought some other citrus friends to the party. :D

Really nice blend, in particular I’m tasting a sweet and bright orange flavor. I do also get the bergamot in the background adding an almost lime-y note, and probably the lemon blending in as well. The base is earthy and smooth, most likely a Chinese black tea.

Just lovely, and really an ideal tea for the morning.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 7

I’m never excited to see a jasmine green tea in an advent, but I do always enjoy them.

This is a somewhat subdued example. The green tea is quite earthy and smooth, not quite gunpowder level earthy, but moreso than your usual generic green base. The jasmine is very natural, and unusually light. Usually I find jasmine teas to be heavy on the jasmine, but this one is almost heavier on the green tea. A touch of astringency in the finish.

Overall, very mellow and a welcome cuppa after a day of far too much working.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 6

Was surprised to see this so soon after the plain Ceylon.

I’m admittedly not a vanilla black tea person, but this is quite nice. It’s not too heavy, and there’s not an overbearing woodiness that I sometimes find with bourbon vanilla style teas. The vanilla does taste quite genuine, and it has a rich creaminess to it that makes me think of crème pâtissière. The black tea is also quite light, and its more acidic, astringent qualities actually become refreshing when paired with the more decadent flavoring.

Not something I would drink regularly, but pleasantly surprised by how much I enjoyed this one.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 5

Let’s be honest, I’m never very excited when I see rooibos. It’s just not one of my favorite tea bases, I prefer honeybush or even herbal blends.

But this is actually really nice! Such an interesting combination of sweet strawberries & cream with a swirl of bright grapefruit. The strawberry and cream flavors give such a nice dreamy sweetness, and remind me of those Creme Savers candies that I used to love when I was younger. And then the grapefruit comes in and just freshens the whole thing up a bit.. Often red fruit or berry rooibos blends can taste quite medicinal to me, but I feel like here the grapefruit really helps keep that at bay.

Quite a lovely sweet and fruity rooibos. I would consider ordering some of this if there end up being other Compagnie & Co teas that I want to purchase.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 4

Honestly, Sri Lankan black teas are probably my least favorite, so I was not excited to see this one this morning…

It’s pleasant enough – bready and a touch creamy up front, but then some bitterness and astringency creep in at the back of the mouth in the finish. Quite metallic and acidic, as I would expect from this type of tea.

It’s fine, just not my cuppa tea! :P

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 3

Ooh, this is one of their holiday teas! It says it has orange, chocolate, and spices, which sounds interesting.

The orange is definitely the strongest, and it’s a very bright orange oil-y sort of flavor. I do get a little bit of chocolate mid-sip, and it’s on the lighter side, more of a mild milky chocolate. Doesn’t taste like chocolate flavoring, which is nice. As for the spice… A hint of cinnamon, perhaps? I feel like it’s melding in with the orange so it’s a bit difficult to detect. There is also a touch of bubblegum, which is something I sometimes taste specifically in Dammann Fréres’s orange teas. Thankfully, it’s quite subtle here.

Very enjoyable! I like the brightness of the orange quite a lot, but would like a little more of the other flavors. The flavoring is also quite strong, I don’t taste the green tea at all here.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 2

I considered picking up some of this tea when I ordered my advent, but decided to avoid buying teas that were also in the advent. It’s a hazelnut and vanilla black tea.

I will say, I think I’m glad I didn’t spring for 100g. It’s a tasty enough tea, it just lacks oomph. Plus I don’t really pick up on much of the vanilla, mostly it’s a mellow hazelnut black tea. The tea itself has woody notes which I think goes very well with the hazelnut flavor. Still, would’ve liked to taste some of the vanilla or even some cream.

Compagnie & Co Advent Calendar 2023 – Day 1

Well this is an interesting one. A green tea with citrus, sage, and… banana? What an unusual combo.

Well I’m definitely not getting banana, but I’m really liking the rest. The citrus part reminds me of grapefruit, and it makes for quite a nice pairing with the savory and herbaceous sage. The green base is somewhat grassy but fairly smooth, and I do think it’s the right choice for this flavor combo. There is a touch of astringency in the finish, but if anything it only makes the grapefruit more authentic-tasting.

Very refreshing and enjoyable! This tea makes me want to try a grapefruit and sage gin cocktail… :P

knittingopera Swap Advent Calendar 2024 – Day 3 (my pick)
Theme: Sugared Berries
Her pick: Cranberry Vanilla Wonderland from Celestial Seasonings

Going with my own swap advent pick for my first tea again, because it’s the only black tea I have for today ha ha… Hardly surprising, since my DIY advent is herbal and Bush Berry is also majority herbals I would say.

I really like this one, it tastes like some kind of pistachio dacquoise or meringue layered with raspberry jam. It’s not really cookie-like as there’s no buttery pastry element, but it does still make me think of cute little almond-flavored thumbprint cookies filled with rich raspberry jam. The base has a definite woodiness to it, but I don’t really find it distracting.

From Bonne Maman, today was Apple-Quince-Honey Spread. I must’ve checked to make sure I opened the right door three times, because we just had Quince Spread on the 1st. Odd to put them so close together, but whatever ha ha. I actually liked this better than the plain quince, as it was less over-sweet and had nice chunks of al dente apple in it. Plus it’s nice to see an apple preserve with no cinnamon! Would definitely purchase this one if it were available. :)

One of several teas I ordered when I purchased their advent calendar!

This one is pretty lovely. The dry smell is so over-the-top delicious juicy raspberry jelly with a tinge of amaretto. Unfortunately the flavor is not quite as upfront when it’s steeped up, but maybe that’s a good thing ha ha. It’s a lovely decadent, sweet swirl of marzipan-esque almond notes (technically it’s pistachio, but they taste the same to me as flavorings) and sweet, concentrated raspberry jelly or pâte de fruit. Worth noting that the first time I tried this, I steeped for my usual 3 minutes and felt like the black tea overwhelmed the flavors, and I find it much better at 2 minutes. Still tasting plenty of black tea, but can taste the yummy raspberry and pistachio much better.

I admit, I don’t often love marzipan sort of notes in tea, but here when it’s more restrained and alongside the yummy raspberry flavor, I’m loving it. And would definitely recommend this one for almond lovers. I can’t wait to try the advent! :)

I got my Compagnie & Co advent calendar today, yay! It’s so very pretty, a stack of 12 boxes that you can rotate individually, and each box has two numbers on different sides, and has two numbered wrapped sachets inside. Can’t wait to open it this December! Anyway, of course I couldn’t resist also ordering several teas while I was at it… When I opened the box, everything smelled like grapefruit, so of course I had to try that tea first.

It’s a really lovely grapefruit flavor, bright and zingy and fresh but without being too pithy or bitter. I do wish I could taste the lychee (this is a grapefruit & lychee black tea), I don’t notice it at all because the grapefruit flavor is quite strong. The base is very smooth but has a nice, almost biscuity flavor to it. There’s a little baby hint of bitterness in the finish, not sure if it’s from the black tea or the grapefruit flavor, but I actually find it fitting for this blend.

A very refreshing grapefruit tea! Looking forward to trying another of their teas tomorrow. :)

Having drunk this I can see why it has become a classic at Compagnie Coloniale. It is pretty successful at coming off as a spiced butter cookie with a hint of nut which has been my experience of Speculoos cookies when I have had them. The flavouring is not overhanded and some may find it subtle. Do not overleaf it or the fruitiness in the base tea can hide the subtleties in the flavouring. The base does provide a nice sense of biscuits breadiness which highlights the flavouring. The flavour notes start with caramelized butter cookie and vanilla, the stone fruit of the base tea, spice which is well mixed with nutmeg and cinnamon a bit more up front with a bit of ginger, and a coolness afterwards suggesting Cloves and cardamom without a strong sense of flavour. The base tea does not become bitter or overly astringent if you over steep it but the fruitiness can overpower the butter cookie notes. This company uses a steaming process to scent their black teas and the result is a leaf that is pretty shiny and a little wet looking. I’ve found that these teas tend to keep their flavouring well if you don’t get through them quickly from my small sample size of two that I have had from them before. There is a touch of toasted almond as well. The tea resteeps well and I am finding that the flavour notes often become more distinct in the second steep of this company’s teas. A nice warming tea for fall and winter that pulls off its flavouring well.

As a side note shipping from France was very quick and my order was posted within a day of submission. The refill packaging is not very scent concealing and if only buying a few teas it is probably worth it to buy tins which are double lidded and quite nice.

This is an excellent lapsang souchong black tea that I received from a friend who was visiting Paris last fall. Her hotel served this each day as a breakfast tea. She enjoyed it each morning and decided to bring some home for herself, but wanted to share with me as well.

It has the strong, smoky flavor you’d expect from a lapsang souchong tea, but it isn’t overpowering. It’s milder than I expected, which makes it more appealing to me. After the first few times I tried making it at my usual amounts for black teas, I decided to add a gram extra (7 grams in 16 ounces of water) and steep it a minute longer, which seemed perfect for my tastes.

This is a sipdown that makes me sad, but I will be sure to look for this again in the future. Thanks, Tatyana!

I am having this Tea grandpa style and I must admit that today’s cup is my most successful cup in terms of being true to it’s flavouring. I am not sure if this improvement is because the tea is over a year old hence some of the floral notes in the oolong have become muted allowing the caramel notes to shine, or if the tea generally benefits from a longer steep , or if using boiling water to steep it helped to bring out the flavouring. Today’s cup really brought out the creamy butter caramel notes in the tea mixed with a little bit of spice and butter, and a depth produced from the roasting of the oolong. This finishes with a cooling and slughtly drying sensation from the oolong. The caramel is buttery and sweet with a mix of browned butter, sugar and vanilla notes that remind me a bit of skillet toffee. There are also cinnamon and a slightly woody Roasted autumn leaf note which is slightly bitter but which offsets and balances the sweetness. This is quite an enjoyable nightcap tonight.

Now this finally a sample whose donor I can identify – thank you Ysaurella.

I liked the oolong-quality of this a lot, the base was lovely and smooth. I think I must have kept it too long, the caramel notes were there but somewhat subdued, and that was not necessarily a problem, I enjoyed it very much just as it was.

When I first opened this tea I had not read about Compagnie Coloniale’s unique steam flavouring process so I was at first concerned about how shiny the leaves looked. They appear almost wet or like they are coated in oil. The picture included with this tea doesn’t really capture that element. Though the tea is quite visually appealing with its deep pink and blew flower petals scattered among the dark shiny leaves. The tea smells of a slightly liqueur like cherry mixed with marzipanish almond notes with a faint kick of spicy fresh ginger with it’s slight lemon notes.

This tea does not tend to get astringent when brewed at higher temperatures but you can adjust the temperature to bring out different flavour notes. Cherry and almond are the first notes detected, though the almond notes are best detected when the tea is hot as it cools it moves away from a marzipan note to more of the creamy nutty and a touch woody note of raw almonds. The cherry is not a candy note. At times it hints of liqueur and other times it reference dried cherries. When very hot the ginger is not prominent in the taste but as it cools it becomes more present. I also got stronger ginger notes and a more dominant cherry when I brewed the tea at @ 90°C. Also present was a touch of cream and at times vanilla. The base tea is fairly inoccuous. It is pretty smooth and doesn’t present a lot of texture to the taste. It is a little fruity, and has a bit of malt, and darker slightly earthy and grainy tones, and perhaps a bit of pastry notes. I used a level tea spoon in 225ml and found it just shy of being a little thin, which is a little surprising given the broken nature of the leaves.

Given that the flavouring is very nice and I really like the mix of ginger, cherry and almond. It generates a nice warmth in the body. A bit of sweeter may bring out a bit of more fruitiness in the tea and might thicken the density of the tea on the taste buds.

Altogether I am happy to have this tea in my cupboard!
http://www.compagnie-coloniale.com/en/savoir-faire.html

https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B04XXZKzObY1ZHFRWFpSTVpMdG8/edit?usp=docslist_api

Steepster a mangé ma note !!!!! Voleur ! pas envie de réécrire. Voilà. et en plus j’écris en grenouille…tant pis de toute façon ce thé n’avait pas de goût.

Backlog from yesterday morning when I had this tea while in the TGV (meaning Train à Grande Vitesse).
As usual the guy at the bar made a too low temperature (micro wave…)but this is a lovely Earl Grey, not sweet, with a hint of bitterness. Nice (would have loved to taste it at an almost boiling temperature…but that’s it !)
This is really great the French train company choiced a nice tea brand to travel with !