Carcadet Passion Framboise

This tisane unfolds with an alluring fragrance reminiscent of ripe berries. The aroma, while distinctly hibiscus, foregoes the tart, almost aggressive notes often associated with this vibrant flower.

The infusion evokes a summery blend of lemonade and freshly crushed raspberries. It is a brew of commendable character, better than most other hibiscus fruisanes, albeit still unmistakably a hibiscus story hence the low note.

It was a hot day but all evening I have felt chilly in the air conditioning. I don’t want to change the setting since Ashman was working outside a great deal and no doubt was roasting. So I will have hot tea and put on thick socks instead!

It is late so I have to drink something without caffeine and I remembered I had this little sample. I don’t like hibiscus except with loooooooots of sugar, but I gave this a go without additions. I was eating a Milka Kuhflecken candy bar so that took a little of the tart edge off.

This smells pretty good, and the hibiscus is not the tartest I have ever had. The other ingredients must be reining it in a little. Although this is not something I would seek out for a hot tea, I bet it makes a really good sweet iced tea. And it did the job tonight because I am no longer shivering in my socks.

There is a bit of a tropical vibe here, and I like what I can summon of the apple flavor.

Hot: This is like liquified raspberries.

Chilled: I chilled this overnight for ~15 hours and it is delicious. The raspberry is at the forefront. The passionfruit comes in at the end of the sip and aftertaste, with hints of passionfruit-specific tartness and hints of floral.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 2

Although fruit/hibiscus herbals are not typically my thing, this one would make a great jam or fruit butter (lilikoi butter is divine). Great, vivid passion fruit flavour here (Ok, this is tasty once it has cooled for 15min).

PS – I’m going to try and work on keeping these advent calendar posts shorter from now on because Adventaggedon.

Another freebie sachet and WOOF, that’s hibiscus. It smells like raspberry jello and tastes like… I’m thinking those gummy red raspberries with little balls on them but supremely tart. If I hadn’t known there was passionfruit flavoring here, I’d never guess. There is kind of a tropical undertone to this whole red deal, though. The raspberry gummy candy makes me feel this is a European profile through and through.

It’s not bad, it’s just hibiscus – in other words, something I wouldn’t pay for but I’m happy to drink it.

This smelled amazing brewing so I was a bit sad when it was incredibly tart. Very, very tart. Tart raspberry but tart is the operative word. It’s not bad. It’s just a lot. Goes nice enough with my avocado toast though.

#adventageddon Day Twenty One – 3/6

It’s technically after midnight now but I’m going to give myself a pass for not getting my tasting notes written before midnight today – mostly because I just spent the last eight hours in varying states of being in an airport and being at 20,000 feet in the air. I flew home to Saskatchewan today to visit my family for the holidays – so that interrupted adventageddon a little bit. However, I still managed to drink all the teas before midnight! Just not review them…

I had this one on my second flight of the day – from Toronto to Regina. In a case of “very small world” I ended up seated next to someone I knew from Regina but, as if it wasn’t a strange enough coincidence, that person was also a former coworker from DAVIDsTEA! So it was actually a really nice flight home despite it being really fucking late at night. The only downside was that a women one aisle up from us decided to use the three hours to play Coronation Street on her phone at a loud volume without wearing headphones…

I continued my tradition of drinking teas on airplanes with this one – which conveniently was in sachet form. It was pretty good and the raspberry flavour really comes through a lot more strongly than I would have expected it to. Very tart, juicy raspberry as well! I get a sense of something tropical, but I don’t feel as though that flavour is as well developed/fleshed out. It was a nice tea regardless, and a very refreshing change of pace from the other teas I’ve had from DF so far!

I received this as a sample with my DF advent, and finally brewed it up. Really enjoying the crisp, tart raspberry. Very much a candy-like raspberry.

Dammann Frères Advent 2021 – Day 2
Every time I drink this tea, it’s a bit like drinking a raspberry jolly rancher. Not your Fruit Punch-type Jolly Rancher. Definitely bright raspberry and a little bit of passion fruit. Like an elevated Jolly Rancher :) Or like a tropical raspberry jam.

It’s admittedly very tart, but I add some stevia to it to mellow out the tartness of the hibiscus, and I let it cool which brings out the fruit. I like it much better that way, than steaming hot. This is a fruit tea that would be delicious iced in the summer. It kind of begs for a summer day in the backyard.

I love raspberry teas and my daughter loves this one, but it’s a hard pass for my husband. All that hibiscus doesn’t work for him.