Immediately on opening the sample bag I was assaulted by the fragrance of…vanilla? Well, I thought it was vanilla, I guess it must have been the caramel. I only remembered that this tea was supposed to have sesame in it, and had forgotten about the caramel, so I was a little weirded out.
After pouring the water in, the vegetal smell of green tea became much stronger – it actually combined with the smell of the caramel and kind of came off matchalatte-ish. Interesting. The taste is very caramel-y with the toasted sesame coming through in the taste of the green tea itself. That is, to make an attempt at being more coherent: I taste two layers, the first is the caramel and the second is sesame-green, with the sesame coming out more and the caramel retreating as the tea cools.
It’s a very pleasant combination, resulting in a fairly subtle sweet tea that doesn’t give me the cognitive dissonance that Golden Moon’s Sugar Caramel Oolong imparted. I DO feel a little as if the identity of the green tea base is somewhat lacking, but on the other hand maybe it IS there, supporting the other two flavors in its own diffident way.
I could definitely see instating this as a staple green tea – although maybe after I destroy the Adagio spiced green tin that I already have.
