Lupicia

If you are a berries-and-cream-loving little lad, this is the tea for you.

This smooth blend tastes and smells just like sugared strawberries – the tartness of the fruit is subdued in the manner of a fruity syrup without being artificial, and the coconut isn’t prominent but works to emphasize a sweet cream element that makes this cup truly dessert-like.

I’ve made this tea a couple of ways, once following the directions, and then again in an infuser stuffed with fresh cilantro. This is probably a product of lunacy on my part, but I swear it works and would probably feel the same with a sprig of mint or some basil leaves – the citrusy, herby note is the perfect garnish to balance an otherwise quite indulgent sip.

The weather was so favorable this morning that I had no choice but to agree with its prediction for the tone of the day, which calls for a very special tea indeed and can only mean one of a few from the selection in my cupboard. I have had this tea for two or three years and have quite simply been too excited about the prospect of drinking it to dare crack it open, but sitting down to an episode of ‘Murder, She Wrote’ after a leisurely drive through sunny and verdant scenery, I could hear this tea crying out in indignation demanding to be tasted.

First impression unsealing the bag: delight. The scent wafting to greet me is nothing short of a summer day spent over a pitcher of sugary-sweet grape Kool-Aid, but the complexity of the flavors really blossom in the cup, where the artificial grape candy flavor assumes a muscatel character and the rich depth of warm jelly that takes me back to a delectable Polish blueberry jagodzianka. Even a pervasive effervescence seems to emulate the crackle of a delicate pastry glaze, but it pulls me in a few different directions: on one hand, it’s giving the crispy candy shell of grape Nerds candy and the scintillating spark of sourness that follows it, but on the other hand, the intermingled strawberry notes point me toward a bubbly rosé. A little astringency cuts the sweetness to perfection. I have no choice but to be obsessed.

I love this tea. It has a great flavor and mouthfeel. I wish it did better on the second brew though.

Yesterday was a beautiful spring day, although we did have a few spells of clouds. Mostly it was warm and lightly breezy. Ashman and I had a little pre-lunch rest in the backyard beach chairs and lo and behold, we were descended upon by grandkids and kids! They had decided to surprise by coming for my birthday and brought food and all sorts of goodies.

This tea was one of Superanna’s birthday gifts to me and this was my first time trying it. The other two teas that she gave me at the same time (I had received one other tea earlier) were two beloved favorites that I had run out of but this one is new to me.

I have found another Lupicia favorite. The oolong base is pure silky green oolong, not at all roasty or toasty like Dong Ding or Da Hong Pao, but on the green side and so, so smooth. The white peach flavor, which is light rather than KAPOW, blends almost seamlessly with the gentle fruit notes of the tea so that they are perfectly intertwined. I am in love.

Edit to add: my package was fully in Japanese because it was purchased in Tokyo. I could tell the amount and time but not temp and made it at 190F instead of the recommended 212F which I just saw on the Lupicia Hawaii site. Didn’t matter. It was fabulous. It is also on sale right now and I am so tempted….

Thank you, Superanna!

March Sipdown Challenge Prompt – Pi Day and Einstein’s Birthday

Superanna gave me this tea and said I could go ahead and unwrap it, but I decided to save it for my birthday and have it be my breakfast tea. This was purchased in Tokyo, I believe, so I had to add it to the data base. The Hawaii store doesn’t sell it.

Pi Day is my actual birthday, but I tip my cup to all of the March babies here, and there are so many of us!

As for the tea, the dry leaves unfurl to quite an impressive size on steeping. The steeped tea has a rich aroma, a lot of body, and a thick, creamy mouthfeel. Lightly steamed asparagus is the leading flavor note to me, and I love asparagus. This has a richness that I associate with the word umami, but I don’t know if I am using that correctly as this has none of the seaweed or briny notes you might find in some teas that carry that description.

Many thanks, Superanna, for a rare and delightful tea treat that I might never have been able to try without your trip to Japan!

Another fruity Lupicia black from the Book of Tea. It has small pink peppercorns which Lupicia says look like the namesake Daruma dolls, as well as sweetened mango pieces (my bag had a minimal amount of these.) The peppercorns do not impart any peppery sensation or flavour.

It’s a very familiar Lupicia tea, a standard tannic black tea blend with a zingy vaguely “tropical” fruit flavour. It reminds me a lot of Sakurambo as they both share the pink peppercorns and a vague sort of tropical black tea suggestion. Daruma is much milder, though, so if you like Sakurambo but thought it was a little too powerful, this might be a nice choice. I would not be unhappy to get this in a tea house, but I personally prefer a little more flavour in tea that’s supposed to have it.

All together, a nice cuppa of classic Lupicia.

For the last few weeks I’ve really been craving fruit/chocolate combos, and have been making a lot of choco-berry smoothies. Looking through my tea, I only had this and Lupicia’s Strawberry and Chocolate pu’erh that fit the bill, so I decided to try this.

I always forget that Lupicia often uses a CTC base on their blacks, so I’ve been a bit mindful to not overleaf or oversteep. It is still quite a rich black tea, but not so much as to hide the flavor. The chocolate is a little softer than I was imagining, but is more cocoa sweet/bittersweet than that strong chocolate liquor flavor usually found in teas, and the raspberry is simply lovely… a little jammy, a little candy sweet. I’ve had many nice hot ’n plain cups of this in my work thermos the last few weeks.

This morning I decided to make a latte, since I figured the strong CTC base would be up to it. 3 parts tea (double the leaf), 1 part warm frothed vanilla almond milk, and it is very nice! It’s very creamy and full of sweet raspberry, but still has a nice classic black tea body in the undertones.

Sipdown 13 – 2024

Finished off a bag that I purchased in Paris. Lupicia fruit flavors are so, so good. This is no exception. I don’t really drink green tea anymore, but Lupicia flavored green blends are the exception.

I have to start off saying I am not a fan of red rooibos and have yet to find one I truly enjoy- except for Gryphon Apple Strudel, which is very hard to get hands on now that I’m living outside Singapore.

Piccolo has a weird medicinal jam note in it, like some unholy alliance of stonefruit marmalade and cough syrup distilled into some sort of wretched jam. Lupicia claims it has a “lovely scent and flavors of honey, apricot, and sweet berries,” but I am not detecting any of those flavours except the apricot which at least serves to mask the rooibos note somewhat. They further go on to recommend it for children (apparently ones you don’t much like) and adding milk. I am a child-free vegan, so into the trash Piccolo must go.

I can’t blame Lupicia for my personal tastes and this does seem to be a nice quality rooibos- it’s just got that prominent red rooibos note that personally overrides any other good qualities. It does brew up to a lovely colour and seems like it’d be good for multiple steeps, if you’re into that sort of self-flagellation.

Whoa, this is a black that will put hair on your chest- a proper bracing cuppa that will get you going. It’s got a woody, earthy aftertaste after the initial tannin-heavy opening that lets you know THIS IS TEA! I imagine lumberjacks or other similar manly men drinking it. It feels like this should be advertised with one of those ridiculous American portmanteaux, like “Real Men Drink Kilimanjaro Tea for MENERGY!” You could probably also use the teabag to staunch bleeding after you’ve cut off a limb with those manly power tools.

If you find other standard black breakfast-style too wimpy, give this a try. Can’t say the taste is outstanding- it’s rather standard- but it will get you out of bed.

According to Lupicia, this is a black tea with savoury caramel, honey and fruit flavours. I get some rather standard caramel aftertaste and that generic fruit blend Lupicia seems to favour in a lot of their mixed black tea blends. It has a rather fruit candy-like aroma, though the fruit taste is somewhere between natural and artifiical.

Overall, a pleasant cuppa but I feel as though I’ve tasted this one before many times. I imagine it would be a nice pairing with a cake or dessert.

Cracking open another oolong and what an amazing experience this is. The delicate scent of white peach and buttery oolong. My favorite way to drink this tea is to breathe deeply over the cup to maximize the peach flavoring, which is done so naturally in this tea. Oftentimes with flavored teas I worry about the acrid taste of a chemical flavoring, but it’s a beautiful and natural tasting flavor. If pressed, if I only could have one tea in my cupboard for the rest of my life, I would have to say it would be this one.

My go to decaf tea for night. I usually enjoy this in the evenings with a Stroopwafel or some other light snack.

The begamont note is fairly strong, but blends well enough with the rooibos for me. Maybe not the trickiest/most complex rooibos out there, but good enough to savor late at night.

I imagine this would be a hit among other guests who want something warm to drink at night, but without the caffeine to keep them up.

Would rate the tea itself like a 78-83, but it’s just such a versatile decaf that I’m bumping it higher – I pretty much always keep this in stock at home now.

Definitely a fun tea to try, but I won’t be putting it on my permanent rotation. Lovely sweet smelling tea, but the taste was too one-track for me (for context, I usually drink Taiwanese Oolongs or Japanese greens).

IMO, great for impressing the occasional guest, but has too much of an overpowering sweetness to be my daily drinker. (but maybe yours!)

The tea itself is a nice Earl Grey – I’d rate it a little over 80.

However, it didn’t feel “low caffeine” enough to me. Drank a cup and was noticeably more awake. Couldn’t even finish the rest of the teapot.

I’ve since switched over to Lupcia’s Rooibos Earl Grey (9220), which is markedly different (rooibos base vs. black tea base), but definitely has no caffeine while retaining that lovely Earl Grey bergamont scent/flavor.

Nice oolong, but didn’t retain anything particularly outstanding/memorable.

Solid Taiwanese oolong.

Smells like ripe Momo Peach, but doesn’t really taste like it. Aroma is wonderful!!