Caramel

My new Roy Kirkham china has arrived! There’s a picture of it here along with the old cracked one. You can see the crack if you look closely. I haven’t cleaned it yet, obviously, and it appears, now that I look closer at it, that the crack has actually been leaking some, or there wouldn’t be dribbles down the side like that. ¹

What better time to try the caramel tea that Auggy sent me? I am even using the cup that goes with it, rather than a mug like a usually do. I tend to prefer the mug because I can empty the whole pot in one go. This way the last half will keep on steeping. But, new china is new china! I couldn’t use a mug for it this very first time. Oh the joys of not having to pour over the sink!

It’s very sweet smelling, but not necessarily caramel sweet at first. It’s more like it’s just a fairly generic, mild black tea with a hefty amount of cane sugar in it. Hm. That’s not really the sort of aroma I want to find in a caramel tea…

I’m afraid the flavour is the same as the aroma. It’s just sweetened tea with a mild base. Ceylon, possibly. It reminds me of Ceylon. The sweetness even comes across more like a naturally occurring sweetness rather than an added flavouring and I’m not sure how I feel about that. It’s really cool that it’s possible to flavour a tea and have it taste like it’s not flavoured at all. On the other hand, I was looking for something caramel flavoured here, and currently this cup is not living up to the expectations I had when I saw the label on the tin. Not even a little bit.

If you are someone who normally sweetens your tea, then I think you would find it unnecessary to do so here. For someone like me who would never dream of adding any sort of sweetening agent ever, it’s coming across as something almost cloying. I haven’t sweetened my tea at all since I was a young child, save for the occasional experiment which usually didn’t work anyway, and right now this cup is reminding me of why I don’t want to start again.

I won’t say I dislike it, because it certainly is drinkable, and perhaps I was supposed to steep it longer than I did, but this is not what I understand a caramel flavoured anything to be. This? This is black tea with sugar in it. That’s it. I’m not even sure I would say it tastes like something that has anything to do with caramel as such. It’s no where near the likes of Kusmi’s caramel or the LPdT Toffee.

The Imperial Breakfast Summer blend from Verdant tea that I enjoyed this morning was more caramel-y than this. And that one wasn’t even flavoured with anything.

¹ https://picasaweb.google.com/lh/photo/MbjM_x5Os07M4xcvtjtsqDt0rtk7VScRcTAqR2hWR8Q?feat=directlink

I was so impressed by the flavor and the quality of other teas that I got from American Tea Room (plus their speedy delivery) that I wanted to try this. I am not disappointed. It is a sweet, rich caramel with a full body and a full taste. I added a bit of sugar mid-way through my first mug, plus some milk. I don’t think that the sugar is needed—it’s naturally sweet on its own. The milk seemed nice. I think that there is a natural milkiness in caramel candies, so it belongs.

All in all, I am not in the least bit disappointed. I keep evolving as a tea drinker and just a few days ago when I ordered this I was all about the sweet, candied teas and have since evolved into a purist. BUT I know that in the course of human events, I will naturally return to a love of the sweet, candied tea.

I came across a tea reference in a poem by WH Auden (Letter to Lord Byron, part III):

“For now we’ve learnt we mustn’t be so bumptious
We find the stars are one big family,
And send out invitations for a scrumptious
Simple, old-fashioned, jolly romp with tea
To any natural objects we can see. "

I like the idea of a “jolly romp with tea”. That’s what my life has been like lately!

I am finally sling-free so typing isn’t so difficult for me. Rejoice! Things are still a it uncomfortable so I will (attempt to) be brief.

This is a rather interesting take on caramel tea. It’s not really very sweet though it is obviously caramel. There are only two chunks of actual caramel in my entire bag of tea, neither which I have put in while steeping, so that could influence the “not sweet” bit, but I tend to think that the intention is to keep this tea interesting with caramel and tannic tea notes as the balance of the two is mentioned several time in the description. Also, they suggest the tea be steeped for five minutes, which really does lead to a lot of tannic sharpness.

I prefer this at four minutes where the sweet and tannic seem more evenly balanced. Of all the caramel teas I’ve tried, it’s not really my favorite. (Kusmi’s Caramel or Le Palais de Thes’ Toffee are currently battling for that honor.) Yet, while I don’t love this tea, I respect it. It always manages to keep my attention as I sip on it. I find it similar to Lupica’s English Caramel, which is on the bittersweet side of things, but I found English Caramel a bit too bitter/tannic to be enjoyable. This, however, seems to strike a perfect balance (at four minutes, that it).

But I’m not so much into caramel for the balance or for the bitter. I’m in it for the sweet. So I tend to prefer this when it has cooled greatly, bringing out more caramel and relegating the tannic playfulness to the aftertaste. Still, a well done tea, especially for those that prefer their richer dessert teas to be balanced by some punch.

Like most teas blends that are sweetened with candies, chocolate, etc, the aroma was a plenty satisfying dessert substitute—the caramel scent was divine. Yet if ever I sweeten tea, it’s with honey (I like the acidity), never sucrose; the latter is too sweet for me. The caramel chunks left a coating of sugar in my mouth, which would probably please most dessert tea drinkers. So if you like sweet dessert teas (I’m finding I do not), this is a good quality caramel black.