Vanilla Caramel

My mom is attempting to switch from coffee to tea. She loves loose-leaf but she pretty much won’t make it unless I am around. She’s convinced that she’ll mess them up, but really I think she just likes it better when I make it for her! So bagged tea it is. This is one of the ones we picked, because I thought it would taste like one of those fancy coffee shop lattes.

It certainly smells like a latte! Very strong caramel and vanilla. There’s zero discernible tea smell. Worrisome! But the taste is, like, the exact opposite. Strong tea flavor, though it’s that generic black CTC taste. No real depth, but very strong and brisk without being bitter. The vanilla and caramel are really toned down in flavor, in fact this smells a lot better than it tastes. It’s not bad, and I certainly don’t mind drinking it, but I wish the vanilla/caramel was a bit stronger.

Perhaps a longer steep, but the base is already so assertive I worry about it getting bitter. Maybe this would be best as a latte? Or made in a big mug with a bag of earl grey!

I brewed this tea on the lower end of the recommendations, 2 minutes, and it was quite strong black tea flavor with a nice sweet aftertaste. I think I’ll go back to my previous brewing method for this tea, around 1 minute. At a minute it is simply deliciously decadent. I used to drink this while living in france as my Afternoon tea with delicious tea cookies to dip in it. I think I drank the tea more for the cookies than the tea, but at least it brings back fond memories!

Backlogging: Purchased some bagged teas while away last week, and this is probably my favorite of the bunch. The tea is not bitter and blends well with the flavorings. I added sweetener, and while I think Upton’s Creme Caramel is better, this is ok in a pinch.

I love vanilla & caramel & together they are wonderful! I came across this tea by chance & I was itching to taste it. Good choice.

It’s not a go to flavor that I have to keep on hand all the time, but every so often I look for it. And I normally have it tucked away in my desk at work.

I love the smell as it’s steeping. And I like the taste. It’s smooth & creamy & not overpowering. It’s a mellow flavor. Not overly strong or bitter.

Like a chai without the added spices, this tea is fabulous with milk, and satisfies any cravings for something sweet and creamy. Between this and the Eggnog’n tea, I’m all set this winter! This almost replaces hot chocolate. :)

[Backlog] – I’ve had this tea a couple of times and this most recent will likely be my last. It smells like it’s rich, creamy and sweet.. but the taste offers something different. The flavor is just a bit too artificial for me. I do like flavored teas, but this one is a bit too fake.

This was the grossest tea I have tried. To me it’s extremely artificial, smells absolutely terrible, and the taste is amazingly cloying and cheap feeling to me. I actually threw the box away after trying it, and for hours afterwards every time I thought about my experience with this tea I felt a twinge of nausea! I took sips of it as it was cooling and it kept growing worse.

forever my favorite. Milk and honey makes it sweet and lovely.

I bough this tea for those times when I’m in the mood for straightforward dessert flavors and don’t want to think too hard about what kind. Guess what? That’s what this tea tastes like. It tastes like a tea that I bought from Ralphs. The caramel overpowers the vanilla, and if it steeps for more than a couple minutes, it’s basically a disaster cup of I Hate Myself And My Choices, but it’ll do the trick during those moments where you’re bored, have a sweetness craving, and vending machine cake sounds like a good idea. You know, those times.

This tea smells and tastes very strongly of caramel and vanilla – or rather, of caramel and vanilla coffee syrups. I’m having a hard time separating the two flavors (which are pretty much all I’m getting – the black base is rather faint). Unsurprisingly, this tea is quite sweet. The flavors are a bit on the artificial side, but not in a particularly bad way. This isn’t an outstanding tea, but it’s a pleasant grocery store option and I ended up enjoying my cup more than I’d expected to. Thanks to moraiwe for including this in my swap package!

Sugar and hazelnut creamer…after a midterm…perfect…=D

Was one of my favorites until dietary changes, realized there were dairy esters in it. Had a great flavor with sweetened original almond milk, kind of bitter or funky without. Good desert tea if you’re in the habit of adding a creamer/milk, but I think it needs it. Sweet, the caramel is obvious. The vanilla was almost too much for me, but I’m not the biggest fan of stand alone vanilla unless the “mood strikes”.

A spoonful of sweetened condensed milk makes this tea way better :) I love the creamy mellowness, and I appreciate that it isn’t extremely “tea” flavored.

This is my favorite tea hands down. I add a little bit of milk and some sweetener to it and I think it really brings out the flavor.

Boiled water in hot pot. Wish I could figure out how to keep it from getting so hot. Maybe if I just boiled some and then added non-boiling water to it… Used Nestle bottled water. Smells VERY GOOD. Sort of lost track of how long it was steeped. Burnt my tongue as always.

Oh, how I love this stuff.
I love it so much its ridiculous. I didn’t care for it the first time I tried it (didn’t steep it nearly long enough) but after doing it again, and using a bit more sugar and cream, its like liquid candy to me.

I honestly didn’t know what to make of this when I tried it. I wouldn’t know how to describe it, but I just couldn’t place the flavor. Not quite vanilla, not quite caramel, but still sweet and somehow pleasant despite the fact it didn’t taste anything like what it should.

Yum! The caramel flavor is strong and reminds me of the really buttery taste of caramel corn. It is almost a butterscotch type taste, but not quite (I normally hate butterscotch). The vanilla flavor isn’t overly strong. This tea is great when I’m feeling really lazy and just want something warm and comforting. I don’t think it’s possible to screw this tea up, I’ve oversteeped it many times and it has still tasted fine. Prepared with almond milk and stevia.

Ugh. Strike 2 for Bigelow.
Another gone wrong perhaps? Or does roobis really hate me?

Backlog.
Too much caramel smell.
The taste was just off…