Caramel Spice

Thanks Krystaleyn for this sample!

I think some thing went wrong with this one. I get the orange, cinnamon and caramel. There is some thing bitter in here. I may have steeped it wrong. We also had to rush off to the store to fix a toilet part right as I was brewing this. Le sigh. I shall visit it again some other time.

Thanks again Krystaleyn for your generosity in swapping with me.

Another big thank you to Krystaleyn for all of the samples!

We may not have got to this tea in time to save it. See, while we were brewing this tea, the toilet mechanism downstairs magically broke. A trip to the store and a amateur home repair job later, and this tea is kind of a cold, bitter orange disaster. I kind of want to give this tea a second chance sometime (it’s orange and cinnamon, what’s not to love?). But today was not it’s day.

This is a strange tea!
I’m thinking either you’re going to love it or HATE it, it’s one of those teas.

The dry smell is VERY citrusy – that’s the first warning haha. I didn’t expect so much orange, but then I thought maybe the inspiration for this tea are those clove-stuffed oranges some people hang in their homes for potpurri?

The taste is not as citrus-y, but it’s still the main component. I saw some strange fleshy things in the mix and got scared, then looked it up – I guess that’s what a freezedried mulberry looks like haha!

It has a hint of caramel and a perfect balance of spice. It’s not my favorite tea, to be honest, but I really think this will be a favorite for some and a loathe for others. I should note that I added a splash of cream&agave after the first few sips to mellow it out a little, but I love black/spiced tea with cream so that’s my weakness.

Just wanted to get out there that this is more of an orange spice tea than a caramel spice tea! There, my good deed is done for the day haha. Off to resteep.

So thanks to the notice of discontinuation (online only) regarding a ton of DavidsTeas, I went and picked up small samples of another 12(?) teas. As if I needed more to try!

Anyways, this is the first product of today’s expedition. I really only picked it up because of the name; the smell of the dry tea is kind of odd. It’s almost like lemongrass with a hint of orange peel? I probably wouldn’t have picked this one up based on the smell, but any tea with ‘caramel’ in the name warrants a taste test in my opinion :)

Steeped it also has an odd smell which I tend to associate with off-flavours/weakness, along with some orange peel. It just occurred to me that the crappy (hard) Guelph water might be contributing to strange flavours in weak teas such as whites. Hmmm. Mental note to try and remember to use filtered water next time.

Perhaps I steeped it too long; I’m tasting a somewhat (but not unpleasantly so) astringent black tea base, with general fruitiness overtop and a touch of orange. Every now and then I get a whiff of more sweetness. I’m really not getting much cinnamon or spice flavour though.

Overall, not bad, but this would fit into the category of a warming morning tea for me, and it isn’t likely to beat the deliciousness of Glitter & Gold, so glad I tried it, but that’s another one out of the way :)

Thanks LiberTEAs for this one :)

I have been wanting to try this one. I will say it smells amazing! I see there are reviews all across the board for this one tho! I am not sure what to except, perhaps, that is better tho!

I had to look at what kind of berry this was…Golden Mulberries…neat…I’m game! I don’t think I have ever had a tea with Golden Mulberries in it before!

Prior to infusing the dry aroma was fruity and spicy but also quite caramel-E. I liked the aroma very much! When I started infusing the smell of the spice and citrus came out more! Again, I really like the scent! After infusion – liquid only – the aroma smells much like a chai.

The color post-infusion is a medium dark for a black tea.

In order of appearance taste-wise – I am tasting: Black tea then berries of some sort, then spice, then caramel, then spice, then citrus, then a bit of tartiness, then cinnamon, then mulberry, then a spice/black tea combo on the end of the sip. There is a little bit of cinnamon and berry flavor that lingers with the caramel onto the aftertaste.

All of the flavors were identifiable individually at some point during the sipping experience but they also seem to work well – for the most part – all together, too! At times the Golden Mulberry “Tartness” was a little the “town gossip” interrupting a serious conversation…it all seemed to work out at the end. I am glad the flavor intensity of all the ingredients was were they were at and not more intense or that would have changed my overall rating drastically. I think this is a “Ballsy” move on DavidsTEA’s part! I appreciate the creativeness of the flavors and how flavors interact like a conversation with each other…with an intro, a climax, and a conclusion.

The more I sip the more I like of this one! It’s a conversational-tea and quite memorable whether you like it or not. It just so happens…that I enjoy it! Interesting offering! Neat Tea!

I was a little afraid of this tea because I had read a couple of negative tasting notes, but, I decided that I was going to go for it anyway and give it a try.

It smells wonderful – both the dry leaf and the brewed tea. My tea didn’t brew murky-looking … it looks like black tea to me. First couple of sips: ok… but some of the flavors seem a bit obscure, so I decided to add a little sugar to the cup. This did the trick.

This isn’t my favorite caramel tea, or even my favorite spiced tea, but, I am enjoying it. I can taste the berry tones, the caramel tones and even the spice tones. The black tea is a solid background of flavor, not too strong, but pleasantly brisk. Each of the flavors are light, the spices are a bit more prominent than the fruit (I taste both orange and berry) or the caramel. These are lighter flavors but still they are there.

I like this. Sorry to disagree with some out there, but then again, I’m glad that I didn’t have a poor experience with this too!

Received this as a sample. Smelled strongly of orange peels, so I was perplexed to not see orange peels listed as an ingredient. As it steeped I knew those were indeed orange peels floating to the top, so I went to check the website and the description mentions orange peels.
I’m with others, this is very orange spice. But there’s a strong dark caramel note. It’s nice on it’s own but I added some brown sugar and a few drops of cream. Oooh. This is unlike anything I’ve ever had. This is probably the nicest spiced tea I’ve had, and definitely the best orange spice tea I’ve had. The spices are complex and very nicely balanced. Just the right hint of cinnamon. Smells and tastes very buttery. This is growing on me with every sip! Yum! Like everyone’s saying though, definitely think orange spice. Buttery caramely orange spice. This seems like it would go great with a splash of rum.

Happy Steepster birthday to me! One year ago, I started this fun adventure of joining this community and logging a big passion of mine… tea! It has been an awesome ride so far, and I love that I’ve gotten to try as many teas as I have. I have to say, I have the best husband in the world for being so understanding so I can really explore and enjoy my obsession. He is the best.

So, today for my ‘birthday’ I decided I wanted to try something completely different. I’ve had this one a while, but haven’t tried it yet… shame on me!
This tea is so delicious! I’m really enjoying it! It has some lovely spice flavourings to it, and I absolutely LOVE the mulberries in it. I haven’t noticed much for the caramel flavour though.

Anyways… when I was growing up, my parents house actually had a mulberry tree in the front yard (technically it was more in the neighbours yard, but it came over ours). They are such a messy tree, but they also produce some amazing fruit! One year I remember my mom making mulberry pies. They were delicious! I use to pick them as snacks during/after bike rides and when I was just hanging with friends. There were many trees around our area, so I never had to go very far to find them. So, I really enjoy mulberries if you couldn’t tell. (And funny thing is, I haven’t tried the mulberry madiness I think it was called by Davidstea).

So, I must say, this tea is so good. I’m glad that I have some and that I get the chance to enjoy it for a while. I’d like to try this one as a latte too!

Not nice, not nice at all! I couldn’t even finish a third of the cup :(
Something in this set off my allergies, but based on the ingredients, I have no idea what. Swallowing even a few sips was difficult, as each one caused me to cringe reflexively. There is definitely orange in here, but I doubt that is it. Mulberries? naw… natural flavours?! *sighs…

Blech! What went wrong with this one? It smelled delicious in its innocent little baggy, but brought about a decidedly murky-looking and -tasting cup. I could smell the mulberries and the caramel but I couldn’t taste either. The spice was definitely upfront but it wasn’t a good kind of spice. Just muddled and a bit dirty-tasting.

I steeped this one for somewhere in the suggested time range, which I don’t normally do. I was scared of it lacking flavour so went with the longer suggested time, but a hint of bitterness tells me I should have gone with my gut and kept it shorter. Hopefully that will improve this!

WOW this is gorgeous!!! This is a cup full of sweet and slightly nutty and smoky orangey goodness with a slight tartness from the mulberries. It is sort of caramel flavoured…maybe more like a flavoured dark treacle but still a fine treat. The only issue is that there is no noticeable spicy tones at all.

Colour is similar to honey.
Smell is sweet and orangey, like orange candy.

I wish I had more of this :(

I felt much the same about this one as I did about pumpkin chai. A nice black, but the added flavours really weren’t strong enough. I got more orange than anything else, which is sad as I was hoping for a nice caramel flavour. Ended up gifting this to a friend I know likes it.

I recieved a sample of this with my last order, and I am finally trying it today. I was pleasantly surprised with this tea; I almost expected not to like it based on the reviews here. I’m not sure I would buy more, mainly because there are so many teas that I love or still want to try, but it’s not bad at all.

Both the dry leaves and the brewed tea have a great fall smell, and I was sure I smelled oranges. I checked the ingredients on the package and decided that mulberries must have a citrusy smell, but after reading the description on here I think orange peel must have been left off the package! At least I’m not going crazy. The tea is comforting and it is a perfect balance as far as strong/weak goes (I just used the whole sample in my little 2 cup teapot). My first cup had a bit of brown sugar, and my second one was just the tea. I think I liked it better with the sugar, but neither were bad!

Hmm, this is an interesting one. I love caramel and I love spicy…but this tea didn’t satisfy me the way I thought it would. I am not sure where the caramel comes in, the spice I could taste. I was very excited to buy and try. But it left me wanting more. I still don’t see where the caramel comes in…

This is another autumn tea from David’s Tea. The dry tea smells amazing. You can smell the orange peel, but it’s not a purely fruity smell, probably because of the Saigon cinnamon. Once steeped, the first thing I do, before even touching my drink, is pick out the mulberries from the steeped tea. Unconventional, maybe. But they are so delicious that throwing them out would be a sin. I had never tasted mulberries before picking them out of this tea, and now I’m hooked. They aren’t tart like a lot of other berries, and they soak up the tea so they’re just about bursting with flavour.

But I digress, the tea is now steeped. It still smells just as sweet, and is a very dark, but clear brown. Unfortunately, I find it to be lacking a little in flavour. After taking a sip, I taste a bit of orange and mulberry on the back of my tongue, and hints of mulberry and cinnamon definitely linger. Regardless, it isn’t as full a flavour as I had hoped, and I couldn’t taste caramel at all.

I’m trying to decrease my use of sugar and honey in tea, but I’ll sweeten this a little. It makes a bit of a difference, the tea tastes a little fuller now. I can actually taste the cinnamon before I’ve swallowed the tea, but the aftertaste isn’t ideal. The mulberries are already naturally sweet and I find that the sugar makes it all a little overpowering.

I’m not sure if I’ll buy this tea again. As far as scent goes, it’s definitely at the top of my list. And the mulberries are a huge plus. But the tea is lacking taste without sweetener, and gets overpowered with sweetener. Unfortunate, since I really do love mulberries.

One word: bold. Here are reasons why I adore this tea:
1. The longer you steep it, the better the taste! It won’t become very bitter, and the flavours of caramel and orange are incredibly aromatic, it will melt your senses away!
2. Add sweetened condensed milk to it. It will add an extra creaminess to your tea. So skip the sugar and milk next time (Condensed milk works wonders with any black tea!!)

I will definitely be returning to buy a new canister. Do try it out @David’stea. You can order online as well :)

Trying Caramel Spice on this relaxing, decidedly non-shopping Boxing Day.

It smells delicious in the bag. The mulberries looked a little odd to me, but then again I’ve never seen dried mulberries before. The whole time it was steeping I wasn’t sure if I should go with the low end of steeping time or not. Previous notes will show that I have a tendency to oversteep.

I have to say, now that I’m halfway through the mug, that I’m not a fan of this one. Like others, I can’t taste the caramel part of the tea (which was the part that I was most looking forward to). It’s very citrusy and spicy to the point that it’s bitter on my tongue. Maybe I did steep this too long. Maybe I should try the hint and add a little something to it – although I’ve never tried adding alcohol to my tea.

I always hate saying that I don’t like a tea, but I don’t think this one will be returning after I’m done.

Oh wow! Not only does this tea smell as decadent as a hug from my Hubby, but it tastes great too!

This is one I will be purchasing a full tin of (once I have an empty tin to put it in) It’s great as a latte too! I just need a proper milk frothier!!

I can’t type, I am sipping my second cup and it is chasing away the chills! Mmmmm!!

Really enjoying this fall collection of teas! I didn’t know what to expect before trying this, and the flavours are unique but definitely good. The ingredients all taste great together – I love how the cinnamon doesn’t really come through much except for the warmth it gives. The orange peel is there but subtle, and these mulberries really do give this a caramel aspect.

When I got home from DavidsTea, instead of giving into the urge to make all of the Mom’s Apple Pie evar, I made a cuppa this instead, determined to try all of the new teas. Well, except for Copabanana, which I’m sure I won’t like, and Pumpkin Chai, because I already have that one.

It was a good call on my part. Hot, it was amazing, delicious and cinnamony and caramel-y…mmm. As it cooled, the orange peel came out more, but it was still definitely delicious.