Sugar Caramel Oolong

This caught my eye yesterday but I made the coconut pouchong instead. Today, it is this one’s turn.

More leaf in this sample so I’m making a big cup tonight. Yay! The dry leaf smells nice. Almost candy-like but not quite like a caramel chew. It brews up to a pretty dark golden liquid with a smell that reminds me of a more roasted oolong – almost a sweet cigar smell – but with heavy caramel overtones. It’s more of a rich, decadent caramel syrup that you’d put in coffee smell instead of a caramel candy smell. I imagine that comes from the burnt sugar part of the flavoring.

The taste is rich yet mild. I can’t taste a lot of oolong, however the caramel taste is such that it doesn’t taste like I’m drinking a flavored tea but more like a scented tea. (Now I’m picturing tea leaves spread out with little caramel candy buds being set on them in preparation for their opening to flavor the tea before they are switched out for more. And more. Anyone know where I can get a caramel plant?) No chemical or fake flavoring taste to be found. This is another well-flavored tea – I’m impressed!

The caramel taste is strongest on the front end, when I can smell it, too, though the smell seems more burnt/caramelized sugar. Then the tastes morphs seamlessly into a sweet dark oolong flavor of floral cigar (though no smoky hints at all – there’s just a similar sweetness) and then the finish that coats my mouth after I swallow is more of the sugar but with caramel tones. Almost like about five minutes ago I finished a dessert that had a caramel whipped cream topping.

I like the coconut pouchong best between these two, but this is still a very good tea. Darker and sweeter in taste than the coconut. But just as good of a pairing of flavoring + tea. If GM’s plain teas are as good as these two flavored have been, I’m going to be a big fan.

ETA: The second steep has lost a lot of the overt caramel/burnt sugar flavoring. Or else that was because of the spicy peanut sauce I just had. But even though the smell and taste aren’t as obvious this time around, it’s still got a great dark sweetness to it and a soft burnt sugar smell.

I’m in need of a good comfort tea today – I’ve been wallowing a whole lot lately and it’s starting to get pathetic. So hopefully this will blow my mind and make me forget where I am.

The smell of this was divine. It was a whole lot of burnt sugar and caramel. Now, I much prefer caramel to chocolate; it is probably my favorite sweet out there. So you can see why I chose this tea today.

Right away, I taste the oolong. It’s one of those nice buttery, creamy oolongs, so it is complemented very nicely by the caramel. The caramel doesn’t come out and assault your taste buds, but rather it very gently massages them into submission until you’re lost in the taste. The longer I hold the tea in my mouth, the stronger the caramel becomes. It’s not the sickeningly sweet caramel you would pour over ice cream; it’s almost like there’s nuts added.

This doesn’t come right out and scream “Desert Tea!” It isn’t sweet enough, so it’s perfect to have around as a comfort tea. Which is what I needed right now. I bet after a couple more infusions I’ll be wondering why I was ever in a funk in the first place.

This has nothing to do with the tea, but it just started absolutely pouring. Like, the kind of storm that sends my poor dog running under my bed with her tail between her legs. It was perfectly nice out a minute ago. The weather is so weird here…

EDIT: Oh, lovely. Now it’s hailing, too. And raining sideways.

Golden Moon sample No. 14 of 31.

Ordinarily I wouldn’t be in a position to taste this today, but I had to sequester myself at home today to devote myself to finishing a project for work rather than go into the office, and that put a sort of crimp in the day that had me feeling out of sorts, so I decided to give my latest random pick a try over lunchtime and see if it cheered me up.

And boy, did it ever. I have gone from feeling peeved at how my day was unfolding to feeling lucky that such decadence was at hand to improve my mood. And this after having a not so great experience with an earlier Golden Moon oolong. I had been worried that I wouldn’t like this one that much, either. I’ve never been so glad to be wrong!

Tightly curled dry leaves that smell of — crackerjacks! Or maybe those cube shaped caramel candies in the clear plastic individual wrappers. They smell of this, and nothing else I could detect. It’s a delicious, strong scent. It brews to a pale yellow, clear liquor.

When I steeped them the first time, I didn’t get so much caramel in the aroma, though it was there. What I got more of was the butter of green oolong. So I wondered what I’d taste.

And on the very first steep — yum. It’s caramel. Not overly sweet, not overly strong, but definitely caramel. And soothing. There’s butter as well, and a slightly vegetal flavor, but for a green oolong it’s leaning toward nutty/toasty. I suspect because of the caramel, which could easily turn it that way.

Second steep: 3 min. More sugar! The flavor deepens to reveal more sugar and more caramel. The sugar has the quality of the sugar from a dried fruit, which I suppose could be dates.

Third steep: 4 min. A step back on the sugar, though it is still there. The caramel is as well. There is less butter, and less vegetal flavor, and more toasty nuttiness.

Fourth steep: 5 min. The sugar and caramel is mostly gone, but the buttery, nutty taste remains, though it has weakened some. I fear a fifth steep would be disappointing so I am quitting while I’m ahead.

I really like the feeling of something suggestive of candy that is, at the same time, so obviously not candy. That’s why I feel so decadent having this and why I am going to have to order more.

There’s no heaviness to it like what you could get from eating actual caramels, nothing to stick in your teeth. There’s no feeling of guilt afterwards, or bloatedness, or a sugar high or precipitous fall. But it gives (at least the illusion) of the same serotonin-inducing comfort one could get from eating handfuls of caramels.

And I needed that today. Two thumbs up.

Finally some good tea today!

I’m actually completely snowed in today. I tried walking around outside and nearly fell on my face. Several times. There was no way I was going to make it to the bus stop in those conditions. Not to mention the severe delays.

So I figured I’d steep up some very happy-making tea, to ward off the cold. And to have something delicious to drink! We’re winding down to the end of the Golden Moon sampler here… just Honey Pear and Coconut Pouchong left.

Anyway, when I cut open the package, there was an awesome rush of a sugar and caramel and delicious smell. Man. It’s leaning more towards the sugary side of things, smell-wise, but this is pretty intoxicating. I kept sticking my nose in the packet and breathing in deep. Ahhhhh. I’m not getting a lot of an oolong smell from it, which is perfectly fine.

So I steeped up a teaspoon of this bad boy, and watched the leaves unfurl. Rolled oolongs. So. Much. Fun. The resulting infusion was a light goldenrod color, and the smell coming off of it? Delicious. Absolute chewy, buttery oolong goodness, which I was surprised about. I thought it’d be more of a sugar/caramel smell, but nope. There’s a heady floral component to it. Almost like a wildflower honey smell (which is delicious, by the way).

Hot, I’m just getting a sort of light, buttery-oolong style note. But as the cup cooled down, I began to taste a delicious trace of sugar, and hints of caramel after every sip. The taste is pleasingly light. I don’t know why I thought this would be darker and more syrupy, but it really isn’t. This is so pleasantly sippable that I’m holding my mug in two hands and sticking my face in it, a little smile on my face.

I’ve been so deprived of good tea.

Anyway, as the tea cools even more, there’s this little magical period where the sugary taste really comes to the forefront. The cup even smells more like the dry leaves. It’s absolutely delicious. The oolong here is very light and supporting. It’s funny. It’s like all the components here are in an ensemble cast. I can’t really pick out a dominant flavor, which I like.

The second steep for me (3:00, 190 degrees) wasn’t as good as the first. It was definitely drinkable, but it had that sort of spent-leaf taste that I don’t really enjoy. It’s almost a heavier flavor, an overcooked vegetable flavor. There was still a little bit of a sugary taste to it, but everything was much more muted.

But yes. Yum.

Another tea from Alphakitty, thank you!! Haha, I’m sure it’s almost always obvious when I have a swap package arrive, because I immediately dive right in and try a whole bunch of samples in a row :D In spite of having multiple samples from all my previous packages yet to try.

Steeped, this smells a lot like Creamy Nut Oolong from Teaopia. Perhaps I’m only making that association because I just drank some, but that’s definitely how it smells. And yes, I’m sure I didn’t switch cups or do something silly :) If I take the tea out of the chocolate-raspberry scented bag, it does have a sort of sugary, toasty aroma, similar to Creamy Nut.

The flavour is also somewhat similar, interestingly enough. I’m seriously a bit concerned that I did swap them, now, although this is not as sweet, and has a stronger nutty flavour that reminds me a teeny bit of genmaicha. So weird and unexpected! I think I prefer Teaopia’s version because it’s more caramelly and sweet but would drink either.

ETA: Just did a side-by-side comparison of the second infusion (170F/3min) of this one to the third of Creamy Nut. Definitely many of the same flavours; biggest differences are that Creamy Nut is sweeter and less toasty. I think Sugar Caramel may also have a better base oolong, but it’s not really fair to compare second and third infusions; I should really start both from scratch together. But that’s for another day. (Third infusion is getting a bit weak. Creamy Nut definitely lasts longer too.)

This tea was the perfect dessert tea pairing with my dark chocolate square this evening. The aroma is a sweet caramel, very enticing. I haven’t had a caramel tea that smelled this good since the Spring I spent in Toulouse, France. My host family had a wonderful caramel tea that I had at least twice a day, and haven’t found a replacement for yet!

I taste a slight bit of wood on the tip of my tongue on some sips. I’m definitely getting the caramel, more so in the aftertaste then in the immediate taste. There is a slightly nutty flavor too if I swirl the tea around in my mouth a bit. I have to have more of this tea! I hope for a few more steeps tonight. Then I must make some room in my cupboard as this is definitely getting ordered again! Thank you GM for introducing me to your teas through a wonderful sampler!

Purchased from Iheartteas.com – thanks Rachel! :) Today’s cup is an old Aynsley bone china teacup, that is bright goldenrod colour, overlaid with a heavy gold floral pattern. Small flowers adorn both the centre of the cup and the saucer. It’s a very cheery, yet elegant cup. I admit that it isn’t my favourite, but for some reason, I felt drawn to it today.

Dry – very sweet smelling leaves. Smells like caramel popcorn.
Steeped 180 degrees F, for 3mins.

1st Steeping, 1st cup:
Steeped 180 degrees F, 3mins
Colour: pale yellow liquor
Slight vegetal smell, overlaid with a sweeter, caramel smell. A slight hint of nut.
Taste: Quite light, and refreshing. It’s not a sweet tasting tea, as I had first expected. I can taste the oolong, but the burnt sugar/caramel is along side of it, gently easing onto my tongue. I find the caramel more prominent at the finish.
Quite nice.

1st Steeping, 2nd cup:
Per the Golden Moon Tea’s website, they recommend adding some sugar to help enhance the caramel flavour, as well as some milk to make it a richer cup. I only added a small amount of sugar – they suggest one teaspoon, and I imagine that would be for a larger vessel than the old teacup that I am using. I can always add more sugar if required. I also added just a dribble of milk. Hmmm, this concoction looks a little sad in my cup now. As the liquor was so pale to begin with, it looks like I’ve just poured really watered down milk into a fancy teacup LOL! Ok, I guess it doesn’t matter what it looks like, but how it tastes is what counts, right?

Well, it could just be me, but I’m not sure if the sugar really brought out the caramel. Maybe if I had used rock sugar instead of plain old white sugar, that might have made a difference. The cup is definitely sweeter tasting, but I wonder it’s perhaps taking away from the taste, not improving it. That also could be the milk too. I will need to do some experiments with it….
Another cup, with a wee bit less milk and same amount of sugar has made this grow on me, and I am getting more of the burnt sugar and caramel flavour from it. Tasty!

2nd Steeping, 1st cup, no additives:
Steeped 180 degrees F, 3mins 25secs
I noticed that the leaves had opened up more during this second steeping. Quite frankly, it smells pretty much the same as the first steeping. Maybe slightly more vegetal.
Upon tasting it, I’m not finding the sugar/caramel notes as strongly as I did in the previous steeping. As with the other cups, the caramel swoops in at the finish.
Very enjoyable, although now I’m hankering to add some milk and sugar and amp it up somewhat and make it more dessert-like.

2nd Steeping, 2nd cup, milk and sugar added
I think I’ve found the right milk/sugar combo – yum!

3rd Steeping: 1st cup, no additives:
Steeped 180 degrees F, accidentally lost track of time – maybe 4mins or so?
Just beginning to lose the caramel and sugar notes – more vegetal tasting.
Subsequent cups with milk and sugar still quite good though. Helps bring out the sweet caramel.
Not as punchy as the first 2 steepings.

4th Steeping: 1st cup, no additives:
Steeped 180 degrees F, 5mins 15secs
Becoming more bland but still nice.

I’ve been looking forward to trying this tea for quite some time.

It’s a little underwhelming to be honest. The leaves smell sugary; like catching a whiff of butterscotch candy. The flavors are light but prevalent. The oolong base is just ok. It could have used a little more oomph. I wish they would have used a slightly darker oolong. Sugar and caramel flavors on top of a light to medium roasted oolong would have been divine. I bet it would taste like a toasty crème brulee. Mmm.

This is a decent tea, but it didn’t knock my socks off. Maybe I played it up too much in my head. Big thanks to Ricky for letting me sample it! My wallet just gave a sigh of relief.

The dry tea smells fantastic – earthy yet sweet.

1st steep – 3 min. First sip = love! To me, it tastes like a less over the top version of the Honey Pear, and gosh darn, I prefer it! It’s more of a dates rather than pears, and burnt sugar rather than honey, and much more subtle. I remarked in one of our discussions that I didn’t know if an oolong had a place in my cupboard – scratch that! This is definitely getting the full tin treatment!

2nd steep: 4 min. Less flavoring taste, and more tea taste. Soft sugar and date notes. Still gorgeous.

3rd steep: 5 min. Still a nice cup of tea, but I think it’s done after this one. Very soft dates and oolong, no sugar but the dates give it some sweetness.

So, for those keeping score – so far the Kashmiri Chai and Sugar Caramel Oolong are in my OMG MUST BUY WHOLE TIN category (Sugar Caramel Oolong ousting Honey Pear)! They are both so unique and delicious to me :)

GM Sampler | Tea 4 of 31

Sugar Caramel Oolong | http://bit.ly/ds1ZuN
One Big Happy Family | http://bit.ly/bDtnNn

After the experience that was Honey Pear, I couldn’t end things on a bad note, so I decided that I’d dive into the basket and try something else. I almost didn’t try this one, because I was thinking that if another set of flavors that I typically liked bombed horribly again that I’d begin to build some real resentment against the sampler. But, feeling brave, I decided I’d try it anyway.

Slicing open the foil packet, I was greeted with the smell of maple candy. Maple candy always makes me giggle, because it makes me think of the Friends episode where Ross eats all the maple candy and he gets all crazy. [Hair dryer, no no no! But shampoos and conditioners, yes yes yes! – http://bit.ly/snFLh should you want to watch.] So, already I was off to a better start.

The wet leaves were oily and almost looked like leather. They smelled like oatmeal and burnt sugar, which was interesting, but at least somewhat in line with what I was expecting. I smelled the liquid and it smelled more like oolong and caramel, which was very comforting.

The tea was arright. It had more of a burnt sugar taste than a caramel taste to it, which was cool, but I like caramel so much that I was hoping for more. Not soul-crushing, but not elating. I’d push it more towards the good than the bad, but I don’t think that I’ll be ordering this one either.

After my delicious experience with the Coconut Pouchong, I had high hopes for this one.

The dry leaf smelled amazing. It reminded me of the crust of a creme brûlée, one of my favorite desserts. After brewing, the tea seemed less like toasty caramel and more like roasty oolong with a hint of caramel in the background. I wanted a stronger caramel flavor than I got and the oolong was a bit darker than I preferred, but it was still pretty good. There’s definitely a nectary sweetness and roast flavor. I wouldn’t necessarily want this again, but it was enjoyable.

I chose this tea to be my reward for staying on track with this Couch to 5k program, whee. I wanted something sweet. I may have to go and paw through the other samples for more sweet teas after this. As for this one?

Fruity!

Seriously, where am I getting that from? Of all of the things that I expected when I lifted my steeped cup of light, yellow-amber, canary-colored tea up to my nose, fruit was seriously not on the list. And yet, that’s sort of what it smells like, to me — like someone caramelized some sugar and added it to some kind of fruit. My cup is still pretty hot. Maybe that’s going to lessen as I sit here and sip on it. I’m not even sure how to describe what kind of fruit I’m smelling. The more I sit and sniff, the more I think it’s reminding me of the bananas-in-bananas-foster smell…which I guess makes sense, given all of the ingredients in a bananas foster and the sauce…all of that hot sugar. In fact, now that I’ve said that, ‘bananas foster’ is definitely sticking around.

It’s not a very punchy flavor in the cup. Not nearly the strength of the coconut pouchong. I don’t know if I’m pleased or disappointed by that. I’m also not sure that I know enough about oolongs yet to properly evaluate the one they used here; all I know is that it isn’t the kind of oolong that makes me salivate from the rich, nutty, buttery smell. This is merely an echo of that flavor profile, a ghostly reference to those stronger qualities, lacking the brothy fullness in the mouth.

There is a temperature somewhere between ‘just shy of boiling’ and ‘tepid’ when the cup is hot but no longer needs as much caution in the sipping, and I’m starting to believe that this magical temperature window is where amazing things happen to the flavor of certain teas. Since hitting that mark, the tea seems to better represent the scent it throws off. It’s still not nearly as intense, but it’s stronger. Somehow I feel as though a little bit of sweetener in here to bring the sweetness you can smell up to the level of the sweetness your tongue gets might help to round out and smooth the flavor. It doesn’t need the sugar, but it might make the sweet-tooth itch the cup aims to scratch a little bit easier to satisfy.

Not a bad tea. Pretty drinkable. Not sure I can see myself craving it, though, so I probably won’t buy any, but it was interesting to try.

It’s after lunch and I’m in the mood for something sweet – this one sounded like it would hit the spot and did not disappoint. Gorgeous sweet, caramel aroma. Mouth-watering, in fact!
These leaves really popped open during the steep, and continued exuding their yummy smell. The recommended steeping time was 2-3 minutes, and I know I like my flavored teas strong, so I went with three. This gave me a medium-brown liquor with a medium amount of oolong and caramel flavor. Really well balanced, but I think for my personal taste I’d probably steep it longer. There’s a sweet taste to it, but I couldn’t help but wonder how this would be with cream and sugar, despite the fact that I usually drink oolongs straight.
Very nice! Now it’s like a melted butterscotch candy, much richer and really almost decadent. Dare I still call this tea, or am I only drinking it as a dessert substitute?

Yum!! I was looking forward to something interesting this afternoon, and when flipping through the samples, this one caught my eye.

The dry leaves smell just like maple cotton candy. It was one of those smells that you know won’t exist in the actual tea, but is really nice out of the container. As the tea steeped, I realized the leaves were Really Big. (Seriously, check them out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lauren_pressley/tags/sugarcarameloolong/show/) I pulled out a few for the photos, but will resteep the rest a few times to see how this holds up.

The tea itself is definitely sweet, but doesn’t taste sweetened (if that makes sense). There is a clear sugar and caramel flavor, though I’m picking up floral notes as well. It still smells of sugar, but has the grassy taste you’d expect from an oolong.

So, this one is a winner for me! I might just have to get a canister… looking forward to seeing how the resteeps go!

Best aftertaste ever.

I don’t know why this is so weak, I steeped it probably closer to 4 min because it looked like plain old water still around 3. It’s definitely not as strong as I would like but…

Even though the tea is pretty weak I am getting the most spectacular creme brûlée aftertaste. And it is delicious! I hope it’s still there on the second steeping because there will be one before I get to cooking.

The dessert tea before dinner approach is my favorite.

I just had a second steeping of it, steeped for a little over 6 minutes and now it’s full on amazing. I’m actually surprised the sugary flavor is still there! I hope it’s ready for a third cup later on!

Golden Moon Tea Sampler #1
I picked out a packet at random and got this one. I wonder if I used too much water? I tried to use about 4 or 5 ounces of water, but my eyeballs are not well-trained precision tools. Glancing at the other tasting notes, I see that I’m off from the general consensus. Aroma, to me, is sweet corn in green tea and I can’t get the “corny” flavor out of my mind as I sip.

It tastes like a pleasant, weakish, generic green and I’m missing out on all the sensation. I will carefully measure water for my next steep and then possibly revise my note.

Pretty good, but not getting any real strong flavors that I’d expect. The sugar and caramel are more on the nose, not so much in the tea. But still enjoyable.

I love the mood on this one – introspective, scholarly. As I’m staying up all night awaiting the announcement of a literature prize, I do feel a little of both.

The smell of the dry leaves for this one was very sugary/sweet, but when brewed it mellowed out considerably. And became extremely delicious. It’s a really smooth caramel flavor, with both a light sweetness and creaminess to it. From the described flavors, I think I’m mostly getting the cedar and orange blossoms notes – the more crisp, autumnal side of it. I do notice it gets fairly bitter after it cools a bit.

The wet leaves after the first steeping started to smell more oolong-y – steeped this one the max of four times.

Oh…sweet…jeebus…on an everlovin’ pogostick!

I needed this tea desperately today. I was really disappointed with the other GM samples I’d tried so far, and then came this – this nectar. Ah, sweet bliss!

The smell of the dry leaves was carmeliscious and I couldn’t wait to get this puppy goin’. After steeping I poured it and then spontaneously smelled the pot. Wow – I’m not gonna do that again – it smelled of funky veggie (sorry that I can’t be more specific on that one). I’m guessing that that’s what oolongs must generally smell like (I have yet to try out a straight-up oolong – something that I hope to rectify soon). I then tried smelling the aroma of the cup and I was somewhat surprised when I couldn’t smell a thing. I think that the smell of the pot was such a shock to the system that it took a little bit of time for it to “reset.”

Ah, and then the cup of happiness. I love creme brulee and here it is in tea form! The caramel aroma that I eventually smelled drifting up from my cup was divine. ::sigh:: I have steeped this puppy three times now, and each time the cup evolves: the caramel fades into the background and almond seems to step up to the palate. Yes, this is the first “will buy again” from the GM sampler. TGs

Edit: After finally having a straight oolong I can confirm that the smell in the pot is indeed oolong. Which I now know to be a great thing!

WOW! This tea is TRUE burnt sugar caramel flavor. Super rich and wonderful! I wish I had ordered more than just a sample of it…there’s a hint of maybe floral on top of it all? I assume that is a note from the oolong itself coming through. Goodness though, wonderful dessert oolong! Makes me think of the crunchy top of a creme brulee.