Caramele

Another recent Lupicia acquisition! I have to say this one seems more promising if only because the base tea does not include any CTC leaf. Yay whole leaf. Also, I am not sure if I realized this when I bought it (I certainly forgot if I did), but this is not just caramel but caramel and almond, so that’s potentially awesome. I don’t get a distinctly almondy scent from the dry leaf, more caramel and a definite nuttiness.

Steeped up, this tea smells like a very nutty black tea and has lost some of the caramel aroma. It reminds me a bit of the scent of a Mariage Fréres tea called Trois Noix. In the flavor, yeah, I can agree with others that this isn’t a super caramelly tea, but it is definitely very nutty. It’s not almonds like marzipan, it’s almonds like eating actual almonds. It is also perhaps caramelly in a way that unflavored black teas are caramelly, which is to say not super in your face caramel, but more the suggestion of caramel. The black base on this is smooth and not bitter or astringent, making it a pleasure to drink.

This is a decently tasty tea, and though I won’t restock it once I’m out, I won’t have much trouble drinking what I have of it either.

My Lupicia order came yesterday! I finally caved and bought a bunch of teas I’d been eyeing for a while, and ordered enough for free shipping and a catalog. :D

This was the one I was most excited to try. It’s got caramel and almond flavoring, two of my favorite things!

The dry leaf smells very sweet, to the point where I was a little bit cautious about it. However, brewed, it doesn’t smell quite as sweet. The scent of caramel is the most obvious, but there’s black tea behind that. It smells YUM. I can hardly resist drinking it as it’s cooling. But I must resist, or my tongue will burn. :P

It doesn’t taste nearly as sweet as it smells, but it’s got such a wonderful balance of flavors, and a lingering sweetness on the tongue. YUM.

the instructions on this one are a little odd. I was always annoyed at SpecialTeas for assuming that I’d be drinking a 6oz cup rather than an 8oz cup. And Lupicia apparently thinks that 6oz is WAY too much, they’re prescribing a 5oz cup.

Seriously?

Anyway, per the directions, it’s 2.5-3grams of tea per 5oz cup of water. Oy. but sure, I’ll try it.

first sip – no additives. i can taste the almond, and a little floral taste that together taste a little like caramel. Not bad.

So I added some sweetener. HELLO CARAMEL! Nom.

Next cup I tried some milk. It was nice, but not necessary.

This one is lovely with sweetener and when you use a lot of leaf. I’ll have to play with it more to see if I really have to use that much leaf every time.

2. from the TTBA:
   This was tasty! Not as interesting as Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam, but still a nice cup of joy :)

Wow, this tea simply smells amazing – yummy, creamy caramel candy!!! Though the caramel flavour is not terribly present in the liquor, it’s nonetheless a decent cup of black tea with mild sweetness. Very smooth, and I reckon that milk will work wonders on this tea :)

So today, I didn’t have any milk. I am exhausted from nightfloat, so I decided to pick a black tea that doesn’t need any additives. From my huge Lupicia sampler, I picked this one based on the description. It didn’t need milk. Woo! I made a huge mugful of this tea.

I was very pleasantly surprised. The tea went down VERY smooth. There was a hint of astringency on my tongue after a few hours (yes hours) when the tea became cold. My mouth felt dry. However, there was no bitterness. The caramel is a hint in the background. It doesn’t taste artificial, but there was a tinge of sweetness as well. Good tea overall. I am not going to buy this tea though.

This is a black tea version of a houjicha I really love called Milk Caramel.
It’s delicious!

I first tried this straight, and it was good. It reminded me of The au Chocolat. The black tea base is blended well with the caramel and almond flavors. I like that there’s almond in it because it brings a new dimension to the tea.

I added a drop of milk and some real caramel. The milk makes it unbelievably smooth and silky. And the added caramel gives it that extra sweetness and caramel flavor I was missing.

This is a solid choice. But I’m still head over heels in love with the houjicha version.

This is ok. Not strong in flavor. Nothing sticks out. Something I will forget about, unimpressive. Just… Meh!

Not as sweet as I would have liked. Mostly a black tea taste with a sweet flavor in the swallow. Not bad, but I won’t purchase more.

Flavored teas usually leave a funny aftertaste for me, but this one is nice. Like I just ate a caramel cream pie.