Vanilla

This tea smells much like the other vanilla teas I’ve had do: black tea with a hint of vanilla. The dry leaf smells a bit more flavored, but it’s basically what you’d expect from a vanilla tea.

The problem I’ve had with other vanilla teas is that the vanilla flavor and the black base don’t complement each other well. While this does improve as the tea cools, I wanted something that was perfect the whole way through, and this tea is!

This tea is smooth and delicious, what I’ve come to expect from Lupicia over the past couple days. The flavoring in this tea is pretty subtle, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. I do like my flavors loud, but there is such a thing as too-much-flavoring. This tea doesn’t have that. What this tea does have is a smooth black base with a hint of vanilla, and the flavors blend wonderfully. The vanilla even adds a bit of thickness to the tea, it seems. This is what I’ve been expecting from the other vanilla teas I’ve tried, only to be disappointed.

So this tea? This tea is YUM.

Yum! I steeped this the proper amount of time (for once; if you look over my tealogs you can see I’m a chronic over-steeper) and this tea is HEAVENLY. It tastes like french vanilla ice cream, but light and with enough black tea to prevent a descent into cloying madness. I’m drinking it straight out of the pot, but I’m sure that with milk this would be divine!

This is a sensitive tea, though. When I’ve made it in the past and steeped it 10+ minutes (because like I said, I am CARELESS) it was bitter and horrible, and my tongue was unhappy.

I bet this would make a great blending tea.

Got this as a sample. I had never considered buying it before because it seemed so simple – I mean, Lupicia’s got amazing unusual flavours like Marron Chocolat and Champagne Rose, and that’s what I gravitate to! But when something simple is done well, it’s worth it. This is done well. If you put a few vanilla beans in a jar of sugar and seal it for a few weeks, the sugar takes on the vanilla flavour, and this is exactly what I’m reminded of with this tea. I brewed it with milk and a little bit of sugar, and it’s remarkably smooth. A bit like a high-quality vanilla ice cream where you know they used vanilla beans rather than artificial flavouring, only not as sweet. I guess I would call it a grown-up vanilla, for lack of better words!

I don’t know if I’d buy it myself – after all, I’m still eager to try out so many of Lupicia’s unusual ones – but after drinking up this hot mug of it, I’m leaning toward “yes.” A great morning tea for when you want something more than a typical breakfast brew, but you don’t want to be knocked over with anything exotic.

The vanilla is a warm flavor, earthy rather than sugary-sweet. Very nice, and I bet it would mix well with other teas. Tried with a little bit of milk.

Grabbed a single bag from the TTB, and it was just what I needed this morning. Smooth and very, very vanilla-y, straddling the line between artificial vanilla and something a little purer.

A good vanilla taste without getting the sense of drinking extract. The vanilla is more of a smooth aftertaste following the nice black tea. Had with sugar and milk.

This one is definitely not for me… It doesn’t taste nasty or anything, it’s just so artificial tasting. One of the few Lupicia teas, I just can’t do. I can’t even get myself to think about the base tea lol. Maybe I’ll try it with a splash of milk or something. It’s like water with a bunch of imitation vanilla flavoring in it. >.<

The base is a little too heavy for the amount of vanilla flavoring used which is making for a much denser cup than I would like. It’s drinkable but this isn’t something I would stock up on any time soon. 284.

So I bought both this and La Vanille from Lupicia. What, exactly, is the difference, anyway? I am determined to find out!
I think I may have steeped this too aggressively this morning. I turned on music, and began to dance, instead of paying proper attention to my kettle. Whoops.
But even so, its not coming up bitter.
Its a smooth cup, and I get a toasty note in it, but very little vanilla, it must be said.
Hmm. Pleasant, and I do get a familer note, but what that note is is anyones guess right now.
More experimentation!

Prepared this tea hot this time. It’s got a very subtle sweetness now, not too vanilla, but lends a nice light flavor to your standard black tea.