Oolong Caramel au Beurre Salé

The caramel here came off a bit astringent. Sour isn’t the right word but it did carry aspects of what I associate with it. May have let it sit too long in the cupboard although I made a small cup of this ages ago and it was more of the same. The oolong part was rather soft as well. Definitely done in more of the traditional way than the “green” oolong style… which isn’t my favourite (really gotta be in the mood to enjoy).
Overall, rather tasty, all considering. Might have done better as a latte?
Thanks for the sample Sil!!

Had this last night and decided to have it again tonight. Just awesome!

Looseleaf: Smells strongly of caramel, butter, vanilla, and cream, but in an artificial way.

Brew: Strong flavours of cream, it actually tastes like I put milk in my tea. Very buttery, strong flavours of buttersctoch and vanilla. Slightly nutty, but not toasted. A nice balance of buttery, umami oolong with plenty of tea flavour and tannins and a strong butterscotch flavour.

Drank this one last night with some almond milk;

What does it say that I had just gotten home from our staff meeting at DT where I drank a lot of tea (five cups in two hours) only to come home and immediately after turn on the kettle?

This was great through; the perfect silky, creamy and soft sweet tasting note to end the day on. Except I ended up having an unplanned final cup after this so it wasn’t really an end to the day. I love the natural balance of caramel and fresh, floral and green oolong as well. It doesn’t feel like it should work but it totally does. The almond milk added a hint of nuttyness that suited the overall sweetness as well.

Blissful.

Buttery and salty and oolong, but who stole the caramel? I am adding a teaspoon of honey to see if I can coax the caramel back. Yes, yes, better, but still not that sexy dripping luscious caramel of my imagination.

The second steep is super buttery too, maybe even more so than the first. A bit more vegetal with the slightest echo of salt. Delicious.

That said, the name of this tea is a lot to live up to. Perhaps I would be enjoying this tea so much more if my imagination were not as vivid.

Thanks, Sil. I’ve been looking forward to trying this one.

I’ve drank this on three separate occasions and each time I steeped it just a little different.

I can totally appreciate the caramel flavor in this, but the oolong base is too green for me. It doesn’t go with the caramel. It’s too vegital – asparagus and caramel do not work for me.

Thanks Sil for sending me a sample of this. Sometimes I feel bad when I get samples of expensive/hard to get teas – especially ones that others really love – and I don’t like them. I feel like they were wasted on me and others would have enjoyed them more. However, even the ones I don’t love – I’m always appreciative of the opportunity to try new things…. :))

Sil gave me some of this to try when we met up at the Tea Festival last month. It smells great, all sugary and buttery, but I think that the base is really too vegetal for the additional flavours.

I’ve added the rest of the package to the GCTTB5, as a few other expressed interest in trying it.

Being alone in the middle of nowhere on my birthday is a little sad, but at the same time, it has given me the opportunity to finally enjoy this. Being home alone all day + oolong = a chance for multiple steeping.

And boy, did this not disappoint. First steep had the heaviest salted caramel flavouring, unsurprisingly, and the base wasn’t too loud or vegetal. Just right. The steeped tea smells like caramel sauce? I think? Or the centre of a Skor or Almond Roca? Whatever! All I know is it smells like caramel heaven.

Second steep was still very heavy on the caramel. It floated atop the base. It’s like what I’d imagine making caramel in a pot, then diluting it with water would taste like. Or rather, like a diluted version of Bananas Foster…err, without the banana.

Lastly, the third steep was light in flavour on all accounts, whether it be the caramel or the base, but blindfolded, you’d still know that you were drinking this tea.

So glad I waited until now to try it. I needed some excitement today.

This is a splendid tea :)
The leaves are big, the smell is sweet, and the taste is complex in the good way.
Nice notes of sweetness, but the green oolong is still in there. I enjoyed resteeping this tea to watch the leaf just sit there and communicate “That’s right, I’m a boss” to me.
As for overall taste, I’m not too big on caramel with a lighter tea of any sort. For me, caramel compliments strong brisk flavors.

The oolong is very present, very vegetal. It smells heavenier than heaven but the caramel is not present enough in the cup in my opinion. The liquid is pretty light-coloured; I’m surprised about this since the oolongs I drank were usually darker (almost like a black tea). This one looks somewhere between a white and a green tea.Like it, will finish it, but not buying again.