Oolong Caramel au Beurre Salé

Apparently today is caramel day!  And I haven’t written a note for this yet.  It hasn’t really inspired a note when I have tried it before.  This is from the old group order (and almost gone now.)  The leaf looks very roasted, which is why it would not be a favorite of mine.  But it’s not too bad in the roast/mineral department!  And even years later, I do have a hint of burnt sugar/caramel to the leaf which is an interesting pairing with the roasted oolong.  By the third steep, both the flavor and leaf are drastically faded.  I’m glad I tried this, but nothing I need to have again.  (SO many I want to try from DF though!)
I also had today: Matcha Outlet’s Caramel Matchaccino (in a blueberry/cantaloupe smoothie) and Tea Desire’s Caramel Puerh.
Steep #1 // 1 1/2 teaspoons for a full mug //  20 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 //  12 min after boiling // 2 min
Steep #3 //  2 min after boiling // 3 min

Having this again this morning. SO GOOD. Perfectly creamy, with just a bit of salt. I’m going to have to place a DF to grab more of this. I’ve also decided to grab their advent again. I wasn’t going to…but I can’t resist.

SIPDOWN 76

I have finally used the very last sachet I had of this tea. I had it almost for two years, but the age haven’t changed anything.

Rich, buttery, salted-caramel taste. Mineral, not sure as flavouring or the oolong itself. Creamy. Oh well… it will be missed.

Light sweet taste in mouth, compare to its powerful fragrance. Dry leaf: The strong salty but sweet fragrances. And the sweetness is not only caramel but also a clear flower note in the end. If you can control the steeping time within 60 seconds, you could brew it up to 5 times I guess (100ml of water).

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Day 6 of Dammann Freres Advent Calendar.

This was a pretty good dessert-y Tea. It had a buttery, creamy taste. As it cooled it developed a slightly astringent edge. Not enough to ruin it for me, but that combined with the vegetal aftertaste moves this one off my prospective spring order. I guess I’m one of those non adventurous sorts who prefers black tea. But I’m really enjoying the chance to try teas I normally would avoid.

Advent calendar – day 6 (and I have it in my cupboard :p)

This is a tea we have purchased twice now so no surprise there. We really like it and drinking it is always a treat. The delicious caramel is very buttery. A bit like a Werther’s Original butterscotch candy. It’s very smooth and creamy, and you can definitely taste the vegetal oolong. With a little bit of stevia, it’s delicious! I like it very much but for some reason I don’t find myself reaching for it as much as I would think I would (possibly because I have too many teas :o)

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!!

Sipdown (280)

I guess despite my tournament being over, I still want to have tea battles. Plus, today is National Fragrance Day as highlighted by Mastress Alita in her sipdown discussion. I noticed Kittenna picked out DAVIDsTEA’s Salted Caramel Oolong for the occasion and that got me thinking about that tea and this one and how I had one serving left of the sample given to me by Roswell Strange and how I wanted to use it to compare the two. So here we are…

The tea has cooled a bit – I always forget how quickly an 8 oz cup of tea can cool down. It is still so lovely though. At first I thought it was mostly just oolong that I was getting but the caramel is lingering. It coats the tongue really while the slight roast and vegetable flavor of the oolong dances on top. The flavors are so different but intertwining well together. It also manages to stay light overall while being rich in flavor. That stands out as one of the main differences between this and the DAVIDsTEA version, which is more heavier/syrupy – the European vs. North American takes on the flavor profile really stand out here. Check out the tasting note for that tea here: https://steepster.com/rachel12610/posts/416697

Thank you Roswell Strange for the share and the chance to revisit this gem! I think as a plain tea, I prefer this to the DAVIDsTEA version. DAVIDsTEA one makes for a better latte though.

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.

I saw my tin of this tea while I was digging out a different oolong yesterday and it just stuck in my mind over the coarse of the day to the point where I went back to make a cup. I wish it could have stayed in my mind the same way after I started steeping it because I got distracted and the tea was mostly cooled off when I came back to it. It was still nice though; a gentle caramel kind of taste combined with a more floral undertone from the oolong. Caramel and florals can be a little weird, but I liked the balance of the two and thought the caramel was a well managed sweetness and brightness even if it lacked some body.