Caramel Shortbread

This is easily one of my favorite teas from David’s Tea. It’s such a lovely one to wind down your day with. It’s reminiscent of David’s Tea’s Caramel Corn (no longer in stock), but with a creamier taste and slightly less fruity undertone.

This tea smells amazing! Just like a warm, delicious cookie. I was really pleased with the flavor. It was a buttery taste that reminded me of Girl Scout trefoil cookies. The brewed tea also smelled delicious.

This tea smells delightful – exactly like its name! – but it falls flat on its flavour profile. It tastes nothing like caramel, shortbread, or any sort of cookie or dessert. Instead it tastes like a sweeter and milder version of DT’s Sleigh Ride. I can’t say I particularly like it, but it is interesting to look at – it has slices of almonds and hazelnut bits! Just looking to finish it lol.

This was a blind purchase for me, since I got it online. I was very excited when I first opened the bag and took a whiff. It smells wonderful. The taste, on the other hand, was a major disappointment. There was too much dissonance between the smell and taste for this tea to be enjoyable. The taste of apple is really what ruined it for me. I have nothing against apple flavour in my teas, but mixed with the sweet cookie scent, it served to make feel a little queasy.

It’s been a while since I’ve posted (life has a way of taking you from things you want to do sometimes). Anyway, here I am, back to my sipping ways. It’s cold outside, I’ve resumed my courses after a year hiatus – I find this combo draws me to drinking tea. I would probably drink more if I got one of those programmable kettles. I do have a tea thermometer, but it’s so much easier (and more efficient) to having temperature presets rather than guestimating when to shut off the kettle.

…besides, the fiance has found enjoyment in preparing tea for me (something he did when I got sick from a massive burnout this time a year ago). I pointed out the Breville IQ – a bit pricey – but according to Consumers Reports, worth it. Hopefully I get that for Christmas this year.

Anyway, on to the review. I got this tea a part of a Christmas gift from my fiance’s brother and his fiancee. After having drank a lot of Chun Mee as of late I decided to change it up and having something with some flavour (although I love Chun Mee). I looked at the package and decided to give it a try.

2 PS (David’s Tea Perfect Spoons), 1 PS of Rock Sugar, let it steep for 5ish minutes.

In a word, YUCK. I found it way too sweet. Got pummeled by a ton of sweet. I couldn’t discern any individual flavour. After a couple of sips I dumped the cup into the sink. Thankfully I got 32 grams of the stuff. I’ll probably give it a shot another time and scale back the amount, knock off the rock sugar and see if my opinion changes.

…I wish I was asked for my preference, or even better, just give me a gift certificate so I can buy what I like.

PS I’m washing the taste out of my mouth with some unsweetened Happy Kombucha. LOL

This is full on buttery nuts and sour fruits. I don’t get any caramel notes.

Thank you but no.

This was fairly good. I got it in a DT Sampler. Burr… it is 15 degrees currently- it warmed me up when I got to work but it is not one I’d personally purchase.

Happy New Year, Steepster darlings! I don’t do resolutions but I am trying to get back into the groove of writing Steepster posts and/or taking Instagram pictures somewhat regularly. We’ll see how that goes but I have missed it so I’m moderately optimistic.

I’m starting off with a tea that I’m also moderately optimistic about. The flavor sounds delicious and I like that it is caffeine free, but the ingredients include stevia (blegh) and “natural and artificial almond and hazelnut flavouring” (always eyebrow-raising but not inherently disqualifying). I only have one sachet so there’s not much to lose by trying it.

I have to admit, the scent of the dry leaf is a dead ringer for caramel shortbread cookies. As soon as the 206f water hit the leaf, a lovely aroma of warm caramel and cookies wafted up from my (prewarmed) cup. I steeped this blend for five minutes. It has a slight oily sheen on the surface which should have been a red flag but I blew right by that and went in for the sip. My immediate response was “what am I drinking and why”. It certainly does not taste like I expected it to, though not as terrible as that initial response might have you believe. It tastes very fruity and sweet with a strong berry flavor and no cookie or shortbread flavor. That unmistakable stevianess lingers in the aftertaste. That’s fine if you like stevia but less than pleasing if you don’t. This is a perfectly adequate berry and stevia tea. It is not, to my palate at least and to the great disappointment of my olfactory sense, a caramel shortbread tea. But at least I got a Steepster post written about it!

Not my favorite but not bad. I do not mind sour though and this is definitely sour.

Advent Calendar 2017, Day 17: Very caramely, with an undercurrent of fruit. Would add more tea to future steeps, was a little weak, as with most of these herbal infusions.