Caramel

It is good. It tastes almost a bit fruity – I wonder if I can taste a bit of currant yet I know it is caramel. Maybe flavors from previous teas are stuck in the travel mug.

Bought this at Fox & Obel in Chicago on vacation. It was $12 for a box of 20 teabags, but I figured “what the heck” since I’d never tried this brand before. I need to give it another chance, but it certainly wasn’t worth $12, based on my first try. The teabags are muslin and look pretty fancy, but they’re not as full as UK teabags usually are. The caramel flavour was pretty weak, and the scent was pleasant but not amazing. Overall an okay cup of tea but definitely not anything to spend that much money on. I’ll see if the second try will change my mind (some point down the road)!

This tea came in a swap from Cameron B! Many thanks! Now that I know that Kusmi likes special prep, I am loving their blends!
http://sororiteasisters.com/2019/03/07/caramel-from-kusmi/?fbclid=IwAR0Y7NhFUKmqaTBQfrO3TErZZ3Hq6xFsfq6xsRkPOtuiwZum8qrDpzM-Nh0

I am taking a wee break from work to enjoy Mardi Gras cookies – delightfully almond flavored and sweet – and a hot cuppa. This new-to-me caramel struck my fancy, and I am delighted with the pairing.

You might think sweet with sweet wouldn’t be awesome together, but this black tea from Kusmi is from China, lacking the lemon/citrus notes one gets from most Ceylon tea and the caramel is not overly sweet but instead is almost a burnt caramel. Honestly, if I hadn’t prepared this myself and someone had told me it was a tea from China with natural caramel notes, I would have believed them.

Put together, it makes for a wonderful tea to pair with sweets or to drink on its own. As usual, I have added no milk or sugar and it is smooth and delicious, but I would say that this tea would handle milk and sugar VERY well for those who prefer additions.

I have the muslin tea sachets, and I have steeped twice and literally forgot I was drinking a second steep. There is no sourness, but a mere hint of briskness and the flavor of the black tea is lingering. I think this would make an excellent breakfast for folks like me who are not looking for a big brown boot of a builder’s tea to kick start them in the mornings. This has all the strength I need for a day starter or an afternoon refreshment.

HEADS UP! THIS HAS BEEN DISCONTINUED!

I just grabbed one of the last boxes on Amazon after speaking with a Kusmi rep. I asked when they were going to restock the loose leaf tins, and she told me this blend is about to be gone forever. So, if you love this tea like I do, you better stock up! Go now!

The smell is much stronger than the taste. I enjoyed this tea, but it didn’t really have a wow factor for me in terms of flavour.

I received some of this tea from QueenOfTarts in her stash sale. Thank you!

I really really really want to like Kusmi teas. I am not sure why, the tins maybe? I had Russian Breakfast #24 a long while ago and loved it so I have been trying some of their Russian flavored teas every since. Nothing has really hit me as that great. This one is the same and I think it is because I just do not like the base tea. This is another base that just taste like cardboard to me and because I don’t like the base whatever flavor is on top of it just gets jumbled up. Oh well. It is always good to find teas I do not care for. I am glad I got to try this one at least. I am still curious if I still like Russian Morning #24 or if it was just because I had just started drinking tea. Hopefully I will get to try that one again.

Good… but still leaves me on the hunt for the perfect caramel tea! It’s just not flavourful enough… At least, compared to most Kusmi teas, the black tea is not too bitter!

This sample came from the generous boychik. There are still many Kusmi teas I’d like to try, and this (along with the Bourbon Vanilla and Cinnamon) was near the top of my list. The leaves themselves are small and somewhat generic, and jet black in color. Dry scent is very mild caramel sweetness. I steeped a teaspoon of leaf for 3 minutes at 200 degrees.

Once steeped, the tea smells of wood and malt with a small amount of caramel. Hmm… I’m not sure how I feel about this one. On the one hand, I really like the flavor of the base tea. It’s somewhat woody and has a nice raisin note. On the other hand, the caramel flavoring is far too light for my tastes. It tastes more like a burnt sugar/brown sugar note found naturally in some teas. I would definitely like a bit more caramel here. So overall, tasty, but not really caramel to me.

I love caramel so much. Whenever I buy a caramel-ribboned ice cream, I excavate all of the caramel out.

So naturally, a large tin of Kusmi Caramel tea seemed de rigueur a couple months back when I placed my first order with this company. No idea why it has taken me so long to try this one—well, except that I have too much tea!—but today’s unseasonably cool and depressingly gray and drizzly weather seemed like the perfect opportunity, so I brewed up a small pot.

The dried leaves smell incredibly wonderful—almost good enough to eat! The brewed liquor is reddish amber and tastes excellent with light cream added. I should have taken a sip before adulteration, but it was clear that this brew could not really be a caramel tea without adding cream!

Interestingly enough, while imbibing this tea I was reminded of Tazo Golden Monkey, which miraculously manages to taste like unsweetened caramel though it is an unflavored tea. I prefer the Golden Monkey, but this Kusmi Caramel is also very good, and I’ll surely enjoy the rest of my big fat tin!

(Blazing New Rating #3)

I popped this LARGE tin open and admired the beautiful packaging. It is wrapped up inside the tin. When I opened it up, the sweet, caramel aroma was intoxicating! It smells and looks so new, delicious, and fresh! This is exactly what I needed today as I am preparing for my specialty board exam. I am highly stressed, and this sugary, dessert tea is perfect. It isn’t bitter at all, but it does well with sugar and milk. Delicious!