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A sample with my order?! Yes, please! This smells so very caramel like. It says English, but my brain thinks French because it reminds me of Fauchon’s caramel tea. The flavor was rich on the sip with roasty caramel, but there is something alkaline in the finish. The flavor seems to get a little more hollow and flat as it cools. Definitely better when hot. Maybe I’ll resteep and try adding some creamer. I don’t know that I’d buy this one since I have a similar caramel in my cupboard, but I wouldn’t pass up another cup either.

I forget who here on Steepster told me the trick to a good cup of Lupicia oolong ages ago… use boiling water and a short steep. I’m still appreciative of that tip! Totally changed Lupicia oolongs for me. Instead of getting flat cardboard fruit murkiness, I’m getting a nice tropical fruit flavored cup. Mango is the most dominant with passionfruit right behind. I think this is the second Lupicia passionfruit tea I’ve had now. There is something roasty scented when I go to sip and it’s reminding me of Ette’s Mango Sticky Rice Genmaicha, which I love. So far this is an enjoyable cup and I’m on my 2nd steeping. I bet it would be fantastic cold brewed.

Hmmmm…. I think I need to work out the steeping parameters for this tea. I get apple, but there is a strong alkaline flatness on the sip which then flashes to apple and back to alkaline with floral apple juice in the finish. Did I overleaf it? I’ll have to try this again a different way.

This smells so good in the bag, but it is steeping to something a lot lighter in flavor. It tastes all high and mid notes, with no bass, leaving it light, airy and with a floral feeling. I added some milk which added some depth on the lower end, but I’m not sure that was all the adjustment needed. Looks like I’ve tried this tea at least 3x now. Maybe it’s just not for me.

Sometimes when I take the first few sips of a tea the flavors will hit harshly. A few sips in things seem to mellow and I’m left with a nice cup. That didn’t happen with this tea. I steeped it for 3m and every sip of the first 1/4 of the cup were bold and overwhelming. The rose dominated and was so overpowering that it was bitter. Once I put some milk in it all changed! The rose instantly mellowed and the cardamon came out. There is just the hint of it maybe thinking about pepper notes and then that fades. I like rose and I love cardamon, so this was an intriguing tea to try despite the fact that a lot of B&B’s black teas are a miss for me. I’d wager that with the addition of some sweetener this cup would make an amazing chai. I’ll have to try it on the next cup, but this one is almost done. Glad I took the gamble and added this to my order!

I was lured in by the name of this tea and design on the label a few years ago, but it has yet to win me over. I have a hard time with a lot of the almond flavoring French companies use. It’s more of a powdery floral high notes version of almond and is much different than the deep toasted flavor that a lot of American companies use. This cup is all high notes. I do get some spices in here along with the powdery (think the scent of baby powder) almond and at one point I got notes of gelatin vitamin capsules that vitamin E and D come in, which reminded me to take my vitamins for the day. Not a very flattering description of a tea! I’m going to try this tea a few more times before I give up.

I acquired a single tea bag of this along my travels and it’s been waiting for the day I put it in hot water ever since. The first sip was a little punchy, but subsequent sips were more mellow. There was a slight butteriness I was getting in the start of the sip and then the yuzu joins in and the finish is very grassy. I think the cooler it is getting the more the grass and tang comes back and the less butter I get. I’m feeling so-so about it. It was a nice experiment, but yuzu is really hit or miss for me and it’s missing this time.

According to my last entry for this tea, I’ve had it for at least 5 years aaaaaaand SIPDOWN! It feels like a slight cheat of a sipdown because I tossed half a serving of the crumbs at the bottom of the tin, but you can’t make a good cup out of that and that’s the story I’m sticking to.

This has been a solid tea to have in my cupboard and I have enjoyed it, but it doesn’t stand out enough in the sea of malty breakfast teas to buy more. I wouldn’t turn down a cup, but I wouldn’t go out of my way to source one either. In the malt I can find notes of light tobacco towards the end of the sip. It holds up well to the addition of cream to tone down tannins. It’s a decent tea.

Steeped a cup of this neglected tea this morning after I realized I’m out of Lupicia’s Cookie and saw they are sold out on their site. I swear I had backups…
Anyway… with a breakfast tea I expect bold flavors that stand up to the addition of milk. I tried that and had to sip half way through my cup to start picking up flavor that the milk diluted. I am getting a bit of candied orange and it reminds me of a lighter version of a Fauchon tea I love. I’m not crazy about this tea and wouldn’t order it again, but I’m enjoying this cup well enough.

It’s election day and I need something familiar and comforting to get me through the anxiety of the day. Since I can’t sleep through it, which would be my preference, I’ll caffeinate!

This tea is tasting like the same experience I had last time I had it. The fruity jam flavors have faded over time and I’m left with a cup of russian caravan. It’s still very nice, both warming and comforting, but has lost that magic I loved. Every 6 months or so I google AQ2T to see if Lauren has made a reappearance or come back tour and every time I’m out of luck, but likely won’t ever give up hope. I’m stubborn like that. It’s one of my better traits. ;)