Lupicia

Now that’s more like it!

This was a sample I received with my Lupicia Christmas (mostly) and I was really excited to get it.

A while back I purchased Harney and Sons Salted Caramel tea blend with high hopes, but they were dashed. The aroma was fantastic but the base tea was weak and the caramel flavor was just meh. I added black tea to it to make it more drinkable.

This was just what I was hoping for. The tea base is plenty strong enough but doesn’t need additives to tame it. The caramel is rich and true in aroma AND taste. I would definitely purchase this so the sample worked. I will wait until my cupboard is a little more in control, though.

Where did I get this tea? A TTB? A swap? A homemade advent?! I don’t know! But I’m glad I found it while preparing my lil basket of seasonally curated teas, because it was exactly what I wanted with lunch today.

The sweet, buttery, almost toffee-like chestnut flavor reminds me SO strongly of the caramel almond brittle pieces in Ben & Jerry’s non-dairy ice cream of the same name. In a good way, because that ice cream is delicious. I wouldn’t have expected to enjoy this flavor palette on a sencha, but I really like the contrast between the sweet chestnut bits and the gently grassy base. It’s all very smooooth.

I will say that the sweet chestnut flavor is almost at the edge of cloying for me, so I’m glad I made a small cuppa for the afternoon! But all in all a nice holiday-feeling tea that’s not just like, cinnamon and cloves. Heh.

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 tea is extra green, giving a vaguely unsettling feeling as I peer into the cup. It’s just so very…saturated in colour due to the added matcha. Paired with the Feminin I drank yesterday, I hope to be imparted with some sort of super powers in the near future.

This genmai is very heavy on the popped rice and as a result, quite nutty. The green tea and matcha take a back seat here. I do prefer a more balanced blend and it was too heavy on the genmai for my particular liking. The base tea is good quality but the overall flavour profile was not something I will be hoping to drink again. Certainly not offensive and I was able to finish the cup, but I prefer a standard grocery store genmai to this.

A timely selection as I am in dire need of a Tea Break today. It’s a rather standard afternoon black, but very smooth and drinkable. I get a very mild raisin/current aftertaste, minimal bitterness and a malty body. If this were music, it’d be an agreeable classical guitar album. Nothing controversial or thought-provoking, enjoyable in the moment but not something you’d urgently seek out.

I really enjoyed this one, especially since it’s not that easy to find cassis in the USA. Perhaps that will be the final straw to get me out of there. Regardless, this tea has a pleasant and authentic berry flavour that is stronger on the cassis than on the blueberry. The overall effect is slightly astringent and very natural, unlike some other berry blends I’ve tried that have more of a cough syrup note due to the presence of cherry flavouring. This would be delightful with a scone or two.

A rather bog-standard Assam with some Darjeeling mixed in. A perfectly pleasant cuppa but nothing about it is particularly memorable. The quality is fine and it’d be lovely with some dessert as an afternoon treat. A fine choice but nothing I’d go out of my way to source. Would probably be fine for 2 steeps, but I only felt like one cuppa today, so I can’t say for sure.

A classic English Breakfast blend, on the malty and robust side with a classic citrus aftertaste. It can go rogue quickly so do not oversteep. The flavour is not particularly outstanding or memorable, but it’s a perfectly serviceable morning blend for those who prefer their tea on the astringent and robust side.

An herbal tea which I feel I’ve tasted before, as a general “wellness” sort of blend. Could be served at any spa from Oslo to Ohio- it’s on the generic side but perfectly pleasant. Despite not having the necessary Feminin plumbing, I enjoyed this for what it was: a “herbal infusion made from rosehip, hibiscus, lemon balm, lemongrass, ginger, chamomile and the magic lady’s mantle (alchemilla).”

All the ingredients were well balanced, none particularly dominated to make a nice blend.

Not sure what “magic lady’s mantle” is but I certainly hope it will get me in touch with my inner goddess, or at least ensure I have to shave less. I don’t believe this is a regular Lupicia offering- it was in my Book of Tea. A nice wellness blend that would be easy enough to dupicate (minus the magic lady parts, natch.)

A classic Lupicia green tea with a fruit/honey note. The main flavour is muscat grape, though I detect some more astringent green apple as well. I do prefer this flavour profile in the black tea versus the green tea. The green feels a little thin to hold this blend up, somehow. It is a very fragrant and pretty tea, with dried flower petals, but nothing groundbreaking per se.

A very nice, tightly furled oolong with an authentic mango note. The dried mango is sweetened with sugar, which isn’t my preference but it’s not overly sweet. I got 3-4 steeps out of one tea bag. A nice choice for a fruity oolong that gives you a lot of value, if you don’t mind drinking several cups at a go.

I always wanted to try this one, as I KNEW Lupicia would do a fantastic job with the pineapple. Thanks very much, Cameron B! I also remember Cameron sent over some other Lupicia barley teas years ago, and I loved those. From the first sniff from this teabag, it seems like REAL pineapple juice was just poured over this barley. The pineapple could not be more authentic. And then I just knew it would be so wonderful paired with the rustic, roasty toasty barley flavor. It’s so good. Now I want some of my beloved pineapple pizza. The second steep, I left the teabag in for quite a while, so it was more barley than pineapple, but that’s okay!

I went through my entire package of this preparing it coldbrew, and it was absolutely delicious! The melon flavor is really sweet and juicy, that sort of hybrid cantalope/honeydew flavor I get from other Japanese melon-flavored products. The base oolong is very silky and smooth with a bit of a fresh green vibe that carries the melon flavor perfectly. I probably should’ve tried this with some added sweetener and carbonation just to see how close it could get to melon soda, but just as a straight coldbrew it was perfect. Very gulpable. I really love Lupicia’s flavored oolongs for coldbrew!

2024 sipdown no. 60

The mango is really lovely in this tea — like a mango syrup (made of real, ripe mango) perhaps. The peppercorns provide a very true pink peppercorn flavour. There seems to be subtle hints of peach, but I think that’s a trick of the imagination with the mango. The base is really lovely with no astringency.

An interesting tea. Thank you Cameron!

This tea is very plum heavy- by that, I mean the tart Japanese green plums rather than the larger purple Western plums. If you like crisp umeboshi, you will recognize the astringent note in this tea. Just don’t expect a juicy, fruity flavour- this suggests more of a tart green dry note the Japanese call “shibui.” No bitterness, but it does have that dry slightly unripe quality overall and especially in the finish.

The tea is that perfect servicable standard Lupicia green that pairs well with the ume. This tea definitely gives me spring vibes, rather that the current autumn. I’d say give it a try if you are a fan of Japanese plums.

This is listed as “Yojo Puer” on the teabag, I am not sure if it’s different from the standard Lupicia Puer. It’s a mild puer with a level of mild smokiness and no bitterness. This one is very accessible and doesn’t require any fussing like more traditional Puer. Overall, it was slightly mushroomy and the smoke flavour was very authentic and well-balanced. It’s a very nice choice for beginners to Puer, both in taste and ease of preparation. I got 3 steeps out of it and probably could have gotten a fourth, but was all Puer’d out at that point.

I am not a huge fan of Earl Grey, though occasionally I get a craving for it. This is one of my favourites, with the Darjeeling adding a little variety. It’s a clean, airy blend which is heavy on the bergamot (both in flavour and scent). If I am drinking Earl Grey, I want it to be distinguishable. Some EG have a barely-there whiff of bergamont and are just glorified breakfast blends. This one is much more burly in that department.

This is a Lupicia classic black with fruity flavours of guava and papaya. I quite like this type of tea, but it is by no means unique. I will say the tropical fruity notes are more prominent here than in their other blends and the black tea is milder. I don’t get a particular note of papaya or guava, it’s more a generic “tropical” note.. A very safe choice and would be a solid cuppa that almost every black tea enthusiast would enjoy.

Working our way through the Book of Tea, today I’m drinking Kotobuki. It’s a “Taiwanese oolong tea scented with French mirabelle plums.” Lupicia does fruity oolongs exceeding well, and this is no exception. I am getting an apricot flavour vs a plum, though I have never tasted nor seen a Mirabelle plum. This exclusive-sounding plum seems like something the Japanese dreamt up, as they have a fondness for obscure European fruits. It’s a jammy sort of fruit note vs. a tropical. The underlying oolong is fresh and astringent. Altogether, a very nice blend. I have only one bag and I’ve used it for a hot cuppa, though this would probably make a nice iced tea as well.

I quite enjoyed this one, though I’m not a huge fan of Earl Grey. The chocolate note was prominent, quite rich and deep, working nicely with the bergamont. I’m not sure if I’d repurchase, but this was a good-quality, well blended cuppa. So many oddball blends turn out worse than their individual parts, but this worked quite nicely. It’s a good cuppa for an autumn day, somehow. A bit decadent, but somehow also…pragmatic. I imagine drinking this before a big late-night assignment, wanting to have a treat but still knowing there’s a lot of work ahead. Perhaps it’s my quintessentially British soul that equates a “treat” with “hard work.” No chocolate tea without some commensurate effort!

A bog-standard Darjeeling blend. Perfectly pleasant, good quality leaves, but it’s…Darjeeling. Nothing awful or outstanding, it’s a solid middle of the road option. It did hold up nicely to two steepings. I don’t use milk or sweetener in my tea, but I suspect this would be a nice blank canvas for syrups or milks.