Raspberry Caramel Fudge

So… I think this was maybe the reverse situation of the Brown Butter Bourbon Blitz.

The name was pretty accurate to the flavour, but the flavour was bad. I think the main thing that killed it for me was the raspberry. The sachet overwrap has this mouthwatering slice of fudge on it with a huge glob of raspberry jam and it really makes you want that thick and rich raspberry flavour, but this is pretty heavily on the chemical side and even though it does have sweetness to it and an almost dense quality the fake raspberry taste just doesn’t read like jam to me in the way I want.

Honestly, the chocolate isn’t too bad. Definitely more of the chocolate liqueur/boozy side of things which I don’t inheritance find off putting, but it doesn’t help with the weird raspberry situation either. In the end it sort of just makes for a cloying cup that feels a bit wonky in terms of balance. I think milk would probably help here, but we didn’t have any in office the day I tried this to test the theory out.

There’s just, like, a lot of better raspberry chocolate blends out there.

This is hitting a little flat for me, especially at the start of the sip. There is something extra artificial about the raspberry and it seems a little sour. It relies a little too much on being perfumey and is a really hard flavor to pull off in a tea. The fudge part is just background noise and the caramel part is really hard to pick out. Adding sugar just made the entire thing worse. Not into this one.

Sipdown! (9 | 412)

So Almost is this new (I think?) tea company doing all dessert teas, and only in sachets. They offer a subscription and you can also buy the teas, overall it’s quite expensive at about $1 per sachet. I’d seen their ads a few times on Instagram, and Stephenia of Tea Leaf Project (on YouTube) has a code for a discount on your first box, so I figured I might as well give it a try.

They make the teas based on actual desserts, and their first collection is a collaboration with a company called Brownie Points, which I’ve never heard of but obviously makes brownies. There are 6 different flavors in my package, and I got the smaller size so there are two sachets of each flavor (for $10 total with the discount).

So we all know I’m not a chocolate tea lover, but the chocolate here isn’t bothering me, which is a plus. It doesn’t immediately make me think of a Tootsie Roll, which is a win in my books lol. There were some chocolate chips in the sachet, but not enough to make my cuppa oily or murky. The chocolate flavor is actually a bit on the subtle side, and it’s a dark chocolate. I definitely get more of the raspberry than anything else, and it’s a candy sort of raspberry, it lacks the tartness of fresh raspberries or the depth of jam. Reminds me of those raspberry hard candies that look bumpy, like a raspberry. I don’t get caramel at all, not sure if that’s one of the flavors or just only in the name.

The base is fine, it’s very mellow and not at all tannic. Not contributing a lot of flavor other than a vague woodiness maybe, but it does give a nice body to the tea.

Overall, this is a nice enough dessert tea. I think someone who likes chocolate teas might be more excited about it than I am. It’s not something I would buy (I prefer Lupicia’s version) but I did enjoy my two small cups of it. More Almost reviews to come!