Caramel Custard Flan

So I had made a really fun tournament bracket for all my chai teas to face off and then I woke up having an upset stomach today. :p Basically I will be going through some non-caffeinated stuff for the next few days, I think.

Preparation: Western + oatmilk
Tasting note: Plain the tea what pretty powerfully rooibos flavored, it had a sweetness and some vanilla notes. Like usual, I added oatmilk pretty quickly. This helped mellow out the rooibos and made it much more creamy like a flan. There was a slight caramel note, not in a candy like way just in a richness from the rooibos that I sort of get the feeling of this creamy, caramel custard. I think I would try it was a latte to see if it felt close to the caramel taste.

I think this was a nice herbal tea, the rooibos on it’s own was pretty potent but I could scale back on how much I use and the steeping time.

I hate the word flan soooo much that I have actively avoided ordering this tea because of it. I think it’s because it’s too close in sound to the word “phlegm” which is, to me, one of the worst words in the world. However, I received a free sample of this tea from Deb in my last order and I can’t look a gift horse (err, tea blend?) in the mouth so I pushed past my aversion to the name in order to give it a try.

It’s not a bad tea, but I do think there’s a flavour mismatch compared to the name. While there is a present sweetness in the cup that is caramel like (but honestly more like the maple used in the blend) natural creaminess/fattiness to the mouthfeel from the steeped out coconut fat… this is kind of mostly a rooibos taste to me!? Like, don’t get me wrong, it’s a nice rooibos flavour – very nutty and sweet with honey and graham undertones. I just don’t think it’s thick enough to convey the feeling of a “custard” or “flan” and it’s also stronger than any other flavour except for, maybe, the coconut.

So I liked the cup – but didn’t feel like it perfectly fit what it was going for.

And I’m still really struggling with that gut instinct revulsion to the word flan.

Sipdown! (35 | 356)

Not my favorite cold brew.

It’s quite bland, with the beginning of the sip being mostly rooibos with a bit of butterscotch. The coconut creaminess and buttery notes come out more toward the end of the sip. But just like the hot cuppa, it lacks dimension and feels very flat. I don’t really taste the apple at all when it’s cold, which was really the only contrasting note besides sweet butterscotch.

I suppose it makes sense given sweet and caramel are the main notes in a flan as well, but it’s really not the same without the richness of the cream.

I made this as a latte and while I can see where Deb was trying to go with the caramel and the custard, the apple and coconut flavors come through too much and sort of undermine the caramel and custard top notes. The apple especially since the backend is sort of tart because of it.