Sugar Caramel Oolong

Tea #7 from Pass the Stash box

I like this tea. I can taste the oolong, which isn’t too overpowering. The smell of the caramel/burnt sugar was prevalent in the dry leaf. I can taste some of it in the tea, but it too, isn’t too overpowering.

I probably did oversteep it, but it is satisfying.

This sample came from mj a little while back and I’m just getting around to it.

This is an interesting oolong. The first infusion wasn’t what I was expecting. Where was the caramel? Where was the sugar? It tasted like a light roasted oolong to me, kind of nutty, and even a little fruity. The second infusion….this is where the sugar and caramel
were hiding. It tastes like a dark caramel, with that not quite to burnt sugar taste. And the fruit is a lot stronger, too. Oh, this is nice. The third infusion the caramel burnt sugar taste is really toned down but still there. It’s nice. I like it.

Not gonna lie…was kinda disappointed by this tea. I thought it would be way sweeter than it actually was. But mainly tasted just like oolong tea…slightly nutty, and maybe a hint of caramel. Eh, not my favorite, but so glad I got to try it before I wasted my money on it. Thanks so much, mj1851!

Another sample from Sil! (238)

I’m drinking this one while I catch up on my backlogging from earlier. It’s a really nice oolong – it’s darker instead of greener, which is what I like, and it has a bit of caramel sweetness to it that I am a fan of. I could see myself drinking this one fairly frequently.

To continue my nightly tea binge, I chose this little dude, brought to me by the charismatic mj1851. Thanks gurl! The dry leaf smells strongly of toffee and caramel, and I’m really looking forward to having this in my mouth right now. The water may have been a bit too hot when I steeped it, on a count of me being lazy and not wanting to check the temperature of the water, so I don’t know…I may have screwed it up. Let’s try it, yeah?

I just splashed a whole bunch of very hot water on my eyeball, in my eager attempt to take a sip. Who needs two eyeballs anyway? So now about the tea: slight butter taste. Noticeable, but I’ve definitely had more buttery. Pleasant. There’s also a slight vegetal je-ne-sais-quoi and the caramel is there, but it should be there more. Caramel, why are you hiding in the background? Come here! I just want to talk to you! Come!

Nope, he doesn’t want to come out. Maybe if I let it cool down a bit. Let me just put my freakin’ safety goggles on before I take another sip lol. Well, I can now detect a vanilla-like flavour. Not exactly vanilla, but something like it. Maybe…sugar? But the thing is this tea is not sweet at all. It tastes like sugar, but doesn’t taste sweet. Am I talking crazy again? Probably. Now where do you buy an eye patch? Preferably one with ruffles, fringe or print, because an eye patch is no excuse for a fashion faux-pas.

God. What am I saying.

I had this as my breakfast travel mug tea and it was fantastic. The sugar and caramel flavors are dead on, but the oolong is what really shines here. It’s smooth and… hefty, for lack of a better word. I did the second steep at 185f for 3 ½ minutes and it came out weaker than expected. The sugar and caramel came to the fore. The oolong kind of just dropped out of the show in the second act. The inverse happened after the third steep (boiling water, about 6 minutes). The sugar and caramel faded into the background. The oolong took on a new flavor that I can’t describe. It tastes how I imagine a maple tree would taste. Not maple-y, but dark and woody. Really tasty. Thanks for this one, Christina!

Oh. my. gosh.
THIS TEA SMELLS DIVINE.

Thank you tons to QueenOfTarts for sending me a sample of this!

It smells like caramel cookies and brown sugar and ahh I just love sugary smelling teas! I have high hopes for this one :)
Now that it’s steeping, it definitely started smelling like an oolong!
I love oolong so freakin much okay. Partially because I love seeing the leaves unravel, but dude, I love all the oolongs I have okay.
I think this might actually be my first dessert oolong so I’m quite excited for that.

Hmm. The sugar/caramel bit does get lost. I’m kinda sad about that! It smelled sooo nice dry, but the flavour didn’t carry out through the steeping process, and now it just tastes like any regular slightly roasted oolong. It’s good, not gunna lie, but the sugar/caramel bits that I was looking forward to didn’t come through.

this has been on my wishlist for a while and dinosara was kind enough to send some my way for me to try. “But Sil! it’s an oolong” you might say…. I’m well aware, but i’m always open to trying things that a bunch of ppl seem to love. Turns out? this is a really boring tea for me. It’s not even oo-wrong…it’s just meh. It smells delicious in dry form, but then brewing it up…SNORE FEST. it’s not even enough of an oolong to get me all riled up about how i don’t like oolongs. it’s really just sort of there. hanging out. being BOOOOORIIIINGGGGGG…. lol

walnut sweet sugar, i think a squirrel fell into my cup (oh wait, those are acorns…)

so delicate, perhaps a bit too mild & i just wish there were something to hold onto- anything—-the buttery texture or sticky rice pudding flavor of Coconut Pouchong, the buttery mouthfeel and green floral tang of Maple Cheesecake Ti Kwan Yin, or even the ‘honey bunches of oats’ in Maple Pecan Oolong.

but this does smell outrageous & and is certainly a pleasant cup. nothing i’d ever refuse! maybe they could pair the ‘Sugar Caramel’ flavoring with a more roasted oolong, like say, a Laoshan or Formosa! even a TGY that has somewhat of a pucker to it. so that the sweet seemingly banana flavor can cling to something well, tangible.

then again i’m no tea connoisseur or mixologist. perhaps the wonderful taste i attribute to the flavoring could be coming from the oolong itself! i just wish i knew what kind they used.

keep in mind this note comes after the 2nd steep of this tea- maybe something more will reveal itself in the 3rd infusion?

Oolongs aren’t my favorite teas but I keep on trying because I know there are lots out there and someday I might hit on one that is perfect for me. The aroma of the dry leaves is vegetal with an overtone of caramel. The initial sip is too vegetal with only a bit of caramel sweetness. After letting it cool a bit and adding a drop of stevia the caramel pops! I am not noticing any astringency or over-vegetal taste that I thought there might be when I first poured it. Nothing bad but nothing to rush out to buy.