English Caramel

Tonight starts a week long staycation that I’ve really, really been looking forward to. So, I made myself a plateful of sweets and wanted to brew up something decadent to relax with.

This smells very much like Bird and Blend’s Butter Brew, which has more of a caramel scent than a caramel flavor. I decided to add some caramel sauce to amp up the flavor, and I think it was a wise choice. This is absolutely delicious. Vanilla and brown sugar.

Another Lupicia tea, this one came from TeaBrat. I am always on the lookout for simply flavored black teas done well (such as caramel and vanilla), so I asked for a sample of this one in our swap. The leaves are a very dark chocolate brown with a reddish hue, and there are a few stems included. Dry scent is very sweet caramel with a distinct salty note.

The steeped tea also smells strongly of sweet caramel with cream and salt aromas. Hm, this tea is very interesting. There’s a distinct roasted flavor that reminds me of coffee along with a dark burnt sugar note. These two form the base for a creamy sweetness reminiscent of a lighter caramel, such as a creme brulee or custard. I did add a touch of sugar to my cup (a scant half teaspoon of raw sugar) and I’m sure this helped to balance the burnt and roasty notes. I can see this being even more lovely with a touch of milk added, and there is the lightest astringency that this would also help to balance.

Got a sample of this one from Christina in our swap!
It’s pretty caramel-y…but has a funky aftertaste that I’m not a huge fan of. It’s a good tea, but nothing I’d go out of my way for.
Glad I got to try it before I decided to try and buy it. Thanks, Christina! :D

I had some this morning, though I wonder if I could have used better steep parameters.

This tea smelled of caramel, but it was quite subtle in the taste – and even then, it gave off the sent of a salted caramel, rather than the really creamy thick kind.

Thanks to Sil for the sample!

The other day I took the bus down to a networking event and it was really close to the Westfield mall. Since I was early I decided to go in and visit the Lupicia store (because I need more tea?!? lol)

I picked up Strawberry and Rhubarb, which is an old favorite of mine. I also decided to get this tea, which I’ve never tried before but smelled really nice in the sample tin. I was a bit dismayed when I logged into Steepster and read the crappy reviews.

I must be the lone dissenter because I actually like this stuff. I took it with soymilk and a hint of coconut sugar. It isn’t a very sweet caramel, it’s a bit on the bitter side but it also says that on the package. To me it has a sort of molasses/caramel flavor that is brought out very nicely by the black tea. I’m glad I like it! It’s funny how individual people’s tastes are. I think this is yummy, but there are only a few teas from Lupicia I’ve had that I thought were really gross.

Sipdown!! (159)

Thank you Sil for sharing a sample of this tea. It definitely has a nice caramel flavor at the start of the sip but that gives way to a thick black base that I neither love, nor hate. It is just simply there, yet I find myself wanting more of the caramel instead. It is an alright cup of tea but not something particularly memorable in the scheme of things. I have had better caramel teas and I have had worse but this is drinkable so I am happy enough. I am grateful to have tried something new though and English Caramel is certainly a flavor that would have stood out to me when placing an order so at least now I know I don’t need it in my cupboard.

Sipdown (175/181)!

Thank you Sil for the sample! I was excited to get a chance to try more Lupicia, especially when it’s caramel flavoured!

I was actually going to sipdown the Riston blend you sent to me but I decided this would likely be more pleasant and I thought caramel was a better contrast to the other fruit blends I was making at the time so I changed my mind last minute. The Riston sipdown will have to wait for another time.

I thought this was nice; the most prominent note was rich, burnt caramel and then there was the fainter taste of almost molasses, with the gentlest astringent edge. If the astringency had been any stronger it wouldn’t have worked – but for what it was I found it pleasant enough. If I had more, I’d probably try this with milk because I think that could work really well. The tea itself also had a thicker mouthfeel.

It was a nice tea to add to my day’s line up!

sipdown#1 for today. I overleafed this one today hoping to bring out more of that caramel flavour. it worked a bit, but i find that i prefer the caramel out of Tea Gschwedlfjklitiu….as the base shines a little more there. Still though, i did enjoy this one while i had it :)

Im kinda disappointed. it smells amazingly caramelly. but there doesnt seem to be any caramel taste to it. I dont know where the caramel went. it was there before being brewed then…poof!…it was gone.