Despite the scattered, but mostly mediocre reviews, I opted for a sample since it never hurts to try a caramel black. I had a feeling it would be boring and lacklustre, and unfortunately, my gut was right. The dry leaf doesn’t smell like much other than plain, slightly sweetened black tea. There are two caramel pieces in the 20g sample size so I allowed myself to have one of them in this cup. 7g went into a nearly two-cup mug.
I let the water cool for a while before steeping and it still turned out rather astringent, like a standard Ceylon. After a few sips, I added some homo milk to cut the astringency and while it’s better, I still don’t taste any caramel whatsoever. If I could, I’d add something like Bailey’s or Caramilk cream liqueur (although I’ve never had it before) because I’m sure either would elevate this.
So sad. This held such promise.
In my imagination, of course.
Ha! Yeah, caramel black teas always do. It seems hard to find really good ones, though.