Salted Caramel Oolong

Yay, the dashboard is back! Huzzah and hurray!

Have I really never written a tasting note for this tea before? I liked it so much that I bought an extra box of sachets before even finishing the first one.

I find myself really longing for comfort teas at the moment, so I pulled this one today and hoped for the best. Somehow I got a bit of maple syrup smell off it, but I think that was my brain forgetting what caramel is supposed to smell like. It did taste like caramel. This hit the spot for cozy and familiar and I was happy to have it.

I was worried this might be too sweet, but not bad at all. It’s definitely sweet, but it is Caramel after all.

Taking a break from Black blends for a moment in the sipdown. Thought an oolong blend would be a good way to do that. I have tried Salted Caramel Oolong from DAVIDsTea a couple different times, once as a latte and another straight.

Preparation: Western
Tasting Note:
So initially I get this sweet and creamy, cinnamon-y flavor that is pretty close to caramel. Then I get hit with the aftertaste which is this spicy, slightly umami signature of some oolongs, which feels a little strange choice for salted caramel but it works. Also, I finally pick up on the pineapple which leaves a little sour taste. I think my issue with this tea is not the individual flavors but their overall combination together in a tea. I like the spice of the oolong but not with the pineapple. I like caramel and sweets but maybe not with this tea.

I think since I am pretty close to finishing this bag, I will try a really short steep and see how it goes.

sweet and sugary! will think if i like this more than the other salted caramel i have. maybe WRP with sale

I have mixed feelings toward this blend. I’ve had it a few times, several months apart each time. It’s definitely best for a morning where you feel like having dessert for breakfast because it is all caps SWEET. The smell is overwhelming and the flavor can quickly get there; I’ve had more balanced and less balanced cups. I won’t shy away from it if it comes in a pack (as it did in this case) but I don’t think I’d purchase it on its own.

The first 2 oz envelope of this tea that I bought was fairly good and tasted like salted caramel. The current envelope that I have is very sweet and really doesn’t taste like actual caramels. The tea has no personality! Not ordering it again.

I’ve sampled this a few times, trying to justify why I bought so much of it. I had really high hopes after reading others’ reviews, but didn’t really like my hot cups of tea or the one latte I made. Last night, due to the summer heat, I packed a tea ball full of leaves and tried an overnight cold brew – I think I’m on to something. I’ll probably continue to cold brew this tea in the future, but still not sure I love it enough to restock my cupboard once I run out.

(DavidsTea 62)

Second tea for National Fragrance Day! Another one I really love and have stocked up on. I don’t think that this particular version of salted caramel oolong is the best I’ve had – that honour lies with one of the other two I’ve had (couldn’t tell you which, though). In part, it’s the added sugar that detracts a bit here. However, it’s still incredibly satisfying and delicious – wonderful oolong base, lovely rich caramel flavour. I really like it quite a lot. Oh – and it smells amazing.

Got this one at the behest of a lowered shipping rate and as a personal quest item.

I love oolongs-I love caramel-and I’ve enjoyed sachets for work, and the ingredients were interesting to me. I also want to thank Roswell Strange for a good opening note on this one to give me an idea of it.

It’s definitely artificial and cakey in its caramel vanilla smell, but the taste was actually enjoyable for me straight. It’s not too far off from a medium roasted oolong, but sweeter. The pineapple and carob (or is it chicory?)combo was a weird one that actually worked for me-the carob thickened up the body of the caramel so it would not taste like a diabetics suicidal wet dream. I should know, since I am -a diabetic.

I was surprised at how much oolong I actually tasted. It’s not strong, but the oolongs own buttery notes thickens the caramel and adds viscosity to the tea. It’s got some malt too from the caramel flavoring, but it’s a medium to thinner tea overall with THICC flavor.

I actually returned to this one a few times. It is good with just a small amount of sugar, and it can be good with the right honey-but honey can overwhelm the tea itself and the vanilla added with the caramel. I personally think that black teas are the way to go for caramel if it’s the right kind of black tea, especially a Yunnan or Fujian one, but I am pleased that they did this with a greener oolong since I think that helps nail the texture right.

I still prefer my naturally scented jasmines, Earl Greys, and loose blacks, but I am really pleased with this one. I’ve yet to have a tea that has been this close to nailing a caramel I like, and most others I’ve had either over or under do the caramel. This one is almost right, and there is no doubting it’s flavor.

I had to break isolation and go all the way into the city because the damn library wouldn’t let me renew my book anymore, so I decided to swing around to the only DAVIDsTEA still open in my region and pick up a few things I’d been eyeing.

I noticed they were bringing back a few old blends online-only as well. Hmmm. Maybe.

Overshot the steeping time on this one, but it didn’t turn out bitter, although the roast of the oolong may have gotten a bit sour. I mistook the giant sugar crystals in the mix for salt and kind of made a face at the dry tea, but it’s definitely not salty. Perhaps just enough to enhance the caramel, but nothing more. The pineapple adds to the acidic apple taste, definitely settling this more in the ‘fruit tea feel’ for me. ‘Kind of drying, a bit watery, steeped fruit pieces’ slightly lacking that body I like with more ‘tea’. I would have liked to taste this blend without the addition of the pineapple, to see how it stands.

Otherwise, the caramel is present, creamy, enhanced and lingers into the aftertaste. The roast of the oolong adds to the ‘sea salt’, but otherwise doesn’t overwhelm or interact badly with the added flavours. The oolong they use is… very small. Definitely not whole leaves, confirmed once they expanded in my strainer… Basically tattered shreds. It doesn’t take away from the tea (smaller tea fragments probably held the flavouring better), although definitely results in a darker brew (medium-deep amber).

In the end, it’s not a love or a hate—it sits in the same park as the Maple Syrup Oolong for me. Most of DAVIDsTEA’s flavoured oolongs kind of occupy that zone… The fruit bits detract a bit from the taste. But this definitely tastes like caramel, helped along by the dissolved sugar and caramel bits, I’m sure, heh.