Caramel (Crème de Caramel)

Thank you ToiToi for sending me this sample! It tastes like Salted Caramel. It’s sweet and slightly salty, with a bright ceylon base that gives it a toffee-like edge. I’ve had a lot of caramel today.

I’d initially forgot this sample at my parents’ when I went off for school but they mailed me a card with an encouraging message and some of the smaller tea bags that I’d left lying around the place. I say this all the time but parents are freaking awesome.

It’s been a while (10 days) since I made a tasting note here. I know this is a long time because Cavocorax changed her profile picture since I was last on. It’s a big deal.

Edit: This tea has a lot of caramel flavour! When I steep this for less time and drink it lukewarm it’s more syrupy and salty-sweet and less like a solid piece of toffee.

Sipdown! 165/397

Alas, this tasty tea meets a brutal end it did not deserve. Unwittingly brewed in an infuser contaminated with garlic or onion. Each sip is a delight as always, but the aftertaste is strongly savoury and oh no. I’m still going to finish the cup, though, because the initial sip is good enough to push through the aftertaste. And if that’s not praise, I don’t know what is.

I brought two of my three Fauchon tins to work with me today, because they’re the next oldest in my stash, and because I’m out of black tea at work. When I’m ill, I really want black tea.

This one smells delicious as soon as you open the tin. We had a struggle for a while, because I didn’t realise the lid slides off. No common sense points for me. Once I managed to get in, though, I knew we were going to get along. This one reminds me quite a lot of Mariage Freres Wedding Imperial, although it’s perhaps not quite as intense. I don’t see that as a bad thing, because Wedding Imperial was a touch too sweet and overpowering for me at times. This one is a little more muted, and to my tastes just perfect. There are actual chunks of caramel among the black tea base (Ceylon?), but they melt easily and don’t leave too much of an oily scrim. I would quite like to sit and eat them, but I won’t.

To taste, it’s pretty straightforward – soft, creamy caramel with a touch of salt. It’s a great dessert-style tea, sweet but not too sweet, and with the perfect balance of base and flavouring. Impressed!

This is pretty good – sweet, caramel-y, a bit toasty even. I think next time I will have it with milk to make it even creamier, like caramel pudding.

Thank you Dinosara! Another caramel tea, yay! (I love caramel. And toffee. And instead of going hiking today I might make candy and bake, because why not!)

This one is not as intense smelling as the Caramel Salted Butter Oolong, which is a tiny bit disappointing. Man, that one was SO GOOD and I’m seriously sad it wasn’t a black base.

At any rate, this is a really nice caramel tea. I added a little milk, and I do like how the flavours work together. But I still prefer the oolong and also Butiki’s Caramel Vanilla Assam.

I drank this one yesterday late afternoon, but never got around to making a note for it (bleh, jet lag).

I ordered this one despite the fact that I just received 100g of Caramel-Toffee from Dammann, and I also just bought 80g of Caramel Rose tea from Mariage, and I recently ordered Caramel au Beurre Salé from Dammann as well. All of the caramel teas!! I was worried this one might be too similar to the Caramel-Toffee because I have heard that Dammann blends Fauchon’s teas, but it’s not!

This one really reminds me of Creme Brulee from Bayswater. It is totally burnt-sugar creme brulee more than straight up caramel. Creamy and buttery and burnt sugary. Works for me. I just have to remember this one is my creme brulee-style tea, and Caramel-Toffee is my straight up caramel tea.

I’m just now getting around to trying these Fauchon teas that I bought during the recent sale on Vente-Privee. I must say, Fauchon definitely wins for cutest tins while still being practical. The design is clean and attractive, plus they’re double-lidded and the inner lid fits very tightly (in fact, it can be a little difficult to open sometimes, but I’d much rather have that than a loose lid). This tea is a mixture of small, very dark black tea leaves and those little “caramel” cubes that a lot of blenders use. I must say, I do not really approve of them – I don’t think they actually add anything to the tea besides making it murky, and if you actually try one, they don’t taste very good. It does smell very luscious and caramel-y, with strong butter and cream notes.

The steeped tea actually smells much the same as the dry, and it has the same strong butter and caramel aromas. And the flavor is actually pretty good, too. The main flavor for me is more burnt sugar than caramel, and it reminds me of the crust on crème brûlée. There is also a bit of a buttery caramel sauce flavor, which makes sense given the name of the tea. It’s also a very creamy tea overall. I’ve been drinking all of my teas without sweetener, but I find that this one really needs it to bring out its full potential. After all, caramel is made of sugar. :)

I ordered this from Vente Prive. Glad I did since we have gotten news that they are closing. I liked this one a lot! I tried it one evening when we had company. This is company who doesn’t drink tea due to religious reasons, so I was surreptitiously enjoying it while we played a board game.

Oh it’s my move? (sip) oh wow that’s good. Your turn! (sip). Buttery, caramelly. Wow, this is better than I thought.