English Caramel

This smells nice. A true caramel scent but not overly sweet. Which makes sense since it is supposed to be bittersweet. I really like the smell. It’s somewhat like salt water taffy, but in a caramel flavor.

It smells more caramel than it tastes though. It’s more of a burnt caramel – there is definitely some bitter but not bitter like it’s been brewed too long since the bitter comes at the front of the taste, not the end and it is much too smooth of a bitter to be from overbrewing. It doesn’t cause me to make a funny face or anything. It’s a controlled bitter that would pair wonderfully with sweet… if there were more sweet that followed it up. Instead the taste transitions smoothly into an almost cocoa powder taste, then a nice (but still) default tea taste.

Contrary to my previously stated desire to have more sweet in this, I decided to add a splash of milk to the second half of my cup. I blame the cocoa-like notes. With the milk in it, the transition of tastes turns into a melding and this turns into a pretty nice post-dessert tea. Not a dessert tea – it’s not sweet enough for that – but something good to end a rich meal on in lieu of coffee. It makes me think of tiramisu actually, which always struck me as having too much bitter with the cocoa powder to be a proper dessert (I prefer things that are so sweet and rich you will go into sugar shock by the end of the dish).

That being said, I do enjoy this but it isn’t the sweet caramel I was hoping for. I can definitely see it as an after dinner coffee-like drink to wash down that super-rich dessert I’d pick. I might try this with sugar but I might not. It almost seems a shame to make the mild bitter go away.

I got this in a pyramid bag as a sample with my Lupicia order and I brought it to work, on the theory that I might actually get to have some decent tea this way before I figure out how best to support a loose leaf habit at work.

This is the first time I’ve tasted anything by Lupicia, and I’m going to try to keep an open mind in case this is disappointing, given the lack of control over water quality and temperature at work.

The bag smells terrific. Very caramelly, not bitter despite its description. The tea smells toasty, but caramel is the main scent.

My steeping here is going to be full of unknowns because I don’t have a thermometer to measure water temperature with me, but here goes.

I steeped for approximately 4 minutes (I think), maybe more like 3. The aroma is mostly of caramel, and it isn’t bitter smelling at all.

My sense is that the water I used wasn’t good quality and hot enough to bring out the true flavor of this tea. It’s ok. I can taste caramel, and it’s not bitter. It’s not sweet either as best I can tell, but mostly the flavor isn’t very strong at all. I can taste the tea in the aftertaste, and it’s smooth and sweet. I just wish there was more of it. A lot more.

I wish I had more of this so I could give it another shot under more controlled conditions. Then again, these days I’m mostly drinking tea bags at work, so these conditions are more representative for how a bagged tea would taste to me than controlled ones at home would be.

Auggy sent me a couple of tea bags of this. I don’t think that I’ve ever had the pyramidal tea bags before, aside from the ones from Tea Forté [and I consider those to be a bit of an anomaly since they’re so structured], so I was intrigued to see how/if it was going to affect the tea. There was definitely enough room for the leaves to expand, but even with the somewhat minimal expansion that black tea leaves tend to undergo, there wasn’t much space left in the bag when the steep was over. I can’t imagine what would happen with a rolled oolong. It was a neat experience, and I think that if I was in a situation where I needed the added convenience I’d be fine with using the pyramidal bags [albeit, size-wise, I’m not sure how other companies stack up to Lupicia’s], but I still like my loose leaf.

I used both of these on consecutive nights, one at 3 minutes and one at 4 minutes, and I liked the 4 minute steep a little better.

The flavor was…eh. I’m a big fan of caramel, and the fact that Lupicia describes caramel as being “bittersweet” made me a bit edgy from the jump because the kind of caramel I like doesn’t really have any bitterness to it.

The caramel flavor I got from this was…not terribly present. It skirted around it, and dropped that it there, but I never really got it full-on. When I found it at its fullest, it was flat and strangely salty. It reminded me of peanut brittle with about half the sweetness. I’m not sure what makes this English, but maybe the English like their caramel salty? Or maybe this tea simply isn’t fantastic.

Everything in consideration, not a bad tea by any means, but not something I want more of either. Thanks for the try, Auggy! If I were putting together a Lupicia order, I could see myself ordering a large-ish size of this and it ending in crestfallen annoyance, so this was quite a save.

I wasn’t too hopeful after seeing the reviews of this, but I was pleasantly surprised. This isn’t the best by far, but it’s an okay cup with some milk and honey.

The flavor is rich and sweet. This is not the best Caramel tea I’ve had, but it’s pretty good.

I think that this is a tea that definitely benefits from the addition of milk or cream, it enhances the creamy caramel flavor just a bit.

I got this as a free sample with my Lupicia order and I brought it to work with me today. I was looking over the tasting notes for this tea and I see I had a very similar experience to Morgana. I too wish I could try it under more controlled conditions because it was good but not as strong as I like.

Anyway this tea smells like those caramels that are little squares that are sometimes used for baking (that is probably a terrible description – haha – sufficient to say it smells caramely). It actually smells (and tastes) a lot like caramel tea from adagio which I love!

So like I said it was a little on the weak side. It tastes like a weaker version of caramel tea by adagio but with milk already in it. It certainly served it’s purpose as an afternoon pick-me-up. And this tea make me look forward to trying my other Lupicia teas!!!

When this tea was served hot, the caramel was aromatic – kinda like caramel or toffee candies – but this didn’t translate into the flavour, unfortunately. I had the feeling that I was just having a cup of plain black tea. Imagine the disappointment! I was going to give this tea just a bare pass, but then I noticed a bright note of sweetness in my cup as the tea turned cold. The caramel was there, after all!! Perhaps I would try this with milk next time (or more radically, iced?).

Compared to Lupicia’s other flavoured black teas, this lacks a bit of oomph, even when it is steeped for a long time. The caramel is rather weak – I think I get more of that deliciously syrupy, but not too sugary, caramel taste from Cookie! There is a slight bitterness to English Caramel even with milk and sugar added – and that’s not a bad thing, but it would be better if that bitterness was combined with a stronger caramel flavour.

It’s a good brew for when you want a more subtle black tea. Not terrible, but I don’t think I’ll buy it again. Still looking for the perfect 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.