Orzo Caramel & Honey

Smells exactly like a rich caramel frappuccino from Starbucks. It tastes a little more subdued, like some kind of “health” drink. I wouldn’t drink it straight, but it might be baller with some milk. Love it as a decaf version of a breakfast coffee au lait.

Yikes, looks like I’m one of the odd ones out regarding this… beverage. I didn’t know that a beverage could possibly smell and taste carcinogenic until I got my hands on this. To be fair, the dry ground up substance in the pouch initially smelled tantalizing: like roasted coffee with sweet caramel. But then it all goes south from there.

Steeped, it goes incredibly burnt. Not like, “Whoops, let the toast get a little too dark for my liking” or “Drat, that rice at the bottom got a little browned.” It’s more like I left a pot of grains cooking on the stove with not enough water, buggered off to check some emails, got distracted by YouTube and forgot about the sustenance cooking away in the distance, and then start to smell something charred. But it’s too late. The grains are burned beyond recognition. Only soaking the pot for two days followed by using the most brutally strong cleaner with steel wool and a ton of elbow grease will end this nightmare. It’s that kind of burnt.

As a matter of fact, my mom happened to walk in just now, looked around confusingly, and asked if I made and consequently burnt toast because to her, the entire kitchen and living room area smells like something is burning. What’s hilarious is we don’t even have bread in the house at the moment. So I think by now you get that this smells like annihilated carbohydrates.

The liquor is black and grainy. Like coffee with the grounds floating all up in my cup’s business. I simply cannot drink this plain. It’s too burnt in taste, as well. Adding some almond milk marginally helps. The caramel pops out a touch but the overall taste and texture is off. Yes, it’s thick. Yes, it’s bold. But it’s burnt, not roasted.

When we go grocery shopping tomorrow, I’ll make sure to pick up some light cream or half-and-half which may help to counterbalance the charred notes and make this a little more tolerable to finish.

More Lupicia, more! This one also came from Dexter. I was unsure what to expect or how this would compare to the flavored barley teas I’ve tried. The kernels are quite small and dark, and there’s a lot of powder. Dry scent is yummy caramel and butter!

It smells almost exactly like coffee, and it’s super dark too! I added some raw sugar to mine. It’s quite strong but not as strong as black coffee. I thought I would need to add soy milk to it, but I’m actually enjoying it with just the sugar. It’s very strong and roasty, and similar in flavor to coffee. I can taste a little bit of caramel, but I wish there was more in there. Overall, very strong and satisfying, and caffeine free!

This really is a thick, lovely coffee substitute. Having said that, drinking it as an iced tea? Underleaf it considerably. I’d normally use 4 tsp of tea for my large iced cups, but I used 3 tsp here and it was still too much.

I’m so behind.

Tried this the other night, then promptly realized I wasn’t in the mood for it. I’d had 3-4 sips.

Those other reviewers weren’t exaggerating when they discussed how coffee-like this is! To the point of being black and sludgey, insane. I decided to add cream to my cup.

The taste is roasty and thick and slightly bitter (as is coffee), with the sweetness of caramel and honey.

I decided to put the rest in the fridge overnight, and in the morning I swear it was almost like drinking iced coffee.

I’d really like to try the other flavours! (Just not the chai. They actually sent me that by mistake and I gave it to my friend…I wasn’t interested based on the reviews. He likes herby/spicy teas and I do not)

Neat tea to have stocked! Like decaf coffee! (If you don’t like coffee, you likely wouldn’t enjoy this tea)

After a horrendous experience with the Chai Orzo, I’m glad this one offered some redemption.
When brewed, it looks very similar to instant granule coffee and tastes like it too. But then I add some milk and it becomes sweet and creamy like coffee-flavoured Milo. Excellent product.

Jump62359 kindly included this in her swap package to me and I can’t wait to try it as it is so interesting! The scent reminds me very much of espresso but with added caramel. Well, I suppose it’s more like those pre-made packets of instant coffee, milk powder and sugar/flavoring. I don’t think I’d be able to tell the difference if I had a cup of both in front of me. It brews an incredibly deep, dark cup with a tinge of brown around the edges.

I’m trying this plain tonight even though the addition of milk is recommended. I have to know what this tastes like without anything else! Sipping… wow, this is very different than what I expected! I think that I was preparing myself for some thick, bold coffee since I was so taken by the scent. It’s thinner than I thought it would be and it’s much more earthy. I taste a bit of sweetness and a touch of something fruity. I don’t really taste much caramel or honey in this… but more of a fluid transition between sweet, fruity and a strong sort of bitter. Quite difficult to describe! The bitter note is not sitting well with my tastebuds, unfortunately. Some milk would probably add some needed creaminess to the cup.

I’m happy to have sipped on this tonight and I love that it’s a unique caffeine-free cup, but not sure I like it enough to buy. Thank you so much, jump62359, for sharing!

Sipdown!! (169)

So this tea looks like sludge when it is brewing and the steeped tea is rich, black, and incredibly dense. There is a buttery caramel flavor combined beautifully with sweet honey and a touch of coffee-like earthiness from the base. Good and incredibly unique, but not something I think I could drink all that often (hopefully the Orzo Strawberry I have on the way in a joint Lupicia order with Cavocorax and Sil will be a little easier to drink more often). Nonetheless, I am super grateful to jump62359 for introducing me to this tea and sending me a generous sample to try it :)

Gosh this is so dark and roasty. I gotta remind myself it’s not coffee… it’s safe to drink before bed. It’s so dark and thick – I’m worried it’ll stain my teeth black. :O I added milk to tone it down a bit and it’s awesome. Sweet caramel, milk and barley.

I approve, Steepsterian’s. I approve.

I’m so exhausted wow. I slept at 4am because I just could not go to sleep for some reason! And I woke up at around 9 and didn’t eat, went to class, didn’t eat, went to class, left early for a special guest speaker and there they provided my first meal of the day.
Dang. Today was just to worst day ever. No energy at all ugh :/
But I decided to have some of this before I go to bed tonight. So exhausted so hopefully I’ll pass out right when I hit the pillow.

I actually had no idea how to brew this tea! It didn’t look like regular tea leaves. It looked like you’d mix it in water and it’d dissolve like hot coco. I read the tasting notes and saw that it clogged someone’s steeper, so I decided to just use my disposable filters.
It actually turned out really nice! VERY dark in colour and had a roasted, nearly burnt smell to it as it was steeping.
I’m honestly not a coffee drinker at all. The only coffee I enjoy is my Java Chip Frappuccino from Starbucks. Something with chocolate and highly sweetened haha. But this tea is nice! Totally not oversweet like the Java Chip, but a nice robust flavour to it. Definitely a unique tea! I’ve added just a bit of milk (maybe like 1oz) and a sprinkle of sugar to bring the flavours out more.