Caramele

This was unintentional, but I guess it’s been a Lupicia kind of day. I wanted to try this one again while I am thinking of swaps (see my swap list on the International swap thread if you’re interested). This is one of those teas that has almond pieces in it, and lately those teas haven’t been sitting as well with my taste buds. I prefer my almond teas to just have almond flavoring, it seems. Kinda like how I never used to like to eat almonds, but I loved almond extract and almond flavored things. I still greatly prefer the extract (and marzipan, almond paste, amaretto, etc) to the actual nut.

The other thing about nuts in blends is they tend to leave a film of nut-oil on the tea, and that is also the case here. In this case its not too bothersome, but it’s another one of the reasons I dislike nuts in tea. I have a feeling that this would be amazing brewed really strong with additions. As is, it’s decent but not that impressive. It is rather smooth and creamy for a black tea, but it screams for some sweetness. I think I’ll hold onto it for now, though.

sipdown!(189) and that’s my one for the day since i don’t forsee any others today. I’m trying to get my 1 every day and use my other tea to try the teas that are in my cupboard that i haven’t yet tried, or that are in quantities that will take 2-3 cups. I had this one tonight while doing dishes as a latte. i think this is where the tea really shines. it’s caramel and sweet and delicious. I much preferred the latte versus the regular brew. I’d pick this up again :)

One of the things I’ve been noticing over the years, as I’ve ordered tea from various merchants, is that common parameters aren’t always common.

Almost every tea will have directions on the back of the packet, telling you how to brew a cup of tea. Too bad they can’t agree on the definition of the word ‘cup’. A standard English definition of the word cup could lead you to believe that it would be a measurement somewhere around 8 oz. But apparently this doesn’t count in the tea world. The general rule of thumb is 2-3 grams of tea per cup. But if you don’t have the same definition of cup, that could result in some very strange brewing parameters.

Lupicia has one of the smallest definitions of a cup I’ve ever seen. They define a cup as 5 oz., and still call for 3 grams of tea per these 5 oz. I’d be afraid of oversteeping with something like this but this cup? This was an amazing cup of tea.

The product description says “Sweet nostalgic aroma of caramel and almonds. Delicious straight or with milk.” This tea leaf smells sweet. And brewed up, it’s a beautiful medium brown and smells lovely, although much less sweet. Drinking the tea straight up, it has hints of caramel and almond flavors; a nice light cup. However, I like to add splenda or honey to my black teas. And if you sweeten this? Wow, it’s amazing. Mellow, smooth caramel flavors. Rich, creamy, and sweet with an almond finish. I also tried this tea with milk, and while nice, I didn’t find that it added as much as the sweetener did.

I strongly recommend that those who like a little sweetness with their tea give this a try. It’s a lovely yummy cup of goodness.

http://www.itsallabouttheleaf.com/2533/tea-review-lupicia-caramele/

My Lupicia order came yesterday! I finally caved and bought a bunch of teas I’d been eyeing for a while, and ordered enough for free shipping and a catalog. :D

This was the one I was most excited to try. It’s got caramel and almond flavoring, two of my favorite things!

The dry leaf smells very sweet, to the point where I was a little bit cautious about it. However, brewed, it doesn’t smell quite as sweet. The scent of caramel is the most obvious, but there’s black tea behind that. It smells YUM. I can hardly resist drinking it as it’s cooling. But I must resist, or my tongue will burn. :P

It doesn’t taste nearly as sweet as it smells, but it’s got such a wonderful balance of flavors, and a lingering sweetness on the tongue. YUM.

Wow, this tea simply smells amazing – yummy, creamy caramel candy!!! Though the caramel flavour is not terribly present in the liquor, it’s nonetheless a decent cup of black tea with mild sweetness. Very smooth, and I reckon that milk will work wonders on this tea :)

So today, I didn’t have any milk. I am exhausted from nightfloat, so I decided to pick a black tea that doesn’t need any additives. From my huge Lupicia sampler, I picked this one based on the description. It didn’t need milk. Woo! I made a huge mugful of this tea.

I was very pleasantly surprised. The tea went down VERY smooth. There was a hint of astringency on my tongue after a few hours (yes hours) when the tea became cold. My mouth felt dry. However, there was no bitterness. The caramel is a hint in the background. It doesn’t taste artificial, but there was a tinge of sweetness as well. Good tea overall. I am not going to buy this tea though.

This is a black tea version of a houjicha I really love called Milk Caramel.
It’s delicious!

I first tried this straight, and it was good. It reminded me of The au Chocolat. The black tea base is blended well with the caramel and almond flavors. I like that there’s almond in it because it brings a new dimension to the tea.

I added a drop of milk and some real caramel. The milk makes it unbelievably smooth and silky. And the added caramel gives it that extra sweetness and caramel flavor I was missing.

This is a solid choice. But I’m still head over heels in love with the houjicha version.

This is ok. Not strong in flavor. Nothing sticks out. Something I will forget about, unimpressive. Just… Meh!

Not as sweet as I would have liked. Mostly a black tea taste with a sweet flavor in the swallow. Not bad, but I won’t purchase more.