Carol

This was the free tea with Lupicia’s December 2009 newsletter. I’ve had it before – it’s one of their annual Christmas blends – and a tin of the decaffeinated Carol currently sits in my tea cupboard. But here I am, thirsty at work, so I might as well use this Carol teabag for a refreshing drink!

The strawberry flavor is pretty strong. Lupicia teas tend to be very fruity and heavily perfumed; Carol is no exception. When brewed I don’t really taste much vanilla, but the strawberry is rather creamy and I assume that’s the influence of the vanilla? Maybe?

I’m debating whether I want to buy a tin of the loose tea because the tin is so cute. Is that a silly reason to buy tea?

Have just brewed a proper cup of this – 2 days ago I got distracted during the brewing process so it was seriously oversteeped… :(

This smells really sweet and creamy! Just like the strawberry milk beverage that I had when I was small. Frankly speaking the strawberry flavour seems quite artificial, but I am ok with it because it tastes pretty nice. Despite having the flavour of candy, this is hardly a tea for children because the black tea base is quite strong!

Thank you to Crystal for this!
I try not to rate teas from swaps, but this one was so wonderful I just had to. I really wanted a flavored black tea that still tasted like good black tea, and this is it! The strawberry scent is light and sort of floaty, the creme flavor sort of smooths things out, and the tea is sturdy underneath it all. The rose is there too, to finish it off delicately. I really like this, and my mom, who doesn’t usually like flavored blacks, loves it too!
There is a dry feel in my mouth afterwards, and the strawberry is more essence of than fresh fruits, but I still really love this tea!

As I wrote in TeaWritings.com (http://teawritings.com/?p=105) this was one of three strawberry teas I tasted this week (completely coincidentally!).

The first scent is intensely strawberry and I worried I wouldn’t taste the tea at all, but of the three I tasted this was the only one where I could also taste the tea and not just strawberry. I think the vanilla helped with that. I actually liked the second steeping better than the first. I would definitely buy this tea if putting in a Lupicia order or if I saw it in a store. (Sadly, nearest Lupicia store is 3000 miles from me.)

Another one all gone!

The black tea here I’s decent but the strawberry and the vanilla turn out to taste too cloying and artifical.

I actually really liked this tea. I usually have a problem with flavoured black teas, as the black tea base can be either too strong or overpowered by the flavoring. This tea, upon opening, has a powerful “candy” strawberry scent. This made me nervous at first.
Once I brewed the tea, though, I was pleasantly suprised! I could taste the black tea base, but it wasn’t so powerful that I couldn’t taste the strawberry/vinilla flavor. The strawberry isn’t over powering, and the vinilla is soft, but definately detectable. It was a good combination. Now I buy this around the holidays; it’s a nice treat after dinner.

I really love this very unique christmas tea from lupicia.

I think one of the reasons i really like it was that it wasnt your typical christmas tea that is completely overloaded with spices. Its strawberry and coconut which is much more like christmas to me seeing as its summer here at christmas and not winter.

But onto what the tea actually tastes like: quite good really. The strawberry and coconut flavours are strong but not overpowering but come through just nicely.

This is probably my favourite christmas tea ive tried so far.

I inadvertently chose Carol today with a similar profile to yesterday’s (Yume) but this one was much better, lacking the odd bitter aftertaste.

Carol is a stawberry and vanilla flavoured tea with coconut flakes, though these added minimal impact. It’s a standard red fruity gourmand, though I felt the flavouring was a bit weak. The strawberry smell was that of a soda or artificial dessert, though the taste was so faint it didn’t register as either artificial or natural.

Nothing offensive, but just not a hearty, robust cuppa where you can really appreciate the impression and feeling the maker was trying to convey. This one felt like more of an afterthought, somehow. Like, “Quick- we need a holiday blend to round out our offerings- let’s recycle a strawberry vanilla!” If you are looking for a distinct strawberry/vanilla combo, this is not it.

I came home from my recent trip toJapan with multiple Lupicia blends to sample. The first I brewed was Carol, a strawberry, vanilla and coconut black tea blend. It smells sweet and has a delicate flavour, not too overpowering or artificial. Much prefer this to other strawberry teas I’ve encountered in the past!