Tea Reviews | It's All About The Leaf

Posts Tagged ‘Caramel’

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.

You can purchase the Caramele directly from the Lupicia Tea website.

The initial scent I get from this tea reminds me of a darjeeling…light and a bit spicy. In fact, this almost seems light enough to be a bit reminiscent of some green teas that I have had. Steeping it for three minutes with just-boiled water, I’m greeted with creamy aromas from the golden-brown liquor. Despite being a little too eager to try it, and burning my lip on the first sip, once I wait and get in a (safe) first sip, I am delighted by the result. This tea is indeed creamy, just as the Canton Tea Co website describes. I am not so sure about the caramel notes, but I suppose I could see where one might pick up hints of those. To me, this tea has just the slightest bit of a malty aftertaste, creating an impeccable flavour.

A resteep of this tea brings about a much-subdued, yet still flavourful, brew. This is most definitely one of the best black teas I have ever tasted. On my personal enjoyment scale, I would give it 90/100. On top of that, I would definitely recommend this as one of the must-try teas for lovers of black teas.

You can purchase the Bai Lin Gong Fu directly from the Canton Tea Co. website. Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout! Save 15% right now when you use the code LEAF at checkout!

The color of this is GREAT and as described in the product description. It smells delightful!  A bready-toasty type black tea scent.

The taste is great! I can relate to the caramel and honey notes DRINK THE LEAF spoke of in the Product Description and can appreciate the bready/cakey type chewiness too! It’s not sweet – you almost think it’s going to be (a good type) bitter but it’s not bitter either. It’s a lingering tea that last long after your sip is complete! But it also makes you crave more!  This seems a little more complex that it gives itself credit for – and I like that!  This is a very memorable and delicious tea!  I like it very much!

You can purchase the Hong Tao Mao Feng directly from the Drink The Leaf website.

Vendor Description and Ingredients: One of our most flavorful teas. Light fruity grenadine lifts exotic caramel vanilla creating a unique heavenly flavor. Excellent smooth and mellow finish.

Review: I recently received this from a friend.  Apparently she lives near the Tea House where this came from.

The Pre-Infusion/Dry Loose Leaf smell is like Vanilla, Apricot, and a hint of chocolate… which is interesting because I don’t think 2 out of those 3 are even in there! But it smells really nice!  My nose can also pick up on a slight cookie or pastry speck of something, too.

While this loose leaf tea is infusing I can smell a little caramel, a little vanilla, a little grenadine, and of course, a little black tea.  The aroma is quite unique and the more I breath in the scents the more intrigued I am by it.

After infusing the wet leaves smell almost candied.  They also smell a little bit like wood.  The liquid itself certainly hits me as grenadine and black tea.

Organic Monks Sacred Blend by the Path of Tea has a handsome medium-dark brown color to it.

Much of the actual ingredients seem to play nice with each other and there isn’t any one ingredient that seems to be too over the top.  As far as I can taste – the grenadine – is in the forefront a bit more than the other ingredients – but it’s sweet and juicy and a great contribution to the flavor instead of being distracting.

You can purchase the Organic Monks Sacred Blend directly from the The Path of Tea website.

I am a fan of Rooibos. I love all teas, but there is something about Rooibos that is more appealing to me. Perhaps it is my sweet tooth, which appreciates the natural sweetness of Rooibos, or perhaps it is because Rooibos tends to blend with so many “sweet” flavours such as Caramel and Vanilla. Whatever it is, I am a fan.

With that in the forefront of my mind, I brewed up a bag of the Mighty Leaf African Nectar. My teabag prejudice aside, Rooibos actually works well in a teabag because it is naturally a small leaf, and does not need a lot of room to expand.

I brewed the tea using my regular Rooibos methods, boiling water, steeped for 5-6 minutes. The smell was fantastic, and I could not wait to dive into it. The cup was a deep red color that I relate to good quality Rooibos.

Prevalent in the taste was a mango and vanilla combined with, but not overwhelming, Rooibos flavour, which is a sweetish, nutty flavour. I like it. I like it a lot! There is not much more to say on this tea, as I think the above speaks for it’s self. Sometimes Mighty Leaf has fallen down in taste for me, but in this case, it is a home run! I would recommend this tea to anyone who likes Rooibos, and to someone who wants to get an idea of what a flavoured Rooibos tea can be!

You can purchase Mighty Leaf African Nectar Loose Tea or Mighty Leaf African Nectar Tea Pouches directly from their website.