Lupicia

So I have not been logging this as I’ve been drinking it, which means that this was my sipdown cup.
It was…. fine. Uninspired, but fine.
Ah well. I’ll miss Lupicia, but I think this particular blend will slip fully from memory….

New to me tea.
The description is all sorts of things I like- caramel, fruits, whats not to like? Lets see how it brews up.
This is rather reminding me of Neptune, and that means it brews up flatter and a touch more bitter than I expected.
Hmmm. Well, plenty more to try, so I may unlock it yet.

This is the weirdest tea… I don’t know how many people are familiar with a Chinese pickled radish-y vegetable called dai tau choy, but when I brewed this tea and took a sip, all I could taste was a lingering flavor of dai tau choy. The tea bag smelled like caramel, sweet and malty… but once brewed, there was none of that. Just salty, pickled radish, and me sitting there feeling more and more confused with each sip.

I only had one sample bag of this, so I don’t know if this is just how the tea tastes. But this is definitely the most unique flavor I’ve experienced in a tea.

365 Days of Tea Challenge – Day 35

Happy Year of the Pig!

Okay, so technically Lupicia is a Japanese company, so to them it’s the Year of the Boar, and they celebrate New Year’s Day on January 1st. But it’s still based on the Chinese zodiac originally, so I decided to save this tea for the Chinese/Lunar New Year!

So this is an osmanthus oolong base with citrus flavors. But actually, I’m surprised by how much it reminds me of some of their wine-flavored teas. It has the same aromatic floral note as Napa Blanc. To be honest, I’m not thrilled by that aspect… But I do understand that they were going for a celebratory tea and it does add a touch of effervescence.

Personally, I could do with a bit more citrus. I feel like the floral flavor sort of overwhelms the tangerine-like citrus notes. But that’s probably mostly because I feel like Lupicia uses the floral wine-like tea flavor too often (and it somewhat reminds me of bubblegum for some reason), and I much prefer citrus to floral. :)

https://www.instagram.com/p/Btd22DolEqT/

Not Lupicia’s most wonderful blend, but I still liked it better than most folks who have commented on it here.

In the packet, there’s a strong almost medicinal smell that is offputting, but after steeping that goes away. The color is a ruby red, and it smells vaguely of roses. The hibiscus is not all that noticeable. There’s a fruitiness to the smell and taste and a slight reediness with a vanilla note from the rooibos.

All of these aspects are in the flavor. My biggest complaint is that all of them could be more concentrated. It’s a pleasant enough drink, it just rather bland. I’d even like the rose to be stronger.

I won’t get into how I stumbled upon this tea in the wild. It was an unopened tin so I was the first to break the seal of the bag inside. Sweet and succulent perfume of peach, almost overpowering but pretty natural, as in it had some depth. The steam wafting from the cup was more gentle, still very peachy with some light florals but lacked the depth of the dry leaf aroma. The tea was delicious and silky when sipped hot and I could taste some of the underlying floral and vegetal pouchong base tea, but once cooled slightly, the tea lost its magic. I went on to brew another 2 cups from the leaf and picked up on a hint of butter in the aftertaste.

So overall, the scenting was amazing but I felt let down by the lack of depth from the base tea and the tendency to fall flat if not sipped piping hot. Still would never turn down a cup if offered!

I love both elderflower and chamomile, so I thought this would be a clear winner.

Steeping the sachet for 4 minutes in 150 ml of boiling water results in a medium strength, well balanced tea. I found the tea to be predominately chamomile and peppermint with a subtle floral element to balance things out.

While the tea was nice, I find that I prefer chamomile/lavender blends.

It was pouring earlier this afternoon but felt myself feeling in the need of a pick me up. However, having consumed both matcha and coffee earlier in the morning, I was looking for something warm and non caffeinated to give me a little boost.

I rifled through my Book of Tea samples and came across Masculin which seemed to fit the bill. However, upon reading that it was an herbal blend with Roobios, I expected the worst. The strong fragrance that wafted from the teabag wasn’t promising either. But I had been pleasantly surprised before, so I went for it. I set my pot to boil and steeped as instructed in 5 oz of water for 2 minutes.

The flavor is unique. There’s a zing and heat from the ginger, ginseng and cinnamon but it didn’t taste medicinal, in fact it was a tad sweet. I actually would not recommend steeping for more than 3 minutes (in a 1/2 cup of water). It would be far too strong at that point. There is a tiny energy boost but it’s mostly a sensory reaction. My taste buds are energized but I can still feel my eyes drooping and my body is still longing for a nap.

Overall I’d give this 3.5 out of 5 stars. I’d welcome receiving it as a sample again, but don’t enjoy it enough to spend money on it.

I am by no means a huge fan of rum or rooibos, so I wasn’t particularly excited when I got two sample packets of this with my purchase. But I was pleasantly surprised when I tried it! The strong scent really mellows out to a light caramel flavor with only a little hint of rum. I do think the rum flavor came out more clearly as it cooled down, so if you’re like me and don’t enjoy that, drink it hot!

I also tried it with milk, and I think I the caramel and nutty flavors shine through better without.

The long and the short of it is: Lupicia also gives good decaf flavored black tea.

Really good, that is. It’s not often that I drink a decaf tea that I can’t tell is decaf. I can’t tell with this one. There’s none of that papery weirdness that makes me visualize coffee filters.

The fruit smell in the tin is quite intense and heavy on the lychee. Followed by strawberry. The peach doesn’t make much of a show.

The tea is a sort of standard black “tea” color, with some redness to the brown/orange, and clear.

The aroma is sweet and fruity, less heavy on the lychee, more heavy on the strawberry, with a hint of peach. The flavor manages to mix them all pretty much equally.

I oversteeped this by A LOT, because I had a brain fart and steeped it as a tisane, i.e., for 7 minutes, and then I was in the middle of a conversation and forgot to take the finum filter out of the cup. Even so, it wasn’t bitter.

I’m looking forward to tasting it after a normal steeping time. It’s pretty exceptional as decafs go, to my taste.

Oh, I wish I had included this in my recent order from Lupicia France! And I would have, if the description had been even minimally useful. grrr. On the French site this is called “Neige Blanche,” and they describe it only as “black tea inspired by baked sweets made with white chocolate and nuts for the festive season.” Nutty white chocolate did not sound terribly appealing to me.

I did get a teabag sample, though, which is how I can tell that it must be the same as the US version “White Christmas” described here, because I could taste the apricot (and because they use the same photo for the tea). How strange that neither site include that in the description! How strange and annoying.

Anyway, I love apricot, and this is yum, and I am contemplating if I should make another Lupicia order before they run out of the tin version, which is all they have left now, at the end of January. My last order was pretty spendy, though, and shipping is expensive, so maybe I should wait until next year. Or not. Or I should. Should I?

How do you say “bah humbug” in French?!

Just a quick note on this one, as I only have a sample teabag: Lupicia.fr describes it as “the mellow sweetness of vanilla is matched with the sweetly sour fragrance of fruit … Blended with rosebuds,” but doesn’t say what fruit(s). It definitely tastes like strawberry to me, and the entire blend reminds me very strongly of Mariage Frères’ Marco Polo. Very similar, though perhaps more mellow. This is extremely pleasant, very smooth, genteel, relaxing. The rose is not perfumey at all.

It doesn’t smell like medicine to me in its dry form, just a very strong berry-red fruit of some kind aroma.

After steeping it’s a pretty, cranberry color and clear, and it smells like strawberries and vanilla. I am guessing the vanilla is the rooibos. Fortunately, it does not have any hamster cage attributes. Apricot? Maybe if I stretch. Same with the honey. It’s very strawberry/vanilla for me.

The taste has more apricot than the smell, and also some strawberry and vanilla. I agree with those who used the adjective “jammy.” There’s something about it that is reminiscent of jam, though not in the mouthfeel. It’s not thick.

In any case, I had worried at first that this would be one of those blends that I thought would have been better with green rooibos. But Lupicia did a nice job with the red — they seem to have avoided all the things that could make it go pear-shaped. Which basically, for me, means having it be taste-able.

The only thing I taste that makes me aware this is rooibos is the vanilla and an ever so slight reediness.

Definitely more enjoyable than the non-caffeinated options I’ve been drinking most lately (chamomile and chamomile blends).

Another fantastic find in Kawaii433’s package! THANKS SO MUCH! I’m very thrilled to try this one. Plums with oolong sounds like a dreamy combination. The flower petals add a nice touch. The oolong was the tightly bundled type. I’d say the fruitiest steep was the first one. It wasn’t an obvious plum, it was the faintest hint of plum. The second and third steeps probably were mostly tasting of plain oolong. But it’s a good one. The oolong had mostly notes of orchid which I absolutely love. Otherwise the flavor was sweet sweet sweet. I appreciate that the plum wasn’t fake tasting and overdone, but if I didn’t know it was supposed to taste like plums, I might not have noticed it. The oolong could be amazing on it’s own anyway! I’m happy I was able to try this before it disappeared!
Steep #1 // 1 heaping teaspoon for a full mug // 20 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 18 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // 8 minutes after boiling // 2 min
2019 sipdowns: 4 (oh boy, we’ll get there….)

This is a sweet black tea that smells very strongly of muscat. It’s visually very appealing and includes little pieces of confetti candy, along with blue cornflower petals and some other colorful bits I can’t identify. I personally love sweet, fruity teas and muscat flavoring, so this is one of my favorite teas, especially iced!

This was a GREAT surprise in the package from Kawaii433! Thanks so much! It’s one I wanted to try so a sample is the perfect amount for me. :D I actually split the sample for two steep sessions to make it last. So a teaspoon of these leaves each time, I won’t quite fill the mug all the way up. The dry leaf definitely has a lovely mango fragrance! And I think this base of oolong is perfect with mango – I’m assuming it’s the Baozhong which is always an oolong I don’t have enough of in the cupboards! The flavor is light and fruity, possibly with notes of orchid. Just enough mango. All three steeps tasted exactly the same. Somehow, the mango does remind me a bit of the splenda flavor profile, so this might not be my favorite. That melon oolong is tough to beat. VERY happy I got to experience this tea before I wasn’t able to though! I have some Alphonso Mango tea I bought from Cameron B, so it will be interesting to see if I experience the same flavor that I do with this one.
Steep #1 // 1 teaspoon for a not-quite full mug // 14 minutes after boiling // 1 minute steep
Steep #2 // 10 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #3 // few minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 min steep

Does what it says on the tin! (And I literally mean “the tin,” since I couldn’t resist getting my recent lupicia.fr haul mostly all in those decorative tins where you choose the pretty label art). This is nice and dark chocolatey and distinctly raspberrish! Very straightforward. And quite tasty.

Yet. Yet. I have to finally admit something to myself. I’m not really a sincere chocolate fan. Like being “in love with love,” I’m always seduced by the idea of chocolate, but rarely borne away on wings of desire when the rubber hits the road. If I buy a fancy dark chocolate bar (I only like dark chocolate, and only if it’s fancy :P) it will last me … two or three months? Less, because my husband usually raids it at some point, but I just break off a small piece to have from time to time, and there’s no temptation to gobble. (And trust me, I can be quite the shameless gobbler.) It’s nice, but not compelling. If I have a choice between vanilla and chocolate ice cream? I always choose vanilla (especially if it’s fancy). I adore a piece of super moist chocolate cake … but, in fact, I must confess that if you offered me carrot cake as an option I would go with that instead.

Why do I say all this? Because I have to finally admit that as much as I am undeniably beguiled by all the chocolate-y tea descriptions, I rarely adore them. Because I’m just not that much of a chocolate lover. I love the descriptions, I love the idea, I love a tasty morsel of excellent chocolate every now and then, but I have to finally face up to the fact that it’s not that everyone else is not creating chocolate treats “just right” for me, it’s that I’m not a true lover of chocolate treats.

I think Lupicia has done a very good job with this, but it will last me a long time, like one of my fancy chocolate bars. I enjoyed it, but I’m not already awaiting / planning my next cup, like I do with my best favorites. I’m not going to rate this one (but just for me? I’d probably give it 70 — not a low score!) because I’m not the person it’s really meant for. if you love chocolate and raspberry, I think you will love this.

Of all the things I’ve lost, I think I miss my mind the most. My mind, and this cookie, er, tea. Which I’ve never had, but which I realized with my first sip that I’ve missed, very very much. I’ve been homesick all my life for this cookie flavor I never knew existed. Mysterious!

I know, because of the description here and on the US site, that it is supposed to have almonds, but it does not taste like a straight almond cookie to me. The French site did not list almonds, which is good, because I might not have bought it, since I have a nearly full bag of Pleine Lune from Mariage Frères that I should get through before going in search of any more almond teas. (And also, almond isn’t really my favorite flavor.)

It is absolutely a cookie flavor, though; the “cookiest” tea I’ve tasted so far, and since I do tend to like “patisserie” tastes, it works very well for me. My favorite cookies are not gooey or chocolatey or frosted or filled with nuts or fruit … they tend to be more like shortbread or snickerdoodles, so this is right in my cookie sweet spot. Now, if only I could figure out this enigmatic flavor… I’m reminded a bit of warm buttered toast I used to have as a child, sprinkled with sugar and cinnamon, though if there’s cinnamon here, it’s faint. This isn’t really the flavor, but it’s the feeling. I get a toasted brown sugar flavor, probably some vanilla, definitely “caramel,” but not chewy, gooey, sticky caramel … more like praline? Maybe? And the nut flavor. Like, maybe if you took almonds, hazelnuts, macadamias, and pecans and ground them into a flour and added a bit of that to your cookie batter?

I just don’t know! We need a forensic pastry chef! At any rate, a delightful discovery for me and definite re-order.

This is my place-saver note until I am brave enough to try this tea! I ordered this from Lupicia France, which seems to be the only place it’s offered? I couldn’t find much online. My idea of this was something very lightly smoked, with a bit of whisky flavor, which (in my apparently deluded mind) seemed potentially nice as a late-night after-meal “relaxing in the study by the fireplace with a good book” kind of tea. I have neither study nor fireplace, but still.

However, upon opening it, my head nearly blew up. WHOAH. SO STRONG AARGH THE SMELL THE WORLD IS BURNING OMG CLOSE IT CLOSE IT GET IT AWAY. I immediately wrapped it up to within an inch of its life and put if far far far away from any of my other teas. I will screw up the courage to try this eventually, but wow. What a shocking introduction.

(I have tried lapsang souchong before, so not entirely unacquainted with smoked teas, but this was bam pow bang!)

Lupicia’s French Facebook page describes it thusly (translated from French): “Black tea from Japan smoked with chips of whiskey barrels by Mr. Hiroki Matsumoto. Available in store and on the Internet. http://www.lupicia.fr/s/29785_263606_the-noir-fume-japon-i-… This black tea without astringency is relatively soft in the mouth and contrasts with the smoky and deep side that emerges from it. It is never aggressive, whether on the nose or in the mouth, and the balance between black tea and smoked aromas is perfectly controlled. Mr. Matsumoto at his own gardens in Shizuoka Prefecture. Thanks to this smoking technique, we find from the first sip a deep fragrance evoking Single Malt Whiskey.”

Well. I can testify that “It is never aggressive, whether on the nose or in the mouth” is not quite accurate. It was waaay aggressive on this nose. Like “felony charges” aggressive. Will be back to report more once I’ve recovered and brave enough to actually brew a cup.

shiver. It may be a little while.

I just received this in my first-ever Lupicia (France) order today, and I love it! I’ve only had one cup so far, so I may revise this write-up as needed, but I tasted both rhubarb and strawberry, plus some mystery flavor that I also detected in Lupicia’s black tea Sakurambo (also delicious!) … something … a bit “melon-y”? I don’t know! And Lupicia does not exactly give a lot of details about their blends. For me, though, it’s a very good balance: neither too sour, nor too supercharged strawberry, and a nice lucid, clear flavor as opposed to some of my other favorite black fruity teas which are often more “melange” style. So, nicely different!

I actually found this a very cozy comfy cup here at the butt end of January, but can also imagine it being quite refreshing in spring and summer, and probably very good iced, as well. Maybe a tea for all seasons! I tried it with a bit of raw sugar, and am curious to see what happens with a splash of milk, too. At any rate, definitely a re-order for me — assuming Lupicia’s French online site doesn’t close, like the US site. Please don’t close, Lupicia France! I only recently realized that you even existed, and now I’m seeing what some of my favorite steepsters have been raving about.

Additional notes:  I wanted to try this one with two teaspoons like I did with the EG recently.  It’s definitely better this way… two teaspoons with a VERY short first steep.  The first time I had this (one teaspoon – three minutes) there was very little flavor at all.  Now I am tasting slightly sweet strawberries.  Nothing like the amazing that is their Strawberry Rhubarb tea though.  But this is an improvement on the previous steep session.  As it cools, I was tasting lychee and realized that was what I was tasting before. I need to remember this steep method for seemingly flavorless teas, especially if I’m ready to bail on them. Raising the rating from 50.
Steep #1  // 2 teaspoons for full mug // 18 minutes after boiling  //1 minute steep
Steep #2  // just boiled //  3 min

I couldn’t resist this one.. it sounded like my kind of blend. The description says “scented with honey-preserved fruits” which sounds delicious in theory. Lupicia’s fruit flavors are usually perfect. But on tasting the tea, the description might be a little vague for a reason. I’m definitely not tasting honey and I have no idea what types of fruits, other than a plasticy flavor that at most could be lychee. Lychee tastes plasticy to me. There is also a drying quality. The black tea is probably something like Ceylon or another tea I’m not a fan of. The description doesn’t say much about the base tea either. The second steep doesn’t add much to the flavor. Not a fan of this one.
Steep #1 // 1heaping teaspoon for a full mug// 12 minutes after boiling // 2 minute steep
Steep #2 // just boiled // 4 minute steep