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Wow, this tea is so creamy and delicious. Not at all sour or bitter like I imagined it might be, based on the cranberry aspect.

I’ve had Boston Blend on my wishlist for awhile, I’ve seen raving reviews for it pop up every now and again in my feed.

I am not disappointed! The very second I cracked open the tin to sniff the leaves I knew I would enjoy it. I was right.

It’s creamy and fruity and the almond adds a nice sweetness to balance off the cranberries.

It’s a flavoured blend done very well.
Huzzah!

I bought this because everyone on Steepster seemed to rave about it. And I’m a follower.
Well I’m not, but I don’t have enough money kicking around to buy too many teas blindly. I would rather let others try them out so I can read first hand accounts and decide based on those whether or not it would be worth it to me, something I’d care for.

I only really buy tea these days if I think I will love it.
And aside from Lupicia, I’m not into heavily flavoured teas much anymore. I’m really digging the straight black ones or the flavoured ones that are done in a very natural way. (Butiki, Whispering Pines).

So, I was wanting a bold tea to have with milk or cream for breakfast. This was a popular one, and I’d wanted to order from H&S, so I got a tin of Queen Catherine.

Honestly, I do enjoy it for breakfast. And it IS growing on me with every cup….but I think there is a bit too much of that “hay” note present for my liking.

It’s a bit smokey, also.

I don’t find it entirely unpleasant, but I didn’t love it at first sip like I’d hoped to.

However, it is slowly worming its way into my cold black heart.

I wish it was slightly less hay-like and maltier instead.
I don’t think the smokiness bothers me.

Adding milk or light cream really turns it into something nice, though.
I bet a smidge of sugar would transform it into another tea altogether. Maybe I will try that next time :)

I bought this solely based on other reviews. I was looking for teas from companies who charge a lot to ship to Canada (or don’t ship to us at all) to purchase and have sent to my relatives in the States to bring to me when they visited this summer.

They delivered the massive order about a week ago, including this tea.

I wasn’t sure what to expect…I guess I thought the chocolate would taste like a more natural note rather than an obvious added flavouring. (I’ve been spoiled by Laoshan Black, evidently). It kind of reminds me of the chocolate flavouring used by Harney and Sons, which I don’t love. Maybe I’m more of a creamy milk chocolate kind of girl. Well, no “maybe” about it, I definitely am.

Anyway, I’ve had this a few times now and the chocolate makes it not a breakfast tea for me. I don’t want to drink something flavoured first thing in the morning. Unless it’s coffee, oddly enough. But not tea.

The pu’erh definitely adds an earthy note. And this is a very bold tea. Mid morning or afternoon, for me.

I will try to enjoy what I have left but not a re-buy for me. I don’t love fake chocolate tasting teas.

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)

Oops, I didn’t realize there was coffee in this, the pu’erh was risky enough at 9pm!

This tea is really tasty, slightly cookie-ish and lots of sweet cinnamon. Not a tea for coffee haters because that’s a very strong component! I almost think the name should be more like “cinnamon coffee pu’erh” vs cinnamon cookie. Coffee stands out for sure.

I added cream and it was a nice post supper treat. I will try it for breakfast sometime wheni not worried about caffeine.

Definitely another Lupicia win!

This tea is delicious. Still devouring (I had typed “savoring” but my iPad autocorrected it to “devouring”, also true) the sample from Sil :)

It is really fruity and flavorful and malty and one day, when I’m not drowning in tea, one day I will put in a TTC order!

Breakfast tea of the day!

I had two steeps of this earlier this afternoon.

I really really enjoyed both of them.

This tea is smooth and chocolatey with a nice thick mouthfeel.
And cocoa.
Did I mention cocoa?

It would be impossible to not have a good afternoon when you are drinking this tea.

It’s one of those “Serenity now” in a cup types of teas.

Chocolate?! So weird.
I guess someone tasted that somehow??

I cold brewed this and when I drank it I got nothing but piña colada. I’m being truthful. Maybe some spices to give it a bit of richness and a little kick.

My all time favorite tea to cold brew is Davidstea’s Tropicalia, and I’m guessing they came out with this one for 2014 instead of bringing back Tropicalia, like they should have.

But since they didn’t, this one will have to do.

As far as a piña colada iced tea, this one is yummy.
I will buy some more to have for the rest of the summer!

Rivertea had sent me a sample of this, it sounds good based on the description. But it tastes weeeeeirrrrd.

Really sour. Leaves a horrid taste in my mouth. I don’t get chocolate at all when it’s hot.

I did just sip it as it had cooled and the chocolate comes out more, and the flavours aren’t quite as in your face sour and clashy…but it’s still not something I’d ever buy.

I will be passing the rest on to my friend to try.

It’s really bitter and icky to me.

And there’s something in it that reminds me of the flavour note in Boatsman that I dislike. I thought it might be chamomile but there’s none in this according to the ingredients. Who knows. They smell kind of similar.

I decided to brew up all four of my black caramel tea samples at once to do a comparison.

Caramel by TeaG
Caramel by Kusmi
Caramel Toffee by Dammann Freres
And Creme Caramel by Upton.

I did a terrible job comparing them, though.

I have a really hard time pinpointing specific notes in tea beyond a very basic level of distinction.

So, beyond noting that they all tasted like caramel in their own specific way, here’s all I got:

Kusmi’s brewed up the blackest and it seemed to have a slight cardboardy note to me.

Tea G’s was a medium amber color, had a thick mouthfeel and was either my favorite or second favorite.

Upton’s was very light when brewed. It was somewhat similar to the DF tea but not as flavorful.

DF’s was pretty light also, and had sort of a fruity note in the background.

I think I may have liked that one best, with that floral note!

But Tea G’s was a close second, if not a tie.
So, this achieved….something. I guess.

For the sake of simplicity and safety, I used 96 degrees and 4 min for all.