This is the Lupicia Carol, a limited edition tea released during the Christmas season.
The dry leaf presented in a tea bag containing black tea flavoured with strawberry and vanilla, blended with rose petals and coconut flakes.
Prepared by steeping a 2.5 g tea bag in 200 mL of water at 90ºC for three minutes, the infusion presented a red-brown hue with a sweet, cake-like aroma.
Initial contact delivered sweet notes of strawberry cream cake with a mellow sweetness and a rounded, full-bodied profile. Through the mid-palate, the bolder notes of the black tea developed, providing depth to the fruitiness and restraining the strawberry and vanilla head notes from becoming cloying. The mouthfeel remained smooth throughout the body. Towards the finish, the sweetness receded completely, giving way to a soft bitterness from the black tea and gentle astringency that tightened the palate, with a light mineral dryness lingering in the aftertaste. These end notes could be softened by preparing the tea with milk in a European-style milk tea preparation.
Overall, a flavoured black tea with a dessert-like opening that gradually transitions into a clean, structured black tea finish and a smooth, rounded mouthfeel, resulting in a well-balanced and seasonally appropriate cup.
This Lupicia Carol contained 2.5 g. The tea was sourced from Vietnam and Kenya, packaged in Japan and purchased in Sendai, Japan in 2024.