You can find some pretty awesome things if you know where to look. For instance, my sister and I recently hit up the One of a Kind show in Toronto and found a whole bunch of awesome artisans, all of whom had some pretty amazing products. Especially those who had food offerings. Samples galore and some pretty tasty snacks were abound and in one little booth, some of the tastiest caramels were to be found.
Now, a little background. My brother-in-law is allergic to something called soy protein. It is not something that people usually have heard of and since soy is in almost everything (though usually it is soy lecithin, which he can eat), he is often told he can’t have a lot of things. So, when we found these local companies making fresh treats, we stocked up since these were things he actually could eat. And since there were sales when you bought everything in bulk, my sister and I had quite the haul.
Caramels are my brother-in-law’s favorite so the minute my sister and I saw the Tout de Sweet Confections booth, we rushed over. The two women operating the booth were incredibly sweet (oops…pun not intended) and despite the huge crowds, they took the time to talk to their patrons and pass out samples. My sister asked to try either their sea salt caramel or their lavender caramel and was given a sample of each. I zeroed in on the London Fog caramels made with Silk Road Tea’s Imperial Earl Grey black tea. They probably would have let us sample everything on their counter from the various caramel flavors and fruit chews to the homemade marshmallows and everything in between, however my sister and I were sold with just the few samples of caramels we had (did I mention the caramels are organic?) and were worried we would buy one of everything if we kept going.
The first thing my sister and I both noticed was just how incredibly soft these caramels were. Honestly…it was impressive. Usually soft caramels are chewy and have some tack which makes it a little worrisome as far as teeth are concerned (in fact, I cracked a tooth on a chewy caramel once – not fun) but these are like biting into…something super soft (unfortunately all I could come up with is: soft cheeses but that seems gross, a cloud but that would be more like fluffy cotton candy; and a pillow but who bites a pillow).
Anyways, after I got over my amazement at the indescribable softness of these caramels, I could focus on the flavor and trust me, there is a lot of it here. Caramel? Check. Vanilla? Check. Cream? Check. Earl Grey? Double check. Now for those who have read my other posts, you might know my relationship with bergamot is not necessarily a strong one but here I am actually really liking it. The citrus note of bergamot helps to really make the caramel pop while taming what could be an over-the-top sweet treat. And mixed with the London Fog elements, this is just a delight. Each component is present and distinct and yet they all blend together perfectly to create a small bit of yum.
I have been snacking on these all day and I would highly recommend them if you can get your hands on them. Unless you want to lose weight…then they are a bit addictive and you might curse me for mentioning them. I am learning that the hard way. However, 45 calories for 2 pieces doesn’t seem too bad…I mean I ate the box but it’s probably fine, right?
Here’s the scoop!
Where to Buy: Tout de Sweet Confections
Description
Tout de Sweet Caramels organic caramels are a soft creamy treat. We hand cut and wrap each of these sweet treats, making them a true labour of love.
Choose from an array of 8 different flavours!
To create our wide selection of deep rich flavours we infuse the butter and whipping cream with raw ingredients (lavender buds, fresh rosemary, chai spices, fennel seed, espresso, or Silk Road’s Imperial Earl Grey Tea) and caramelize the sugar “just so”. All our caramels are corn free, nut free, and gluten free.
We don’t use any additive or stabilizers so store your caramels in a cool dry environment and enjoy them tout de suite. But they will last up to 5 months on the shelf.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
White Chocolate Samoa by The NecessiTeas
Yay, a white chocolate coconut tea! With caramel! And it’s caffeine free, so it’s great as a nightcap.
I approximated the steeping instructions for this tea, noticing as I did so that there’s plenty of coconut visible in the dry tea. It has a sweet creamy smell even when dry. Once the tea is steeped, it turns out to be about the color of apple cider, but a bit darker. It has a light, pleasant flavor and fragrance from the very first sip. I found it to have a creamy flavor and aftertaste (presumably from the coconut).
Altogether I found this tea very enjoyable, although I don’t think it’ll end up in my rotation for daily drinking. It’s very heavy on the coconut (since it contains both actual coconut and coconut flavor) and on the sugar factor, so it’s a sure winner if coconut is your favorite flavor ever and you take lots of sugar in your tea!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Honeybush/Herbal
Where to Buy: The NecessiTeas
Description:
Growing up I was a Girl Scout and I was great at “selling” cookies. I would polish off a box of Samoas after school while working on my homework. Chock up another “sale” my parents had to chip in for. Gone are the days when it was okay to eat an entire sleeve of cookies. So here’s my guilt-free version of the classic Samoa. As always, I like to put a spin on things so I used white chocolate instead then added sweet caramel and toasted coconut to recreate an old favorite.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
Caramel Popcorn Matcha from Red Leaf Tea
It’s been a while since our last Red Leaf Tea review so I thought why not write about Caramel Popcorn Matcha from Red Leaf Tea!
The color of this is a grey-green but the old sniffer is drawn to the smell of it! It sure DOES smell like Caramel Popcorn with the vegetal matcha by it’s side! I was surprised to learn that the only two ingredients in this was matcha and peanut butter flavoring!
Caramel Popcorn Matcha from Red Leaf Tea is really delicious! It does taste like Caramel Popcorn and matcha! The gently popped likeness was just enough to notice. The caramel (or peanut butter flavor) was top notch! It leaves a slightly sweet and creamy after taste. It isn’t the slightest bit bitter which is nice especially for this flavored matcha!
Here’s the scoop!
Leaf Type: Matcha (Green Tea)
Where to Buy: Red Leaf Tea
Description:
Pure Matcha powder from green leaves, Peanut Butter Natural Flavor
Delightfully sweet caramel corn can be given wider appeal by adding the exotic velvety touch of oriental Matcha. The resulting Caramel Popcorn Matcha is a sweet and pleasant tasting snack that can be served and enjoyed by a wide variety of people from all walks of life. For the young children, this sweet tasting and bright colored treat holds obvious attraction for all the right reasons. For working adults, Caramel Popcorn Matcha provides them with the added sugar and energy needed to get through their hassle filled days and nights. For senior citizens it gives them many minutes of pure enjoyment as they sample its sweet depths.
Caramel Popcorn Matcha is an adaptable drink that can be used for any occasion. When it is used for festivities, it combines perfectly with many other snacks likes nuts and pies, among many others. When used as an everyday treat, it makes an excellent mid morning or mid afternoon snack. Caramel Popcorn Matcha is a delectable treat that provides its many takers with something to look forward to especially when times are tough and a little sweetening is required to make life bearable.
Irrespective of the age group, it is impossible to go wrong with Caramel Popcorn Matcha. This is because, with its Matcha twist, its concentrated sweetness is tempered and balanced nicely. Caramel Popcorn Matcha can easily become the treat of choice at many corporate functions instead of partaking of the usual sweet refreshment choices normally on offer. This unforgettable Matcha treat always keeps its date with the unapologetic sweet tooth.
Learn even more about this tea and tea company here!
J’aime Caramel White Tea from Shanti Tea
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White Tea
Where to Buy: Shanti Tea
Tea Description:
This flavored white tea is no longer available on the Shanti Tea website but I thought it was still worth a mention.
Taster’s Review:
Eventho J’aime Caramel White Tea from Shanti Tea is no longer available for purchase on their company website I thought it was still worth a mention. My first encounter with this tea was about 5 years ago and I knew awhile ago at some point the last of my stash would come to an end and it would be a sad, sad day. That day has come.
I don’t think I have ever had another caramel flavored white tea but even if I did this one would be hard to beat. It has that floral flavor that some white teas have but it also has a hardy caramel flavor to it too! The two flavors paired together work oddly well together. This tea is incredible smooth, sweet, floral, and a bit savory, too!
With the loss of this flavored white tea there appears to be a gap in the market. So if any of those creative tea companies out there are trying to think of a new flavor offering in their catalog – may I suggest a caramel flavored white? It’s shockingly tasty!
Australia Houjicha Green from What-Cha
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Green
Where to Buy: What-Cha
Tea Description:
Two Rivers Green Tea started producing tea in 2001 with the aid and encouragement of Japanese tea experts who were seeking to encourage Japanese style tea production for the domestic Japanese market. The Two Rivers farm was selected as it has the same latitude of southern Japanese tea farms, idea temperatures, rainfall and great quality topsoil.
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
Recently I placed a What-Cha order for myself, and one of the things I was looking for was a Houjicha to stock up since it’s one of my favourite kinds of green tea and while I currently have a Genmaicha stocked that I really like there’s a hole in my cupboard where a good Houjicha should be. This one comes from Australia, and personally I’ve never tried an Australian grown tea before though I was aware that they were produced. Australia is one of those regions that isn’t typically thought of as a tea growing region among people who aren’t more learned tea drinkers the same way people don’t realize tea is grown in places like Kenya or Hawaii and I’m very excited to get my first taste of an Australian tea, especially considering how affordable this blend was. It was an easy thing to gamble on.
I do think this was worth the gamble. While it’s not as straightforwardly roasty as I tend to prefer from a good Houjicha there are some very, very nice subtle nuanced flavour notes that more than makes up the different. For starters, there’s an interesting nutty notes that seems to make itself known in each part of the sip in a different way. With that first initial taste it’s light lightly toasted nuts, and then in the body it weaves in and out between the other flavours. In the aftertaste, you’re tasting the shadow of the nut flavour which once was.
There’s also some really nice sweeter notes like caramel and cocoa which gently stretch out across the surface of your tongue, creating this really nice, smooth body flavour. The finish is lightly smokey, and leaves you wanting to go back in for another sip so you can experience the flavour dynamics all over again. Overall it’s a very warming and welcoming cuppa.
I definitely think I’ll clear my purchase of this easily, and will probably go back for more after that. More than that, this only gets me even more excited to try more of what Australia has to offer!
