Caramel/Crystal 10L sits a step below Crystal 20L on the colour ladder, the palest crystal malt most maltsters offer as a distinct product. Made the same way as any crystal malt — a hot, wet rest that lets the grain's own enzymes finish the starch-to-sugar conversion right inside the husk, followed by browning under heat — it develops only a very light caramel character, barely sweet, more a texture and roundness contribution than an obvious flavour statement.
At 8-12 °Lovibond, its colour impact stays close to a base malt's own, even at a meaningful percentage of the grist, and, like the rest of its family, none of its enzyme content survives the stewing process. Brewers reach for it specifically in pale lagers, delicate blonde ales, and other light-coloured styles wanting a touch of body and roundness without any visible colour shift or noticeable sweetness — exactly the situation where Crystal 20L would already read as too much. It's a genuinely different tool from CaraPils/Carafoam despite both being pale: Caramel 10L still contributes real caramel character and sugar, where CaraPils' dextrin contribution has essentially no caramel flavour at all. Crystal 20L is the natural next step up when a slightly more noticeable result is wanted, and blending a small amount of each together gives finer control over the final result than reaching for either malt alone would provide.