Sandy Stith

I’ve drank this several times now and I’m still lukewarm about it. It’s just not quite something enough. I can’t put my finger on what’s missing. I want to drink this at night before I go to bed, but it leaves me pondering what’s missing. That isn’t restful.

Don’t get me wrong. I don’t hate it. I think I’ll try blending it with something else and see where that gets me.

I hadn’t drank this for a while and decided to have it with breakfast this morning.

I’m still putting this at a 78. I really want it to have more bergamot. It remains inoffensive and not a bad choice for a chilly morning. Still…it really needs more bergamot.

A month or so I stopped in at Steven Smith. It’s a really charming little shop that had been pissing me off for months. You see, they’re only open Mon-Fri and I can usually only make it to Portland on a weekend. Ok, that’s out of my system…

The shop is charming and the gentleman working there was really friendly, which I like. He sat me down and had me sample their four RTD teas. I walked out with two bottles of this one and two of the Hibiscus.

This is a really light, floral, fruity concoction that I’d be satisfied to drink all day, every day. It’s made with apple and pear infused water in small batches.It’s naturally a little sweet. It’s also very refreshing.

I recommend a trip into the shop if you can make it on a weekday. I also really highly recommend this tea. It’s extra yummy.

I’m having a hard time rating this tea. I made a big batch of it iced. I originally thought it was blackberry, not black currant and that it tasted like blackberry leaf, not blackberry.

That said, I’m perplexed. I originally didn’t love it, so I did what any respectable girl would do and mixed in some lemonade. That made it better.

Then, I tried it again. Still not black currant, but the flavor improved after sitting in my fridge for a while.

The jury is still out on this one. It’s just odd.

Let’s just say….yum.

This is a lovely, creamy, just the right amount of mango-y tea. I made this iced with a small amount of raw sugar.

I’m really delighted my friend Dylan doesn’t like mango. More for me that I don’t need to share. =)

I think I’ll go make a glass of this now.

Srsly, folks. Yum.

Backlogging:
This is a genuinely silly oolong. It smells like Grape Crush steeped and in the bag. That alone put a smile on my face. (I don’t actually like Grape Crush, btw.)

That said, it’s very grape-y, very yummy and not remotely artificial tasting. The grapeness is rounded out nicely with the earthy oolong. It’s good with a little rock sugar and is definitely good for more than one steeping.

I’ll be keeping this on my oolong list.

Backlogging:
Another sample from Azzrian, this one originally from Indigobloom.

In a word, yuck. I paid attention to the steeping instructions and only steeped for 2 lousy minutes. This was so profoundly bitter that after about 3 sips I gave up and threw it out.

Seriously, yuck.

So, I just got back from a cruise to Alaska. This is what I drank on the boat.

Note to self: Bring my own tea on the next cruise.

This is a genuinely average cuppa tea. Nothing to write home about. No real bergamot to speak of. Forgettable. It will, however, do in a pinch…like when you’re trapped at sea…

Once again, good job Butiki Teas!

This is delightfully strawberry-ish in the bag. On my first steeping, I was a little haphazard with the water temperature. I boiled it, then let it cool off again…lazy. I didn’t really taste the strawberry, but it was still earthy and delicious.

Steeping number 2…got out the Breville One Touch and heated this to the appropriate 180 degrees, then steeped for 4 minutes, adding a bit of rock sugar. This time, the strawberry came out very subtly while keeping the delicious earthiness of the oolong.

Seriously, folks. I am going to keep steeping this until it just plain gives up today.

Delicious. This will be a staple.

The always wonderful Dylan shared this with me yesterday. Wow. Yum.

I love ginger and bergamot. This really has the right amount of both. It’s very light yet distinctive. There’s also some aromatic note that reminds me of something from my childhood, but I can’t put my finger on it.

This is a worthwhile bai mu dan.

Thanks, Dylan!

As Blake mentioned below, this is a pretty in your face tea. And, it’s super yummy.

As Dylan well knows, I don’t care for cinnamon. I didn’t notice it. I get the clove in full force and a nice undertone of clementine.

This is very good hot. I’m delighted to try it cold as well.

Very, very (VERY) cheap tea. I should call it inexpensive, but it was $1 per ounce. Doesn’t matter. It’s delicious.

Good job, Tropical Tea Company.

So…another one I won’t be rating.

A friend brought this to work today to share with me. I was extremely nervous because I loathe licorice. He didn’t know that. He did know I love almond, so it was a genuinely nice gesture.

That said, this is really an uneventful tea. I wanted the almonds to be toasty, the goji berries to burst with joy, and the licorice to be unnoticeable. All I got was unnoticeable licorice.

I shared it with Dylan and my friend Mary. The reaction was the same all the way around.

I have had several amazing bai mu dan teas in the last few days. This isn’t one of them. This is unremarkable.

I can’t say that I liked this.

It smelled really artificial in the bag and was a bit bitter and unmemorable in the cup…except, I still taste it in the back of my throat. Ugh.

I’m going to try this iced before I throw a rating on this.

Yes, the caramel extravaganza continues.

This is a nice change-up from the Creme au Caramel from Tropical Tea and the Creme Caramel Rooibos from DAVIDsTEA.

I love the little chunks of caramel in the mix. This also is fairly astringent. What makes this genuinely interesting is its smokiness. This adds depth that you don’t find in the rooibos’ teas.

This goes nicely with a small amount of honey. I’ll also be picking up some crumpets. This is worth a try. It’s bold.

Why I would drink a cup of heavily caffeinated, super perfume-y Earl Grey at 10pm is a mystery. Perhaps it was because I spent the afternoon with a friend in her garden that has some new lavender growing. Perhaps it was because I’m obviously nuts to drink something like this late at night. I really don’t know.

That said, this is delicious. Some reviewers have mentioned it reminds them of drinking perfume. Ok. I get that. The lavender and bergamot both come on like gang-busters.

I cook with lavender (Herbes de Provence) on a regular basis. I like lavender in my food. If you don’t, seriously, don’t drink this.

This tea is meant to be drunk in the garden. It would likely be lovely with a splash of cream, if you’re into that kind of thing.

If you want a full throttle Earl Grey that isn’t shy on the lavender, this is it. This is another one I could bathe in. For now, I’ll stick to drinking it. Yum.

And again, Butiki Teas hits it out of the park.

I have been on an almond and caramel kick lately. I just purchased about a bushel of Almond Oolong from Adagio. I love it.

This is nothing like the Adagio oolong. This is a good thing since I now have another delightful almond option.

There is no doubt this is an almond tea when you open the bag or when you steep it. It’s pleasantly sweet and smooth.

As was mentioned in another post, steeped, the flavor is fairly mild. I will brew this stronger the next time around.

Frankly, this smells so good I’d like to take a bath in it. Profoundly yummy.

Thank you for the sample Stacy.

After reading everyone’s notes on this, I was really looking forward to it. I am sad to say that my experience was that it had absolutely no flavor at all. I added a tiny bit of honey and all I tasted was the tiny bit of honey.

So, I am leaving my rating off for now and will pick some up with my next order. I have loved all I’ve tried from Butiki Teas so far and am willing to try this again.

I don’t always love chocolate in tea. That said, this is just delicious.

Very light cocoa and raspberry flavor. It smells divine in the bag and equally yummy in the cup. The big chunks of raspberry are really quite nice.

I finished this off with a very small amount of German Rock Sugar. The tea would have also been fine without it.

I’m glad I bought extra of this. I feel like I had my desert for breakfast.

This is my first tea from Butiki. Wow.

This is the lightest, creamiest tea ever. It’s really lovely both in the bag and in the cup. The smell of cantaloupe is pleasant and soft and this carries through into the taste.

No sugar is necessary for this. It’s delightful all on its own.

I’m going to try a 2nd steeping and am looking forward to all the other goodies in the box.

Well done.

Note: the 2nd steeping was as good as the first. I just steeped a bit longer (4 min). Added a small amount of german rock sugar. Very good.

Thank you, Azzrian, for the super extra especially yummy sample.

First off, this smells wonderful. Steep it? Still smells divine. It maintains a lovely fruity (strawberry) taste combined with smooth creaminess.

It’s very light and refreshing.

Thank you for sharing!

I’m going to just use two words for this one.

Wow. Bitter.

p.s. I have to add a few more words. I’m horribly disappointed. This is one of the best smelling teas. Ever. My expectations were really high.

Apparently I got sidetracked before I actually wrote the review yesterday.

I need to drink this again before I weigh in with an actual rating.

Like others have mentioned, this wasn’t very nutty or brulee-ish. The smell and the taste didn’t really match. I ignored it most of the time it was hot and actually enjoyed it more cooled off.

I’ll put more thought into this when I try it again.

I wrote a very long review of this earlier. It got truncated, so I tried again and again. It posted the first and the last line, and chopped out the middle. And, so I start again.

I love, Love, LOVE this product. It was well worth the purchase price.

The best part is the ease with which it is programmed. Most teas, press a button or two, and off it goes. Perfect every time.

The downside is the mesh in the steeping basket is pretty fine, so most of my rooibos end up all over the place. However, the mesh when you actually pour the tea is fine enough to catch most of it.

Not going to write out all the pros and cons again. Maybe later.

In the event I haven’t mentioned this already, I love this thing.

This is way up on my list of favorites, and one I prefer in the morning.

This is a lovely, sweet, chocolately mate with all the caffeine you could expect to find in a five-gallon drum.

This is a very flavorful tea. It doesn’t taste artificial. It feels like coffee without actually tasting like coffee (which I’d rather chew my arm off than drink).

It’s very smooth. I think I’ll have another five-gallon drum.