Butiki Teas

I’ve had this as a bedtime tea a few times now, but always forget to log it because, well, it’s bedtime.

As always with Butiki, these are high quality ingredients. There’s just nowhere to hide when a tisane consists solely of lavender and chamomile – the ingredients either stand on their own or they don’t. Thankfully, there’s nothing hiding here. The lavender and chamomile are perfectly balanced and perfectly in sync. If you like those ingredients, this is the tea for you. If you don’t, mosey on along.

mmmmmm so glad i opted to pick up more of this tea to have in my cupboard outside of the sample that i had so long ago. I like that this tea is slightly malty but not overly strong and bold. This has a little bit of sweet fruitness to it, but not in an overly sugary kind of way. Enjoying revisiting this one.

mmmmmmm another cup of this one this evening. Once again i’m struck by how delicious this is. I’m looking forward to trying the others from Stacy! This is a sweet tasty cup of smooth delicious wonder. This tea really doesn’t come across as a black tea – it’s really light and fresh and i have no words.

mmmm finally got a chance to sit down with this one. I am a fan! it’s one of those kick in the face sort of teas that is bold and strong and very much a BLACK tea! I think i may hold on to this one and not let my parents have it lol. they have plenty of others coming from me heh

Sipdown! Another tea i’m sharing with my parents this weekend. I’m not a big fan of english breakfast teas but this one isn’t bad. There’s a taste in here that i’m not a fan of but i can’t place it today. Overall though a nice enough blend that i think my parents will really enjoy trying!

another small cup of this one today before the rest goes off to my parents. Still a delicious cup of tea! see previous notes.

SIPDOWN! I brewed a cup of this one as a goodbye because i’m giving the last 2 cups that i have to my dad to try out. He’s driving my mother insane with his new found love of loose leaf tea which mom blames on me. They recently went to paris, got to experience a real tea ceremony and came home with a price list of some company in france who will not take online orders, and you basically have to phone the order in. I get the impression it’s like a higher end/bigger scale type place like verdant or some others. They bought me tea from there, so that should be interesting. In any case, i’m trying to find some other options for them that are closer to home lol

I think my mom will like this one. It’s an excellent green oolong that i love! It’s got honey notes, and it’s floral and mostly it’s a cup of delicious!

This is super delicious.

My favorite guayusa is still The Killer’s Vanilla, but this is nice for days when I’m not looking for a real comforting, cozy cup of tea, but something a little more tangy and zesty. So perfect.

I love that it has the sharp bite of citrus combined with a wonderful creaminess to make it not at all overpowering – it actually just blends perfectly with the earthy guayusa to make a very satisfying and flavorful drink. I am so glad I ordered this one.

I am not typically a fan of chocolate orange blends. Usually artificial orange flavor tastes like perfume to me and, so, any orange blend just rings yuck to me. The perfume taste combined with Exlax tasting chocolate is just not good. But I figured that if anyone could give me a chocolate orange tea that would be delicious, it would be Stacy. So I bought it. And I really really like it.

The chocolate taste is magnificent. It reminds me of the chocolate in Laoshan Black Chocolate Genmaicha. It’s that perfect. It’s the perfect dark chocolate. Not too bitter and not too milky. The orange taste is PERFECT. It’s refreshing and it’s just enough orange that you know it’s there but it’s not overpowering at all. It’s like someone zested an orange in ganache. I didn’t really get much marshmallow but I assume that the creaminess and slight vanilla taste is the marshmallow. The Zhen Qu base is the perfect platform for all these strong flavors because it lets them shine and shows up in the taste when it feels like it.

I really like this one a lot. Perhaps not enough to buy more than an ounce at a time but definitely enough that I’ll reorder…along with an ounce or 4 of that licorice blend.

and this one is awesome too!
Not as crazy-bold as some of the other assams I drink, but gently sweet & malty & a nice tea to just relax with. More love.

Generous sample sent to me by Stacy along with my order – aim: to make me no longer fear the puerh, accomplished! Thank you, Stacy! I’m not going to be able to do a proper tasting note for this one, especially given the number of infusions I got before I had to leave it and do other, more boring things. (Like cleaning.) But briefly, some of the notes I got were tobacco (strongest in the first infusion), honey (ditto), oak, a peppery bite (didn’t taste like pepper, but had that kind of bite – strongest in 3rd and 4th infusions), and then back to a very smooth oaky smokey one, with that lasting through all subsequent infusions. I was trying to get the flavour of the ‘bite’, and it was driving me crazy, as I could not pin it down. And suddenly I got it – serendipity helped, because we’d just got some Amaretti biscuits, which I haven’t had in ages, and we’ve been eating at night with our rooibos. These are totally different tasting from the macaroons I’m more used to, although the package translates ‘Amaretti classici’ as ‘classic crunchy macaroons’. The ingredients are sugar, apricot kernels, almonds and egg white, in that order, and I don’t know if it’s the apricot kernels that give the bite, although other than very bitter almonds, it can’t be anything else? If it was just the baking longer to make them crunchy, they’d taste more of toasty almonds. Anyway, that’s the bite in the Puerh!

Very much enjoyed drinking this today, and still have enough for another session!

Argh, I’ve been having a bit of an awkward week. Fairly busy, and the way my work schedule’s been, I only have time to have one cup of tea before work and then I pretty much only have time for one after work because by the time I’ve had dinner and my shower, I need to go to bed in two hours which is my cut-off for tea.

So despite all of my lovely teas that newly arrived, I haven’t had time to write many tasting notes.

Generally if I have such a limited amount of teas in a day, I won’t have any flavored ones. They’re just a low priority for me generally. (excluding Earl Grey. I treat Earl Greys the same as unflavored tea.) Today though is different. Today was the last day for my favorite co-worker, who feels like a close friend to me. I took her leaving very, very hard. Some people on here might remember me mentioning having a crummy day a couple weeks ago. That was when she told me she was quitting.
So hence the desserty teas today (I had Banana Walnut Treat earlier today, which was even tastier than I remembered) for cheer-ups. Anyway, onward to Ruby Pie!

The leaf amuses me. All the red bits from the strawberries, and cute chocolate-chip graham character pieces mixed in. It’s both pretty and cute at the same time! The scent has a bit of a lip gloss-ness to it — which is weird since there are actual strawberries in here — but you can’t go by smell alone, so still looking to trying this!

Anyway, since this is a fruity black tea, I was a bit apprehensive about adding milk to this. Adding milk is my habit for black teas, but I don’t like fruit+milk as a combo. So I poured some of this into another cup in case milk ruined it, in which case I’d still have some left. Turns out this was a good decision. With milk, it kills all the hibiscus which even though that’s normally an improvement, in the case of this tea it’s not. The amount of hibiscus in here isn’t enough to take over, but instead gives the rhubarb a more realistic flavor by giving it a slightly tart taste. It gives it a slight fakey taste when the hibiscus is lost. HOWEVER, with milk, the pie crust notes are far more detectable.

Without milk the fruit flavor is better. It doesn’t taste like lipgloss, and the hibiscus adds a pleasantly tart flavor without making you pucker. The black tea base isn’t bitter, so you don’t suffer without milk in that regard either. However, without milk, I don’t really taste the pie-crust notes so much.

So while this tea wasn’t perfect in that it appears you sort of have to pick rather than getting the best of both worlds (maybe milk+sugar is the magic combo? I should try that at some point), overall it is quite good! :) I LOVE the pie-crust notes the milk provides, and the fruit flavor without milk is wonderful! Now if I could just merge both together, this would be perfect, haha xD

Overall I like this with milk better. I really like having the pie crust notes. :)

Finally tried this lovely sample I got in my order…thanks Stacy!
It amazingly smells of melon and the taste is a generic melon taste (as opposed to watermelon) to me too, but that definitely could be due to me not adding sugar. The only reason I don’t add sugar is because I want to cut down on my sugar consumption. I also accidentally oversteeped it so it may have affected the taste of the tea:( I am finding that I like more nutty flavours right now so since I have cantaloupe and cream I probably won’t add this to my shopping list yet.

Sadly i had this more than 12 hours ago and it’s but a faint memory. I know that i enjoyed it but as for an actual tasting note, that’s note going to happen tonight. I’ll have to have more of this soon, though i may take it over to my dad’s place since we’ve booked a last minute trip to visit them over the long weekend. I know he really enjoyed the premium taiwanese assam i gave him, so i’m hoping he’ll enjoy this one and maybe place an order himself lol More on this actual tea later..perhaps tomorrow to make up for this crappy note :)

This is exactly what I needed after that ‘crust of overcooked rice’ experience. Smells all garden-fresh of strawberry just like a remember. Really, I think the biggest appeal of this tea to me is the smell. There are times when a good aroma is all I need (as long as the flavor isn’t awful, of course). The flavor of this one is pleasant, but it alone isn’t so exciting.

Sipdown, 161.

Ugh, ate too much at lunch today and now I am stuffed. I wanted something light, so I decided a green or a white tea, and this only had a serving left so I decided to go ahead and sipdown.

This does remind me a bit of a white tea… I think it’s all the fuzz and the hay-ish, alfalfa-y flavor that accompanies the vegetal notes. Quite tasty, though it does give me a bit of tickle in the back of my throat.

Green tea of the morning here, it’s been a while since I’ve had this one but it’s very vegetal and mostly sweet with a bit of palette cleansing astringency. Definitely a nice green tea to sip on plain (although honestly my favorite greens tend to be Japanese). I love the artichoke, almost savory flavor here.

I’ve been drinking more coffee lately and my back has also started hurting me more. I don’t know if this is a coincidence, but I think I’ll go back to drinking only tea for a while. I’ve read green and white tea are supposed to have anti-inflammatory properties.

p.s. I also got a good 2nd steep out of it

First infusion 4min @ boiling: Smells really unique – almost like musty asparagus. (Not that asparagus can really get musty, but you know, I’d imagine this is what it would smell like if it did.) Color is a really fun golden purple; as if someone mixed apple juice with watered-down grape juice. Tastes… burnt? Maybe ‘roasty’ is a better word. It’s possible that I under-leafed, as I’m getting only a mild taste. I’m not noticing any astringency while it’s piping hot. Wait… now that’s it’s cooled off, it is getting a little astringent.

Second infusion 5min @ 180: Probably would have made more sense to do the lower temp first, but was early in the morning, and logic escaped me. Color is lighter, like a muddy gold. I guess it could be perceived as having a lavender tint, but honestly I wonder if that’s just because I’m looking really hard for something “purple.” The smell is faintly sweet, rather than asparagus-y. I think I like this cup better than the first. It’s a subtle flavor – tastes like a green and black tea blend. I used less water this time around, but it’s still pretty weak (due in part to boiling first, I’m sure) so I don’t think I’ll bother with a third steep.

Overall, this is a very drinkable tea. I’m glad I got the chance to sample it!

No notes yet.

My preference is a strong tea and this Taiwanese Assam did not disappoint. Smooth and earthy.

Mmm nice floral lychee notes with an oolong base. Nice change from the straight oolongs I have but would probably only stock a small amount for when I’m craving a scented tea.

Thanks for sharing this with me Sil!! This smells SO good. It kind of has a nice baked aroma to it. Oh my goodness. The flavor is awesome. There is a slight bitterness to it but as it cools it fades. It’s sweet and just a tad tart. The strawberry flavor is juicy and natural tasting. It even has kind of a pie crust taste going on. I reaalllyyy enjoyed this one! Thank you so much Sil!!

Sipdown! 794.

I’m assuming that what I have is a sample of the old version of Irish Breakfast, not the newly re-envisioned blend. Either way, it was a generous sample in my recent order from Stacy – thanks!

I haven’t found myself to really be a fan of many black tea blends, mostly because I don’t like a lot of straight black teas. However, this one’s not too bad. I’m getting raisiny flavours, as if it has Premium Taiwanese Assam in it, combined with other black teas that I can’t identify that give it a bit of a hay-y yet sweetish flavour. It’s not too robust to drink straight – after a three minute infusion, I’m not experiencing any astringency at all. I imagine, however, that it would hold up well to milk.

Honestly, I just requested a sample of this one out of curiosity, which has now been satisfied :D For a black blend, it probably deserves an 85+ rating, though I’d probably rate it myself closer to about 65 as that’s where it falls for me.

No notes yet.