Butiki Teas
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Backlog from yesterday. Finally figured out that i just need to give this tea a little stir while it’s brewing to get the chocolate chips to finish melting. I love the flavouring in the this tea – especially since it’s a herbal tea! I’m used to black bases for my chocolate mint and this tea manages to get the same delicious chocolatey, minty taste.
well if it had to be an unplanned thing, it ought to be a butiki tea. go go 2000th tasting note! woot woot! Still loving this tea a bunch, if only because i really like how smooth it is, while still being one for late nights. Not that caffeine has much affect on me, but friends like having delicious teas at night, and this is one i have NO issues sharing with them. :) thanks stacy! and thank you steepster folks for being awesome!
OMG! 2000?! WHAAAAAAT??? You go, girl!!!!
200! Woo!
Charoma-yeah and the worse part is that I don’t always remember to log all the tea I drink…and my “cups” of tea are usually 12-16oz lol
2000 ~ Now that shows commitment! Congratulations :D
2000! Wow! Congrats Sil!
Yeah!! You Rock!
So. Much. Tea. :P
Kittenna..least mine’s IN me :p
Congrats on 2,000! :)
Woah. Congrats!
2,000 …!?! That’s awesome.
lol thanks everyone.. i drink too much..
Haha. The geek in me sorta wants to take those 2000 notes and analyze them. What percentage of them are black teas? Or teas from Butiki? Etc. That’s a lot of data just sitting there…
Lol
backlog from yesterday as well – had this as an end to a nice evening with friends. It appears that somewhere along the way i also hit 1900 tasting notes. heh what fun! I really enjoy this one from stacy as a mint tea. though my chocolate chips don’t always melt, i like the way the mint, marshmallow and peppermint blend in this one. I have a few herbal tisanes with mint in them for the evenings but this is for sure one of my favourites. :)
mmmm ok note to self. strawberry + mint chocolate lol. So happy to have some of this back in my cupboard after getting to taste this foooorrreeeevveeer ago. I think if i ever pair down my chocolate mint blends in my cupboard this will be one of maybe 2 that stays – the other being some variation of a black chocolate mint vanilla.
Anyway, i’m happy to say that the “official” blend of this one rings true with my memory of the sample i had, though i think it’s changed slightly (did the sample have vanilla?). I am digging how smooth this blend is and how while it is VERY minty, the chocolate really rings through. Love it! not only that, it’s a herbal! woot woot!
(Final count for the day 282 after 2 teas showed up for my from china from my dear friend Ocean. She’s amazing!)
Preparation
Any chance you want to do a small swap for the rest of mine? I just ordered 1/2 oz. and it’s not for me.
Which black chocolate mint vanilla? Sounds yummy.
I want to try this one Courtney if Sil isn’t interested :)
Chelle…uh undecided at the moment haha I’ve had more than a few :)
Curtney, let Stephanie have at….I have a large bag of the stuff so it’ll take me a while to get through it. :)
when i first opened this one, I was surprised how spot on the spell was to the actual fruit. Not anywhere near the artificial watermelon smell I was expecting so I immoderately made this as an iced tea. It was perfect. Especially for the afternoon heat at the lake house. I love how subtle the watermelon flavor was. Just right. I got three steeps out of it. I have to say I haven’t really been let down by many of these mystery swap samples. Keep them coming!
http://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=8860288413
I got to stop by the local tea shoppe here in Groveland, CA where this lake house is. I love stopping by. And I found out they expanded. Instead of just the little cute and quaint tea room and teas, they now have a cafe next door with many desserts and sandwiches and cute tea cups for sale as well as tea accessories and honeys and gelato. You name it! They also started carrying Harney & Sons Teas and tins and sample packs. A great addition to their house blend teas. Dori’s Tea Cottage. If you are ever on your way to Yosemite National Park stop by here. It is well worth it. I bought 6 new samples that I have been wanting to buy since my last trip! I also walked away with a new steeper! I’m a happy girl. My old one kept coming loose and letting the leaves into my cup. Not a fan.
http://m.flickr.com/lightbox?id=8861212818
-almond joyful
-hazelnut
-jasmine #5
-sun, moon & stars
-fox trot
-golden monkey
Jamestown is another cute little town to drive through also near Yosemite. I always love coming up here. It’s literally a one street town with mom and pop shops everywhere. A tiny post office and fire station. Your local book store and coffee houses with their little trinkets as well as farmers market and Ice cream shoppe. Anyways, thank you Shelley_Lorraine for another satisfying sample.
sipdown! My evening tea with dinner! I’ve been saving the last little bit for a day when i just wanted to enjoy the last of this tea. Happiness is the bottom of a bag of butiki tea…at least in terms of the extra flavouring that falls to the bottom of the bag. Less so the end of a tea i love! At least this gives me an excuse to order again…sooon!
airport tea! thank you teafairy for making this delicious blend! have to go! be back soon lol
so many teas in my cupboard that i love and don’t drink enough. So i pulled this one out to drink with my delicious breakfast. scrambled eggs with onions, tomatoes, herbs, goat cheese…of course that was hours ago and now i’m starving for lunch! haha Really like how subtle this one is but how just a bit longer steep time can bring out the bananas like nobody’s business :) way to go teafairy!
So glad you like my blend! A lot of people seem to think there isn’t enough banana flavour but to me it’s just the right amount. I like to taste the base as much as the favouring and it does just that for me. And you’re right, I always oversteep it and it does bring it to the next level and still let the Keemun shine.
Now I’m gonna have Ruby Pie in your honor :-)
i could do with MOAR banana but i love it just the way it is..it’s banana walnut, not just banana haha and you’re right about the base, though of course i always forget it’s keemun :) i should add a bit of maple syrup and see what happens haha
Although i’m not big on adding sugar, I do love maple and occasionally add a tad to certain flavoured teas. i have tried it in this one and it’s delish! It resemble maple pecan oolong…
yeah i never add anything…except maple to keemuns and the occasional assam haha
soooo i kind of accidentally forgot about this one and let is steep WAY too long (like 15 mins or more). I can still taste the banana in this but sadly this one isn’t fit for drinking. oopsy. Good thing i can just resteep the leaves and enjoy a better cup! haha i do so like this one.
I honestly think this might be the first time i’ve ever had this in a real cup. like not a travel mug. it’s damn good…even if i always think of that scene in wayne’s world….
which you can find here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPkjljS1Cxk just in case you’re like my other half and had totally forgotten about this…
SIPDOWN! (219) That number right there tells me that i’ve been a crazy tea drinker this morning! Looks like i’ll hit 215 this weekend for sure even if i drink no tea on sunday :) This is going on my re-order list for my july order with stacy right away. I have thoroughly enjoyed drinking every last little bit of this one! I love how the banana is not in your face but it’s still obviously there!
& you can eat the re-hydrated banana slices as a tasty snack!
:)
yeah…they’re tasty!
Pleeeaaassee count me in for your July Butiki order… :) :)
I will do my damndest to send a note out into the world when i do it. Likely won’t get organised until the second weekend in July since July 1st weekend we’ll be coming back from vacation.
Had this again this morning and i’m glad that i did. It was a comforting blend to have. I have to say though, not sure i’ll get 9 cups out of the ounce – feels more like 6 (and that’s 6 normal size cups not my double cups). not a huge deal but i haven’t felt like i’m overleafing, but maybe i have been. Either way this is a really delicious blend and not overly in your face. I like how subtle it is…makes me happy!
Mmmm had this again tonight while out getting my hair cut. Note to self, try to get it cut sooner than once every 8 months lol. As usual I fell asleep while it was happening. Finally a hair stylist who understood that hair cuts are my relaxing time, and didn’t try to talk to me the entire time. 5 inches off, and that was a struggle because she really didn’t ant to cut my hair off. For whatever reason, hair stylists always seem to want to keep my hair long after falling in love with it. One of these days ill find someone like the woman in Vancouver. Walked in and said cut it, don’t care what you do, just don’t give me bangs. She said….you wanna go short? I said sure! She cut 10 inches off and when I didn’t cry, laughed and said " you can take more off" she basically only left me with 2 inches! Best time ever in a hair salon…..and let me tell you the people around me were freaking out….touching my butt to 2 inches. :) it’s only hair, it’ll grow back!
Oh yeah…so the tea? I’m still digging this a lot, though I always want to eat peanut butter when I drink it….maybe next time! Haha!
I had waist length hair for like 10 years. Donated to locks of love but still had hair past my shoulders. I can’t convince my hair stylist that I’m not growing my hair back out! Sort of wanting to go shorter but pretty chicken, heh. PS I hope to try this tea soon :)
Haha yeah I know what that’s like. This is a good tea…very subtle. I like it a lot :)
I had hair down past my waist in high school and then I donated 17 inches to locks of love. Boy was that a drastic change! Like you though, I didn’t have meltdown, I just said “well this feels a whole lot lighter!”
This reminds me that I need a haircut…
When I had mine cut from butt-length to pixie 18 or so years ago, I imagined all the negative vibes of the past going with the hair. It was very freeing, like all that crap ws stored in my hair. I’m glad my hair is long again, & other than an occasional trim, I’m keeping it! :)
I like foxy roxy’s…that’s the other tea in my butiki order that should arrive tomorrow :)
Sounds pretty good! I love short hair, and I get annoyed when hairdressers don’t believe me when I say it’s ok, I really do want it only 2 inches or so. I’m a big fan of the it’ll grow back thing. :)
I’m happy you got a hairdresser who was quiet too! That’s incredibly rare!
I have the opposite problem I have trouble find stylists who know what to do with my hair. It’s long, naturally curly and can easily get quite out of control. Ironically I get the most compliments on it if I walk out the door with my freshly washed bedhead;). I really have only found two stylists that I trust to touch it.. Ironically the best haircut I have ever had was in Ecuador. The stylist had a system. An assistant washed and combed your hair, the stylish asked how you wanted your layering, ( did you want your hair to curl under or flair out) than he pulled it into a pony tail either to the front or back of your head made one snip let the assistant blow it out and then perfection. Still seriously the best haircut I’ve ever had.
Yyz – that sounds awesome haha
Cavo – don’t I know it….always talking to me, trying to find out about me….bah!
I have the same problem, hairstylist never want to shorten it unless I talk them into it. I have donated to locks of love too and about time to do it again. My hair is getting too long again and its going to be a hot summer!
I did something like that too! Actually, a couple weeks ago I shaved the sides and back down yo 1/2" and left the top long enough to pin curl or pomp for a somewhat respectable work ’do. Hair does indeed grow back. :)
I had this earlier today as well. Inspired by receiving my other butiki teas. Sadly i drank this so long ago today that it’s hard to really remember the details of drinking this. I do remember the banana being less intense than i thought it might but pairing nicely with the base. I may have underleafed this as well so i’m chalking it up to that for now. I didn’t get much in the way of a walnut taste but that might just be my memory. Overall though, i remember being quite happy with this one. more to come when i have it closer to writing a tasting note :)
I’ll be adding more of this to my next butiki order for sure. It’s tasty, & if you add an extra minute to the steep it brings out the banana more.
aaah good to know. I’m pretty sure i just accidentally underleafed this. was in my travel mug this morning.
Yay, glad you liked this one :-) Terri is right about steeping it a little longer. But it’s not an in your face banana taste no matter what, that’s how it was intended in order to fully have a balance between the base and the flavour, since that Keemun is so good :-)
i don’t want in your face banana so i’m good with that! i like being able to taste the tea base under it all :)
1.5 tablespoons for 375 ml
Primarily mint flavour with very mild sweet chocolate edge. The mint flavour isn’t too strong. Smooth mouthfeel.
Second infusion at 7 minutes. I made sure to mix the brewing tisane a bit to ensure that the chocolate chips melted. Chocolate flavour is very authentic- dark chocolate taste with a little bit of sweetness. The flavour reminds me of a thick hot cocoa beverage. The mint flavour is unfortunately not as powerful in the second infusion.
Preparation
This is awfully good.
I have had it twice now, since my Butiki order came in last week. It’s amazing how subtle, but still delicious, the caramel vanilla flavor is. I am just finishing up my first cup this afternoon, and I am already looking forward to another. It resteeps quite well, and it’s too good not to. Yum.
Preparation
Hey Steepster! Long time no see…
Having this succulent tea makes my life better. Devine spider leg tea. Boozy and bready with chocolate covered raisins.
That’s all I have to say for now.
Cheers people :-)
Pics:
you are so creative ;)
We missed you.
smiles & hugs :)
Marzi, come to Instagram. Our lovely TTF has awesome pics ;)
I run out of bandwidth and can’t pay attention to it all :(. Personal bandwidth I mean.
love the photo’s :)
<3
Bout time you get back on here! now where’s that Priss hiding at…..
:)
Aww!!! You guys!!! You are all so amazing, thank you….missing you much!
Mrmo, Priss is awfully busy, I miss her too!!!
Ee!! I love the spider legs!! I found the most adorable spider today in a drawer living under a shortbread mold, it looked like a little ghost spider
A few weeks ago, I was invited to a friends birthday party…I brought this tea among others for her to try.
I bought a cute little tea pot for her cause she just started drinking tea. Everyone had to try to come up with the most creative idea to wrap her gifts. My wrapping won, here’s a fun pic of what it looked like:
http://instagram.com/p/rXbVauQh-r/
When she saw this tea, she said the same thing as I always do (Mandy, close your eyes): Spider legs.
http://instagram.com/p/rXvsgEQhw7/
Beautiful long strands of yummy goodness.
She’s not used to this type of straight tea, but she was blown away by it. She said it tasted like baked goods and honey! I praised her for that :-)
It also tastes very fruity to me, like raisins with some kind of boozy notes. (And yes Stacy if you read this, I will submit that!)
Having this tea in the Gaiwan is the best way possible IMHO. I like to brew it “Fairy Style”. But since I have quite a few yixing pots coming my way, I am thinking of dedicating one just for my beloved PTA and TWMB! Cause why shouln’t they have their own brewing vessels?
They certainly deserve it!
WOW that vegetable wrapping is amazing! I love the radish and grape rosette. And I can’t wait to try this tea, I’m supposed to get my order tomorrow! :D
And I love the “spider leg” teas… They remind me of the branches of some dark and ancient gnarled tree. :3
Cameron, this tea is REALLY special! So fragrant… And the veggie wrapping was a lot of fun to do :-)
You’re so right about the ancient gnarled tree :-)
veggie wrap? WOW!
How are you so good at EVERYTHING? lol Nice pics, as usual!
“quite a few yixing pots”…
Just when I think you can’t get any cuter, you wrap a gift. :p
Missy…dunno what hou mean.
Sarsy, eating the grapes was part of the unwrapping :-)
Mj, you should try that some day, the person’s face who you give it to is just priceless :-)
Stephanie, all I needed was fresh produces some toothpicks and a glue gun!
“quite a few yixing pots”… I have failed miserably at my duties. :((
OMG! Don’t beat yourself over this…dex, if it weren’t from you, things would be so much more out of control!!!
(I may have done “things” since yesterday though)
She didn’t do it alone * blushes *
(shaking my head and heading back to my corner to play with my spread sheet – I’m going to be good and not buy more stuff…)
Dexter, i got help from an outsider too, a yixing guru. Oops. i think I may have forgotten to tell you about him.
Yixing guru? Can he/she tell me if my mystery pot is safe to drink out of? I see a whole collection of them in your future ;)
Lol, send me a picture again. Will ask him. Dunno if he can tell from a picture though :-/
Dexter, I’m not guru, but I want to see a pic. I’m quite obsessed with yixing lately
The veggie/fruit wrap is priceless. You are so creative.
Boychick
I have this set from Teavivre…
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/5233884c-3414-40aa-a60f-c5669f922a88_zps0cdbac01.jpg.html?sort=2&o=5
I have this one from Camellia Sinensis:
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/SpecialDarkPot1_zps46ba2ef9.jpg.html?sort=2&o=37
This one from Mandala:
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/mandalaPot_zpsc586f652.jpg.html?sort=2&o=39
This one from Mandala:
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_2833_zpsac226e36.jpg.html?sort=2&o=47
And this one that I bought locally and I’m not sure if it’s real or not….
http://s1308.photobucket.com/user/Dexter3657/media/IMG_27791_zpsc83eabc3.jpg.html?sort=2&o=41
Fairy – I’ll take some better photos and the stamp on the bottom and send them to you some day soon. I agree not sure how you tell from a photo…
I was must gonna say that, thanks.
And thanks boychik…my imagination runs wild sometimes :-o
Dexter, I think it’s safe, it’s looks like purple clay, no weird color. Again I dunno. it looks big. What about smell, sound?
My Camellia one is HUGE – but I seasoned it with Special Dark so that’s ok.
The one in question is about 200 ml. It looks ok, and smells ok to me. The clerk at the store wouldn’t commit to anything other than “clay” – but there was a language barrier. I know it’s not that well made – the lid doesn’t fit completely tight – can’t stop the pour buy blocking the hole in the lid.
It was cute, I was having a bad day – needed some shopping therapy, and I was just excited to have found one locally – so I bought it…
I have 2 new yixing en route…
I love my tiny teapots!
Dexter, I’m more concern with quality of clay than craftsmanship. It’s ok if lid is not tight, doesn’t effect
I understand that it’s the quality of clay that’s a concern – but I’m thinking crap craftsmanship = crap clay… maybe…? I’m not sure what I’m going to do with it yet – it’s cute – it sits on a book case… maybe one day I’ll season it and see if it tastes funny…
Dexter, don’t forget to send me the pics. Try to also take a pics of the inside, it can tell a lot. Also, don’t wait too long, i might not be in contact with yixing guru eternally :-) he was so nice with me, I’m sure he might be able to tell us something if the pictures are clear enough.
I’ve had a discussion recently about bread notes in tea, and it made me think about which tea in my collection was the “breadiest”.
This won my vote.
To me, it smells and tastes like dark crispy sourdough bread crust.
I also have some Yunnan blacks in my collection that have yeasty notes, but nothing feels as baked goods as this tea.
It’s pastry like, with a very distinctive fruity taste, a little boozy also. Makes me think of raisins soaked in rum for some reason.
Also, it’s bug bitten. So yeah, welcome honey sweet tastes, with zero astringency.
I’ve reviewed it many times, not much else to say…it’s already a fact that this tea is spectacular.
A must try.
Oooh, love that ‘raisins soaked in rum’ description. Yum!
Mmmm….Now I’m thinking of a “raisins soaked in rum” tea with TWMB as a base. Haha! Wouldn’t that be glorious!
Well, that would be entirely doable. I think you should submit that as a suggestion for our next custom blend contest. Just saying!
Hehe…might just do that Stacy :-)
Isn,t it in the fall?
Couldn’t help myself: http://i1094.photobucket.com/albums/i446/butikiteas/Breadiest_zps21eb4cf9.jpg :)
Yep, it’s in the fall. :)
Hahaha! Goodness, you gave me the best laugh I have had today Stacy, love ya <3
Excellent, love making people laugh! :) hugs
This sounds Deelish! And you know that I’m all about teas which have the TTF seal of approval!!!!
Haha! And I’ve got my own personal stamp now, thanks to Stacy!
Sars, I promised this tea to a few people already and don’t have enough to send you until I restock. But really, it is like nothing else I’ve ever tried, completely in a category of its own!
I just got a little bit and I want to try it, but apparently I’ve forgotten how to make tea. Both of the cups I’ve made this morning taste bland and underleafed even though I made them the same way I always make them. My allergies are raging so maybe it’s that – but I hate to waste my tea if it’s going to taste so blah to me :(
Lol…you are one of the “person” I have mentioned. This tea is so light, it takes tons of leaves, and since we are both “over-leafer”, I understand why you got a bland cup. I’m sending you enough for a gongfu session, this one is much better for me in the gaiwan :-)
I have some of this LTF – I just got some in a Butiki order. I got the Leafhopper Sampler – cause I love my bug bitten tea and I also got two kinds of oolong. I’ll try it in my gaiwan when I’m tasting right. The other cups I made this morning weren;t this one. I’m looking forward to this one, but not today since my taster is apparently off. I made a cup of Zhu Rong and a cup of the yezi tea that I love and nothing tastes right to me. I’m gonna do a big fat cup of Special Dark and lay off tea for the morning until my taster gets right. You are a sweetie for putting me some back, but I have this :)
TTF: that’s ok. I was planning a Butiki order for the near furure. I’ll add it to my wishlist. :)
Also, good morning lovely tea ladies!!!!
Also, this is a pre-approved Butiki order. :p
Good morning Sars – how are you today??
I love this one. This is one I tend to keep hidden and not drink b/c I do love it so. I need to just drink it:) I have never actually had this one gong fu style before. I will have to do that in the near future. Love the description! You are so good with describing flavors.
And yes, good morning, all the lovely ladies!
Gotta run, hope to catch y’all later!!
Yes, Totally pre-approved, thanks SARS!!
Sorry for bad taste buds MzPriss, I hope they start behaving soon :-)
Thank you Teatiff, let me know what you think after trying it with short steeps, so GOOD!! And don’t save it, DRINK IT :-)
Well HoneyBelle, it’s Friday, so woo! I’m also drinking some Butiki (peach hoppitea). The boss started her vacation today. I broke into my 1st pu’erh cake this AM ( ), I have zero meetings scheduled for today, AND I’m going to happy hour with my friend after work. So I’m freakin’ fantastic!!!! How are you????
How is peach hoppitea? That is one I have been iffy to order. Glad to hear you are having a great day Sarsonator. MzPriss sorry to hear you aren’t feeling well. I hope your taste buds hurry up and get back to normal.
@Sars – THAT is a good Friday!!! We got some rain which we needed. How was breaking your first cake?
Hey Tiff – I feel fine other than sneezing – but I HATE it when my taster is off – because i WANT tea, but I feel like I’m wasting it :(
Y’all have a good day – I’m out the door for work
Foxy- I meant MY future Butiki purchase was approved. I won’t police you b/c Dex seems to have everything under control LOL
Tiff- it’s ok. Not my fave, but my boyfriend is crazy about it and he picked the tea this AM. Hope you are having a great day, too!!!!
MzP- I was a little sad about the cake, but it workd out just fine. I broke off a small piece from the back, at the indentation. I wrapped it back up carefully and you can’t even tell it was violated! I hope your taster gets back to normal ASAP!
Oh, so happy that you’re having such an awesome friday Sars, and WOOT for breaking Pu’erh!! (And don’t worry, you’re cake won’t even notice you cruelly poked it with a knife)
I’m having this tea because…the long tentacles always reminded me of black spider legs.
Disclaimer: there will be some spider content in this note.
When I woke up this morning, I saw something staring at me above on the ceiling. It was black and the size of a dollar coin. In my world, this is what I call a big fat one.
So as much as spiders scare me, I can’t hate them cause they are useful and I admire them for their complexity. I think they are beautifully terrifying . And since my inner Buddha refuses to kill stuff, here I am standing on the mattress, Mason jar in one hand, trying to maintain my balance while stretching and reaching as high as I can… It’s not going to work…I mean, I’m 5"6, I’m no basketball player.
So I go quickly in the basement to get the stepladder. When I get back…it’s gone. It’s freakin’ gone people. Where did it go? How will I ever be able to sleep in that room again I ask? It’s going to crawl on me at night, it thinks I tried to kill it. Oh, Karma!
So anyways, that’s why I thought of having my spider tea this morning. That, and because it’s gorgeous and scrumptious.
It smells like waffles, tastes like baked bread, honey, raisins and sweet potato.
It’s also a little boozy and fruity, with a tang of cinnamon in the background.
You can’t mess up this tea…it takes the abuse very well. I oversteep it just like I do with Premium Taiwanese Assam.
So good, no wonder it’s in my pantheon of best black teas ever.
Now back to spider hunt!
Oh god… shudder. I once woke up and there was a spider looking at me from the other pillow. I don’t think I’ve ever flown out of bed so fast! I couldn’t sleep again until I’d washed all my bedding
Oh I HATE when that happens. My place has loads of windows I like to keep open for loads of fresh air, but the side effect is the constant terror of finding a giant spider on the ceiling! :(
I’m laughing into my tea, but I’m laughing WITH you – not at you. I don’t mind spiders. I mind snakes. And scorpions, I really really really mind scorpions. A scorpion bit me in my bed one time. I don’t kill things either but I really wanted that scorpion OUT of my house.
I’d move all the furniture out of that room and vacuum everything! lol
They say you swallow 8 per year. Okay I couldn’t resist. I have a healthy respect for spiders. They do a good job at what they are here for, but man could they be anymore creepy looking? Spiders don’t bother me nearly as much as other bugs. For the most part it seems like they really just want to leave you alone. On the tea front, this is one of my favorites. I need to enjoy another cup of this in my near future and try not to think of spiders while drinking it.
Mj: that is scary!!!
Sami, don’t you have nets in your windows?
Ok, MzPriss, that is no fun…scorpions and snakes? And how did you ever deal with a scorpion bite? Shivers here. I guess there are perks to be living in Winterland!!
Lol, Ubacat, I don’t think that spider “fits” in my vacuum!!!! (Ok, maybe I exaggerate a little…)
TeaTiff….not funny. Did.not.need.to.know.that.
And yes, the tea is spectacular!
My inner Buddha has found the perfect solution – I scream like a little girl until my warrior wife slays the evil beast. Seriously, I don’t do spider. They can be all useful outdoors. Once they are in the house their only purpose is to return to the dust.
I just snorted some of my tea into my nose @KS that is funny!
The scorpion bite bite HURT. Really hurt. And the way I dealt with the snakes and scorpions is that I moved out of the country and into the city where I haven’t ever seen either one. Although I hear a snake occasionally visits the garden. I haven’t seen it so I don;t have to move again. Yet.
Love it, KS! Superanna, my daughter, isn’t allowed to kill spiders because she and her husband are equally freaked by them so he insists on doing the killing because he is afraid she will miss and it will get away and come back for revenge.
I have always kept a “kitchen spider” as long as it stays in its place. We get moths otherwise. And when we find a spider elsewhere, youngest insists it must be captured and carried outside. We once had to relocate a baby copperhead to keep her happy….
OMG “relocate a baby COPPERHEAD???”
My standard response to spiders is to scream like a girl and get either my mom or husband to kill it for me. This sometimes is difficult, as it seems in my house that the shower is the preferred lurking spot for our spiders. Once, last month, when I was sick, I was just so tired and pissed off that I left the spider on the shower curtain while I was washing up – better than tracking a frenetic trail of suds throughout the house!
Thank you for the spider warning. As curious as I am to your response to this tea I’ve avoided reading your review and all comments to avoid being traumatized this early in the morning ;)
I’m arachnophobic. I have so many stories that I wrote an essay about my phobia. I think what I currently hate about spiders the most is that there are species that eat birds and/or bats. Number one: I love birds and bats. Number two: those spiders are monstrously biiiiiig ;^;
@ Christina, I actually let a spider live in my shower for a while as long as he kept a respectful distance. I live at “garden level” which is a nice way to say halfway underground, so bugs are a problem for sure. My spider shower seems to have moved on though. As long as they’re not in my bedroom, I’m ok with them.
@KiwiDelight: I love bats too! I tried to convince my parents to build a bat house in their backyard to help the brown bats, which are being decimated by this fungal infection. They live in Florida, so I told them that the bats would help with the mosquitos, but they wouldn’t go for it :-(
Well, that’s terrifying. shudder
@mj Oh no those poor bats! I didn’t know Florida had the fungal problem also. Maybe if you told them bats don’t harm humans, even animals :(
I love bats. Awesome creatures. Snakes, I respect, but I’m not afraid of them. Spiders, I know its irrational and I don’t care. One day my wife came flying up out of the basement to grab a ball bat and the bug spray. As she ran by she yelled, “Don’t go down there!” Apparently there was a big hairy one nearly the size of a tarantula on the wall. She knew had I gone down there we would be moving – immediately.
@KiwiDelight, yes because my parents live in the panhandle of Florida. I don’t think they have the fungus problem in Southern Florida. I did tell them that the bats won’t hurt anything but bugs, but they still declined. It’s ok, I’ve already had a discussion with my boyfriend and he’s agreed that when we A. move in together and B. have a yard, that I can keep a beehive and have a bat house :-)
I have severe arachnophobia. Like one time this little ant sizes one was web stringing it’s way down towards me and I was so paralyzed by fear and I was yelling at my boyfriend to get and he couldn’t see it and I started crying. He finally found it and I just couldn’t stop crying.
I’ve also made him pull over on the side of the road while I had a panic attack in the street in the middle of the night because I saw one crawl across the window and he couldn’t find it. I sat in the backseat knees up rocking and crying until we got where we were going.
I used to tape my mouth shut every night when I was a little girl because my mom thought it was a good idea to tell me that you eat an average of 8 a year.
I skipped school one day when I was in middle school because I saw one by the front door and it ran away before I could spray it to death so ran into the bathroom, shoved a towel along the bottom of the door and sat on the counter until my little sister found it and killed it.
Even the idea if a spider can set me off. One time I was sitting on the couch with my now ex, and thought it would be funny to stop and stare sort of freaked out at my neck like there was somethig there. So of course I freaked out, jumped up ad clawed at my neck. As of course started crying. I couldn’t stop even when he said nothing was there. It took almost an hour for the adrenaline to wear off so I could stop crying.
I’m not the type of person to cry, in fact the only times in the last year that my boyfriend has seen me cry have been spider related. I would love nothing more than to get over my fear but even thinking about going through the therapy makes my heart race.
Also I will never be able to drink this tea since you made that comparison.
KS The great thing about having a family or living with someone is that you can make them take the spider away.
mj Sounds like a great plan, having both a bat house and a bee hive! Wonderful. Bee keeping sounds difficult, but if I could ever get around to it I might just do it. Save the bees!
Mandy My arachnophobia is not so intense is yours, but I also cringe at the thought of therapy. Not ready for that immerision stuff. Have you ever considered exploring how you came be phobic? I blame TV. (no, really, Jumanji and James and the Giant Peach partially have something to do with it). This kind of understanding helps me cope, in such a way the phobia isn’t as so mysterious anymore.
Man we really hijacked this thread….darn spiders.
Kiwi it started out because my mom. My uncle had but a dead black widow in her bed when they were kids and when she freaked out he was like oh they die after the bite you. So she was always afraid of them which rubbed off on me. She’s gotten more immune to them and I’ve gotten more afraid of them when I started into my teenage years. Before I used be afraid but would kill it and be fine. Now if I can stay calm enough to kill it it’s a miracle. Speaking of I really need to get some hair spray. That’s my weapon of choice for them demons. Completely drench them until they curl up and die. It’s quite effective actually. The hairspray is sticky so once you start spraying it gets stuck and cant go running off in a corner. Not that I’ve been brave enough for that in a while, usually it’s my boyfriend I make do it now. Haha
Oh my!! Had no idea that my spider ordeal of this morning would stir so much emotion!!!!
I’m so sorry for those who are arachnophobic…I guess my disclaimer didn’t work…oops.
KS your comment was so hilarious, I now have a mental image of Strong and fearless Wife Warrior and scared little KS screaming like a little girl behind her. Thank you that was priceless!
Mandy That’s……..a really cruel prank. It’s gotten worse for me too. Occasionally, I vacuum the cellar spiders that reside in my bedroom. I’ve been seeing them all my life, so I’m very used to them unless they come too close (they keep their distance in the corners. Sometimes I’m merciful and leave them be, but if they persist living here once I vacuumed their webs away, bye bye…That’s as far as I get with dealing with spiders and I still feel bad >_<
Yeah, I guess we all felt like sharing. Solidarity.
Save the bees indeed! We depend on them for a lot of our food production
TheTeaFairy Sorry for taking over your note, haha. Your disclaimer did work, but I want to get over my fears, and words are much safer than pictures or the real thing. When I was looking up treatment options, they said that for patients whose fears are too strong, or are impossible to treat with immersion, that allowing themselves to think about the fear is the first step. So reading through is my way of treating it in a way.
Kiwi Yep, she was a little girl and he was a young boy so he thought it was funny, and she got a fear of spiders. My old house had them in the bathroom all the time, and if they were in there, so long as I wasnt showering when I saw it, it wasn’t so bad, because I knew I had my trusty weapons near by. Even when my phobia got worse, the safest place to experience one was the bathroom.
Then we moved to a new house in the middle of the woods, and with the sharp increase of the bigger ones, my phobia reached the crying uncontrollably level. Moving off to college was such a relief because I some how lucked out and didn’t see any for almost a year.
Then moving off campus and to a less pest controlled area, the sudden shock of spiders again shocked my system. So even when I see the littlest of spiders,and even when I tell myself its teeny tiny, it can’t hurt me, I’m being irrational, I still panic.
Middle of the woods….nope. Unless the house is well insulated. I take it when you move out you’ll be living in the suburbs or a city? I bet you had a lot daddy longs legs, which love the woods for some reason. I hate those too, even they aren’t spiders. Tiny spiders are fine for me (I actually think they’re kind of cute…), mostly because, I think, I have never seen anyone freak out about them, as opposed to the larger spiders. Anything bigger than nickel triggers me (unless it’s cellar spiders).
I don’t know if Florida woods are different but I actually haven’t seen a daddy long legs in years. I know that I wasn’t afraid of them before but idk if that’s changed. And middle of the woods might be a little of an overstatement. They’re “woods” within a town. ~5-6 minute drive down a dirt road, into woods. But still completely surrounded by trees. I’ve lived in Orlando the past 2 years though so yes city haha.
I don’t know what a cellar spider is and I feel like I don’t want to know haha. I used to be fine with wittle baby spiders before but I swear in the last 5 years or so it’s like my body disobeys me when 8 leggeds are around. I say calmly kill it and my body interprets it as curl up in a ball and cry. There must be some kind of miscommunication or something haha.
Hahaaha. I do the same thing with spiders. I catch them in a cup and slide some cardboard under them. Once I get outside though, I tilt the cup and run. I would like to think that the spider knew you were trying to help him outside and left on his own.
Lol, stacy let’s hope you’re right, but so far so good, it hasn’t visited my bed…yet!!
Happy to see I’M not the only one trying to save them…(I totally run also once I release them outside, haha!)
See, he did leave. The last spider I caught was a jumping spider. Super aggressive little guy. I ran so fast back inside and left the cup out until the morning.
Leafhopper black tea goodness, I tell you bugs never tasted so good!
Honey baked pastries, it’s a little boozy and very fruity.
I slapped this bad boy around this morning, completely ignoring the parameters (sorry Stacy, I know they are there for a reason, but they just don’t work for me, lol)
I usually have it in the Gaiwan but just eyeballed and dumped a bunch in my regular cup, 5g maybe. It was perfect. I always need more of this, I have several cups in a row. It’s my second favourite Butiki black after Premium Taiwanese Assam.
Just yum. Nothing else to say.
and TWMB is my favourite BT black before PTA :) I think I could kill for this one
I think that’s the magic of tea. It’s however you want it to be. Brewing suggestions are just that — SUGGESTIONS. If you think steeping longer or cooler or hotter or just leaving the leaves in and drinking that way is what is best, do it!!
Ysaurella, its so funny cause for me, they are so close that sometimes I am confused about which one I like best!
cheri, I so agree with what you said. I,m a heavy steeper, so for me, one or two tsp is rarely enough western style. But parameters were important at some point during my tea drinking “career” as I had no clue about what I was doing, lol!
Brewing directions are definitely just a suggestion. :)
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever done a gongfu session with this one or the PTA. I don’t know why, & now I will have to.
I’ve been slacking on getting to this tea because from the very first time I even perused Butiki’s website I had huge hopes for it—holiday latkes and applesauce are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods and the mere existence of such a tea blew my mind! Didn’t want to be disappointed, and wanted to try it at just the right moment when I could really pay attention to it.
The tea is visually stunning—all those pieces of yummy goodness and gorgeous green leaves! And as with every Butiki offering I’ve tried the smell is dead on, transporting me straight to my parents’ kitchen in the evening, snow outside, grating mountains of potatoes, the smell of them frying along with the sweet warmth of applesauce on the stove. So lovely. I love how evocative her teas can be, downright Proustian at times.
The flavor is wonderful too, and Stacy’s directions are spot on: with a bit of sugar you get lots of the applesauce at the front with hints of the potato gently wafting overhead and eventually joining the party full-on; with salt, more potato initially with sweetness subtly entering the picture. You might think the savory with sweet wouldn’t work, would clash perhaps, but they pair beautifully here as in the supper menu of its namesake. And somehow the whole thing manages to be satisfying without being heavy (probably thanks to the mao feng green tea base). Not at all too salty either. Yum.
This is also kind of a wonder to me because the past couple months I’ve remembered something I knew back in high school tea drinking days and forgot in my hiatus from the habit, namely that I almost always despise apple pieces in tea (which is a headscratcher in itself because apples are one of my favorite fruits; I’m from the empire state after all :b). Yet none of that fruit-tarty astringency I loathe is on display here; it’s the difference between spiced, rich applesauce with its full mouthfeel and the standard fruit tea puckeriness. So yay.
EDIT: Someone mentioned eating the leftover chunks of apple and potato, and ‘cause I’m a curious sheep I followed suit and immediately thought of my maternal grandfather—he was an Irish house painter who loved potato so much he’d even eat it raw! In the summer when we’d go over to his house to visit we’d go in the garden in the backyard and eat fresh peas in their pods too. So that was a nice bonus unexpected sense memory.
Preparation
This tea is one of my absolute favorites! :-)
I was a bit scared to try it also because I started off with Cantaloupe and Cream which is a wonder in how accurate it is, and Pistachio Ice Cream (a flavor which is my total undoing as pistachio is my favorite nut!). Was sure it’d somehow let me down after those. But yeah, it’s wonderful! (:
I love eating raw potato with a light sprinkle of salt.
Might have to be brave and try this tea.
Chelle- You will love it if you love potatoes!
All this potato tea talk today and I’m wondering what it would taste like to add matcha to mashed potatoes…
Very interesting idea!
sounds yummy!
it is helena!
(and it’s economical…and no caffeine option that isn’t rooibos! or hibiscus! lol)