Butiki Teas

Big thanks to SIL for the sample!! I quite like this.
Can definitely taste the darjeeling in there, with a good dose of pleasant astringency. Usually I dislike that sour not but somehow it really works here. It balances out well with the malty Assam. Mmmmmm. This is really good!
My only concern is that it’s a touch too light for my liking.

This one is really nice and smooth. Not a lot of grapefruit taste on drinking, but the afternotes are fantastic. I get that little astringent bite on my tongue exactly like I do after eating some grapefruit.

This cup contains a lot of plums tonight. First steep was darker with something that was flirting with coffee (don’t do it, tea! Coffee’s a jerk). Wet leaves smelled a bit fishy although that did not transfer over to the taste.

Second steep is where the plums are- pruned, pickled, jammed, sort of plums. There’s a little bit of a roasted flavour but it’s mostly fruit. If I take bigger gulps I get some dry, burnt tobacco and a crusty roasted starchiness. The finish is sweet while the aftertaste is crusty, sour, and buttery sourdough-like! So many crazy things happening in this second cup; Depending on what I focus on I get a different impression. Definitely on my keeper’s list.

Buttery sourdough notes, a roasted chestnut and toasted rice nuttiness, and something sweet. I love holding up the bag of dry leaves to my nose; it smells like sourdough or pickled plums (umeboshi). Sweet & sour and, oh, so very good.

Butiki’s introductory note on steepster for this “puerh” spurred me on to make my first purchase. Yeah, that’s right.. it wasn’t the Cantaloupe & Cream but this! It sounded so intriguingly unique and, even though my experience with puerh style tea is limited, I always get a mouth-watering sensation when I see posts for them. Weird, yet it worked out for me here!

Backlog.

Another victim of fruity contamination. The lovely pouchong/oolong aftertaste is still there, but it’s oddly fruity. I need to give some of my travel mugs a deep clean/soak, I think… (I also think this tea may have been a bit fruity/perfumey to begin with, so the contamination really isn’t helping).

I still prefer milk oolong to pouchong, but this is pretty darned good as well. Love that classic green oolong flavour.

Delicious! Haven’t had this in a while, but it popped out at me today, and I’m glad I chose it. I do like pouchong teas… just something about them that’s different from other green oolongs that I enjoy. A different sweetness, less floral? I’m not sure. Just delicious.

Ahh, this is an absolutely delicious tea. I grabbed it today thinking it was a dark oolong (yeah, didn’t read the name carefully), and felt silly when I realized it wasn’t… but it was a perfect selection for me today. I steeped it for a bit longer than recommended, as I prefer a stronger flavour, and I think I got it bang on. The aroma is of sweet rock sugar and a bit vegetal (much like Verdant’s Dragonwell-Style Laoshan Green?), but the flavour is sweet, light, vegetal classic pouchong, so with that lovely oolong flavour that envelops your mouth and lingers as an aftertaste. Delicious. The only thing that would make this better would be not having a headache, which I think is because I let myself waaaayyyyy oversleep today.

Had my mom try this one, and not too surprisingly, she thought it was quite pleasant, and went back for a second sip. She made the comment that she seems to have enjoyed all the Butiki teas she has so far tried… I’m not surprised at all :)

ETA: Second infusion (2 min/190C) was given to my mom. I think it was still pretty good, though a touch light. I dumped the leaves out after though, as they had little aroma left.

I got a weird craving today for a peanut butter tea. Wouldn’t that be delicious? Well, the closest thing I can find in my cupboard is this nutty, smooth, almond tea. Yum yum! This is one of my favorites, and it’s definitely hitting the spot today. Somehow the second steep was even better than the first!

I really want to make an almond cake with this tea. Our wedding cake was two layers of almond cake and one layer of white cake with raspberry ganache. The only bite of almond cake I got was when we cut the cake and my new husband fed it to me. I’ve been craving almond cake ever since ‘cause I seriously missed out. I told the caterers to pack up any leftover cake but somehow it ended up at the in-laws’ house and they apparently ate it all already. *sigh.

Hmm, looks like I’m running low though. I’m going to need more of this one soon! How else will I make delicious almond cake and have some tea left over to drink with it? ;)

EDIT: I did end up buying more of this and making an almond tea cake with it. It was super delicious! It came out kind of like pound cake and was heavily almond flavored. The buttercream icing cut the heaviness of the cake nicely. Yum! To see some photos, go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/96132028@N08/sets/72157633585210978/

Mmm, the dry leaf aroma is heavenly almond buttery baked confection! The brewed tea aroma is similar but with the black tea base shining through. First sip, hmm a little thin for my tastes. I added a little Truvia and unsweetened almond milk. BAM!!! WOW!!! This is incredibly delicious!! Almond Indulgence indeed!

It tastes just like pie crust, cinnamon, butter, brown sugar, and almond pie. Have I ever had an almond pie? Well, no. But I assume it would be like pumpkin pie except almond. YUM! This stuff is fantastic! I just can’t get over how good it is. Every sip is as delicious as the last. I added an extra ½ teaspoon, and I’m glad I did! I love strong tea.

Ooh, pick up a sample of this ASAP people! It’s sooooo good. I just can’t stop raving about it. I love it whether it’s called Almond Indulgence or Almond Cookie. To me, it’s baked almond pie! Mmmmm yum!!

It does remind me of the almond cookies my mom used to make at Christmas time. I didn’t get any this year though. I have my second wedding dress fitting in less than a month, so it’s salad, fruit, and veggies for me!! This will be the yummy treat that keeps me on track.

It’s dare I say better than eating pie! :) It’s even better than Cantaloupe & Cream, which I wouldn’t have thought possible. And the first Butiki tea to earn a 100 rating from me! :D

I finally got a HB temperature variable kettle for school. Now it lives in my room with the soul purpose of manufacturing oolong-perfect water at my whim. It’s so satisfying knowing I can do that!

I really should be prepping for bed, but instead I thought I would celebrate the new kettle with a cup of this. It’s crazy floral-sweet today; undeniably like honeysuckles. The salty butter on the back of the tongue wasn’t apparent at first, but it has saturated my mouth with a vengeance now. I’m getting something almost minty too today.

I told myself I’d only do one steep tonight but I lied. I forgot how much I love this one.

Saddest sipdown in the history of sipdowns, baring those sipdowns that involve delicious limited edition teas (see Kittenna’s Cashew Turtle note for the saddest sipdown). I have nothing else to add about this sweet green oolong but I don’t think it deserves to go down quietly, or with less than six steeps.

I’ll be back for you. Someday. (cue lyrically over-dramatic Beatles music)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jKahlEKo0Q

Western Style. I should stop drinking tea at 2AM. School habits die hard.

First sip: It tastes like solid ordinary green oolong to me. although, I shouldn’t say that, as technically I have only tasted ONE straight oolong up to this point.

Second sip: Whoa! Did my Dad take some of the butter that he had just melted for the popcorn and dump some into my teacup? It’s extremely buttery, and there’s something like honey but softer and more floral. After experiencing that I went and double-checked the online write up of this tea and it mentions honeysuckle notes? I don’t remember what honeysuckle tastes like but maybe that’s what it is.

I’m still unsure how to describe oolong but soft buttered spinach sort of covers this one. I’m also getting something “freshening” mid sip and in the aftertaste. Apparently there is also a cinnamon note but my dead tongue only gets a hint of it if I take a gigantic mouthful and imagine hard enough.. It’s dominantly sweet butter.

Second Steep: Consistently tastes like the first steep. Buttery body and a sweet finish. The brothy “texture” continues to be thick like melted butter too.

Wow! I honestly bought this for the inclusion of “sparrow” in the tea name. I wasn’t anticipating much- I definitely wasn’t expecting to love it on first steep. I guess I’m a sucker for butter, cream, or anything that so much as mentions birds. This is definitely as delicate and mellow as a “sparrow’s tongue” and the small, scrunched up dry leaves further painted that image too. I checked Butiki’s website and apparently this tea is on sale for 33% off until January 18th. I may have to take advantage of that next week.

Hmm. I think I may have left my sample of this a little too long. Neither the dry nor brewed tea have much aroma at all, even though there was quite a generous-seeming amount of tea in my little sample baggie (thanks Stacy!)

Luckily, the flavour is a bit better than the aroma – I can taste quite a bit of coconut, which lingers nicely after the sip. Unfortunately… coconut is about all I can taste, along with hints of the rooibos base, which imparts almost a sourness. It does remind me quite a bit of coconut pouchong with a different base, though, coconut-flavour-wise!

I can’t say that I’ve yet found a coconut rooibos that I like, and I don’t think this will be the one either! Ah well!!

The appearance of this tea suggested to me that it was the base of Creamy Eggnog – and yep. How did I guess? The leaves have browned, just like the flavoured version. Sadly, this tea may actually be a write-off. I’m not sure I taste anything, really (which means I might just be tasting flavouring in Creamy Eggnog). Luckily, not a ton of this left; I’ll give it one more shot before tossing it. It’s weird how it’s just completely flavourless, though the tea itself is a medium brown colour.

Of note, this was great when I first had it, hence the 88 rating, so I’m kinda bummed about this.

So, I was quite curious about the base of the Creamy Eggnog tea (yes, even before trying it!), so had to order this one as well during the Black Friday sale!

Brewed up, the liquor is quite a light beigey-yellow, which darkens a bit as it sits. The aroma is faint lightly of a creamy green tea, that is, somewhat vegetal and distinctly like tea! Haha.

Although I definitely didn’t underleaf according to the instructions (2 tsp/8 oz.; I measured out a generous 2 tsp of the wirey leaf and then ran out of hot water, so it was shorted by probably 2 oz.), the flavour I’m getting here is lighter than I expected, given that I could definitely pick it out from the eggnog tea in spite of the flavourings. However, what I can taste is delicious, light, and creamy, with absolutely no astringency whatsoever. A delicate and delicious cup of tea. The flavour seems to develop a bit as the tea cools, so I would definitely recommend drinking this one more lukewarm than hot, at least once! I seem to recall that was the case with Creamy Eggnog as well, so that’s unsurprising.

All in all, a fairly tasty, light and creamy green, and one that I’ll enjoy finishing off!

I randomly chose this as one of my samples. Thank you Stacy and Butiki Teas!

Intense and simple, I don’t think I’ve had a mint tea that’s this potent. There are two flavours: mint and milky green oolong- both of which give everything they’ve got. They meld together impressively, and I have a hard time discerning where one begins and the other ends.

I was going to write up a quick note before I went onto a second steep but I’m glad I didn’t. The flavours are never as cohesive in the first. Not so prevalent in the first cup, I’m actually getting the sensation of eating authentic mint leaves on the second go!

I could see this being a perfect accompaniment with a mint friendly savory meal or dessert. The finish is oolong creaminess and the aftertaste is pure mint leaf. Spicy peppery note is very faint near the finish.

I am in the middle of packs and packs and packs…for the move and ooooooh I found a wonderful parcel among the parcels…. I re-dicover the box from Kansas …the one I received from our lovely Azzrian full of tea samples! This is Christmas after Christmas again !

I decided to taste this one …because of raspberry my favorite fruit.
J’adoooooooooooooore les framboises.
This framboise is really natural and delicate, absolutely not tart.
Chocolate is really not my madeleine in tea but I have to recognize the 2 ingredients work perfectly together and the chocolate doesn’t overpower the tea base neither the raspberry flavour.

I appreciate this tea, really and would be happy to taste it again but I am not really in love with despite all its qualities.

I was expecting more framboise (but as said before I love too much framboise)
I love so much framboise I can’t say rapsberry …the French word is more romantic to my ears inversely to pumpkin (the French word citrouille is just so…incredibly weird !)

A very good Butiki teas job

Got this as a free sample with my order from Butiki. I’m glad I picked it man this is yummy. I will definitely be ordering a full size of this! I love grapefruit and green tea. So I am not too surprised that together they taste amazing. The grapefruit is very subtle. This would be lovely iced but, sadly I only have a sample. But I will definitely adding this to my stash soon. Love it!

How could I resist Chocolate, Orange, and VEGAN MarshMallowy goodness!?

Thanks Stacy!

This is a real gem!

The Black Tea base is wonderful in itself but the creamy-smooth chocolate gives a sugar but velvety goodness to it. That bit of marshmallow comparison is a neat touch, too!

It’s fun because I can taste both milk chocolate as well as dark chocolate flavors within this one! The orange is perfect here along side the other ingredients, too!

I want to say this is candy in a cup but then I think – NO – Not Candy…CAKE…NO…dessert…NO…just Awesomeville…squared!

It’s creative, it meshes very well, it’s different that other orange chocolate flavored tea, and different than just an average flavored black – it’s WAY above average, folks! It’s Excellent!!!!

YUMMERS.

Delightful! I could drink this everyday!

Sipdown! But trying to savor it since this is my last cup of this so sad….must order more soon. I love having a lemon flavored tea in the morning espcially one with a good amount of caffiene :-)

I love lemon and this is has so much lemony goodness going on in the cup I love it! This is the first tea I’ve had where I really like the aftertaste. It tastes like a delicious lemon pastry. Pefect way to start my morning. :-)

Sipdown! You’ll be missed.

Also, I finally got around to watching the series finale of Dexter, and I just don’t know anymore.

This tea really drives home the fact that I don’t have a temperature control kettle at school. A lot of imprecise measurements and guess work goes into the making of a cup of green or white tea during the fall/winter seasons. It’s not ideal, but it means no two cups of green tea are ever the same!

It took a few sips to establish the sweet grapefruit finish today; the first quarter of the cup was dominated by buttery veggies. The fruity citrus flavour is more of a summer thing for me, although there’s a cleansing comforting quality to this tea that makes me grab for it at the strangest of times.

I don’t need much of this tea, but I like keeping a little bit around at all times.. same goes for With Open Eyes. I think Dragon Well is one of my favourite things right now.