Butiki Teas
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Just had this and its surprising!
Its like a black and oolong had a baby!
Great for those mornings that I am not sure which I want to grab first!
I love oolong and I love black tea but this is interesting!
There are many different flavor notes here including peach, pecan, woodsy, oak, and more!
Its deep, dark and robust!
A great one to have in the perma stash!
A full review will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/
This is another one of my favorites from Butiki. I was really intrigued with the fact that this is from Kenya, it’s something totally new to me and it’s very cool that I was able to try it.
First of all, I must say that the dry leaf is absolutely gorgeous.It is composed of large, twisted and evenly graded leaves. There’s a lot of consistency in the size of the leaves and not much dust or fragments. The color of the leaf is about half dark cocoa and half golden, and the golden portions have a sort of fuzzy appearance. And when you look at the leaves in a pile they seem very “fluffy”. I don’t know, I’m just a sucker for the visual appeal of golden-tipped teas.
As for flavor, this tea is EXTREMELY unique compared to other black teas I’ve had. It’s actually very hard to put into words but the best I can come up with is notes of oak and other fragrant wood, along with a slight fruitiness and very slight cocoa notes. There is absolutely no bitterness or harshness to this tea, it is very smooth and drinkable.
My description doesn’t do this wonderful tea justice, it’s really something you need to try for yourself, and I would highly recommend trying it. I know that it was a new experience for me.
This is one of my favorites out of the many teas I ordered from Butiki. It makes a smooth morning cup or a great afternoon pick me up.
It’s a fairly malty tea, and that’s the biggest thing that jumps out and me, but there are other subtleties that make this a great tea. After the malt, I notice something that reminds me very strongly of cherry. And along with that, there are slight notes of raisin and cinnamon.
This is a very comforting, smooth cup. Delicious.
So I know that I haven’t posted much lately, but I do miss my Steepster peeps greately :-)
My friend boychik asked me on Instagram to post this pic on Steepstser. She also inspired me to drink my beloved PTA tonight, so here’s a quick review of a tea I have reviewed many times, cause well I just can’t get enough of it.
One of my favourite black tea. It’s rich and malty, bready and sweet. Fruity with hints of spiciness, cinnamon. I don’t know how I will live without this one. I might have to blackmail Stacy for the name of her supplier!!
I haven’t responded yet to the big news today but did see it. I love Stacy and Butiki and will miss her and her teas greatly. But I understand that life calls for new challenges sometimes and I can only applaud her for making such a hard decision and wish her good luck with everything.
(And Yo kiddo, if you read this, go get that capybara!!! ;-)
Pic of tonight’s session (made a huge pot!)
<3 all of this :)
Awww! I so want a capybara. Seriously. I might continue to purchase the PTA since I drink about a kilo a month. We will see. I can definitely see trading you for something. :) I’m gonna miss ya guys but I’ll be here on Steepster.
Thank you Stephanie :-)
Stacy, you MUST let me know the day you get one!!! Cause i know you will :-)
Also, trading with you will be the coolest thing ever, glad to hear you plan on still being on Steepster xox
Oh, I will. If I ever get a capybara, I will post pics everywhere :D Would love to trade with you. I’ll switch over my Butiki Teas id to probably just Stacy and will be sure to post a bit. :)
But… Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black! :D
I think this is the next one I have to purchase! I’m a big fan of Assam teas, and the love for this one on Steepster seems unanimous! Thanks for the review!
Mike, thanks for your commemt…unfortunatly for all of us, Butiki is closing soon and Stacy will correct me if I’m wrong, but I think this wonderful tea is no longer available :-(
She still has some other fantastic teas in inventory though and I strongly recommend you order some before she closes!! :-)
Thanks, I’m definitely going to get some teas from Butiki before they close! All of them sounds great…they’re very popular on Steepster! :)
Today was a good day. I was reunited with my beloved PTA. (Note to self: NEVER RUN OUT OF THIS AGAIN!! )
I received a humongous Butiki order….with other goodies inside.
Yes, I was the winner of the free mug and free tea during the contest, yay, and thanks to Stacy for allowing us Canadians participate :-)
So in her honour, I am having PTA in my new butiki lizard mug tonight!
I was so thrilled about the mug, I wanted it so much cause ya know, I am some kind of teaware freak. Oh, yes I am.
It is one of the most unique mug I have ever seen. I don’t know what kind on ceramic it is made of, but it has a mat finish, almost like a clay…and that mini butiki lizard, how cute!
I vote for it to become Butiki’s official mug!!
And the tea…oh this tea. Sour dough bread and chocolate covered raisins, with cinnamon dust. So good i could eat it!
It’s malty and sweet, with that certain je ne sais quoi those famous taiwanese black teas have.
I just love it. And with 6oz now in the cupboard, I feel more relaxed.
Thanks again Stacy for everything.
That’s what I call a great tea day, y’all. Very good for my inner happiness!!
Pic of the mug and tea:
So happy for you with your awesome stash and super cute mug :)
Thanks, me tooooo :-)
Congrats on being the Butiki winner of the free mug and tea!
Thank you!!!
I should have mentioned though that the 6oz of PTA is NOT the free tea!!
I got 1994 Aged Bai Hao for that , yum!
Just awesome! Enjoy TTF ! Cute Lizard!
Thanks sweetie.
LOL did you just say 6oz of PTA?? You did stock up!
Lol, I do drink a lot of tea ;-)
You are so lucky – The mug looks super cool!
Thanks CK, i was very lucky :-)
Mmmm, the bready, grainy, malty, honey attributes of this tea pair so well with this yummy aged smoked gouda I’m eating right now!
It’s still in my top three favourite black tea everrrr. And I drink LOTS of black tea people, so I’m not just saying that!
I’m also munching on some black olives… I’m an olive maniac, I eat them like peanuts..I’m allowed folks, I just did a crazy HIIT work out!
Indulge, it’s all about pleasing myself tonight :-)
Olives? No thank you. ;))
Haha! I had a feeling you’d say that!
Mmm smoked Gouda . Do you like olives stuffed w/almonds? My favorite mix olives, cornichons and marinated garlic. Omg I’m gonna run to Turkish grocery right now…
Oh, I love olives! I even have a small olive tree in my sunroom, with my first crop of olives on it! I haven’t decided how I’m gonna cure them yet, but I still have time to figure that out.
I’m really jealous about the smoked gouda, BTW. One of my favorite cheeses, if only I wasn’t allergic to milk.
Enjoy!
(dexter, don’t read this)
Boychik, I never came across an olive I could resist. And yes, I buy the humongous almond stuffed olive jar at Costco…and it’s mine, all mine!
OH yeah, for stuffed olives!
Yummmmm!! I’ve been eating kalamata olives like candy lately :)
Terry you so lucky to have olive tree. Your sunroom setup is awesome
Terri, i had no clue you could grow your own, always thought it necessitated a very special climate, kudos to you ;-)
Don’t want to rub it in, but the cheese is spectacular!! So sorry about your allergy though…
I’ll try to remember to take a pic of the olive tree & put it on my FB next week. It’s much smaller than the kumquat, meyer lemon, & key lime trees, but I’m sure it ill catch up :)
You’re amazing!
Not really, I just like growing things :)
olives are my stars especially black ones but I know someone loving them more : my cat ! he becomes crazy each time he can smell an olive 45 miles ago…
I love olives of any and all sorts. I REALLY love them stuffed with jalapenos. The Texas Hill Country has a climate similar to the Mediterranean and they are beginning to grow lots of olives here and are pressing olive oil – they are selling the oil at our farmer’s market. I love the fact that I can get local olive oil.
I had a lime tree but the drought took it out. I love growing things too and it’s hurting my feelings that I can’t have a big garden right now. I’m watering my blackberry bushes which are LOADED right now with the water drained from the washing machine and I have one wee flower bed. My first dahlia of the season just bloomed though – so I’m happy :)
I just got the olive leaves herbal from Harney and Sons. You should try it! I really like it.
Good to know, for some reason i didnt even want to try olive tea. They have oolong sale 25% off btw
Haha! Seems like lots of Steepsterites are very passionate about their olives ;-)
Ysaurella, my cats do weird things around olives too, the smell drives them nuts, hilarious!! Didn’t know European cats suffered from the same affliction, lol!
MzPriss, we don’t have jalapeños stuffed olives around here, sounds awesome! Texan olive oil, really? Wow, It’s such a plus to be able to buy locally…
ashmanra, thank you, I was really wondering about that olive tea, will try it for sure on next order. Can you compare the taste to something just to give us an idea?
Ahhhh…tea exploration has its perks, but going back to the basics is priceless.
PTA, you are still my beloved morning tea.
I love your bready raisin chocolate taste so much I could eat you like a snack.
Although I had stuck up on you quite generously, I am running dangerously low now. I haven’t placed an order with your mummy in ages and though I have busted on tea budget for the next 10 years this month alone, I don’t see how I could allow myself NOT to have you in the cupboard, what a tragedy this would be…
So you better tell Stacy I will visit her virtual shop very soon… In the mean time, let me drink the life out of you!
I’ve GOT to order some :)
I love this post :)
Wait for July tea fairy! Then you can celebrate Stacy’s bday, mine, and get some of this!
Sil, Thanks for the heads up!
TheTeaFairy, Since you’ve gone through a stash of PTA, how do you brew it? I very much enjoyed a single-serving sample of this exceptional Assam. However, using the recommended brewing parameters, 2 tsps. / 8 oz. / 212*F / 4-min., I found it to be “an extremely smooth, light-to-medium bodied, mildly malty Assam”.
Whatshesaid, this is one to keep at all time!
Thanks Terri :-)
I know Sil…what better way to celebrate both your birthdays than placing a humongous Butiki order in july right?…but, but…can I wait that long????
LooseTman, funny you should ask that, I like strong tea, the recommended parameters don’t work for me either, I have my own ways with this particular tea, I don,t do it often cause it would be too expensive but here’s what I do:
Sounds wonderful, but too costly given the $/lb.
Reading my book and sipping on this for the last two hours.
I made it the way I really like it when I have all the time in the world for it. I fill the gaiwan with leaves, really, I fill it almost to the top. This tea is light in weight, so for me, that’s the best way to extract all the goodness I know is in there. It might seems like a lot of tea to waist, but it’s no waist when you can brew it for several hours. And the steeps remain rich and flavourful. A good night companion…
This is another one from Butiki I’m hoping will never disappear!
(See previous notes)
Interesting method!
Yes, I find I’m not achieving the results I,m seeking with short steeps if I use less. I know this tea is good no matter what, but this method elevates it to the tenth power for me!
I still haven’t tried that with this tea…yet!
I have no doubt time will come, Terri!
Reading anything good?
Well Teabrat, I just finished Rebecca from Daphne Du Maurier and I’m now contemplating either Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth’s sequel World Without End or Camilla Läckberg ‘s Ice Princess. Hard to choose sometimes isn’t it?
Interesting! I will have to try that. I usually fill the gaiwan about half way full.
Stacy, I know, that’s what I do too with regular teas (meaning other than pu’erh and oolongs, those I weigh instead) but I wanted a bolder flavour and that’s what works best for me, very short steeps, lots of leaves. (Which I’ll be running out of real soon!!)
I would’t recommend it to someone not like a strong brew, but I know you do!
Are doing a 10 second steep on that? I’d like to try it how you recommend. :)
OMG i would never dream of recommending ANYTHING to you on this tea, madam!!!
But 10seconds is probably what I do, I never really count, I “estimate” to give people and idea. So yes, I would estimate 10sec for the first 3 steeps and increase by 10 also for the subsequents. And as I often do, I read while brewing, so I forget it and it becomes almost syrupy…But call me crazy, I still like it!!!
I haven’t tried this with your Wild mountain yet, but i will.
Well, I would love to try your method. I will give it a try tonight. For this tea and the TWMB, I normally just do a 1/2 gaiwan filled steep for 30ish seconds. I like the first steep to come out a bit strong. It will be interesting to try it this way. :)
Whoa, the 10 second steep with a full gaiwan is delicious! Excellent recommendation. Very malty but still sweet.
Phew! thanks for letting me know, lol, i was a little nervous that you might think I’m just a fool!!! So happy you liked it this way. Is it possible to ever mess up this tea i ask you???
It was absolutely delicious! Very different than what I normally do but I love how different it is. It reminded me of coffee a little bit in flavor though only what I would imagine coffee would taste like since I’ve only tasted like maybe twice in my life.
Yay! You’re right Stacy, it does bring more of coffee almost mocha feel to it!
Guess I’ll have to give this a try…
How bad is it to have caffeinated tea when you can’t sleep? Well that’s exactly what I’m doing, since I know i can’t sleep anyways, why settle for a boring tisane I ask you?
Plus this tea is so malty chocolaty tonight, despite its caffeine content, it might give me enough comfort to put me to sleep. I mean, not forever, just for the night!
I brought a thermos and a mini gaiwan to the bedroom. Dog is snoring. If you don’t know, Dexter snores, yep, he does. I kicked (gently) my significant other for that reason for many years…yet I can’t get myself to kick the dog, go figure…
Anyways, this tea is delicious. I don’t have too much inspiration cause it is 4am after all, but steep after steep, it’s delicious. (I said delicious already, didn’t I?) ok time to stop writing and drinking. Maybe it’s working! Good night…
Oh, you too had a long night. I feel like I did two days worth of errands last night because I didn’t want to sleep for some reason… I don’t want to blame tea… but it may be related lol
I didn’t sleep again either :(
There seem to be quite a few insomniacs on Steepster…Tigress, JC, I sympathize! Being used to it, I can function well with 3 or 4 hours a night. But completely sleepless is a problem. (Of course it is!!!)
I hope we all fall into Morphée’s arms tonight as I like to say :-)
I never went to sleep. I’ve been known to do this once every few months. For some reason one night I feel restless and well, skip on sleeping, but at least I try to be productive about it (I don’t have a perfect record though).
Oh my, that’s terrible, but at least you get something out of it, good on ya!
Not to make my situation sound worst, but at the moment I get one to two completely sleepless nights a week where just like you, I don’t even bother going to bed. That restless feeling. Sometimes I go on the treadmill, lol!
And caffeine has nothing to do with it, I have done the zero caffeine thing and it changes nothing for me…
My sympathies, I had a job that totally messed up my internal clock, let’s just say it was extreme shift work with no consistent hours. Although I now tend to sleep at least 6 hrs it is often difficult to arrive at it. I no longer go through that period where you’re so overtired you’re freezing. I don’t find that caffeine interferes with my ability to sleep.
Ugh, sorry to hear that. I hope you get some good rest tonight. I have some sleeping issues too. Every month or two I have trouble sleeping for about a week then I get all tired and cranky and eventually I get so exhausted that I just pass out. Sorry to hear about the dog snoring. My hubby sometimes goes through terrible snoring fits. I basically have to shake him until he stops but I only get about 10-15 minutes of silence so I have to try fall a sleep between the snoring. I usually end up shaking him 3 or 4 times before passing out.
yyz, yes I can understand how working shifts can mess you up! Sleep depravation is unfortunately a common thing now a days…
Stacy, I’m so sorry to read you are also experiencing this problem…it can be such a discomfort.
On the other hand, I have to laugh at the snoring situation! Now I have a picture of you in my head, savagely and frantically shaking poor defenceless hubby in the middle of the night, lol!
Poor? Defenseless? Imagine a train going through a lumber mill. That is what my hubby sounds like. Its almost like he’s intentionally going for a record of loudest snorer ever. I start out gently shaking him but if he doesn’t stop let’s just say he gets a good shaking.
Aye, sorry to everyone here for experiencing sleeping issues. I’ll join the club. Too bad there isn’t some magical spell that can conk us out, let us get adequate sleep, and not feel groggy/weird all day (as I hear that is what sleeping pills do to a person).
Awwww! Stacy, I tell you, this place is good for the moral! Thanks for making me laugh so hard it hurts..and sorry I was being so inconsiderate towards your own suffering :-(
Fjellrev: sorry to hear about that, welcome to our select club «Sleepless in Steepster» then (lol, any one from Seattle?)
Yes the magic pill…I wont go into details but let’s just say that you can’t go on indefinitely the way I have been…eventually, sleep depravation will play big tricks on you and the doctor will give you sh…t for keep on refusing to take it. Then the dilema. That’s where I’m at…
It definitely is! Hahaha. :D
I try to be positive about my lost nights, it doesn’t always work, the worst thing is trying not to succumb to the temptation of going to sleep during the day the next day. And most of you need to get yourself some noise reduction headsets LOL!
@TheTeaFairy, sometimes if you have a routine that would usually make you tired and get you able to rest helps a long way. I go to the gym after work just to make sure I don’t have that extra physical energy that you don’t burn in an office environment. Also, try ASMR if you like soothing sounds.
I don’t resent coffee, I was a coffee lover for most of my life, alternating with tea, coffee in the morning, tea in the afternoon and at night. I ditched coffee about 3 years ago, when I started experiencing what real tea bliss was.
Why should I settle for coffee when I can have something like Premium Taiwanese Assam in the morning? From the first to the last sip, I have only 4 words in mind: Thank you tea God!!!
(I don’t recall ever thinking there was a coffee God when I was drinking it).
Malty, chocolaty goodness, even when I feel like sh…, you make my mornings look brighter and sunnier, love ya!
That’s how I feel about this tea! :)
Seriously, Assam is the greatest thing ever for the morning. :)
Stacy, I’m glad you feel the same…but I’ve had a strong second best of the morning lately: Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black. Now I’m not sure which is my favourite anymore!!
Fjellrev, you are so right, Assams just kick ass in the morning!
The PTA is morning tea and the TWMB is my afternoon tea. Both are my favs! :)
Second (older) bag of this. The juicy vegetal beaniness is gone, but it’s not metallic, therefore quite drinkable, and in the right mood, actually still pretty enjoyable. I was solidly in the mood for straight teas last night, and this one fit the bill just fine. Reminded me a little of a tea one might get at a restaurant.
No surprise, this one is showing its age. It’s still ok, but definitely aged. Not metallic at this point though, and when steeped carefully it’s still good, which is comforting. Discovered I have a second, smaller (and older) bag of this as well, which I will also be sampling in the near future. It probably is a couple years older; I don’t have high hopes for it.
I seem to kind of suck at brewing up this tea, based on past notes! However, I got it right today :D It’s a bit on the light side, but it’s a delicious caramelly, vegetal/beany green tea. Reminiscent of Laoshan Green, but not as intense. Definitely a tea I should finish off in short order though, as it has been around for a while, and I think the flavour is waning a bit.
Preparation
Time to give this one a fair shot! I followed the exact parameters this time (2 level tsp in 6 oz. water) so am expecting something good!
Although it brews up quite light, this tea has tons of flavour! Both aroma and flavour are reminiscent of Laoshan green (cooked green beans), however there’s much less sweetness here, and much more of a vegetal boiled veggie flavour. If I taste carefully, I can get a fruity, peachy flavour, although one that’s lacking in a bit of sweetness, which makes it a bit more difficult to pick out.
Definitely a tasty green, and clearly fits my preferences as I love the stronger, vegetal teas, however lately I’ve been tending more towards teas with a stronger rock sugar sort of sweetness, so will save this for those days when I want a more savoury-less sweet tea.
ETA: Second infusion accidentally left for 4 minutes… therefore rather bitter. My bad! I think this would produce a nice second infusion if steeped properly.
Preparation
Brewed this one up this morning, but honestly can’t say too much about it, as I apparently didn’t drink it until just now (and green tea does not retain flavour terribly well). All I can say is that it’s a tasty green beany/vegetal sort of green, just what I love!
I re-steeped the leaves tonight, for 2.5 min at ~180F, and am getting a somewhat bitter yet surprisingly palatable, caramel-ish brew. Once I figured out what it was, I actually started to enjoy it! (I couldn’t remember what was in all the cups I brought up tonight.) Looking forward to a proper review and cup of this one in the future!
Preparation
Okay finally some snippits from the full review which will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 26th
Stacy of Butiki Teas and I communicated via email for weeks developing my dream tea. I knew I wanted a tea modeled after my favorite Lambic brew. It was a peachy, sweet, and hoppy beer. What Stacy created not only brought back that exact flavor but she did so in a natural, organic way that makes this tea just BURST with ripe juicy flavors! Now I know many of us tea drinkers love to eat our tea! We pick out the pieces of fruit, nuts, herbs, etc from our steeped leaves and chew on them. Often times we end up spitting it out due to being either bitter, or chemical tasting, or whatever but when I pick out the big, sweet, juicy peaches from my spent leaves, they are so very very good! Just like I picked them from a tree in an orchard! This flavor is not only noticeable in the aroma of the cup but in every single sip! Big, ripe, juicy, natural, bursting with flavor peaches!
The hops, they are not bitter as many people think of bitter, they don’t make you pucker up like eating a sour candy. They are herbaceous, a tart sharp note on the middle back part of the tongue.
Now there are several companies that do the custom blend thing. Only a couple that do it in an interesting way. Most custom blends are made by selecting some elements from a drop down menu and thats it. Now not to knock those types of custom blends as I actually have made quite a few from various companies and have loved them! The difference here however is that Stacy will really work with you one on one over a period of time, until the exact idea of your blend is captured and you agree with the outcome!
There is a sweetness that was imperative in this blend yet the only sweetener in this tea are the peaches themselves! The hops are the exact species I had asked for, and the base works in perfect harmony.
Its a really long review so be sure to check it out! :)
This sounds like it could be incredible.
I want… I need… :)
Maybe Stacy will make up a batch sometime and see how it sells.
I do have this on the list of teas that will be added to our website though it will be slightly modified.
Awesome!
Yay!
Odd – I thought I had made a comment on Azzrian’s other post about this tea… I have some that she sent me, Sil – and I’m bringing it next weekend as I didn’t care for it at all. Do not like hops, it seems!
Dibs! I call dibs!
Haha, I think there’s enough for each of you to have a cup? As always, Azzrian was incredibly generous with the sample she sent! I only drank a cup’s worth, and that was all I needed to satisfy my curiousity, haha.
I will get this updated soon with photo and such but I just pulled out my bag today to try it after letting it meld more over the last couple of (months?) anyway its SO good!
It was good before but now the peach notes are really peeking through and the hops have tamed a little.
Very happy with my custom blend from Butiki and I will do a full review for SororiTea Sisters soon!
Loving it!
this sounds like one i’d love! mmm peach…
This sounds great, I like hops, & I love peach. I still have the sample you sent me of this, & once I get my taste back, I’m going to finally sample it!
Can’t wait to hear what you think! :)
read your blog post – that is so cool what you did with Stacy! as i said in the thread, this opens up a whole new world of possibilities! also, your description is mouthwatering.
link to Azz’s blog http://sororiteasisters.com/2013/01/26/peach-hoppitea-custom-blend-from-butiki-teas/
oh, let’s celabrate this new birth, baby black-oolong! I have tried some high oxidized oolongs that resemble more of black tea. This one sounds yummy!
Haha thats cute! Indeed baby black oolong :)
It did hit the spot!
Yum, this is on my list to buy in my next order.
Yup its a goodie! :)
You know, when I was drinking this this evening, I definitely had the thought that it reminded me of a light black tea. Had forgotten that I had read this review a couple months ago! Always nice to pick up on the same thing that someone else did :D