Butiki Teas

Smooth lemony happiness in a cup.

Thanks to Bonnie for this sample.
I loved the coin-shaped individual package.
Bonnie wrote to rinse 20 seconds in boiling H2O, discard water.
Steep 1 min in 4 oz boiling H2O.
Drink!
Additional steepings should be 10-15 seconds each. This is good sweet or as a latte.

I made some boiling water, and enjoyed this throughout the day.
I did get a nice calmness. I did some more productive uncluttering of paperwork and spent time with my son.
I will have to investigate more Puerh’s in the future.
I took Bonnie’s advice and added some milk and a bit of agave.
Not much more I can say.
Sadly, this is the last sample I had from my goodie bag from Bonnie, so I just wanted to say “Thanks!”

My girlfriend had a cup of this tonight so I asked her to make a tasting note! She says good flavor, and it didn’t need any sugar, which she usually uses. So it must have been pretty good. :-D

Confession time: I love Dreamsicles. I love orange sherbet, gelato, sorbet. I love clementines. So I was predisposed to either love this guayusa like crazy, or hate it for not living up to my expectations.

I LOVE IT. This was my first try at a guayusa and my first Butiki Tea. I just received the order today and had had a good whiff of it (ok, fine, I practically shoved half the bag up my nose) when my girlfriend asked me to make her some tea. What kind? I ask. Something good, she says. So I decide to make this.

Oh, the taste. It’s amazing. The tangerine flavor is so real. It’s juicy and fruity yet not overwhelming. The creaminess in the background is just enough. Some teas with a creamy mouthfeel leave your tongue and palate feeling sort of coated. Not this tea. It’s only refreshing. There is a slight earthiness from the guayusa. It’s all good. This will have a permanent home in my pantry!

Another sample from my Butiki Teas pack. I have to admit I’m a bit disappointed in this one as I expected something with ‘truffle’ in the title to taste richer and more chocolatey than it did. It might just be that I needed to steep it longer but unfortunately my sample was only enough for one cup. The raspberry flavour was strong and real, which was nice as I’ve found that many so called raspberry-flavoured teas don’t deliver. My verdict is that it’s nice but could use some work.

Another Butiki sipdown :(
This was probably my favourite straight Assam to date. I challenge all you other Assam teas out there to beat it! Lol

This is my favourite straight Assam to date. It is malty and smooth with sweet raisin and chocolate notes. Delicious. Age hasn’t affected it too much either.
It resteeps brilliantly as well.

Oh wow, why did I wait until now to order this? It is delicious. Malty, with chocolate notes, raisin notes. Soo good. I might “need” more of this on Black Friday, even though I already have quite a bit!

I really am enjoying all the straight blacks that I have ordered from Butiki. There are still more I need to try though, lol

Thanks to Stacy for this sample!

These leaves are long and beautiful. They open up completely and are huge! It smells really sweet in the mug.

It is nice and smooth, a little malty. I am definitely getting a sweet fruity note here. Stacy describes this as raisin and it is fairly close. In the middle of the sip, I begin to pick up a slight cinnamon note that isn’t too strong, just mildly present. As for the cloves in the description, I am not sure that I am getting that. But maybe it is mixed in with the cinnamon and I can not distinguish the two.

No additions are needed to enjoy this cuppa.

Out of curiosity sake, I brewed up the Organic Assam to compare. The leaves are about half the size. The smell in the bag is much stronger than this premium assam. The premium assam is sweeter and smoother. They are both malty. The Premium Assam can be enjoyed without additions, but I feel that I have to add milk to the Organic Assam to bring out its best qualities. In conclusion, they are both good teas, but the premium is better IMO (I guess that is why she called it premium hey!).

HOLY HELL! So for those of you out there who like spicy…. Go, go now and order this. Now admittedly I don’t have a high tolerance for spicy…but I’m working on it. I actually like this tea, though I can’t drink it haha. The tea is beautiful….this smells like Christmas….but then you take a sip…and it’s liquid spice…actually the initial taste isn’t..and if the entire tea was the initial taste, I could drink this. But hiding behind the initial taste is a spicy fiery ninja of liquid fire! HIYAH! Yah that’s right….

The worst part is…I keep trying to drink it, going omg! When it gets to the back of my tongue..and then forgetting its so spicy and trying again. Kinda like childbirth..but with less mess, a delicious taste and not nearly as painful….so not at all but yeah… Except for the forgetting part.

So go…try this if you enjoy a bit of a kick to your tea :)

i had another cup of this one a few hours ago, and sadly don’t remember much from it. I’ve been distracted trying to get organised with “real life” with a bunch of last minute things that need to be organised. It’s thankfully almost time to just draw a bath and relax before trying to get an early night…i hope.

snowy morning today…spent a bit of time before i got going drinking this tea while staring outside at the snow. Gotta love the freshness that a new snowfall brings to the day. I like this tea, though it’s not my favourite black from Stacy. It’s still a nice cup to have on occasional run through my cupboard :)

I haven’t had this tea in a very long while, so i pulled it out today to get a fix on it. Courtney requested some in a swap we had a short time ago and it got me thinking about it again. I think i like this one a little more than i did initially. It’s really quite smooth and tasty, now that i’ve got a great deal more black teas under my belt :) This is smooth and slightly nutty while being a really enjoyable cup of tea. yep…this was a good afternoon tea for me

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.

This is a really nice straight tea. I received this as a sample from Stacy and have been saving it for a cooler night. The tea brews into a beautiful golden brew. It’s not a super strong tea – but the flavouring is really enjoyable. I might just have to pick this up outside of a sample size.

I’m surprised that this is the first tasting note on this Butiki
Organic Ceylon Green Tea

I was rustling through the latest order from Stacy for my morning tea and wanted a good cup before packing for an overnight with my daughter up in Estes Park.
A green tea for breakfast? I don’t drink green tea for breakfast, unless…it’s a Ceylon Green Tea. There’s something about the Ceylon Green’s that are almost like a darjeeling. It’s as if the tea bushes have intertwined the flavor of green and black tea’s.

I prepared a small 8oz pot for tea and steeped the leaves 2 minutes.
The leaves and liquor have none of the vegital aroma that I associate with most green tea’s. In fact, the aroma was very, faint. I almost thought I hadn’t steeped the tea properly, but when I reenacted the steeping, the outcome was the same.

The liquor was clear, very golden and beautiful.

When I took a sip of tea, I was surprised at the light flavor.
There was a smoothness to the tea but hardly a whisper of flavor.
I had to concentrate, finding the faint salad green, celery taste which were sweet and fresh.

As the tea cooled, there was an increase in the thickness of the mouthfeel. I added some raw sugar which was a very nice addition.

This morning tea was one that I would recommend especially for those who don’t care much for grassy green vegital tea’s. This was subtle and smooth. Very gentle.

I won’t be writing on Steepster until Saturday.
Today, my daughter Annalisa and I are off to the Highland Games and a Tattoo (all the Piper’s marching together) tonight at 7200 ft. surrounded by towering 14,000 ft mountain peaks. We’ll both cry. The bagpipes are wild and special to us, a reminder of persecution and survival. The fiddle and pipes are played at family events (mostly funerals now). Old Scot’s songs are passed from generation to generation and we Bless the Tartan’s on St. Andrews Day.

I’m bringing along tea of course. There’s a mountain river next to our condo and I’m going to sit there with my tea and soak in the beauty of the Colorado Highlands. (I’ll take pictures)

Have a bonny day!

http://youtu.be/P5P1M5qwBwo Not the best youtube but you get the idea of the pipers playing Amazing Grace
I’ve probably posted this before…Estes Park http://youtu.be/xWlwZA2PnxA (an hour away from my home it’s a great vacation destination for hikers and wildlife lovers).

Why did I buy this tea? Not really sure. For some reason it sounded like a fun blend and I do not regret buying it. It does smell like blueberries and word “purple” seems very appropriate. If colors would have taste assigned to them then this is how purple would smell/taste. It’s light and slightly tart without harshness that sometimes lemony/citrus/berries blends have. Overall very pleasant.

Sample Sipdown … This is really quite nice! Its not a punch you in your face flavor – Butiki is excellent with subtle flavors that are quite natural and well done. This is excellent just the right amount of spice and fruity and I am mysteriously getting a banana flavor here too! I like this one a lot!

Good morning Steepsterites.

This one came from Hesper June as one of the selection of Butiki things that she sent me. I didn’t request any particular ones at the time, I just asked for a sample of whatever she was willing to share.. Had I made actual requests, I don’t think I would have looked twice on this one as I’m highly sceptical of the guayusa base. I’ve tried that stuff twice before and I found it sort of meh to unpleasant plain and revolting when flavoured Earl Grey style. So right now I suppose I’m hoping that it’s like rooibos, which I also don’t like plain but do like flavoured with SOME types of flavours. People are so enthusiastic about this one that I’m honestly a little nervous now. I really don’t want to be the first one to say I don’t like it! O.o

The aroma seems safe enough. It’s very lemony and there’s something ever so slightly creamy about it too. Kind of vanilla-ish, although no vanilla has been added as far as I can tell. There’s something very… herbal about the aroma as well. Nothing that I can really put my finger on as anything special or details about what must surely be the base. It’s just very Not Tea.

I taste primarily lemon, and again that vanilla-ish aftertaste in combination with something that’s really only definable as Not Tea. The aftertaste first turns slightly minty and then decidedly leafy and a bit sour. This, I imagine has to be the base at work, and in the case of the souress, perhaps also some of the lemon.

I suspect this is something I’ll have to pay attention to and get drunk while it’s still warm. With most regular teas, I don’t mind continuing after they get lukewarm or even cold, but this doesn’t really taste like something that I would enjoy much cold. As it is now, however, cooled just enough that it’s drinkable with scalding myself, I’m surprised and pleased to say that I will not be the first person to say they didn’t like it. I will, however, also not be handing out hundreds of points. It’s pleasant, this, yes, but it’s not something that I would seek out later. I’m still not really convinced by the base and will always prefer real tea.

Noo, my internet has been hiccuping so I lost the tealog I wrote! And I don’t want to retype the whole thing!

I tried Grape Oolong for 3 infusions, the 2nd being the best. Very nice floral oolong with a twang of grape that got better on the 2nd infusion. There was a bit of astringency on the first infusion but worked with the grape taste. 3rd infusion was good but not as grape flavored.

Very yummy (thanx for the sample Kittena!) I might have to get more of this!

My first impression of Butiki Teas, and a great one at that.
The owner, Stacy, added many samples to my order (in fact she emailed me so I could choose them) and a nice handwritten thank you note.

This is as close to a pumpkin flavored tea as you can get.
The base is marvelous, the spices are perfect, and it tastes like ripe pumpkin and cream. You can really taste all of that in each sip and I really like the mouthfeel of it. I’m getting into black teas, slowly but surely.

‘’So many fall teas, so little time.’’

I haven’t yet actually tasted any chamomile on its own, so I’m not sure if I can discern it from the other tastes in this. But wow is this a calming drink! I’m drinking it before bed in order to wind down, and it seems entirely perfect for that.

The smell on both the loose tea and the brewed liquid never seemed terribly citrus-like to me, but on tasting it I can pick out more of the apple and lemon. This one seems to sometimes have that same delicious creaminess to it that I love in Butiki’s Cataloupe & Cream too.

Happy anniversary to me! I’ve been on Steepster one month now. I know, I know…it feels like ages since you’ve first started seeing my posts make my way onto your computer screen…kinda like when I’m talking to my wife about one of my many aches and pains and she says “you’ve been complaining about that for ages” or “it’s been ages since you’ve done something romantic for me”. Hopefully not too many of you associate me with a negative overtone but either way I’ll keep writing until I hear otherwise.

Again I had an errant expectation about today’s tea. I hadn’t read the maker’s description and was unaware that this was a greener oolong. I’m still in an inexperienced state so I’m not sure if the spring picking is why it is that way, but can only assume it to be. The liquor was somewhat a darker brown. Dry leaf was floral and once infuzed it took on a wood/dry grass aroma.

First sip I found to be pretty grassy with a bit of nutty notes and it left a faint sweetness I noticed when I licked my lips. A few drinks later and the nutty had transformed into a wood/acorn note while the grassy notes had increased. More and more I’m seeing the greener tastes phasing out of my personal selections, though this being an oolong and not a straight green tea has made it much more tolerable. I can definitely say that there is little to no astringency.

All in all it’s a fine cup that I could keep on drinking but won’t steep past the second steeping because I have darker oolongs to drink instead. I’ve read online a little about oolongs trying to decipher the greener from darker ones but haven’t seen a formula yet.

Wife was going through her old college CD’s, so the selection of music hinged on that.
tunes-Dave Mathew’s Band=Captain/Grey Street/Two Step/The Stone/ Granny/Minarets