Butiki Teas

Having one last pot of this before I send the rest of what I have to my SororiTea Sister, TeaEqualsBliss. This is just what I needed today, I was still feeling groggy and needed something to give me that kick start. I can already feel it start to work it’s magic.

I love the flavor of this too, it has such a pleasant citrus flavor, but, it isn’t too tart or tangy. It has a delicious smoothness to it. Here is my full-length review: http://sororiteasisters.com/2012/09/06/good-morning-sunshine-from-butiki-teas/

Oh yum. I wanted to wait to try this one until I had a day when I needed something to wake me… today is that day. My daughter’s wedding was Friday, yesterday I was practically a zombie but I didn’t want much motivation yesterday, I was just kind of enjoying the fact that I didn’t have anything that I had to do. I didn’t have to make cupcakes, bouquets, programs, or anything else. I just pretty much vegged out yesterday, wrote a few reviews but that’s basically it. But today, I need to wake up and get back to the normal routine. So I’m looking for a little Guayusa turbo charge.

Mmm… I love the way that this tastes fresh and citrus-y, but there is enough of a creamy note so I’m not getting that acidic taste of the citrus. Just the sweet, bright flavor of it. This is really quite good, and I can already feel it start to energize me.

It is incredibly smooth and delicious!

Okay so I am finally cycling around to some teas I have had in my cupboard for awhile now … note I never had stuck this in my cupboard here on steepster which makes me wonder how many others are not in here that should be. I am sure there are some in here I no longer have too. I need to be more diligent about that!

Anyway I had tried this tea before and it was not so much to my liking because I was in the mood for more of a dessert tea and this was not sweet HOWEVER today I added a packet (almost a full packet) of Nu Stevia sent to me by Indigobloom and a big thanks to her.

Its perfect!

I know Stacy says that a lot of her teas are better with sweetener added and for me this is one of them. I respect that Stacy leaves it up to us to add it or not though as not everyone likes specific sweeteners!

The interesting thing is even before adding the stevia I was enjoying the cup quite a lot!
This is by far a quality tea and the blend is perfection!

With or without the sweetener.

I just tend to like it more with a little sweetener added.

Smells just like pumpkin spices, creamy when you add some stevia, especially making that creme brulee flavor pop!

I am not going to rate this tea because it was really very good. Excellent ingredients, excellent mix and I would recommend it but for me personally it was not to my liking because I was expecting something really sweet and it was not. I guess the idea I had in my head did not match what it turned out to be and I refuse to lower this teas rating score because I wanted a cloyinging sweet dessert tea. It was also very much on the cinnamon side and while I like a touch of cinnamon in my tea this one was a little much for me.
Again this tea is well blended but just not my thing.

Thank you Stacy for this juicy tea sample!

I can understand why Stacy stocks this tea so that she has plenty on hand for herself! It’s really good tea!

This morning, when I saw the words ‘Black Tea’ on the sample packet, I casually picked it up thinking, "OK, a nice Black Tea for my morning kick in Le derrière ".

The leaves were long and beautiful. Chocolate brown twisty fingers.
With such dark leaves the liquor was lighter than I expected,
very clear and fragrant, with a scent like apricots and honey.

Before tasting my tea I went to the freezer and took out a few of my prized dried California Apricots (the plump ones that are hard to get ) and cut them up to gather the aroma. ‘Sniff’
The scent was the same as the tea!

I took a sip and the black tea was honey apricot without any maltiness. The mouth feel was rich and full even though you would have imagined at first that the tea was light as a feather.
The smoothness hides the slightest tingle of astringency as the tea cools. There is plenty of juiciness and sweetness, but it’s really all about the golden apricot honey which is hypnotic and swishes you away.

Being raised in Northern California, Apricots were plentiful and never cold packed like the kind you find in the stores today.
My mom (Pat) canned them, grandma (Lolita) made jam, and I picked them off trees to eat fresh, made desserts, and froze them for my kids as popsicles.

Before Silicon Valley was ‘Silicon Valley’ it was agricultural and had orchards and Canneries. Sunkist, Del Monte, S&W, Hunts, Libby’s, and Marianni’s all were there, and in the Summer the teens from my High School worked cutting ‘Cots’.
(Yes, there were no McDonald’s jobs because in the earlier 1960’s there were almost NO fast food restaurants!)
You cut ‘Cots’ (apricots) and got blisters on your hands for minimum wage, and were glad for it! If you were frugal, you might earn enough in a Summer to buy a $100-$200 used car!

Years later, (1980’s) across from the Apple Computer World Headquarters in Cupertino, I noticed an acre of huge drying flats of apricots laying in the sun at Marianni’s Cannery. The old and the new were side by side (and now gone).
A last remnant of what was once a lush valley of 100,000 that had been replaced with concrete and a population of over a million people.

Some have never tasted an apricot fresh off the tree when the sun has ripened it with a blush of red on the skin. The sweetness at just the right moment is juicy and bursting with life.
Try to stop at a stand where they are fresh if you can.

This youtube is somewhat bizzare, shows a 1955 film of Silicon Valley agriculture (a silent movie with soundtrack). Makes me want to cry because it’s gone! I lived for 12 years across from a Prune orchard and vineyard which are part of a freeway now. http://youtu.be/-PacfbdTIms

This tea for me was one reminder of my childhood and I want pass this kind of flavor memory forward like my family did with me.
One of the reasons that I love the organic farms and buying local!

Thanks Stacy! (I know Stacy tastes PEACHES but I taste APRICOT)

I have been rather desperate to try some of these Butiki blends for quite some time now. They seem to be so unanimously well received and strawberry oolong in particular sounds like something that can’t fail. So when I was in a position to offer Hesper June a sample from my collection of something she was interested in trying and I had the chance to ask, I took the opportunity to ask if she might be able to spare a sample of some of that. She was!

This particular one wasn’t initially one that had made that much of a bleep on my radar. Not until I actually removed it from the box that Hesper June sent me. Then I went all ‘Ooooooooooh!’ and my eyes were like this O.O and now I’m going to try it having just been waiting for a good time to do so since, ooh, Friday.

The leaves definitely smelled like pistacio ice cream. In a sort of way in which the ice cream doesn’t smell cold, which is kind of odd. I imagine if you could freeze dry ice cream, that’s what it would smell like. Powerfully nutty too and almost marcipan-y.

After steeping it’s less of the freeze dried ice cream and more of the pistachio and almost marcipan-y notes. It reminds me of Christmas marcipan sweets, which frankly makes me wonder if I’m going into some specific Christmas mode or something! Second time today I’ve had something that I thought smelled like Christmas.

Oh, that’s very pistachio on the flavour! How intereting! There have been so many different nutty flavoured teas out there, but I’ve never had one with pistachio before and now I honestly can’t think why. It lends it’s flavour beautifully to the base, and I definitely think a green tea was the right choice for the base here.

I’m getting mostly the green base and the pistachios in the flavour, but then it’s a very smooth experience. Long and smooth and thick. I think this is supposed to be the ice cream bit, and although it’s not as sweet as actual ice cream, it does indeed invoke that sort of thought. (If it was as sweet as ice cream, I probably wouldn’t have liked it.)

I’m so glad I asked Hesper June to sample some Butiki, and I’m glad she decided to share some of this one with me. It’s lovely.

So this is the first tea I choose to have out of order #2 from Butiki.  Yes,  2nd order within the last 3 weeks… Evil Temptress Stacy is to blame for making her teas so incredibly irresistible! 

Just as I was thinking that instead of reasoning myself on order #1, I should have gone for the 75$ purchase at once in order to save on shipping, I got an email from Stacy advising me that a free shipping promo was coming for labor day week on the following Monday.  Since I was missing on that promo cause I had ordered too soon, she offered me to choose another tea free of charge, that equaled the shipping price.

Now, that’s how you keep clients around for a long, long, time!  I chose Exotic pear which does smell fantastic, but this morning, I just had a too strong attraction to Assam… 

I love Assam, I  do like my tea bold and robust, after all I am a Canadian woman! ( comment directed at tunes&tea for his Canadian Breakfast review, lol).

I know this type of black tea is not loved by so many, it is often very strong and can be astringent, but that’s something I seek in the morning as a breakfast tea…

I went 1 minute over the recommended steep of 4min 30sec, and still,  the astringency is close to inexistent. What a nice mellow Assam! It makes me wonder if this is a first or second flush,  I’ve read that second flush Assams are sweeter and less bitter. 

Don’t get me wrong, it might be softer than most Assam I’ve tried, but it’s still very bold with lots of character! 

It is full bodied, nice big dark amber color, rich cocoa feel, malty and sweet with no bitterness.  I have mine straight, but  I have no doubt it would sustain milk and sugar and not get lost in them.

I’d say that if this type of tea normally scares you, this is the one to try.  

Conclusion: Although I can handle a strong black tea, I love that this one will satisfy that need but will also offer a tender, softer side in addition. 

At a special price of $2.80 for one once, I only wish I had ordered more!

In my order, I also got a sample of Taiwanese Assam, can’t wait to compare the 2, the description is mouthwatering!

I got this sample from Stacy with one of my orders (not sure which one) It’s tasty but I’m not getting much tangerine from it. This is still great though :D Although it won’t replace my good morning sunshine :D

Haven’t had this one in a while, so brought it out to try. It’s a very light, hay-y green. Almost more of a white profile, in my opinion. Not really my thing, as I prefer more flavour. I used 7 “stars” for 8 oz. water, and brewed as directed (4.5 minutes at 185F), and I don’t think more would really improve the flavour. Will see whether the resteep is better.

Crazy. Three teas I’m the first to review! Perhaps I should see which others I can be first at reviewing, too! :P

This tea is composed of these adorable little stars that during steeping, swell up into mini flower-like things. So cute! It’s also nice and easy to measure out the appropriate amount, which is convenient.

I’m not getting much aroma from the tea, if anything just a bit of sweetness. The flavour is a sweet, light green tea, not really like any I’ve had before. The sweetness is kind of caramelly and delicious, which is quite nice, but the biggest bonus here is how incredibly smooth the tea is. No astringency or bitterness at all. Unfortunately, I’m tasting just a touch of what’s coming off as soapiness here; it shouldn’t be the cup nor the infuser, as the infuser previously held Spring Twist and was not washed with soap in between, likewise with the cup. It’s not terribly strong though. I do wish the tea was a bit stronger, so next time will probably try 7 stars instead of 5 in my ~8-10 oz. cup.

Definitely a tea with potential, but it has no chance against the two Butiki oolongs I tried recently, which were amazing.

There’s been enough talk about this one lately that I figured I should pull mine out and have another cup of it, since I remember liking it but that’s about it.

I went for brewing western-style, but only gave it 3 instead of the recommended 4 minutes. The result is a lovely, caramelly, light oolong. I wish the flavour was stronger, but it’s quite nice as is. I see that last time I overleafed a bit more, as well as gave it the full four minutes, so I probably should have done the same this time. Oh well, it’s still quite enjoyable!

Woah, another Butiki tea that I’m the first at reviewing?! Strange!

Anyhow, in the mood for an oolong tonight. Had some fun making rice krispie squares with the boy tonight (oh, what an adventure! He topped them with not only M&Ms, but butterscotch chips, and then chocolate “drizzle” (AKA blobs). And somewhere in there we thought it would a good idea to put the squares under the broiler to melt the butterscotch chips, and ended up toasting the whole thing… oh boy!) and now am trying to pack quickly for our weekend at “the cottage”! Hopefully fun! Either way, it all meant I wanted an oolong. Yep.

Sorry Stacy – I completely forgot about the updated brew parameters you sent me, so just went with what was on the bag (I tested it though and definitely didn’t screw up, so no worries)! Anyways, in the bag, this smells fairly nondescript. By aroma I probably would have thought it was a vegetal green, or green oolong.

Brewed up, there’s a bit of a sweetish smell, no, more than a bit, and it’s also a bit oolongy. A little green, a little toasty.

The flavour of this one though? AMAZING, GUYS! Rich and honey-sweet, with perhaps a hint of toastiness, yet a green oolong sort of quality to it too. It reminds me of the Gui Fei Oolong I had from Butiki a couple days back, at least in terms of the type of sweetness, but it’s lighter here, and the woody dark oolong flavour is notably absent. This is another one, though, where I’m nearly at the bottom of my cup before even finishing my review, which is a very good sign. At a four minute infusion, there’s just a hint of an astringent, drying characteristic at the end of the sip, enough to make me contemplate trying a slightly shorter infusion, although if it were to cost me in sweetness, it wouldn’t be worth it.

Anyways! I’m no oolong expert or anything, but this one’s another delicious, no-fuss oolong, in my opinion. While Verdant’s darker oolongs are definitely amazing, I find them to be a touch more finicky when brewing, which is not a problem here.

Also to note: I probably used more than the 1 tsp of tea recommended here. Probably closer to 1.5 tsp. So, fewer cups from the small bag, but that’s ok. Still far cheaper than a beverage from Starbucks, or Tim Hortons, even!

To be fair I made this in a mug I had been drinking milk in earlier so I’m not sure how that worked with the tea… I steeped for about 3min and it was pretty tasty :D Thanks Stacy for the sample (I did not try this sugar as it was great without)

I’m sailing today! Though, I had a rough day yesterday saying good bye to my bunny Benson, as I had to leave him with the inlaws for babysitting. He’s been a terror the last few days as I think he knows if I’m packing for something. Man I wish I pack the bunny to go with me. He can go attack the salad bar at the buffet and terrorize our room steward.
However, I did pack LOTS of tea with the goal to drink all of it and buy more while in Hawaii.

Now, I’m down to last minute packing and very efficient. I even drank tea while I was straightening my hair. Though, good chance I got therma spray in my cup of GMS. Still tastes fine, I think. I need some high energy tea to keep me going today. Love the citrus flavor of this tea. Gah, now my cup is empty. Let’s go for another round! I’m on vacation after all.

What can this tea not do? Hangover cure, morning pick me up, great iced, cold killer! I drank a pot of this, killing off the rest of my bag – rest assured, I have another bag, MUHAHAHAHAHAAA!

I guess it’s not a great bedtime tea.

Jacking this tea to 100, as it saves me in the morning, after concerts and now sick days. Looks like I picked up my husband’s cold, bleck!

I jacked this tea up with some lemon slices and honey to help with the throat pain and it’s doing good! Also perking me up from the lack of sleep I had.

HANGOVER TEA MODE!

Ugggg, great metal concert last night. Though, seeing Devin Townsend in his home town shows is waaaay better and crazy than this Los Angeles show. I did escape with minimal injuries and scared one guy while trying to get a flying guitar pick as I did some jiu jitsu arm trap to get his arm out of the way, lol! Don’t mess with this Canadian!

The morning after, hearing sucks (lost my ear plugs), voice lost, head throbbing and sore throat. I kept thinking about that amazing iced tea I had before the concert with Good Morning Sunshine and starting to crave it again.

Post metal concert tea:
Hot, served with a shot of honey and a couple fresh lemon slices.

Better than a cup of coffee! I’m perking right up, my headache isn’t feeling as bad and the honey is soothing my throat. I can just taste a sweet lemon flavor, but my taste buds are shot anyways.

Well, looks like this Sunday will be mostly knitting and drinking hot teas.

ICED TEA MODE

Oh wow.. Good Morning Sunshine is AMAZING iced!

I made a double strength cup, poured over ice, extra water, agave syrup and fresh lemon slices. Lemony, sweet, tangy, slightly creamy and ultra yum! I need to do this again!

I totally need the caffeine hit. Long jiu jitsu day yesterday night, and another tiring jiu jitsu session this morning. Went to IKEA, bought 3 sets of tea tins ($3.99!), then passed out. Now I’m heading to a metal concert soon – Devin Townsend and Katatonia! Excellent!

DRY: lemon drop sweet with a hint of lemon grass.

STEEPED: Strong lemony + lemongrass scent that I can smell from far away! Steeped up to a oaky brown.

TASTE: Lemony with a touch of lemon grass – creamy earth background. Very very little tart – and what was there was a pleasant experience.
Sweetened, this GMS becomes more creamy silky with lemon zesty tang to it. I think I like GMS sweetened.
Lemony drop tea burps!

WHO’D LOVE THIS TEA: Lemon tea lovers that want a morning kick! Good introduction to guayusa too.

COMMENTS: One of the best lemon teas I’ve tried! I’m thinking this would make a great lemonaid (mmm.. caffeine spiked lemonaid). I enjoy the creamy taste and the excellent wake up feeling. GMS is like sunny and cheerful, makes we wanna play a sunny Plants Vs Zombies level this morning while drinking this tea.

A similar tea would be 52 Tea’s Sun and Cloud Mist – which has a mystery fluff taste, but also a strong lemon tea. I say I prefer GMS because it is much less finicky to steep. S&CM can get bitter if oversteeped 30 seconds. That and I love guayusa tea!

Love sent to Stacy @ Butiki for this sample with my order!

I was planning on trying Good Morning Sunshine, but I was craving peanut butter oatmeal. I figured lemon tea would clash, but cider would not. In the end, it didn’t matter as I gobbled up my oatmeal before I started on my tea.

DRY: Earthy scent with a gentle warm baked apple smell. Lots of great big chunks of apple!

STEEPED: Transformed into a strong spicy baked apple smell! Stronger than the smell of the dry tea!

TASTE: Gently earthy and apple taste with spices dancing through the cup. Not bitter, tart or watery. The whole tea is on a mellow level, so nothing is overpowering. The sips also change, some sips I get more earthy guayusa taste, others more spice. The apple reminds me of a baked apple without sugar.

Sweetened with plain rock sugar, the apple brightens and warms up and the tea becomes slightly creamy. Less guayusa earthy taste.

I think I like the non-sweetened version more. There’s a natural sweeteness that does the job enough for me, and I love that guayusa taste.

WHO’D LIKE THIS TEA: Someone who wants a spice tea that isn’t strong. This is a great breakfast tea for someone who drinks cream/sugared chais to switch out to a tea they don’t need the cream and sugar for.

COMMENTS: I love that this tea is not tart at all! No cardamon either, UGGG CARDAMON! I dislike cardamon after a coworker told me try adding cardamon pods to my coffee or chais and it was traumatizingly bad.

Again, guayusa teas make me feel full, and I could barely finish my cup because I was feeling sloshy.

Overall, very good! Tempting to get more than this tea – see if I start craving it and going crazy.

The description for this tea is absolutely spot-on. This is what liquid cayenne pepper tastes like. It’s comfortable only thanks to the cinnamon, otherwise it’s pure fire. I appreciated the fact that even though it does burn you, the burn only lingers on your tongue, not in your throat, which makes it not quite evil and unpalatable. I received a sample of this, I won’t be purchasing a full bag but it was interesting while it lasted.

I bought this because I recall that I liked grape sencha from Den’s tea.
The smell is intense but I LOVE the smell of concord grapes. In fact I could just smell this tea and then daydream a bit and then smell it again.
The taste is light and less grape-y than I expected but I like it that way. It’s a nice and refreshing blend.

Yum, this tea was yummy today – and I only have 1 more serving left! Mmmmm cantaloupe! I had a huge mug full of this tea while I crocheted and talked to me dad.

So, looks like I need to pack tea again, I’m going on another cruise early Jan! 15 day Hawaiian cruise! I think I’ll save the rest of this tea for then!

Soooo good! So melony!
Looks like I have 1 large cup left after this. Once I polish off a few more of my older Butiki teas, I’m gonna order more! Muuuhahahahah!

My pattern sales did really well last month, which is my tea fund, so mostly me restricting ordering is due to mass amount of tea i have.