Crystal Send Message

First time buying this from Butiki Teas, and it’s as fantastic as I remembered from the small sample Stacy was kind enough to send me way back when.

This tea is so delicious with some liquid Stevia and milk (I use almond milk). Tastes just like a fresh cantaloupe. Fantastic tea to have with something sweet, or to drink alone as a guilt-free dessert. The white tea base still shows through.

This is one of the few decafs I have in my collection, and I must say that on second tasting I’m somewhat less impressed with it. It might just be the decaf base. Aside from the delicious fruitiness of the peaches, lychee, and strawberry, it tastes a little bland. Maybe I just need more leaves per cupful?

Anyway, it’s not something I’d drink without at least a little sweetening to help it along; the tea flavor by itself just isn’t good enough to carry the thing. I’m assuming it’s just something to be expected for decaf teas.

BUT I’ve had it loads of time as an iced tea. It’s great iced, and is a comforting cupful for those late nights when you need to have something hot but not caffeinated. Just not something I’m overly excited about.

Smells like blueberry, tastes like blueberry. A solid black tea to sip at.

I’m forever looking for the perfect decaf/non-caffeinated tea to drink in the evenings when I’m most in need of a pick-me-up. This tea is actually pretty good, if you’re into dessert teas. The peppermint and chocolate flavors both show through pretty well. It’s the kind of tea you can sniff forever and ever.

The caveat is that being a dessert tea that has lots of bits of actual chocolate in it, this tea does get a little oily. It’s not unpleasantly so, and the oiliness really adds a creamy mouth-feel to it, but it’s something to be aware of if you’re using certain kinds of tea brewers, because you can’t just rinse and repeat with this tea. I brewed it with Teavana’s perfect tea brewer and had to scrub the oily film off the plastic when I was done. I imagine if you’re using Breville’s One-Touch Tea Maker you’re going to have to scrub the inside or run it through with vinegar/citrus after, so maybe easy-to-clean or dishwasher friendly infusers are best with this tea.

Tastes great with a splash of milk and a little bit of sweetener, but is good without.

This tea should definitely be had as an iced tea. I kept on getting sample tea bags as part of my Lupicia newsletter subscription, and kept on lamenting the fact because as a hot tea it’s nothing special—even a little overpowering in the fruitiness. But! It’s perfect as a lightly sweetened iced tea. I find that adding milk ( have it iced with half a cup of almond milk and a few drops of liquid stevia) and sweetening it a bit really mellows out the flavor. It makes an addictive iced latte. I use the almond milk that’s only 30 calories per 8 oz serving, and stevia is zero calories, so I can have many of these a day (and do!)

I haven’t tried this hot, actually. But it’s f***ing fantastic as an iced tea. So refreshing, like biting into a fresh citrus fruit. I thought it would be too sour for me, especially since I’m not a fan of grapefruit at all, but it was just right. Probably my favorite green for iced tea, followed closely by Lupicia’s I would recommend using a little less tea than you should use for other iced teas because the grapefruit flavor gets rather concentrated if steeped overnight.

I cold-brewed this with a little bit of sugar. It’s excellent as an iced tea. The barley tea flavor sort of dominates the tea, so there’s only a hint of the watermelon once this brews, but it’s enough to give the tea a refreshing flavor. Barley teas make the best iced teas, I think. I still like the strawberry barley tea more, though.

This was a pleasant black tea. It’s sweet-smelling and smooth, not too astringent at all, really tasty to drink straight, without milk or sugar. I think this would make a great base for milk tea, or to blend with white flavored teas. Not the best I’ve ever had, but something I wouldn’t mind drinking again =)

I bought this tea on a whim because I wanted to see the vibrant green water color. The color is very pretty—a bright clear yellowy green that makes me smile. The tea has a very light, sweet flavor, a bit buttery. Really pleasant, but not overwhelming. It’s tasty.

What really caught me was the aroma of this tea. It’s sweet and buttery without being cloying. It just smells really delicious. I’ve basically been holding my tea cup up to my face and sniffing it for the past fifteen minutes, it’s that good.

I would definitely buy this again, and am already dreading the day I run out.