Butiki Teas Super Awesome 2nd Annual Custom Blend Contest & Tea Art Contest!!! 2 Contests!!!

Check it out: http://www.butikiteas.com/Contest.html

Contest #1-Win A Custom Blend (Flavored or Blended)
Win a custom blend of 4oz of tea plus any additions to the base tea!!!
How the contest works: Send us your ideas for a custom blend. Each person can suggest up to 3 ideas. Please keep the tea bases to teas we currently stock. Check our website for base tea ideas (though we do have some teas that are not listed and a few that are running out of stock). These blends may include herbs, flowers, fruits, and spices that we do not carry. Submission for ideas are due by October 11th. We will compile all ideas. If there are duplicate ideas, the first person to come up with the idea will be chosen. Some ideas might not be workable for us. If an idea is not realistic for us, we will email you back and let you suggest another idea. After all the ideas have been compiled, our judges will choose the best 10 ideas and put them on our website for voting. Voting will close October 25th and the person with the most votes will win. We will contact the winner and discuss their thoughts on what the tea should taste like. We will work on blending the tea then send the winner a sample for 1 round of feedback. After the tea has been blended, the winner may choose a name (within reason, keep it PG13) and the 4+ oz of tea will be shipped out. We will then offer at least a limited release of the tea so that everyone can have a chance to purchase the blend. Last year Sarah won with her blend idea Ruby Pie (strawberry, rhubarb, pie, black tea). Her experience can be read about here.

Fine Print (Please read): Custom blends are risky. The tea might not turn out as anticipated. We will do what we can to get the blend as close as possible. Send as much info about your blend ideas as possible. It’s easier to choose a blend if there is an idea of what base tea will be used or at least what category of tea. A description would be even better. The more info we have the higher chance there is to make it into the final 10. Please also keep in mind that we are a vegan company, we can recreate many non-vegan flavors but will not add non-vegan ingredients. For instance, it is fine to suggest items such as marshmallow or cream flavorings but we will not add dried meats. Send your ideas (up to 3) to [email protected] with the subject line “Contest-Custom Blend”. With your ideas, please provide us with your full name and make sure you are sending the email from an email address you check regularly. We will not keep your email addresses after the contest ends, send you unrelated emails or sell your email address. Please note it may take several days for us to confirm your entry.

Contest #2- Win A $50 Gift Certificate!!!
We realize that not everyone enjoys flavored teas or herbal blends, so this second contest is for all you fans of plain tea. Even if you consider yourself terrible at art, please continue reading. Our judges will be looking for creativity and inspiration. You may use any theme involving tea or our company. The following forms of art are acceptable for this contest: music, film, dance, mixed media, painting, knitting, collage, photography, poetry, and storytelling. We may consider other art forms as well, be sure to check with us first by sending an email to [email protected]. We love variety. Creative, fun, serious, cultural, funny, artistic, cute, beautiful, we love it all.

Fine Print (Please read):You must have the rights to any artwork you send us. We reserve the right to post anything you send us for this contest and use it in marketing material. For this art contest we ask that you do not include tea or teawares from our competitors and that you keep in mind that we are a vegan company. Please send your submissions to [email protected] with the subject line “Contest-Tea Art” and send us your full name and make sure you are sending the email from an email address you check regularly. You may also mail in your entry but contact us by email first. We will not keep your email addresses after the contest ends, send you unrelated emails or sell your email address. Entries may be submitted up until October 21st. Please note it may take several days for us to confirm your entry.

You may enter both contests. We do accept international entries.

122 Replies

It has begun!!! :)

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YES! I have been waiting for this custom blend contest! Thanks Stacy! GL everyone!

Glad to hear that you have been waiting for this! Good luck to you! :)

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I’m ridiculously excited about ALL of this :D

We are excited too! Last year we received so many amazing ideas. I can’t wait to see what we receive this year! :)

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For the second contest (the art one), would sculpture work as my medium?

Absolutely, that would be fantastic! :)

http://jonathanmangum.tumblr.com/post/61788079605/whimsical-autumn-teapot-fully-functional-clay

I’m going to see if I can get some better pictures (that weren’t taken with a cell phone) before I email it in and officially “enter”, but that’s the teapot that I have!

Kaylee said

That’s so pretty!

Gorgeous piece! :)

Thank you both so much! I’m really proud of it! I also managed to find some higher quality pictures, so I sent those along with this one to Stacy – officially entered!

Great! :)

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Also wanted to mention here that the artist also retains rights to their art. We can use the art in marketing but he/she has the rights to use their art however they like.

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There, I suggested some blends. Two for Autumn, and one for Summer.

Excellent! Good luck! :)

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Is it acceptable to enter both?

Absolutely!

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I thought you guys might like to know about the judges for the custom blend contest and how we are judging. Don’t take this list too seriously though and definitely send in the ideas that speak to you.

How are we judging? There are 8 judges, including myself. Last year I didn’t judge because I felt as though I was too biased but I would like to add my opinions this year, as I felt a lot of great potential teas got completely overlooked. This year we have made a point to choose judges that have different tastes. Each judge will get a complete list with all of the teas and descriptions. They will then choose what they think are the best 15 teas and rank them 1-15 (15 being the best). The points for each tea will be added up and the 10 teas with the highest points will be put up for vote.

Here is a little about each judge. Don’t take it too seriously though. For instance, I gave a list of a few teas we already received so they get the general idea and already the judge that said he preferred non-sweet teas said the sweetest one on the list sounded amazing. This is just to give you a general idea and perhaps even help form some ideas.

Judges
Me-I’m looking for uniqueness. I love all types of flavors but I am drawn to unique blend ideas. My favorite flavors are: Maple Pecan Oolong, Creamy Eggnog, Grapefruit Dragon, Caramel Vanilla Assam, So Long & Thanks for All the Licorice, Champagne & Rose Cream, Potato Pancake & Applesauce, Flowery Pineapple Oolong, Good Morning Sunshine. Ok, really hard for me to choose I am clearly biased.

Judge 2-Loves all types of teas but favors desert teas. Favorite flavors are: Maple Pecan Oolong, Raspberry Truffle, Pumpkin Crème Brulee.

Judge 3-Tends to lean towards fruity teas. Favorite flavors: Lychee Oolong, Good Morning Sunshine, Root Beer Float

Judge 4-Desert teas! Anything with chocolate, caramel, or fruity is perfect for me. I love almonds, cashews, and all types of nutty teas. My favorite teas are the Coconut Cream Pie and Strawberry Oolong.

Judge 5-I tend to prefer unflavored teas, but I love earthy flavors like mattes (as you know well!) and enjoy them paired with refreshing flavors like mint and invigorating flavors like chai. I enjoy your coconut cream tea. I like flavored teas that compliment the flavor of the tea.

Judge 6- I like to start my day with a good strong Earl Grey or Irish Breakfast, I also enjoy an Assam brewed with peppercorn, clove, and cardamom mimicking the flavors of a masala chai. Throughout the day I enjoy sipping on a blended tisane of rooibos, peppermint, and hibiscus. My evening finishes with a nice ginger chamomile or ginger lavender. My favorite flavors are herbal, grassy, and spicy alike. Pineapple Cilantro Cream, Chrysanthemum Double Trouble, Organic Honeybush, and Lavender Rooibos are often found cooling in my cup.

Judge 7- I am more partial to herbal tisanes like that custom chamomile mint blend you did for me, but if it’s flavored i really love fresh and citrusy, juicy, fruity flavors with a twist like the mango lassi (my current fave!) or your strawberry oolong. And i am a sucker for anything vanilla as well. The Killers Vanilla is a big one for me! I love the pineapple cilantro cream. Unusual and baller.

Judge 8- Hard to explain what I like in a tea, but I err away from sweet-flavored essence teas. I like dark blends and ones with almost a bitter snap to them if that makes sense. I also love sour.

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graceatblb said

I just sent my entry—involving figs but I love figs— at 3am when my food cravings happen and I forget things like adding my full name :(

Sil select said

Yay! So glad you entered something fig related grace heh I know you’ve been searching for a while now…

Thanks for sharing your idea here graceatblb! :)

oooh! Fig tea! awesome!

This was actually the second fig tea idea that we received though both were different enough to stand apart.

Plunkybug said

Oooh, figs!

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keychange said

Haha we’re missing a judge whose favourite is the rose violet calendula!

True but I love florals and there are 2 other judges that love herbals, florals, and spa-like blends.

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