Let me preface this with a note that I’m not the best at distinguishing specific tastes and such, so bear with me. So, after falling in love with the 2003 Four Seasons, I decided to break open my other straight oolong from my Butiki order. Thanks to my handy dandy new variable temperature kettle, I was able to steep as directed on the package (180 F, ~4 min). The first time steeping, I was still pretty sleepy from waking up earlier than usual, so my thoughts were limited to “yummy leaf juice.” But it actually did taste very leafy, if that makes any sense at all.
Later in the day, when I was much more awake, I resteeped the tea and really started getting a hold of more concrete flavors than before. My initial thought was that it smelled and tasted like raisins. So I went to the Butiki website to see what was listed there, and I could slowly pick apart the buttery, honey, and mineral notes as well. I’m not sure that I’m getting much chestnut, but it could totally just be that it’s there and I just can’t identify it as such.
Anyway, it was a very delicious oolong. I wasn’t as over the moon about it as the 2003 Four Seasons, but I can definitely appreciate the clean flavors and warmth of this cup. I will definitely treasure what I have left of this!