6105 Tasting Notes

68

I have to assume this is from OMGsrsly, so thank you! Pretty sure I’ve had some of this sample before (or have had a very similar-tasting tea), as this tastes familiar. There’s a solid herbaceous note, which has to be the basil – I feel like I should have known that immediately, but for some reason, basil is an elusive flavour for me, despite the fact that I use it both dried and fresh regularly. Anyhow, the tea is mostly this herbaceous flavour, and not really a lot of (or any?) lemon. Actually – I can smell the lemon much more than I can taste it. Perhaps it’s because it’s being overwhelmed in the flavour by the basil?

I think I read on someone’s post about using this for an iced lemonade. I feel like that would be an excellent choice here – a splash of lemon juice and some simple syrup would probably take this to a much tastier level. As is, it’s fairly meh for me, though an interesting tea to have tried.

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83

Sipdown! 66/365

Ok, a bit off-track on these sipdowns with all the Butikis, but I snuck this one in the other day. I didn’t remember what this was supposed to taste like, so I was pleasantly surprised when it was quite good! If I had to guess, it was pineapple (but apparently it’s goji, so I suck at that). A good cup, either way.

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81

Nice, light white tea. I didn’t realize I hadn’t written about it previously, so didn’t pay attention to the nuances last night, but it was pretty tasty.

tea-sipper

I ALMOST had Butiki’s Glenburn Darj today. haha :D

Kittenna

That one’s up shortly for me! (I keep seeing it and not grabbing it, idk, darjeelings are finicky and I don’t remember loving it. But I’ll probably drink it within the week!)

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This tea, unsurprisingly, has fallen victim to the coconut. I did diligently pick out all the coconut pieces before brewing, and the cup was actually okay, but I may end up tossing it. It tasted a little too much like floral sunscreen to me. It looks like I didn’t ever write a tasting note for this when it was fresh, which is sad. I don’t remember what I thought of it, though the ingredients suggest I would have enjoyed it.

Evol Ving Ness

Ayup, the downside of hoarding. I feel ya.

Kittenna

Yeah. I really need to go through my more recent tea purchases and pull out a) teas with coconut and b) greens that are likely to go off more quickly, and set them aside somewhere where I see and therefore drink them more frequently.

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100
drank Two Friends by Custom (Butiki)
6105 tasting notes

Looks like the 4oz bag of this survived the work mouse (it probably wasn’t at work). Unfortunately, this is the bag that doesn’t taste as good. It never has; I can’t pinpoint what’s different about it, but it’s just not as good. Not as chocolatey? Not sure. Still tasty, but not as amazing as the other bags I had (I had one at work for sure. Uncertain if I finished it or whether it was eaten).

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77

This tea has held up just fine. Quite grapefruity. Not really any creme brulee. I don’t recall if I could taste the latter originally, anyhow. I’m not really digging it, though; just not in the mood for grapefruit. It’s a little too pithy/zesty for me. Probably shines with a pinch of sugar.

Roswell Strange

I remember really enjoying this one.

Crowkettle

If memory proves true there was a delicious but allusive sweet spot to this tea with the burnt sugar/malt.

Kittenna

I don’t think I ever found that sweet spot!

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84
drank White Whisper by Butiki Teas
6105 tasting notes

This tea is really light, and I’ve made the mistake of brewing it up with some strongly-flavoured resteeps, and a smoky tea… so I’m missing out on most of the flavour, although I did get a good sip in earlier. This tea in particular is quite old; I believe it was one of the first I purchased from Butiki.

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75
drank Smoked Maple Banana by Butiki Teas
6105 tasting notes

Brewed a particularly good cup of this tonight! It’s a little drying, which I’m not loving, but I can clearly taste maple, banana, and smoke (hard to miss that last one). I don’t recall loving this tea, and I still don’t, but I feel like a pinch of sweetener and splash of milk would go a long way here. Just something to tame that drying feeling would go a long ways.

tea-sipper

I LOVED this one. I have one serving left. Probably won’t drink it for a while.

Kittenna

I think I may have two separate bags of it, unless I gave one away. It was labelled 1/2 and I have no recollection of having this tea more than twice prior.

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78
drank Coffee Ice Cream by Butiki Teas
6105 tasting notes

Light coffee with a strong honeybush flavour (although it doesn’t cause a scratchy throat). Not picking up on any creaminess, but I might have oversteeped (I think cream flavouring can sometimes be overpowered by too long of an infusion).

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90
drank Happy Trails by Butiki Teas
6105 tasting notes

Ugh, I love this tea. Another CTC base, this time with nutty and berry flavours. It’s held up very well, and remains a favourite of mine.

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Bio

I have always been a tea fan (primarily herbals and Japanese greens/oolongs) but in the last year or so, tea has become increasingly more appealing as not only a delicious, calming drink, but as a relatively cheap, healthy reward or treat to give myself when I deserve something. I should clarify that, however; the reward is expanding my tea cupboard, not drinking tea – I place no restrictions on myself in terms of drinking anything from my cupboard as that would defeat my many goals!

My DavidsTea addiction was born in late 2011, despite having spent nearly a year intentionally avoiding their local mall location (but apparently it was just avoiding the inevitable!). I seem to have some desire to try every tea they’ve ever had, so much of my stash is from there, although I’ve recently branched out and ordered from numerous other companies.

I like to try and drink all my teas unaltered, as one of the main reasons I’m drinking tea other than for the flavour is to be healthy and increase my water intake without adding too many calories! I’ve found that the trick in this regard is to be very careful about steeping time, as most teas are quite pleasant to drink straight as long as they haven’t been oversteeped. However, I tend to be forgetful (particularly at work) when I don’t set a timer, resulting in a few horrors (The Earl’s Garden is not so pleasant after, say, 7+ minutes of steeping).

I’m currently trying to figure out which types of teas are my favourites. Herbals are no longer at the top; oolongs have thoroughly taken over that spot, with greens a reasonably close second. My preference is for straight versions of both, but I do love a good flavoured oolong (flavoured greens are really hit or miss for me). Herbals I do love iced/cold-brewed, but I drink few routinely (Mulberry Magic from DavidsTea being a notable exception). I’m learning to like straight black teas thanks to the chocolatey, malty, delicious Laoshan Black from Verdant Tea, and malty, caramelly flavoured blacks work for me, but I’m pretty picky about anything with astringency. Lately I’ve found red rooibos to be rather medicinal, which I dislike, but green rooibos and honeybush blends are tolerable. I haven’t explored pu’erh, mate, or guayasa a great deal (although I have a few options in my cupboard).

I’ve decided to institute a rating system so my ratings will be more consistent. Following the smiley/frowny faces Steepster gives us:

100: This tea is amazing and I will go out of my way to keep it in stock.

85-99: My core collection (or a tea that would be, if I was allowing myself to restock everything!) Teas I get cravings for, and drink often.

75-84: Good but not amazing; I might keep these in stock sparingly depending on current preferences.

67-74: Not bad, I’ll happily finish what I have but probably won’t ever buy it again as there’s likely something rated more highly that I prefer.

51-66: Drinkable and maybe has some aspect that I like, but not really worth picking up again.

34-50: Not for me, but I can see why others might like it. I’ll make it through the cup and maybe experiment with the rest to get rid of it.

0-33: It’s a struggle to get through the cup, if I do at all. I will not willingly consume this one again, and will attempt to get rid of the rest of the tea if I have any left.

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