Strawberry Oolong

I’ve had quite a few cups of this tea and haven’t written a tasting note yet. This is my very last cup since I’m all out… so time to write a note! I love flavored oolongs and although I tend to like the creamier ones, this is a refreshing change.

I taste pulpy and sweet strawberries — a bit like the strawberries found in a jam. It seems like there could almost be seeds in this tea given how authentic the fruit flavor is. It blends very well with the green oolong base. The oolong itself actually takes over by the end of the sip, but it’s actually a nice end to the strawberry note. It’s a leafy kind of finish that is almost buttery, but not quite.

This is a very enjoyable oolong, but I wish that the strawberry flavor was a bit stronger.

Drinking my second steep of this now. I was really excited to try it based on all the glowing reviews, but maybe my tastes aren’t refined enough at this point because it didn’t really do it for me.

It’s a good oolong, and I am starting to associate Butiki with quality, subtlety & delicate teas, and this would be another example of those characteristics. (Others I’ve had so far are just the Creamy Eggnog, Raspberry Truffle and Maple Pecan Oolong)

Unfortunately, I think this one may just be a bit TOO subtle for my tastes. I added a bit of sugar to my second cup which does bring out the flavors a bit more, but I can’t really taste any strawberry in this tea. It’s clearly not a straight oolong but it seems a bit floral and that’s all I am getting. It’s not nearly as buttery as other oolongs I’ve had.

When dry, I couldn’t smell anything off the leaves, and in my cup the liquor is verrrrry pale yellow.

I know I am in the minority here but at the end of the day I’m not much for subtlety (in any facet of my life, haha) and I guess I just prefer a more substantial tea!

Thank you so much to Stacy from Butiki for the sample as it was definitely on my ‘Must Try’ list.

Perhaps I will revisit this later on in my tea journey.

Another Butiki tea sample!

This one looks very promising. I’m a sucker for florals and pretty looking teas! Also wanted something that had multiple infusions so I can hammer away at the Shawl of Dooom while having multiple cups of tea! Oh, funny thing is I finished knitting the lace section and thought “hey, this would look better longer” so I decided to extend the lace because I’m freaking crazy.

STEEPED: As I was pouring the tea from my steeper into my cup, an amazing floral and sweet strawberry smells came swirling up. HOT DAMN I’D WEAR THIS TEA AS PERFUME! Also a very pretty tea with the tiny pink flower bits. Tempted to just sit here and smell this tea instead of drink it! oh, is a gold cup of tea.

TASTE: One sip and I was drooling! Smooth, floral and a burst of strawberries that explode and cover the whole mouth. No bitterness, tart or astringency.
Sweetened, Strawberry Oolong tastes less floral, but the strawberry is sweet (duh). I like this tea unsweetened more I think, but both pretty good.

Second Steeping: Smells more sweet strawberry than floral to me, however tastes more floral oolong. Still tasty! Not bitter or astringent.

WHO SHOULD BUY THIS TEA NOW: ME! HAHAHAHAHAA! I haven’t even finished the first cup and I wrote this tea on my list for my next order.
Okay okay, this one is great for a floral tea lover, but a black tea sweetener type would also enjoy this tea as a venture into oolongs. The oolong isn’t strong so a peep into flavored greens or whites would like this too.

COMMENTS: Best strawberry tea I’ve had! The strawberry is not tart or fake. I need more!

I’m sick AGAIN! I got this one as a sample in my last order and, like every other butiki tea I’ve had, I love it. I added honey, which is not the norm for me, but my throat hurts so bad.
The taste it light a sweet, but I have zero appetite, so hopefully tea will keep me going!

Pretty good :D

Thank you to TeaEqualsBliss for sending me a bit of this tea. It’s an outstanding strawberry tea.

It is sweet and smooth. Very little astringency to this one. The Oolong is rich and buttery and creamy… which melds so nicely with the strawberry. Strawberries and cream, anyone? I love this – definitely one of the best strawberry teas I’ve ever tasted.

Has anyone ordered this tea recently?

I received 1 oz of this tea a couple weeks ago, and there seems to be an issue. First of all, there’s lavender in here. I love lavender, but the last time I had Strawberry Oolong there was no lavender. And this tastes like lavender. Secondly, the lavender or something literally makes this taste like soap. My mug and steeper are clean and not soapy. There is zero strawberry flavour or aroma, not even subtly once it cools. I’m seriously worried. This was hands-down my favorite tea of all time, but now I’m wondering if I got an off-batch or if I am completely insane.

UPDATE: OK, I think I’m onto something. This may not be a bad batch (it’s nowhere near bad), it may just be much lighter on the flavoring than I remember. The first cup was way off, but I’m trying this again tonight and it’s substantially better. The oolong base is increadible on its own, and NOW i’m getting a hint of the strawberry flavor I remember. There also does not seem to be any more lavender in the bag, since I went through it meticulously. We might be OK afterall, folks!

Writing tasting notes on the iPad doesn’t always work so well. Finally got a chance to sit and relax and try this one. I’ve been trying to get through all of them before my next two orders show up :) the strawberry in this one almost seems to be hiding only to peek out when you least expect it. A very nice mellow tea for this evening m

Yum! The scent is strong in this blend! It smells like strawberry cream. The oolong leaves are beautiful and green and are curled up. Along with the leaves are small pink flowers? or balls. It adds to the beauty and might somehow contribute to the flavor. The steep was a nice bright yellow. The taste – WOW. I can’t describe it. It is sort of like strawberry but with a mix of floral tones and sweetness. It is delicious. I want to make a huge jug of this and chug it down. It is so good. I love this tea! I love the lychee oolong as well. WOW!

It withstood several steeps. After each steep, the strawberry flavor faded a little and the floral tones began to stand out. Still, the leaves had such an intense strawberry scent. I steeped it about 5 times and shared it with my boyfriend. We are both fans of this and the lychee oolong! I am impressed yet again! woo!

I posted some photos on flickr. Old photos are there as well: http://www.flickr.com/photos/clanez/5340164745/

Apparently this was from my very first Butiki order! I had one tsp left and it got lost at the bottom of the abyss that is my tea drawer. I dug it out this morning and have been enjoying it today. I can’t wait to place my next Butiki order! I’m running out of my favorites :( This one would be wonderful iced all summer long…

Thank you butiki teas for sending this free sample. Backlogging I mainly requested this because of the strawberry. This smelled like soft strawberry and oolong. This tastes like a soft strawberry with a greener oolong like taste. I would have prefered abit of tartness from the strawberry and this is too vegatal and green like to me. I thought this tea was fairly good.

Ps. can anyone rec any good darker oolongs to me?

I got this as a part of the flavored sample pack for new Butiki customers. This one has the perfect amount of Strawberry flavor. I prefer this one over DT’s Sweet Strawberry white tea.

I had a cup late this morning after eating a couple paczkis, which were over-the-top in their richness, as paczkis tend to be. After that, I was looking for a tea that’d be light and refreshing, looked around at what I have, and figured this would fit the bill.

It did.

It’s a very nice oolong with a light infusion and a strawberry taste. I also tasted a slight floral taste, maybe roses? Just a hint, and it’s a secondary taste, and compliments the strawberry taste very nicely. This is a very refreshing tea, not too sweet. (I don’t sweeten any of my teas or put cream in them, chai excepted.) Speaking of chai, I had a couple cups of chai a little earlier which I’ve already logged. I still have the leaves awaiting me for a second, third, fourth infusion of this lovely tea. If they’re substantially different than the first, I’ll make additions to this note later.

EDIT: Second infusion actually looks a bit darker than the first, if memory of the first serves me well. Also the floral notes taste a little more pronounced. It’s definitely a rose flavor I taste. This is still a very light, nice, refreshing oolong. Also I’m amazed at how the leaves have expanded. I steeped 1 tsp, per recommendation, and it looked like such a tiny amount of dried leaves in my infuser, but they’ve really expanded a lot. By the third or fourth infusion they’ll probably be completely filling up my infuser basket. (I’m using a ceramic infuser basket / mug that I got from Rishi, which I really like a lot.)

EDiT: Came back after a night out and gave these leaves another infusion. It looks like each subsequent infusion is darker than the last, which is different. Although with this latest infusion, my mind was completely somewhere else and I didn’t let the water cool down to 180 degrees, just absent-mindedly poured the boiling water in. Still tastes fine though.

EDIT 2: LOL my infusions are full of fail today. This latest one, like the last, was at full boiling, and also for 10 minutes. My mind is just….. elsewhere, haha. Anyways, it actually still tastes good. :)

Dry, this does have a bit of a strawberry scent to it. As a few others have noted, it doesn’t have a strong stawberry flavour once steeped. It smells and tastes more floral than strawberry to me. That could just be my tastebuds, though.

I didn’t add anything to my first cup. It was very drinkable, and I could definitely taste the oolong.

I added 1 tsp of cane sugar to the second cup. It was sweeter (of course), and maybe a touch fruitier in taste.

Overall, it was drinkable, but I think I’m just not a huge fan of fruity or floral teas. Give me a nutty tea anyday. Maple Pecan Oolong, here I come!

I’m giving this a slightly higher rating than I otherwise would, because I know that fans of fruity teas will likely love this one.

Sweet sweet strawberry! smooth, buttery oolong making a pale gold liquor. Very very good, couldn’t taste any astringency so not sure what that says but this was extremely yummy! A well balanced tea with good strawberry flavor mixed with excellent oolong.

This can easily be steeped many times you only loos the strawberry flavor but then get a nice oolong. So win win!

Now i need to cold brew this to see how it does!
I’m thinking i’ll like it even more than hot.

Sadly, this is my last Butiki Teas sample.. and it isn’t disappointing! This oolong is silky smooth and delicious. It has a nice floral flavor with strawberry that isn’t tart or bitter. I’ll be resteeping this one as much as I can! I really love Butiki’s peach oolong better though (it is pretty much perfect), and it is the favorite of the many I’ve tried from Butiki. All of them were stunning teas, so that is saying something. Any tea lover should really try Butiki. They are amazing! Butikiteas.com