Mango Lassi

I was born and raised in New York City, but spent enough time in India to consider both places my home. That’s one thing you should know about me. Another thing you should know about me is that mango is one of my favourite things on this planet.

So. When I was little, we used to go to India a lot during the winter, because Mum and I always had long winter holidays (she was a teacher). One year, we decided to go during the summer for whatever reason, and that was one of the most memorable visits of my life. I had never experienced a proper monsoon season before, and it was incredible! Okay, yes, it was a tad inconvenient that your clothes are never dry, no matter what, for two months; the constant dampness can feel a little icky. But the way the rain transforms the landscape, wow, it’s just beautiful. I really wanted to take some video (I was obsessed with my camcorder around that time), but there was no way for me to keep it dry, so I just have my memories.

Anyway. My uncle was really thrilled that we were there during the summer. Do you know, he exclaimed, that we have over 40 varieties of mango? And I’m going to get them for you. And he took his shopping bag and marched out of the house. He didn’t exactly return with 40 varieties, but he did find quite a few during his short expedition around our Bombay neighbourhood. There were little ones that you eat regularly, there were fibrous ones and non-fibrous ones, and there were even huge ones the size of a papaya that were so juicy that you consumed them by sticking in a straw and simply squishing the mango as you drank. And I’m sure you can guess what happened next. Yes, exactly: I ate them all.

The next morning, I was brushing my teeth and I glanced up at the mirror. I’m not given to surprised exclamations, and wasn’t even at that age, so first my eyes got wide as saucers, and then I burst out laughing, and then I ran off to find my mum. You see, I was orange. It wasn’t until years later that I learned about the science behind that in school; at the time, I was just thrilled that I was orange all over. My uncle, who has the deepest dimples you’ve ever seen and laughs like Ernie from Sesame Street, burst into his typical khee-khee-khee-khee laughter when he saw me, which only set me off again. Mum, mind you, was less than amused, and wouldn’t let me eat any more mangos.

Thus endeth my best mango story. Now I reckon we should talk about this tea, eh? =)

Monosyllabic summary: Wow.

Somehow, Butiki Teas have made a vegan rooibos blend smell and taste like mango lassi. As far as I’m concerned, Stacy is some sort of magician. The fragrance and flavour are spot-on, not just for the mango flavour, but for mango lassi. There is no chemical note to the mango, it smells and tastes like either the fruit or a candy (sometimes like one, sometimes like the other), but natural in both cases. I don’t have any complaints about this one. The only thing I want to try next time is adding a bit of milk to bring out that creaminess even more.

I only have an ounce of this, so it must have been a freebie with one of my orders, during one of Butiki Teas’ “free ounce of your choice” promotions. I must reorder it so I can guzzle this without guilt, and with the reassurance that there’s more in the cupboard.

Tea amount: 1.5 tsp/~7g
Water amount: 6oz/~175mL
Additives: 1 tsp/~4.75g Demerara sugar

Mum, by the way, liked the tea, but neither smelled nor tasted mango lassi. Considering she has sharp senses while I often feel like mine are quite dull, I don’t understand how that’s possible, but there y’go. So in spite of my enthusiasm and conviction, I have to add that your mileage may vary.

Things happen …finally…there is a rooibos I appreciate !
It’s not as good as real tea to me but it is nice.

Mango lassi isn’t my favorite Indian lassi (I prefer the mint or the rose one) but this is a beverage I like anyway.

Here the mango aroma is really wonderful and take the head of the notes.
It’s not creamy as a lassi can be but the quality of the mango aroma is really impressive and I really appreciated this rooibos (this is an exploit !)

Thank you Azzrian for the opportunity you gave me to taste this blend.

Thanks too to cteresa for supporting me to continue tasting rooibos :)

Thank you Stacy from Butiki Teas for including this sample in with my last order! This is so incredibly good!

Of course, that should be no surprise, I don’t think I’ve tried anything from Butiki Teas yet that I’ve not liked. The mango here is so well-defined. Sweet, juicy, delicious mango. I don’t taste a lot of rooibos, maybe a hint of nutty tones here and there, but mostly what I taste is MANGO, some cream and a gentle, warm note from the cardamom.

This is seriously yum. I’d recommend this one to anyone who likes mango. This is one of the best mango tisanes I’ve tried yet.

Ahh everything loads just fine until I want to write a note today…figures.

I’ve been sipping on this all day after coldsteeping it for just about 24 hours. I still am kind of unsure how I feel about iced rooibos, but this is a step in the right direction. Definitely tastes like I’m sipping on a much lighter mango lassi!

My problem with iced rooibos is that it just gets too medicinal I think, I’m not sure if I’m right or completely confused by thinking that with this long of a steep it seemed less in-my-face than other ones. But, it might also just be how good this tea is. I can taste rooibos, but it mixes into the spicy tones of the cardamom. I didn’t add sugar because I wasn’t happy about having to leave before 8am this morning, but I still have half my bottle left and I’m curious to see how it tastes that way too, since it does seem like a little sweetener might bring out different flavors (of course obviously I read Stacy’s note on here too which is why I must try it).

After going out for Indian food one night I decided to develop a rooibos that was similar to mango lassi. As I vegan, I don’t drink anything with dairy in it but I wanted to make a tea that I could enjoy that reminded me of one of my old favorite beverages.

The dry leaves of this rooibos are small and thin and are varying degrees of red and brown. Calendula and mango chunks are mixed in. The aroma is a wonderful spicy and fragrant creamy mango. The wet leaves of this rooibos are walnut colored, thin, and small. Chunks of mango and calendula are also present. The wet leaves have a spicy cardamom aroma that gives way to a creamy sweet mango scent. Mango Lassi produces a brilliant red liquor with great clarity and immediately smells of cardamom and mango followed by a sweet cream. Sipping this tea without sugar produces notes of citrus and mango with prominent cardamom notes that linger and become lightly creamy. With a little brown crystal sugar added, this rooibos becomes an intensely creamy with mango and cardamom notes. Each note compliments each other well.

So, I accidentally waaaaay oversteeped this. I made my tea at the tail end of a storm. I set the timer and ran outside because the clouds were looking super crazy cool. I had to get some good photos!

Anyway, this tea is fairly good as is. I am getting a slight mango note, but mostly just rooibos here. I will have to try this again some other night and steep it properly. I am not going to give a rating because it wouldn’t be fair to the tea.

The cup is full of ripe and unripe, peppery mangoes. It doesn’t always pull off the mango lassi in every sip, but when it does life is good. The cardamon is prevalent and compliments the bright and juicy mango. Something, possibly the calendula, adds a light salty element near the milky finish. Lingering aftertaste is peppery mango. The rooibos never takes over, although it is present.

Thank you for the sample, Stacy! I’m not typically a fan of rooibos blends but the solid mango notes put this one near the top for me. I’ll think about getting this again; I need more non-caffeinated beverages to drink at night.

My package from Krystaleyn came today. Yaaaay. This is the first tea I’m trying from that bunch and I am super happy about it! Even though this was way over steeped as I dealt with a cooking emergency, it did not develop that odd sour wood flavor some rooibos tend to. I get a lovely sweet mango flavor with a bit of spice. I don’t really taste anything that might indicate creaminess or yogurt though.

I think the base is excellent and the mango is very realistic. Very nice. And I was just lamenting my lack of fruity caffeine free teas until the package arrived. :D

I got this as a sample from the ever cool Stacy. I’ve never had a mango lassi so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It’s Great! it reminds me a bit of her cantaloupe and cream. I think it’s the melony goodness.

Odd, so the smell of this one steeped is absolutely screaming fresh, slightly underripe banana to me. Which is delicious, but not mango lassi. Admittedly, that’s the association I’m making with the flavour as well. I’m getting maybe a touch, oh yes, there it is, of cardamom, and lots of banana flavour. The rooibos is present but not overwhelmingly obvious, which is definitely a bonus.

I saw some mango chunks in the dry tea – maybe I missed getting one into my cup. Either way, I have lots left to try again and tease out a more mango-y flavour!

Thanks to Butiki Teas for throwing this sample into my last order!

I thought this would be pretty good to go with the leftover Pineapple-Coconut Chicken Curry and Indian rice – and it was!

This is pretty delicious! I really enjoyed the sweet, creamy mango in this blend. I’m pretty sure I’m missing the rest of the taste in this due to allergies, but what did taste was impressive. First taste was all mango. Then I got the creaminess a few sips later. After adding a tad of sweetener, I could taste some citrus which was kind of a surprise. Next time, I probably won’t add sugar because it really was great on it’s own.

I also like this because it’s not a black tea base. The rooibos base is better in my opinion because it can be enjoyed at any time – without the worry of a late evening caffeine intake.

I forgot I had this sample until I went digging into my sample box this afternoon. I can really taste the mango and spice, but very little cream. But I’m really ok with that. This makes for a really yummy afternoon caffeine free cup of tea. It might even bring on an afternoon nap if I’m lucky.

My order from Butiki came! Yeah!
So, I’m getting ready to rush out the door to go play a gig at the St. Louis History Museum from 5:30 – 9:00. Then I’ll have 2 (much needed) days off from playing.

I’m not a big fan of flavored teas, but Nik gave this such a rave review, and I was placing an order anyway, so I figured, “Why not?”.
I’ve never actually had a real Mango Lassi, but it is quite tasty, & I’m definitely getting the Mango flavor (yum), & this was a good tea to try this afternoon, as I’m pretty wired from caffeine consumption at this point, & this is a rooibos blend.

This is a free sample thrown in to my Butiki order. Thanks! I’ve never had an actual mango lassi, but if it tastes similar to this tea I think I would love it. Although the aroma is heavy on the rooibos, the flavor is creamy mango all the way. This will definitely be going on my shopping list! I need some more decaf options for the evenings.

Thanks to Butiki , this came as a free sample in my Butiki tea order…

Wow, I am impressed! This does not taste at all like rooibos, I can’t believe it’s not honeybush?? A very faint sweetness here with juicy mango -mango is one of my favorite fruits. I can perhaps taste a tiny bit of cardamom and calendula. A very yummy dessert tea! I put soymilk in mine and it totally hits the spot. Yeah, I would definitely buy this! Its super good!

This is pretty good and juicy and MANGO!!!! Locally Mango’s have been pricey here and I have been hungry for them but don’t want to spend over $2 per mango so this will be a mighty fine substitute until they drop in price :)

WAHHHH!

I had a brutal Brazilian jiu jitsu practice today. There was a penalty for not getting up correctly (you have to get up a certain way so when you are up you are less likely to get tossed off balance / ready to fight / uses less energy) and if one person messes up, both them and the partner has to sit down and get up properly. Each time, it goes up by 10 reps. So my partner screws up right at the end and we had to do 90 times! WAHHHH! I did it though!

So I’m really busted up and tired out and dying for a good cup of ice tea. I hit the local conveyor belt sushi joint and their cold green tea was oversteeped bitter hell.

I got home and mango was calling to me http://youtu.be/d9wOuSyralQ

I prepared this iced, with a bit of agave. Nice real natural mango flavor and refreshing! Slightly nutty and a quiet background of rooibos. I’m not a rooibos person and found Mango Lassi is a really good iced tea.

I need to try this hot, but Uggg so hot here and I’m too thirsty. I’ll do another official tasting note sometime. Right now I’m going to soak in a heavy salted bathtub sipping this tea, Bai bai!

I’m thinking maybe Butiki has an opportunity to develop some perfumes with all of the amazing scents their teas have j/k While I enjoyed this tea quite a bit – the flavour lingers like a friend who’s having a great time and doesn’t want to leave – I’m beinning to think that i’m not a huge fan of Rooibos. Still a great tea but lower on my list than the others because of the rooibos.

THIS. This definitely goes on the short list of teas I want to curl up with for the winter. I actually requested a swap of this from Jes thinking it would be for the bf. He loves mango lassi. Now we both adore this ‘evening snack’ tea. I am keeping it. In fact, even though there are several more cups in my cupboard I’ve already ordered more. Will add details tonight.

Thank you Jes!! Well I went to smell this in the bag and I got rooibos up my nose D: Ugh. But it did smell good! This is very juicy! The flavors are a very light and blend well with the rooibos! Thanks again!! :]