Pumpkin Creme Brulee

Ode to Butiki tea:

As a free sample it came,
From Stacy, yes, that was her name

Black Ceylon mixed well with some spices,
Those flavors go straight to my senses.

Plump Pumpkin-Cream sweetness,
Renders so much “yumness”!

Clouds of cinnamon, nutmeg,
More, Oh! More, please, I beg! 

What, why, is this not a Chaï?
Oh well, then I’m mystified.

Such as, it brings comfort,  
Pure bliss moment, too short!

So please honey, stand up, 
Just pour me one more cup !

The end.  I get it, not Baudelaire material… but still an honest effort from TheTeaFairy.

Bottom line:  me like this tea! 

Thank you TeaEqualsBliss for sending me some of this tea.

This is yummy! I love that I taste the pumpkin and the spices, as well as a touch of the creme. Smooth and deliciously creamy, sweet and just YUM!

Definitely an autumnal feel to this tea, but, as we are still having some rather chilly spring days here in the Pacific Northwest, I find this to be perfectly enjoyable right now! I love that this tea is available year round, too, because even though it is an autumnal celebration in a teacup, I happen to LOVE autumn and love celebrating its splendor year round!

Let me start by saying that I’m not that much of a flavored tea type of drinker. There are few that I’m willing to try, and those are usually peachy or citrusy blends. This one is an exception, mainly because it is very fitting for the transition into the fall season. The other motivating factor in selecting this tea was its appeal to non-tea drinkers that are searching for new “fall flavored” drinks – by this, I mean my wife. She will NOT try any of my other teas, of which is disappointing and frustrating at times. My only shot of persuasion is using other trusted friends to peer-pressure and offer teas that are flavored to drinks that she loves already. Maybe – one day. So far, no luck on this one. She did say that she MIGHT try it. Let’s hope.

Let me now tell you the dry leaves smells very chai spice-like at first, however this changes quickly as they are steeped. It’s as if the natural flavoring and tea leaves come alive and transform into something entirely different. It smells almost identically as to what you taste during the sip. The infusion produces a medium dark red colored brew, that is smooth and brisk with a semi-mellowed body. The crème brûlée flavoring adds an extra creamy thicken texture, of which pushed this one over the top in winning over my taste buds. I actually was a little sad to not have time at the moment to get more than three cups of this down before leaving for work.

Even if I am not successful on convincing my spouse into trying this tea this go around, it certainly got me on board. Another great creation by Stacy at Butiki Teas. Very nice!

I love pumpkin!! yum!
Thanks to Will Work for Tea for the sample!!!
I needed a pick me up at work… and this is what I went for. I’ve been craving sweet teas at odd times, like in the morning haha.
Anyhow, the tea itself was a bit too spicy for me. I was not expecting that in a creme brule tea. Oh well, that’s a pretty minor complaint considering how delicious I found my cup to be! with milk and sugar, oh yes it’s very tasty! I can taste some pumpkin, but the cinnamon dominates the first two steeps. The third steep has more of a caramel tone to it, not so much “creme”. In fact, it reminded me in some ways of a pu-erh!
Now I’m wondering how it’d fare as a latte. drools

I am so angry right now, I thought F1 qualifying was at 8 and it turns out it’s at 9, and nobody seems to want to answer me as to WHY it is at 9 and it makes me extremely angry to have to be awake when I don’t have to be awake. And I have this tea now so I can’t nap for 45 minutes, not that it would work well anyway.

Except this tea makes it too hard to be angry, it’s sooooo good. I think it’s time I rescind my pumpkin beverage hater card. It smells like pumpkin pie, and definitely tastes creamy as well as like pureed pumpkin mixed with spices. And best of all it’s not like a nasty canned puree taste, just like fresh pumpkin but verrrrrry smooth. I can’t believe how real it tastes, it means I never have to go through the trouble of cutting up a pumpkin especially because I don’t want to!

I think in the meantime of waiting I will have to try another of my new Butiki teas too.

I got this sample in my Butiki order, thank you Stacy!!

Picture, if you will, a 4 year old with a little glass tea pitcher that looks just like a miniature of the pitcher on the old Koolaid commercials. The pitcher is filled with a golden liquid that smells like thanksgiving, or at least like her favorite thanksgiving food. She has a tiny 1 oz cup, white ceramic, images of bamboo & butterfly in blue with pink highlights. She also has a jar of thick coconut milk with a tsp in it. She dips a tsp of coconut milk, puts it in the little cup, adds an oz of tea (sweetened with stevia), swirls with the end of a chopstick, and slurp! Again & again, savoring every taste until it’s gone. That’s me, a little while ago; a little kid with her tea set.

I’ve never had creme brulee, but I love pumpkin pie!! This is such a tasty, OMG treat, that I had to stop everything & just be 4 again. This is nicely pumpkiny, the only thing missing is the whipped cream.
After I buy some I’ll brew it stronger, cuz it really lends itself to the coconut milk treatment, I’m picturing an awesome coconut milk & pumpkin Creme Brulee Latte…

This is again a delightful tea sample I get from Azzrian – thanks for sharing a so big bag of this one with me !

Nobody’s perfect…I am French…you know that La crème brulée is a French dessert (I am very sorry for my dear British and Spanish friends – but really this is a French dessert, it seems we get the older date for a mention to the recipe- end of Century XVII)- let’s say I should have eaten a thousand tons of crème brûlée in my life because this is one of the dessert we get in almost every restaurant and because this is one of my favourite dessert.

Why did I digress ? Because to me this tea is not a crème brûlée tea.
It doesn’t mean this tea is not wonderful, because it is a wonderful tea, it’s just that to me there is no crème brûlée around.
But I am not vegan and I know Butiki teas only uses vegan ingredients- so it may be because I never ate any vegan crème brûlée.

Having said that, I really loved this tea as a pumpkin tea and this is an exploit because out of tea life, I really hate pumpkin.
The flavour pumpkin here is really perfumed and refined, completely different from another tea I had with pumpkin (the flavour wasn’t natural I think in the other tea).
This means this tea can be the first step for me to walk though the idea to try to eat again some pumpkin… so thanks Butiki teas for that.

Dry leaves are very beautiful and the black tea is really perfect : smooth but not weak.

A delicious tea to recommend to any Cinderella (and Cinderellos !)

VEGAN!

YUM!
This is an amazing pumpkin and cream flavored treat! And VEGAN!

You know…sometimes Pumpkin flavored things can get a little out of hand. A little to over the top, sometimes too harsh…but THIS offering from Butiki is AMAZING! It has a nice amount of pumpkin but with the creaminess you crave! Paired with the Creme Brulee theme this is truly unique and I can’t help but go on and on about it! WOW!!!! VERY NICE! There is notes of spice (nutmeg) that works perfectly with the pumpkin and creamy-goodness! Everything jives well and is happy here with this Pumpkin Creme Burlee and an incredible VEGAN offering!

Out of the handful of pumpkin teas I’ve tried this one tastes the most like pumpkin pie. It carries a mushy creaminess, a slightly pungent finish, that makes me think of pumpkin or black tea, and even the sensation of sweet rich whip cream. Are you sure this is vegan?

I don’t get creme brulee as much but it has already succeeded where many other teas have clunked out- creating a convincing pumpkin dessert, both in texture and in taste, without going overboard artificial, and still managing to be tea. Thank you BoxerMama for the sample, and Stacy for all the amazing teas!

Edit: This holds up decently to additional steeping, although the cinnamon is more dominant, and my empty cup has the amazing aroma of nutmeg, cinnamon, and creamy pumpkin.

My final sample from my Butiki order.
It smells just like Pumpkin Pie!
Spicy and cozy.
I must say I was dubious of this tea.
I mean, a tea flavored by pumpkin?
But, the scent envelopes you and comforts you.
It smells like Grandma’s house in November.
I burnt my tongue because I could not wait to try it.
Lightly spicy, a smidgen of pumpkin but then the black tea shines through.
Very tasty tea, indeed!

I am not going to rate this tea because it was really very good. Excellent ingredients, excellent mix and I would recommend it but for me personally it was not to my liking because I was expecting something really sweet and it was not. I guess the idea I had in my head did not match what it turned out to be and I refuse to lower this teas rating score because I wanted a cloyinging sweet dessert tea. It was also very much on the cinnamon side and while I like a touch of cinnamon in my tea this one was a little much for me.
Again this tea is well blended but just not my thing.

It was actually a tad sunny here this afternoon, so the kids and I played outside. The little man had his jeans on backwards, orange rain boots, and his blue fleece coat on, unzipped with no shirt on underneath. And we played in the front yard for all the world to see. You see, the mailman would be arriving any minute. I had been waiting all day for his arrival. And it was close to 4pm at this point. When we saw him coming, all three of us ran to meet him.

Our mailman is not your average mailman, he’s straight out of sesame street. Knows all the kids names, what’s going on in the neighborhood, loves to chat endlessly. And I normally enjoy it, but today I wanted to grab my package from him and run inside to get tasting. I was as nice as I could be under the circumstances, but my first order from Butiki was in my hands, and I had things to do.

I had a pretty decent selection to choose from, but enjoy flavored black teas in the afternoon, so I went with the pumpkin creme brûlée. Smelled a lot spicier than I expected, but I never tip my nose up to a little extra spice. I steeped it a little longer than the suggested 2.5 mins, but I like my black teas pretty strong. Then I added a very slight amount of brown rock sugar per the websites instructions. I’ve tried brown rock sugar on a number of occaisions, but I just really love raw honey in my tea. So after a few sips trying to drink the tea the “right” way, I caved and added my honey and a splash of steamed milk and a dollop of froth. My first thought as the tea went down, “Holy crap, I just love tea.”

This is a really great flavored black tea. Not perfumey at all, which is a huge pet peeve of mine. I love the spice and was surprised at how spicy the tea remained after a second steep (with no milk or honey in the second cup).

This will definitely be taking up residence on my shelf. I can’t wait to try the next one!

And thus the pumpkin tea comparison begins. All four teas I’m looking at are highly rated on Steepster, 83-86, so there’s no clear winner from that alone! As it turns out, one is a creamy pumpkin tea, and only three are actually pumpkin spice, so it might be not be as great a comparison as I initially thought, but oh well! All still holiday-themed!

First up is this one, a sample courtesy of Stacy at Butiki, the only tea not to specifically mention spice in the name (although I think a touch of spice is implied when dealing with pumpkin!)

Compared to the other teas I have here, the aroma is MUCH more subtle. So subtle that I perhaps wouldn’t even believe that this is a pumpkin tea.

The flavour here is fairly mild. The tea is a bit creamy, and definitely smooth, and finishes with what I suppose is a bit of a pumpkiny flavour. It’s certainly not strong here though. Pumpkin Creme Brulee? Perhaps it will come out with a touch of sweetener…

Sweetened, I feel like I’m definitely tasting pumpkin now, and can see that with a bit of milk/cream, this could taste kind of like a pumpkin creme brulee. What’s really missing a bit for me is that burnt/caramelized sugar flavour that I associate with creme brulees.

Overall, this is certainly not a bad tea, but in the realm of holiday-type pumpkiny teas, it does not come out on top; IMO that award belongs to DavidsTea’s Pumpkin Chai. I want my pumpkin teas to be more spicy, and unfortunately that wasn’t the case here!

(Teas under review: Butiki – Pumpkin Creme Brulee; iHeartTeas – Creamy Pumpkin Spice; DAVIDsTEA – Pumpkin Chai; Della Terra Teas – Grandma’s Pumpkin Pie)

CREME BRULEE OMFG! Creme brulee is my fav dessert! My husband made it for me the night he proposed (and a prime rib, barely remember that though)

DRY: Lots of weird orange flakey bits.

STEEPED: brown orange tea, smells of black tea and pumpkin.

TASTE: WHOA! I notice an amazing creamyness right away. Theres a smooth pumpkin taste as well. The black tea is nice too – all perfectly mixed with the other flavors. Very natural tasting pumpkin.
Sweetened with some rock sugar, the creamyness and pumpkin come out more. Also some spice lightly pops out.

WHO’D LIKE THIS: Autumn tea lovers! With all the pumpkin teas out right now for fall, this one is good for someone who loves creamyness! This one also is gently spiced.

COMPARISON: DavidsTea’s Pumpkin Chai – has more spice. Pumpkin tastes a little different and brighter. Black tea base is stronger.
Pumpkin Creme Brulee is less spice, but on the creamy side. IMO, the black tea has a better taste. Pumpkin tastes more natural.

COMMENTS: I dig the creamyness of this tea! Very excellent and the flavors are balanced perfectly!

ARGG, I got so much Pumpkin Chai that I’ve been hesitant to order other pumpkin teas. Pumpkin Creme Brulee is on a slightly different wavelength. I thought it would be more eggy like creme brulee, but still tasty! Either way, very good and I highly recommend this tea… and pretty much all Butiki teas I’ve tried! all sooo good!

mmm….this is delicious. I have to say, pumpkin isn’t anything that I enjoy. Sacriledge I know but i hate pumpkin pie too lol! However, this tea…this tea is wonderful. I’m going to have to order this for myself I think. I’d love to have this for the fall on thos colder evenings when you can see your breath in the air.

First Review. I have been impressed with the flavors from Butiki Tea’s and with the customer service. Stacy always adds a handwritten note and has me choose the samples I want to try out. This current tea is not a sample but one that I wanted to try based on reviews from other Steepsters.

I made a PIG of myself FEASTING yesterday for Pascha!
At 3AM there was a light food bash in the Church Hall right after the service…then I went home for a nap.
At 9AM I was 50 miles away at St. Lukes with the grandkids for another feast (Prime Rib) followed by a:
2PM feast of Whole Roast Lamb at St. Spyridon for 350 people…OPA!
Whew! Pant, Pant, I’m not done…at:
5PM Ribs and all the fixings at my daughters home at: UH! I drove about 140 miles and ate more than I should have…BAKLAVA oh YES…and tea before bed!

So, this morning…I decided on NO FOOD…(Wonder why!) and a lighter tea. The Pumpkin Creme Brulee was calling out to me…“Bonnie, you want to try me this morning, you will feel better if you do…” like some kind of a hangover remedy. Ok tea. I’ll try you out and see if you can deliver.

The steep didn’t produce a perfume of Pumpkin that was room filling and magical. It just was mild and ok. I took a sip of the tea and noticed that it was not too overdone. Relief! Hate tea that quickly becomes nauseatingly gaudy. “I AM PUMPKIN HEAR ME ROAR!” Yuk! Not for me folks! I would rather tea like this one, subtle and refined…“Hi there cutie, I am pumpkin and I would like to move in with you. Your cupboard would suit me fine if you are pleased with me.” (I like the addition of the Hi Cutie). There is a peppery bite on the tongue to break up the creaminess. You don’t lose track of the tea…I mean that it does not get lost in the pumpkin flavor. You can sweeten and add milk without this tea becoming a mess. I hate to add milk and you end up with no tea left just milk and sugar and a spice but no tea. This blend laughs at that…ha ha…I can take it all and still be defined as Pumpkin Creme Brulee. This is one that would be good with toast for breakfast. Warm and Soothing tea.

Thanks ever so much to Courtney for sending me a sample of this to try, now I can knock it off my list!

I think I’ve come to the realization that I’m not a hunormous fan of cinnamon in tea. I don’t love chai, I didn’t love Davidstea’s Stormy Night because of the cinnamon…. I do like it if it tastes like a baked good, like oatmeal raisin cookies or that amazing Brioche tea. But just not as a main feature. And while this is perfectly enjoyable, it’s not like the BLAM!! Butiki awesomeness that I’ve grown accustomed to. Because mostly what I taste is cinnamon. Not much of the creaminess. Not getting a ton of other flavours besides the spiciness.

It’s not you, Pumpkin Creme Brûlée, it’s me.

ETA as it cools I’m getting some pumpkin taste. I guess I’m also not a huge fan of pumpkin flavoured things either, I do like Davidstea’s Pumpkin Chai though. I realize that goes against everything I just finished telling you, haha.

This is the third time drinking this, and every time I’ve wanted to write a review but I couldn’t put my finger on the scent of the dry leaves. It was oh so familiar, and it’s taken me over a week to figure it out. To me, it’s more like freshly baked cinnamon buns than pumpkin. There’s a baked bready quality enrobed by cinnamon especially. Don’t smell any pumpkin.

I’ll admit that I’m not the biggest fan of this without additives. The tea base is quite prominent and I can’t taste much of anything else. Don’t get me wrong, it’s a great base, but when you’re anticipating spiciness and creaminess and pumpkin awesomeness, it makes you a little sad.

But don’t fret, milk and a bit of brown sugar perked this up. I still don’t get pumpkin from this. It’s more of an ultra creamy spice, again, kind of like drinking a cinnamon bun. I’ve never had Crème brûlée before, as the idea kind of scares me (looks too eggy for my liking), so I have no idea how it compares to that.

By the way, I had this last night (among other teas) and I left the wet leaves in the strainer. This morning, the scent of the leaves drove me nuts. Smelled so tantalizing. It took me forever to figure out which tea I had last, and wasn’t until then that I finally figured out cinnamon buns.

I’m really enjoying this delicate, understated take on pumpkin tea! I like that it’s not a chai or pie themed blend, cause I find I get bored of those rather quickly. They all taste a little too similar, and tend to go overboard on the spices. I love spices and spicy teas, but in a pumpkin tea I’d rather not have them as the dominant flavour.

This one is spot on for that. I can taste a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg, but they’re not the flavour I notice first. That would be the smooth black tea base, followed by creamy pumpkin goodness! I mentioned that this one is subtle, and it is. At a 3 min steep I was left wanting a bit more depth of flavour, but I was starting to get some bitterness at 4 min. A bit of milk and sugar fixed that issue, but I had been planning on drinking it plain. I’ll need to play around a bit more with steep times.

I love the fresh pumpkin and cream flavours I’m getting here. I find this one to be a really comforting, relaxing cup. Something I’d drink after dinner or before bed (for some reason, the caffeine content in black tea doesn’t affect my ability to sleep, no matter when I drink it). The only thing I’m really missing is the ‘brûlée’ note. I don’t taste anything caramelized, both straight and with additions. Oh well! It’s delicious as is.

Even though I have two other pumpkin teas in my stash, I’m not sorry I got this one. It’s so different from the typical pumpkin brew! Really nice and rich yet subtle flavours, with just the right hint of spice.

Yay, finally a pumpkin tea that tastes like pumpkin – which seems to be a difficult flavour to recreate as plenty of good tea blenders have tried and this is one of the only ones that in my opinion to have done it sucessfully. But there’s more to this tea than just pumpkin, the rest of the tea is smooth, slightly sweet and nicely spiced. The spices aren’t being used to cover up a harsh base or the lack of pumpkin flavour – they’re just a nice accompaniment. All around a tasty treat.