Organic Guranse

Thank you Stacy for this tea Sample

What a pleasure to have overlooked a Butiki tea sample. How on earth did that ever happen? I look forward to every little bag.
Whatever the reason, it’s been found at the right time.

Today I don’t feel good. I’m sure this will pass soon enough.
My weekend was great so I can reflect a good time with my granddaughter Schey! (I forget that I have disabilities and do more than I should at times, especially when the weather is hot. I live in a fantasy world and think I’m in my 40’s!)(or younger!)

First we went to Church Sunday morning and then stopped by the H.L. (Happy Luckys) tea shop for a pot of Puerh. This was Scheys first Puerh! I have to say the experience was like ‘Steepster Live’! We were at the bar, the shop was quiet and the servers had been tasting samples I brought in the day before. I was hearing verbal reviews. Schey was giving me her review of the Pu-erh (LOVED IT!), and I was in heaven!

I drank more tea later when I arrived back home…and then…I couldn’t sleep till 2 am! I’m trying to set up a blog. No zzzzzzzzz’s

I felt ill this morning at 7 am….burned out and not good at all.

I saw this little packet from Butiki. Hum.
What was a Guranse? Another one of those high caffeine tea’s that Stacy has?
(I had no idea!)

With a good deal of blind faith and trust that whatever was in the packet would be good because it came from Butiki, I followed the only information on the label and used boiling water then steeped for 3 minutes.

What a shock when I tasted the tea!

“Wow, this is good!” I said.

(I think in my foggy brain that I half expected an unflavored Guayusa.)

This tea was light and sweet with the essence of Freestore Peach and Assam. BUT, without being as dark or malty as an Assam. WAH?…A totally different kind of Black Tea than I’m used to!

To compare this tea to a Darjeeling would be a mistake also. There was no acidity or tannin, just smooth and juicy light and fruity tea. (Sounds like a jingle)

I let my cup cool. Sipping again and again…trying to reach deep into the soul of this tea. Always the floral sugary peach(could there be a vanilla cream with the peach I am still not committed to that idea as yet)vibrated in my mouth.

Guranse has my attention! At no time have I tasted a light Black Tea like this one. I have 4 Black Tea’s from 2 companies that are my favorites and all 4 are FULL BODIED! Very rich and unmistakably distict! My… BONNIE’S TOP BLACK TEA LIST!

This little tea slid in under the radar and slapped me awake!
I love the subtle beauty of this drippy, succulent, peachy liquor!

High Praises Stacy!!! You will hear from me!

Later that same evening…
Tonight I steeped this tea again nice and strong, cut an apple into cubes, heated the apple in the microwave and then poured the tea over the apples to infuse them for a bit. Later, I drained some of the liquid off, added a pat of butter and some brown sugar crystals and popped the apples into the oven next to a breast of chicken that was cooking in a mixture of brewed Butiki Tangerine Creamsicle Guayusa, and bacon. (Yes I’ll have some spinach greens too at the end).
Don’t know how this will turn out…going to check on it now…
Oh Wow! The Chicken is really good! Um…I think I’m going to have the apples alongside the chicken because they’re soft and mild. The apples in this tea is mild (no spice added).
Perfect with the cream citrus poultry.

If I had company over I’d turn the juices into a beautiful glaze and chiffonade some basil and mint over the top. This would be so good with rice. (no apples though) And add artichokes or asparagas.

Bye

Pair this one with white chocolate and OMG the peach notes SPRING forward!
I love this tea. I choose this for my custom blend from butiki and love the blend as well.
This tea has such wonderful woodsy notes but its light and juicy!
Yes there is a darjeeling quality here yet not quite the same.
Juicy is one word that absolutely comes to mind and not just due to the peach notes but the mouthfeel is very thirst quenching, very liquid-y lol yes tea IS a liquid I know but the way it just slides on the palate like silk is lovely.
The woodys notes are like dried tree bark in flavor – or somewhat of an okay barrel flavor – sort of maple infused.
From reading other’s notes on this tea it seems this is one that remains somewhat mysterious, undecided perhaps, as everyone tends to find similar notes and everyone tends to find some of their own notes.
To me, it is a tea that everyone should have the experience of trying at least once!

So good! Delicious malty tone but not quite as heavy as an Assam, I’d say it was somewhere in between Darjeeling and Assam – with flavors that match. There is a woody tone to it that reminds me of a Darjeeling. It is rich and earthy without being too strong. There is a fair amount of astringency, perhaps more than might be expected from a lighter bodied tea. But it is a crisp, tangy astringency, leaving the palate feeling clean and slightly dry. The aftertaste is earthy and a little sweet.

A very pleasant afternoon cuppa.

Thanks to Mercuryhime for this sample! I was a little confused as to what a Guranse was until I read Bonnie’s tasting note a few days ago and then I knew I needed to try it. Teas from Nepal and Darjeeling are among my favorites!

I steeped this for 3 minutes in my tetsubin — I still haven’t found anything to replace the glass teapot I broke. One thing you can say for cast iron is it’s very durable and will stand up to a spaz like me.

I’m getting a medium orange liquor which is very mellow and smooth. I can definitely sense the malt and a hint of tobacco but there is a delightful fruitiness present as well, lots of peaches! The flavor is mostly sweet with a tiny bit of astringency at the end, but nothing too bothersome. I’m sipping on this plain and it’s yummy, but it could also accommodate a pinch of sugar, if you prefer. I think milk would ruin the delicate flavor here.

I certainly wouldn’t mind having this tea around but I have quite a backlog from the region already. :)

yeah that’s right…another butiki tea. with dessert…before i’ve had lunch. Nothing says YUM! like a brownie and a nice afternoon tea. This is a realy nice afternoon, mellow kind of “hey how’s it going, so nice of you to drop by” sort of tea. There’s a bit of maltiness and a teeeeeny bit of astringency but over all it’s a very relaxing cup with a bit of a dry aftertaste as well. I can see enjoying this on the weekend in the afternoons when i’m coming back from running around like a crazy person :)

Another winner from Butiki!
Today was an earlyish day for me, Doctor’s appointment in the morning, and now I’m having some lunch before work. I’m sipping on this from my thermos.

I really like teas from Nepal, and this is not an exception. It’s Darjeeling-like without being astringent, very woody and tastes slightly like honey to me. It’s a wee bit on the malty side which is quite welcome today.

Liberteas Thanks for this one! I don’t know why it’s taken me so long to try it!

I did over infuse this but it’s still sturdy and satisfying! It’s flavor is a combo of un-sweet wood and has a drier type taste and after-taste to it. There is astringency to it but it works well, here! There is a slight bitterness, too, but again, it seems to all work well with the over-all flavor!

Different but GOOD.

I started typing a mix of guranse and guayusa when trying to pull this up ahaha. I had this with my piece of king cake because YEAH MORE DESSERTS.

I’ve been studying instead of writing notes and I have my weekday ban on Steepster still in place so really that doesn’t end at midnight right? Right, that’s why I’m doing homework in the morning…not looking forward to this test.

I thought this had some peppery notes to it, but it really did remind me of Darjeeling minus astringency. It has a little floral note to it, and it’s kind of citrusy. There’s just a little malt like an Assam, and it kind of reminds me of the Ceylon I had Friday.

It actually ended up cooling off and I liked it even better cold! This could be an interesting iced tea. I will find out at some point.

oh see idk what i’ve been doing, but lately every first cup tastes not thrilling to me, and the second steep tastes awesome possum!
so at first i didn’t get any excitement, but yum the second cup had it’s woody velvety peach tones. i was surprised i could even catch them but it was unmistakable. my palate is getting a crash course. i’m cramming for the test and hope i retain some knowledge come test time.
otherwise, gotta keep it fun!
go Sil! go tea!

I think previous reviewers have covered all the bases on this Organic Nepalese Guranse. I’m not sure what I can add, except to say this is yet another excellent black tea from Butiki. It is late afternoon, and this bright and crisp, yet milder tea is just right for this time of day. It reminds me of a good Darjeeling.

The temperature has dropped enough that hot tea is again a viable option. yaay! I’ve got a few teas waiting to be tried that I want to try hot before messing around with cold brewing or chilling. Give the tea some respect!

This tastes like…black tea. there’s a refreshing astringency. The texture is smooth with the barest tang of tannin. Good mellow cup. It is neither too assertive nor to weak. I have no idea how else to describe this. I can tell the quality is good and I’d serve it to company. Tastes leafy. Not the toasty autumn forest of dark oolongs, but something like that. Vaguely. It doesn’t seem strong enough to take milk too well.

I always feel like I’m missing something when I drink black teas. Few have the nuances that I love in whites and oolongs. Is it just me? I drank down the whole cup trying to figure it out. I can never discern anything special about any black tea. Perhaps I just don’t like it. I suppose I’ll keep trying anyhow. I think my next swap partner might get the rest of this pouch. :)

I think I’ll go have a cup of something caffeine free now.

I expected to like this, but I wasn’t expecting it to like it as much as I do. :) You see, I tend to enjoy really strong black teas, and this one is advertised as being pretty mild, designed for some kick back and relax sipping.

Which is exactly what it does! Despite the fact that it is indeed a milder black, it’s still plenty flavorful. Now my learning taste buds are mainly picking up on the peachy notes at the end of the taste, but I do pick up on a very slight hint that could be a woody taste, though I wouldn’t have been able to identify it as mahogany! :)

Thanks to this tea, I now understand what a certain taste I got out of Premium Taiwanese Assam Upgrade was: the tobacco taste. While it’s not as heavy as the aforementioned, I can lightly taste its presence, and I feel super enlightened for understanding what that note is, now that I’ve recognized it in this tea too!

The texture of this tea is thinner than some of the teas I’ve been drinking lately, such as Assam, but it has a slight malty thickness that’s very satisfying.

As the cup cools, the peach recedes a bit more in the background, and I’m beginning to pick up more on that tobacco note, but that’s not a bad thing.

This tea suits two prefences: A black tea lover who’d like a calmer gentle cup now and then, or someone who wants to give black tea a go but is wary of it being overly bold. If either of those sound like you, then pick this one up! :) I know I’ll be getting more of this! :D

A lovely cup of tea. Very subtle. Not really used to a cup of black tea being so gentle on the senses. Just enough astringency with a nice soft earthy finish. Don’t mistake subtle for bland though, because this tea has plenty of flavour. Very nice for sipping and enjoying without the potency of most blacks. When drinking it unsweetened, I didn’t get many of the peach notes. However, once sweetened they do come through very much shortly after swallowing. The perfect cup for organizing, packing, selling stuff on kijiji, and otherwise preparing for moving house! :)

Starts off tasting like a Darjeeling and finishes like an Assam. Mouthfeel is a bit thin and, as others have mentioned, the brew doesn’t seem very strong with regards to caffeine content. There is a slightly exotic bitterness, reminiscent of its Darjeeling side that creeps into the palate. Unique and enjoyable, but ultimately a bit soft for my tastes.