Organic Spring Twist

Thanks Stacy for this fantastic Sample!

This is a new tea! Stacy is coming out with a whole slew of tea’s soon and I can’t wait to find out what’s in store for all of us who know just how good her tea’s are!

At first, I was expecting an organic, naturally flavored tea…a nice afternoon pick-ME-up before heading off to pick up the 3 granddaughters who are treking from their ranch into town (about 5 miles). I’ll do a run to get them and we’ll have tea at my place, then I take them home.

To my surprise, this tea wasn’t flavored (the name Spring Twist tricked me).
My steep time was 2 minutes at 175F.
I was greated with the most fragrant salty spinach scented vapor raising from vibrant green leaves in my brew basket. Yum!

I’ve learned that all things spinachy in a basket don’t necessarily taste like spinach when poured… any more than wet Pu-erh leaves smelling like kerosene and leather taste that way as well.

The first sip… oh my, was like baby white corn on the cob. Sweet, young corn as juicy as if you had just picked it off the stalk. The kind of kernals that ‘pop’ with juice when you bite into them…and buttery.
This tea was thick with creaminess. There was no astringency or hint of tannin…no daggers of bitterness. Just a little salt, some fresh butter sweet cream.

I thought a bit before pouring another cup.

What if the corn was even a little sweeter? Not really sweet, but like the best of the Summer sweet white corn?
So I did it!
I added about a half teaspoon sweetening to just see if I could replicate that much loved flavor…and it was perfect.
(The saltiness of the tea is usually how I judge if sweetening will enhance a tea or not.)
I couldn’t taste any sugary addition but I could taste more sweet corn.

Since this tea has not been listed on the Butiki Website as yet, I’ll transfer my review or update the information when it becomes available… but I couldn’t wait.
I wanted to let Stacy know how much I enjoyed this tea. It is really good!

Thanks Stacy! Looking forward to all the new tea’s!!!

Liberteas Thanks!

Dry – this one sorts of smells LIME-E to me :)
I do enjoy the aroma. A gentle green with a touch of lime.

After infusing…it’s more vegetal – like Spinach. Again, I do enjoy this aroma.

The color is a pretty lemon-lime!

The taste is…well…SPRING! It’s a little floral, a tad grassy, a bit sweet, and touch citrusy…like lemon and lime. As I continue to sip and as it continues to cool – naturally – at room temp – I can pick up specs of peach hints. Then…Celery. Then…raw fresh sweet white corn. The after taste is more like peas. This is light and crisp and I like it very much!

This is really delicious. The flavor is so fresh and vibrant, and I think that the “spring” in the name is very appropriate, because it tastes very much like spring: very light and fresh and crisp.

There are pleasant notes of fruit, the description suggests “juicy peach” and I get that. It is sweet and the fruit tones are peach like. The vegetative notes are also a bit like freshly steamed peas. I’m not one to eat peas (my least favorite vegetable) but, if they’re sweetened with peach juice, I might be persuaded… and this tastes like peas that have been sweetened with the essence of peach!

Very yummy, spring-like and invigorating.

Got my package in from Butiki today! This is the first one I tried. The leaves are dark green with some lighter ones and are slightly curled and twisted with a nice grassy-beany scent to them.

I brewed this in a smaller cup (about 5oz) but not actually gaiwan style. The wet leaves were a brighter green in color and the aroma was the same but with a creaminess to them. The infusion was creamy greeny goodness and pale in color.

The taste was at first a hint of something floral and juicy, it was creamy/buttery yet it remained crisp. Reminded me of buttered peas and beans. It had wonderful vegetal notes of green beans and asparagus. Perhaps a hint of spinach, but that could have been from my lunch earlier.

At the tail end of the sip I did get sweet corn on the cob that Bonnie got, but it wasn’t as prominent for me, it certainly didn’t make any less better. Definitely a good green tea and a good intro to Stacy’s teas.

Second place in my “Butiki green tea face-off” goes to… Spring Twist! This was yet another fantastic tea from Butiki.

One thing that really struck me about this tea was how much it reminded me of my beloved Laoshan White from Verdant. It really is very similar in flavor, the only difference to me is that this one is maybe a little less complex and a tad less sweet. The flavors in this one also reminded me a bit of the Huangshan Mao Feng that I had earlier. I get the same sort of corn flavor and fresh juicy vegetal flavor, only this one is lighter in body than the Huangshan Mao Feng. I also taste a little bit of a floral and fruity note in this tea on top of the vegetal, corn, and nutty flavors. This is delicious.

And as I side note, I tried this one cold-brewed, and it is absolutely one of the best cold-brewed teas I’ve every had. It was so silky, smooth, sweet and refreshing – and the buttery nature of the tea came out even more.

Thanks, Stacy, for another wonderful tea. I will review the rest of the teas in the green tea face-off tomorrow.

Brewed this one up this morning, but honestly can’t say too much about it, as I apparently didn’t drink it until just now (and green tea does not retain flavour terribly well). All I can say is that it’s a tasty green beany/vegetal sort of green, just what I love!

I re-steeped the leaves tonight, for 2.5 min at ~180F, and am getting a somewhat bitter yet surprisingly palatable, caramel-ish brew. Once I figured out what it was, I actually started to enjoy it! (I couldn’t remember what was in all the cups I brought up tonight.) Looking forward to a proper review and cup of this one in the future!

I had this tea on my wish list for awhile and with my last Butiki order, I snagged it. However, Stacy informed me that I snagged the last of the Spring Twist! Sorry guys…

DRY: really interesting looking fine and crimped looking bright green leaves
STEEPED: Beautiful pale light light green. As I pour the tea into my cup, a strong aroma of sweet veggieness and peaches comes out. Peaches?

TASTE: Drool worthy sweet! Lots of great flavors going on of fresh peas, buttery, fruity and like other tea peeps, I got that freshly picked cob of corn taste! With all that said, the taste is strong and full bodied. No bitterness.

Second infusion: vegetal flavor and slightly buttery. Not as sweet or fruity. Bit of astringency creeping in.

COMMENTS: Mmmm, very good! I enjoy how strong the flavors are in this tea – so this would be great for someone who wants a full flavored but unflavored green.

Sorry tea peeps that I bought the last of this tea. I’m not sharing though (and I’m not sorry about that).