Zhen Qu

I am surprised to be the first reviewer of this tea (and pleased at the same time since I have great respect for Stacy and Butiki Tea!)

I first noticed this Black Tea at the end of the list of on the Butiki Website and the notes describing floral,chocolate and pecan flavors were intriguing. I’d also learned that Stacy likes to steep her tea for a long time…really long. I sometimes do the same (although she wins) and I thought that if this tea tastes that good with a longer steep, I wanted to have some for my own cupboard.

The leaves were small, curly and a 50/50 mix of gold and black leaves from Yunnan, China.

The steep time was 5 minutes

The comments for this tea were correct when they said the tea is mildly malty. I wouldn’t have guessed that. Usually chocolaty tea’s have a hefty amount of malt as a supporting base but not here, and there was a definite cocoa taste.
Honey flavor was easy to pick up but the nutty and floral taste came in after the tea had cooled and lingered in my mouth.

This was a smooth and mild black tea but one that wasn’t flat. The flavors were rich and thick enough for adding milk and sweetening which I did for my morning cup.

This day marks a year since I traveled with my granddaughter Schey to Alaska, Canada and Washington State. Today was our last “Cruise” day before a week in Washington. We were heading to beautiful Victoria, B.C. (Wow did Victoria look beautiful at night!Lit up like Christmas in September!) and believe it or not, our two week trip was sunny!
What a wonderful time!
Every day there was a ‘tea’ on board ship. We went to a big Indonesian Tea one afternoon, and in Victoria we went to the Empress and bought more Tea. I bought some Canadian Maple Tea in another shop.
Now remember, I had never heard of Steepster. I had never tasted ‘loose leaf tea’. I was almost blind because I needed operations on both my eyes. EVERYTHING was different in my life a year ago!

This morning when I drink this Butiki Tea and discribe how it looks…I can SEE it! It’s beautiful. And I am writing a review on
Steepster with all my new friends! (Unbelievable!)
I am reviewing tea and enjoying it with a knowledge that makes me laugh…I mean…how can this be? It’s been less than a year since I’ve been on Steepster!

For me to say, “I think this is a grand Black Tea” with some knowledge about it is humbling. I’m fortunate that everyone on Steepster has taught me so much (including Stacy) and shared in swaps fine tea’s so that I know that this is indeed a fine tea.

Awesome!

This is so amazing! It’s like a 2nd flush Darjeeling meets a Yunnan black. Out of all the black teas I’ve been drinking in the morning, this needed absolutely nothing added to it.

I taste nuttiness, honey, chocolate, and just a nice touch of floral notes to it. Maybe a bit of caramel too! The caramel especially comes out now that the remaining tea has cooled a lot.

It’s a very mild tea, I found myself sipping it very easily, without even thinking about the taste, other than about how good it tastes!

I’d definitely get more of this in the future, I really wanted to take advantage of Butiki’s sale yesterday but I couldn’t justify it, and I tried to get my mom to buy even $15 of it and she just tells me she doesn’t like tea (and 10 minutes later she liked the chocolate tea I had last night when I gave her the mug to try it). Oh well. I’ll have money one day.

This is fantastic!

The dry leaves are gorgeous – lots of golden curls amongst the dark chocolate curled leaves. The aroma of the brewed tea is chocolate-y and sweet, with notes of malt and caramel. Nutty too. My taste buds are eagerly awaiting a sip as I wait a few moments to allow it to cool a bit.

Ohhh… so good! Rich and malty with a strong honey-esque tone. Chocolate-y, yes … and deliciously caramel-y too. The caramel and honey mingle together to form a honey-caramel overtone that possesses hints of the caramelized sugar that have not quite burnt… but have developed a really rich, brown color.

It’s remarkably smooth, and the flavor also possesses something I did not anticipate from the aroma – a floral note. Like a hint of flower somewhere in the distance. I did not really smell the floral tone, but I can taste it.

A really REALLY good black tea. It has some vigor to it too.

mmmmmm So I really like this tea! It won’t replace Laoshan black as one of my favorite straight blaccks but it’s pretty damn good! I asked Stacy for a sample of this to try out and see how it compares. I really enjoy the chocolate notes in this tea and the malty tones in it. I love the sweet honey notes in it. I really wish i had more of this now that my small sample is gone. Thanks for this Stacy!

A very nice mellow tea with sweet honey-coated notes. The brew is light and malty cocoa-like, with an pleasant smoothness. The leaves are definitely of good quality and you you see clearly the 2 leaves and bud after the second infusion. Speaking of the second infusion, it turns more creamy and there is no bitterness that is noticed.

Definitely a anytime kinda tea, but seems very fitting for a first or last cup of the day. Another wonderful treat from Butiki Teas.

Oh my… this tea is so good! I’ve had this type before, I believe it was a sample sent to me by ScottTeaMan. Scott- where are you? Haven’t seen you in ages.

Anyway, this is a great tea to sip on PLAIN, without additions. It does not need anything to make it better. It’s very gentle and has notes of cocoa, caramel and a hint of floral like a darjeeling. Not a trace of bitterness in sight, just a really lovely sipping tea. yummy!

Sorry I have not had the chance to write a lot of longer tasting notes recently!

When I pulled a sample of this in my package from BoxerMama I thought I had won the lottery or struck gold! The leaves look like golden yarn. They’re very charming and bright! I love how they transform when steeped.

I had this about four days ago in my travel mug but I’m afraid the plastic didn’t do this mellow tea any favours. I had this a few days before that but was eating Kimchi Jjigae, which also tampers with subtle flavours.

Luckily, for a sipdown, I steeped the meager amount of remaining leaves in my tiny glass pot. I got five steeps and each one was very chocolaty and mellow. Very pleasant and definitely something I would think of picking up, in small amounts, when I want a simple smooth “chocolate” cocoa tea with a touch of honeyed sweetness. No bitterness or astringency detected.

I’m not sure how I haven’t logged this one yet. The package is almost gone!
It is one of the few Butiki teas that doesn’t have that juicy undertone. It’s lighter, almost fluffy tasting. I love it, never disappointed by Butiki.

The world didn’t end! Yeah!

This isn’t the tea I wanted. I wanted something dark & rich, velvety & heavy with malt. But I’m at Tony’s, & his selection isn’t so great, & I realized I had tossed this into my purse, so there it is. My first cup was with 1 tsp of tea, & it was ok, but not really all that exciting. That was this morning.

I’ve been kind of cranky this afternoon, & Little Terri wanted pancakes. Basically, she wanted to be indulged a little, & feel like she was getting away with something. So pancakes it was, & they were tasty, with just a little maple syrup & coconut butter. We also had a bacon & broccoli fritata.

I also just had another cup of Zhen Qu, using 2 tsp of tea. Much better! There is a really nice chocolate-ness to it, a little malt, & it’s very satisfying.

I feel better now.

Another black from Butiki that I felt compelled to try. This one is definitely tasty, and I’m catching the chocolatey notes, but it’s not as tasty to me as Laoshan Black or Butiki’s Taiwanese Assam. It’s actually a bit more reminiscent of Teavivre’s Bailin Gongfu Black, as there’s some of that hay-y flavour poking through here. Still, tasty enough and without astringency, just not a tea I’d repurchase!

Just a lovely tea. The dry leaves are beautiful.

The smell is malty and yeasty. Taste is mildly malty. Definite notes of pecan and cocoa – not sweet chocolate or hot cocoa but cocoa like cocoa powder you bake with. This is one of the only teas I’ve ever had that is described as having chocolate flavor that I 1) actually get a cacao nib taste from and 2) actually like. This is not a chocolate tea, though, so I wouldn’t drink this expecting what you have had in other chocolate teas.

I’d say if you like yunnans you’ll like this one. No doubt at all that this is from Yunnan.

This is one I’ll definitely want to keep around. Sturdy and hefty without being bitter or dry.

UPDATE: 2nd steep was for about 6 minutes and while it was noticeably less malty and flavorful, it was still highly drinkable.

I got a massive order from Butiki yesterday and the first thing I did was open up the bags to take a look and smell at the leaves of each tea. Many of the teas were absolutely gorgeous in their appearance, particularly this one and the Royal Golden Safari. I was also happy to find some generous bonus goodies with my order (thank you, Stacy).

The brewed tea is quite delicious. To me it tastes like a mixture of light chocolate and honey notes mixed with a bit of nuttiness as the description mentions, as well as a little smoke that finishes with a pleasant astringency. This is one of those teas that would be great on a stormy night.

This is the fourth tea that I ordered from Butiki. Once again, a black tea varietal from China that I haven’t tried; count me in. I ordered a small amount of this to try and I am not disappointed.

I don’t know what I was expecting the dry leaf to look like, but not like it did. I guess I was expecting longish glossy black strands, but instead it is curly, golden and fuzzy. The tea steeped up fairly light for a black, more like a dark brownish maroon. It smells both a bit chocolatey and a bit fruity.

The flavor to me is a bit of cocoa, a fair amount of malt, some soft breadiness and definite nuttiness like a pecan or walnut. It’s lightly sweet, too, which gives it some honeyed notes as well. It’s not a robust black tea but I would say it is full-bodied in that the texture is rich and not thin. Quite tasty and definitely up my alley. I do like having all of these different Chinese black teas around for a little subtle variety. :)

Forgot to review this before, so now I’ve had this delicious Chinese Yunnan black several times. This is outstanding! This is a dreary, damp, grey day in Atlanta, and the perfect day to sip tea. (As is every day!) As others have pointed out, the dry leaves are very pretty with their golden and dark curls. In fact,when I first opened the package, just by the appearance, I had an idea I would like it very much. I can both taste and smell floral notes, and yes, it is rich and smooth with just the right amount of maltiness and sweetness. I have experimented with it, and found it to be very forgiving. I’ve brewed 1 tsp./8 oz for 5 minutes, as well as 2 tsp/8 oz for 3 minutes and gotten great results both times. It takes a second steeping well too. Even with a longer steep time, I didn’t get bitterness or astringency. I love good blacks, and this one is high on my list. Glad I’ve got a little left, but it will be time to re-order soon! And I like so many Butiki teas-it will be hard to narrow it down!

1 tsp in 8 oz

This was a very nice, smooth tea with some Dian Hong characteristics to the flavor, though not as intense. Non-astringent and earthy. I liked it a lot but maybe not enough to stock it in my cupboard. I’d rather have a classic Dian Hong when I am wanting a cup of this type of tea.

I was very comforted to discover that I hadn’t written a tasting note for this tea yet. Having a tea on hand that I had yet to write about is helping suppress the urge to place an order at Verdant after already reaching my maximum for ordering for the month of May. (Yes, I did it that quickly. I need to learn to pace myself)

Anyway, I am glad I held off on writing a note for this. I went through a bizarre week where no matter what tea I drank, all I tasted was black pepper. ._. Even in Mi Xian Black which is currently the sweetest black tea — unflavored — I’ve ever had. I might’ve thought something had somehow gone terribly wrong were it not for the fact that I was even getting that taste in teas I’d already had in my stash and had drunk from, so it was clearly just me.

(Speaking of which Stacy, disregard my comment on how Hattialli Golden Lion Assam tasted on the long steep. That was during my BLACK PEPPER phase. When I order some up next, I’ll try the long steep again and tell you what I think. :D)

So because of that phase, the first time I drank this, it was just PEPPER so I took a break from drinking this until I went back to normal.

Anyway, I find this tea works great both at the 3 minute steep, and at a 4 minute steep. I vaguely taste a bit of a chocolate note — though it’s wrapped up in something I can’t quite put my finger on — and then just when I think it’s going to turn into CHOCOLATE, it then has a very strong nutty pecan like flavor that lingers after the sip.

I find if you hold it on your tongue longer, you can taste the cocoa-wrapped-in-something flavor longer, as the pecan taste comes more just when you’re swallowing.

This is my first Yunnan tea and overall I think it’s a very good experience. :) It’s a very nice cup. It has a very creamy texture even though the pecan gives you an impression that the tea tastes salty. (Which it doesn’t really, it’s just that I tend to associate nuts with salt)

While this didn’t leap to my favorite, I would definitely purchase this again. This tasting note was based on the three minute steep which is delicious, but I think I like a bit of a longer steep to really make the flavors pop a bit more.

DAY AFTER EDIT: Hmm, this time I’m tasting more chocolate with a hint of pecan. Funny how the more you have a tea, the different it becomes. If this is how I taste it from now on, this’ll definitely be a regular tea for me, yummy! :)

This has a similar flavor profile to other Yunnan teas I’ve been drinking but it has less oomph than I would like in a black tea, even with extra leaf and a longish steep. It does have a nice flavor of bran muffin with raisin and a hint of honey, making it a pleasant, easy tea to drink.

I’m getting earthy smells that remind me of pu-erh while it steeps. Taste is earthy as well, and I’m getting notes that are reminiscent of raisin as it cools. It’s quite smooth on mouthfeel. I think I prefer this without sugar, it is good straight on it’s own.