Mi Xian Black

Stacy sent me a sample of this and I am IN LOVE!
I was not anticipating such a treat this morning!
Getting on a REALLY early morning schedule is biting me in the rumpus today but I am forcing myself to do this.
Barely capable of brewing a cup I manage to make this A MAZE ING tea this morning and it is really giving me that gentle SHOVE I needed!
I am totally getting this creamy, cinnamon like honey flavor and again I need to say CREAMY with a creamy mouthfeel!
I must have more of this!
The peachy notes are sweet, like peach marmalade!
But since it is sweetened by the honey notes its more like an organic or naturally sweetened peach.
I wish I were more with it this morning to properly explain what I am getting from this tea but I am just going to stop, sit back, and enjoy this cup!
Oh yummmm!

Here I go again, being the party pooper to rate down a popular tea. I have had a lot of fantastic teas from Butiki, but I can’t love all of them!

The honey notes that everyone else is raving about are what I don’t like. I had a Wuyi oolong (from RoT) some time ago that had a similar honey taste and the first couple times I had it, it was awesome. Then all of a sudden I just completely lost my desire for it. This tastes so similar to it that I’d almost think I brewed only a few black leaves in with the wuyi oolong.

The good news is, for all of you looking for a sweet black tea that doesn’t bite back, this fits the bill. I like my blacks to be quite a bit more bold.

Oh my!! I was so excited to get my first order from Stacy at Butiki. I can certainly see why Butiki is a popular company with veteran Steepsterites. I have 4 selections, plus 4 samples to try. Mi Xian, a premium black selection, is the 1st one I prepared and boy did it deliver. This for me is a perfect black tea. I have brewed it three different times since yesterday, to make sure I’m not exaggerating, and no, it is fabulous. I appreciate the beautiful packaging and clear instructions on each bag, the well done website,the free samples, and the helpfulness of Stacy on the phone. Now, back to this tea. Stacy points out that Mi Xian is a relatively new style tea. A unique feature is that leafhoppers, which tend to congregate where pesticides aren’t used, are allowed to nibble the leaves which causes the plant to initiate its healing process, making the wet and dry leaves smell like honey and lending favorably to the character of the tea. I think this is a very cool aspect to this tea. As I savor this wonderful tea, I pick up on wild honey and subtle citrusy notes with a creamy velvety body and beautiful fragrance. Especially for those who appreciate milder black teas, as I do, I highly recommend Mi Xian. I will absolutely re-order.

I believe butiki can do no wrong. This tea is juicy and refreshing. Fruity and sweet. My list of teas to purchase is rapidly growing, I almost don’t want to wait for pistachio ice cream any more!

WAHH more buggy tea! Attack of the tea eating leafhoppers! Eww, I regret googling leafhoppers eating tea as bugs creep me out! Before googling, I had a picture in my head of a cute anime like bug (maybe a pokemon like weedle or sewaddle) cuddling a leaf and nibbling on it. I got this tea for winning the unflavored tea drawing! YUM!

DRY: Reminds me of dark chocolate!

STEEPED: Sweet, honey, raisin? Brown earthy coloured tea.

TASTE: I’m getting a lychee taste and lots of smoothness. Also honey sweet, like Gui Fei Long, but much more mellow. Little peach aftertaste. Fun creamyness feeling too!
No astringency or bitterness. The natural sweetness is very nice, I do not want to add sugar for this tea!

Second infusion is less sweet, more mellow and creamy. Still not astringent or bitter. Tempted to try a third, but wondering if it’ll be too light and mellow.

COMMENTS: Very tasty! I dig the sweetness! Solid cup of tea, with a great second infusion. If you are looking for a good unflavored black you don’t need to sweeten, this is it!

I am not one for straight teas usually but Courtney was generous to send me some in a swap and so I decided to give it a try. Plus, sometimes I am surprised by how much I enjoy a straight black (I am looking at you Laoshan Black) and if anyone can make a tasty tea, it is Stacy.

Tbh, it is not something I would reach for often but this cup is pleasant enough. At first sip, it tasted almost generic to me but as I paid a bit more attention, I detected some nice chocolate notes and realized how smooth this is. When I let it sit on my tongue, there is a richness to it that is sweet and nice. It isn’t necessarily for me but I can appreciate this is a nice cup for those who are into straight blacks. For that reason, I am grateful to have tried it. It is always nice to switch it up sometimes and incorporate straights to monitor how my tastes have changed overtime. So thank you Courtney for surprising me with some of this tea!

ETA: Steepster is doing the thing where it decides to just not update my dashboard. Darn you steepster. Get it together!

Thank you so much Sil for sharing this tea with me !
It was a long time I wanted to have it and you made my wish comes true.
I love the Butiki creations on flavoured teas and wanted to taste as well the unflavoured ones.

As you imagine the shipping costs from Usa to Europe don’t allow me to place an order as often as I wish so I need to be sure I love the teas before ordering.
I can say Mi Xian Black is a tea I really love : smooth and present, almost creamy with fruity notes evocating dried apricot to me.

The dry leaves are very very long, impressive, shining and dark-very beautiful.
However it resteeps very well.

Tried it both with brown crystal sugar and after without any sweetener and both ways are gorgeous.

Thanks again Sil and thanks Stacy !

Could this tea possibly fill the Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black sized hole in my tea heart?
YES! Well, at least until it’s available again. This one is really good, and shares some similar aspects with the Wild Mountain Black.

Smell: This one has those warm honey notes that I just love, along with some nice sweet peachy notes. This smells like dessert in a cup – for real.

Taste: Absolutely no bitterness – yay! The honey and peach notes stand out the most in this cuppa. So good! There are some light citrus-y notes in the background, along with a lychee sweetness (surprise!). I’m also getting a bit of spice, which is also a nice surprise. Warm, lightly sweet, and smooth. I’m so excited about this one!

Three resteeps in and it’s still retaining flavor!

Thanks so much to Stacy for this lovely sample

These leaves are suprisingly really long and beautiful looking.

This black tea is great quality. Natural tasting black tea first with smooth notes of honey. In the aftertaste and at the end of the sip, I am picking up those lovely fruity peachy notes.

I am really enjoying this without any additions!

Short Sorceress was nice enough to send me enough of this to steep up a cup, and then CrowKettle awesomely put some in the package that got sent my way. Thank you both so much!

This cup is both juicy and clean, with hints of honey and apricot. It has that smooth, cooling effect (the one reminiscent of sucking on a cool wet stone while trekking through the desert) on my mouth that I really enjoy from the Shui Jin Gui Wuyi Oolong. In other ways (the fruity notes and florals) this reminds me very slightly of a Darjeeling, but it’s creamier and has more body. There’s also no astringency in my cup at all.

This is definitely going onto the inevitable post tax-season order early next year.