Watermelon Xylophone

I am so behind on my tasting notes it’s almost embarrassing. I have like 10+ to log that I’ve totally neglected! I’ve had a lot of work-related stuff to do the past few weeks, including dealing with NYCC’s ridiculously elaborate press registration. Why do I need to fill out a 5 page form and FAX it? Is it 1990 and no one told me?! Seriously, who faxes anything anymore. But I got my badge, so now that’s all taken care of I need to catch up on tea!

This tea is magical. I think Stacy is some sort of tea fairy who just sprinkles stuff with magic dust and voila, it’s perfect! You see, this is a VERY watermelon-y tea. In the bag it smells like candy. Not Jolly Rancher watermelon, but pure tasty watermelon. When it’s brewed (cold steeped in this case) it’s an almost crystal-clear liquid that smells SO strongly of watermelon it’s amazing! And the taste, wow. It’s SO natural watermelon! And really strong! But, at the same time it’s not overly strong at all. In fact, while it’s very watermelon-y there’s just as much if not more of the delicious white base going on. It’s like… watermelon juice and white tea together in harmony.

I don’t think I am properly describing it, but it’s like… the most natural, perfect flavoring in the world. You’d never know it was actually flavored at all it tastes so natural! Like the tea leaves just grew and tasted like watermelon. My dad, who is wary of fruity-flavored teas, even loved this one! He mentioned it the other day, so I think I might get him some of this for Christmas. It’s just… perfection!

THANK YOU STACY FROM BUTIKI FOR THIS PRE-RELEASE SAMPLE!

So I got this as a free sample from Butiki in my recent order…a handwritten note from Stacy said: 

«brand new Watermelon Xylophone which has not yet hit our website!» 

How cool is that???

Made me feel so special!  I asked her if she would want me to add it in order to review it or wait for it’s official release.  She graciously provided the ingredients so I can do a proper review. 

The tea is pretty, what isn’t pretty about silver needles?  Also, blended in are some cute pinkish purple Globe Amaranth petals.  Now I had to google that!  Call me ignorant, but I had no clue what they were;  

«an all-time flower-gardening favorite. It seems to have it all — it thrives in hot conditions, it blooms nearly nonstop, the interesting pom-pom flowers are great for cutting and drying, and it attracts butterflies. Plant globe amaranth and then step back to watch it thrive and add continual beauty until frost.».  Well I need to get me some of those!  

She had also written on the note some thoughtful recommendation for brewing instructions: « we highly recommend adding sugar to that tea or waiting until the tea has cooled down significantly»

Hummm…  I rarely add any sugar to anything.  And not trying the tea while it’s hot?   Ask a girl NOT to do something and what will she do?…

…I had it hot, with no sugar… Common, I didn’t intend to have it all this way, just have a sip out of curiosity!

It was very delicate, as a good silver needle.  But not much flavoring going on, I could barely detect any watermelon.  A slight flowery taste emerging, but that’s about it.  

Conclusion:  got to listen to the maker and add sugar.  I added about 1/2 tsp of pure coconut sugar and I let it cool down for a while. The taste:  she knew what she was talking about… Watermelon?  Oh yeah!  Just like magic, the sugar brought that flavor out, all of a sudden, it’s juicy and luscious. Not in a bold in your face kind of way, but as a real watermelon squeezed juice, as if you just did that, squeezed a large wedge of watermelon over  a fresh cup of silver needle.  There’s also that flowery taste that lingers in your mouth…Feels like a summer reminder, already taking a step back and inviting autumn to take over…

I’m in love with Butiki, I feel as if I never had «real» flavored teas before!

Now why is it called Watermelon Xylophone? I know it’s most probably far from the truth, but here’s my interpretation:  first, the needles do remind me of the long keys of a xylophone.  And just like a xylophone, the taste escalates and explodes in a beautiful ascent!

I feel so honored I got to try this! 

I ordered this one for a blind taste :) with my last Butiki order.
I had no idea how it was but it was a lucky blind taste. I love it really much : it’s so perfumed , wonderful.
I’d love to know why it is called xylophone…because for sure I know why it is called watermelon ! it’s so watermelony :)the aroma is just fantastic, like a fresh and really mature watermelon.

Surprising idea of a watermelon tea.
People who don’t like tea often say it’s just hot water…watermelon is a very refreshing fruit full of water (more than others !) let me tell you dear tea haters that Stacy managed to blend a mathematical tea…water+water = a wonderful tea !so you can begin to drink tea now, no more excuses, convert yourselves to the God Watermelon Xylophone !

Thank you Stacy for sending me a free sample of this tea…

It is very pretty looking in the bag with the silver needles and the amaranth flowers. I took a whiff of the cup after steeping and it smells just like watermelon.

This is very tasty — it definitely is light and sweet with a melon flavor. I can’t help but wonder what this would be like iced. Somehow it’s a bit odd to drink a warm melon. But this tea definitely lives up to its promise. If you’re looking for a watermelon tea you should check this out! I am enjoying it but I don’t think it’s my favorite tea from Butiki.

So what happens when work gets crazy insanely busy? You forget what you’ve asked for in trade with swaps sometimes. THIS cold beverage was brought to me by Kittenna and when i try it hot, it will be brought to me by courtney haha.

In this particular instance i don’t mind doubling up on my swap receipt because it means i’ve got enough to have this both hot and cold without much fuss AND share a small bit with my other half. He loooves watermelon!

This one cold is pretty delicious! I love how subtle the flavour is without any sense of that artificial watermelon taste that most candies use. I also smiled a bunch this morning when i saw the golden colour of the liquid. It really is pretty. overall? a success cold! I’m hoping the hot version will be just as tasty for an occasional treat from stacy in the summer.

Finally got to some new teas tonight! Thanks to Azzrian for packaging up my multiple orders and shipping them off to me!

The dry tea smells much like Cantaloupe & Cream to me, minus the cream. Strangely, my roommate initially said it smelt like milk. Who knows.

There’s not much aroma from the steeped cup.

The flavour really, really reminds me of C&C, with a bit less creaminess (but a lovely smoothness). I’ll have to compare them side by side one day. I can distinguish the flavour as “melon”, but it isn’t coming through as watermelon quite yet. It still is quite good though; expected nothing less from Butiki! I’ll try some different parameters next time, perhaps, or the addition of rock sugar, to see if it bring the watermelon out more.

ETA: Re-steeped twice, both were tasty, but still remind me a lot more of just a generic “melon” flavour, not specifically watermelon. I still quite like it though! Sugar will be added to a future infusion just to see how it works out :)

Finally the aftertaste of medicine has subsided enough that I can drink this, though I imagine that since the aftertaste was sorbitol and sucralose, and this tea is recommended with sugar, it would have been a benefit, hahaha.

In the bag this tea smells just like melons, a bit like cantaloupe and cream but with the addition of honeydew.

I followed steeping instructions, and added agave.

Wow. If only everyone could flavor white teas like this. It’s amazingly watermelon, but it still comes off as a very delicate, light white tea. It is absolutely bursting with flavor despite this. Very summery, and very easy to just relax and sip.

Needing a bit more relaxation thanks to certain people and things, plus being unable to just let this tea go with one steep, I resteeped for 6 minutes. Which is also the perfect amount of time to triple check and retouch nail polish (one of the previously mentioned things).

This cup still has a watermelon scent to it, although it is fainter than before.

It’s hardly lost any watermelon flavor, seriously! This may have to keep going. This cup tastes like it actually intertwines more with the silver needle.

Good thing part of that more relaxation because of people thing may result in being up until it’s 9 or 10am in Germany, yeah? Bring on more steepings!

This tea is a wonderful watermelon tea. If you are looking for a light & summery watermelon tea, this is great iced or hot. Personally, this tea is lacking the depth of some of the other blends like cantaloupe & cream or pineapple cilantro cream. But if you want something less complex, this is a better choice.

I have had this tea for way too long unsteeped on my shelf. Watermelon is my favourite food in the world (with cookie dough coming close second) but lately I have been in the mood for strong fruit tea’s which is maybe why I haven’t tried this one yet. I got this a while ago as a gift from my mother for looking after her house and dogs while she went on holiday.

I open the pack and the most amazing watermelon fragrance greeted me, I have no idea how the smell is so accurate but it is. It really does smell exactly like watermelon. The last thing you expect to see when you look at the raw tea are white silver needles and flowers.

I brew the tea and it still has the amazing fresh watermelon smell. A little sugar is recommended so I added a 0 calorie sugar. Then I sip and sip and sip some more… What can I say? It’s clearly another winner from Butiki Teas. Not only does this taste of watermelon but it’s also an ingenious way to flavour white needle tea with something other than jasmine.

It tastes similar to Butiki’s Cantaloupe and Cream but you can tell the difference after a few sips, plus the sugar does go well to adding to the watermelon flavour. It’s simply amazing!

Thanks again to Stacy for the FB contest. This was one of the teas included in the flavoured prize category! watermelon tea!

I accidentally steeped this for 6 minutes instead of the recommended 4.5. Oops, I got distracted. Anyway, it didn’t taste oversteeped at all. It is really nice and smooth. I am actually getting more of a honeydew melon note like someone else mentioned. And like Kittena mentioned, it is similar to Cantaloupe&Cream, but with less cream.

I resteeped at 6 minutes and very lightly sweetened with white sugar. This is where the watermelon came out a little more. I think I need to get those brown sugar crystals next time on Butiki’s site.

Great work Stacy on another white tea! I love white teas. Great for relaxing in the afternoon!

I was planning to drink the rest of this and write a note earlier in the day but life got ahead of me. I managed to pay a visit to my grandfather in the hospital with my mother, as well as see my grandmother and my silly lovebird whom she is pet-sitting. I’m so grateful that everyone lives close by!

Anyways, I picked this tea to be one of those neat little samples that Butiki provides. Initially, I tried comparing this to Cantaloupe & Cream to figure out which one I would “keep” but I can’t make up my mind. Cantaloupe, Watermelon, White Peony, Silver Needle- can I have them all?

This tea smells and tastes like the juiciest, sweetest piece of watermelon on the plate. There is a prevailing honey-sweet aftertaste that is tricking my mind a little bit right now. Maybe it’s because I’m drowsy that I’m wondering if I swallowed all of the watermelon seeds.

I love how this tea is refreshing and cool despite the warm temperature of the actual cup. The back story behind the tea’s name and the music clip included on the blog are cute too.

1 tablespoon for 375 ml of water.

Melon-y flavour in the background. The melon note has a slight quick bitterness to the taste that makes it seem more like watermelon or honeydew than another melon such as cantaloupe (which has a long, sustained sweetness in my opinion). White tea taste is present closer to the end of the sip. Slight metallic feeling from the white tea taste. Fruity sweetness from the end of the sip into the aftertaste- like the sugar-y taste after biting into a fresh watermelon slice. This note is toned down by the marshy note of the white tea.

More sweetness and fruity taste come out as the tea cools. Overall this tea has a very delicate flavour.

Second infusion at 6 minutes. Very little flavour.

I spent a couple hours running errands, including delivering Tony’s teas to him (he was SO happy!). Now I’m home again, and really dragging from having stayed up so late last night working on my website. Maybe a little more caffeine…just a little…

First I have to confess: I don’t really usually like watermelon flavored things, & I only like watermelon alone. I don’t even like eating it that much, but I will run it through my juicer during the peak of summer, or when I’m having kidney problems (which I no longer have since I changed my diet). I juice the rind & the insides separately, drink the rind first, then chase it with the pink juice (or other color, I usually grow my own watermelons, although this year was a fail…on many thing in the garden…

Confession part 2: I bought this because it was on sale, and because the name was just too good to pass up!

So: It is a beautiful blend! The silver needle a litely fuzzy green, the amaranth flowers bright pink (giving you the image of pieces of watermelon), & the smell is amazing! To me it smells more like a Honeydew, but whatever, it’s awesome!

Taste: unsweetened, it reminds me of that watermelon rind juice, not unpleasant, crisp & clean. Sweetened OMG, it’s like an ambrosia! Delicate, melony (definitely watermelon, a really tasty one). I might have to get some more of this elixer…the sale ends when??

Thanks to Stacy at Butiki Teas for this sample with my order!

This is such a beautiful tea. The fuzzy leaves and hot pink flowers look so very nice together. The dry leaves smell like cherries. Brewed, this smells exactly like warm watermelon. And it tastes exactly like watermelon! I literally can’t think of another way to describe this. I am drinking this while eating some red grapes, and it is a great combination. This will be fantastic as an iced tea. Definitely adding it to my shopping list! Another win for Butiki Teas.

UPDATE: I fell asleep before finishing the tea, so it was nice and cold when I woke up this morning. Not nearly as good as an iced tea as I thought it would be. Warm, the flavors are seamless. Cold, however, the watermelon flavor and the tea flavor tease apart. It isn’t terrible, but it isn’t nearly as tasty as when the tea is warm. Brewing this with some sugar might solve that problem, though.

Gaaaaaaah.

I don’t like melon very much. I enjoyed DavidsTea’s Luscious Watermelon quite a bit, and I will eat watermelon occasionally in the summertime, but I’m not a huge fan.

That said, this tea is amazing.

I knew I would only have time for one cup before heading to work this afternoon, so I poured my first and third infusions into jars and stuck them in the fridge, and drank the second steep hot. It was delicious warm, very subtly fruity and light. But cold, oh my god. It’s so refreshing! I think I actually might need to order more of this… which I never thought I would say about a melon tea. Sigh.

Oh yes. There are no words.

Okay maybe I have a few words. So this morning I drove my fiance to work at 6:15a. Now normally I come home and get ready for my class. This morning I was exhausted, which has been a near permanent state for some time. So I decided to lay down, just for 5 minutes. I think we all know how that went.

Two hours later I woke up and yep, I had missed my first class. But there was a silver lining. I went outside to empty the recycling when the mailbox caught my eye. What was in there but two tea swap packages! I have so many new teas on my counter at the moment it’s slightly ridiculous but I’m so excited! Thanks to jessiwrites and Shmiracles for turning my Monday back around :)

And this tea is amazing. I’m quite sure Butiki could make anything taste amazing. This will be a permanent in my collection.

Having my second steep of this to motivate me to study. But it’s making me daydream of summer days at the beach. Oh summer. Beach. Happiness.

The second steep actually turned out well. Still a fair amount of flavour.

Seems I’m running through all my samples from alphakitty today.

This is such a pretty tea.
I of course didn’t read the recommendations for this as, I always brew my tea how I want. Yea I’m a little stubborn, and I could probably learn a few things if only I listened. Alas I did not.

This was so light & refreshing… hot. So yummy I couldn’t even let it cool. I definitely get a melon taste but almost more of a cantaloupe taste. I can see the little ‘hairs’ in my tea hehe

Either way this is delicious. Very beautiful. I’m sure this would be fantastic iced as well.

Thank you kittylovestea for this sample! So glad I ordered an ounce of this before even tryin it. This one tastes quite like the cantaloupe and cream at the finishing notes, but the first flavor I get is watermelon. Once I get my shipment I think I am going to try mixing both together. Going to try this iced next :-)

Polished off the last of my sample from T.C. today. Thanks!

I enjoyed the first steep hot. There’s a really nice sweetness from the watermelon. I also detected some honeydew flavors which was an unexpected but welcome surprise. All in all a truly fantastic tea.

I combined the second and third steeps with a bit of honey and stuck it in the fridge to enjoy as iced tea later. After about an hour, I got impatient and starting drinking it. It was so good! The watermelon flavor was even more prominent than before. I added a few ice cubes from the office fridge to speed up the cooling process, but that ended up being a terrible idea.

Luckily for me, there is a box from Butiki sitting in my mailbox waiting for me! I can’t wait to try more of their teas.

The dry scent reminds me of honeydew melon initially. My boyfriend immediately identified watermelon so people who love both will enjoy this. I taste the fruity flavoring, then the tea alternately and those are balanced in the first steep. Second steep allows the tea to shine and the melon is the undernote. I was surprised at the suggested steep time of 4.5 min since that’s twice as long as usual time for white teas. I am reminded of a previous discussion that silver needle can handle hotter and longer due to having a thicker “body” in it being the apex leaf bud. I want to try a boiling temp rinse of 30 sec, then brew at the usual 170-185 for 2 min first steep, increasing steep time for as long as it can go. That adventure needs to wait another day though.