818 Tasting Notes
Yes, the hype is true! This tea is absolutely fabulous! And I have 2 oz. all to myself! Woo!! This has to be one of the best teas I’ve had from Butiki, and it has that amazing natural taste and smooth texture that is definitely characteristic of Butiki! The banana, coconut, and natural sweetness makes this a perfect mid-morning or afternoon tea. It’s such a treat! Definitely a winner!
It’s been like forever since I’ve posted. Life’s been busy. I was in Honolulu for work a week ago and when I got back, well, you know how things get backed up. By evening, I was too tired to write anything. I have, however, bought new tea, including Lupicia tea in Honolulu and I made a Butiki order! I think this is my third Butiki order since I’ve been on Steepster, and I am in heaven!! I finally got Hello Sweetie, which I had yesterday, and it’s awesome…will write a proper post later, but I also had this one this morning, and it’s also awesome!!! I think I was ignoring it before because it had chocolate, and chocolate teas have been hit or miss with me. I’m also not usually a fruity chocolate girl, but I have to say this tea changed my mind about that. This is delicious! The chocolate definitely comes through, and is a nice darker sort of chocolate, and the raspberry isn’t overpowering, but melds well with the chocolate. It reminds me of those yummy chocolates with raspberry jelly in the middle from Trader Joe’s. So good! And the resteep is just as good! I guess I should have tried this one a long time ago! I’ve missed out!! :)
Yesterday, my hubby and I decided to get away for the day and headed down to Carmel. Great idea when it’s not a holiday weekend….took us an extra hour to get down there with all the traffic, but still worth it!
Of course, we had to go to all our favorite places, and one is this shop full of sauces and dips and jams. They put some out with crackers so you can taste things. Way too much fun! We love their fruit curds, so we picked up orchard peach and mango. Mmmm!
So, they were ringing us up, and I saw a couple of tea tins on the counter and started to check them out, and then the cashier said, “oh, you can have one of those for free if you like…we’re not selling them anymore.” Free tea! Score!! Makes me wonder a bit why they aren’t selling them anymore, but who can pass up free tea?
I couldn’t wait to try this one out iced. The ingredients just sound like they’d be so refreshing that way. I have to say that it’s not bad, and I think it’s growing on me. It’s definitely got that “herbal” taste to it, if you know what I mean….could be the lemongrass, or the green rooibos. If I try to ignore that, though, it almost tastes like an orange creamsicle. Not too shabby for a free tea. Woo!!
I’ve been drinking a lot of tea lately, but haven’t been logging much because they’re the same old teas I’ve already logged and I don’t have anything new to say. I can say that I’ve been enjoying many white, green and oolongs though, and a few are excellent iced.
So, this tea…I fell in love with it when I had a sample from Angel, and so ordered a bunch, but since then I’ve had a little trouble getting it to be just as good. I think it has to do with the steeping temperature. The bag recommends 176 degrees, but I swear the sample bag said something higher, like 186 degrees….of course, I don’t have the sample bag anymore. Poo! So, I tried it at 186 degrees today, and I think it came out a lot better. Much more rounded out flavor, and those sweet potato notes were spot on. Only thing is, it was a tiny bit astringent, so maybe I need to cut down steep time a bit. I did it for 3 minutes, but maybe 2 or 2 1/2 would be better. Anyhoo, I think I’m getting there! At least I have a lot left to enjoy!! :)
I have a sample bag of this and it says 184 degrees for 3-5 minutes.
I knew it! Thanks, caile!!
“The bag recommends 176 degrees, but I swear the sample bag said something higher, like 186 degrees …”
It sounds like the quantity you purchased must not have been from the same crop year as your sample. Growing conditions do vary from year to year and can affect the flavor profile of tea.
Per Angel, “Once we have new batch of this tea, we will brew this tea to find out the best brewing guide and adjust the brewing guide.”
Such dedication to finding the optimum brewing recommendations for each year crop for all of their many teas is what makes TeaVivre a superior supplier of Chinese Tea. Angel may be able to further help you optimize the Yun Nan Dian Hong Black Tea – Golden Tip you purchased.
Okay, okay, I get it now. This tea is pretty fantastic! It lives up to the hype!
It had a little side-trip on its way here, though. I thought it was going to arrive on Monday with the 52teas I ordered…would have been the perfect mail day. Instead, USPS failed, and sent my package 90 miles north of me, and then sent it back. Good job, USPS. Oh, and in the 100-degree heat. Poor tea! But it’s here now, so I’m happy.
Real vanilla and cocoa notes makes this one of the few teas I could drink instead of hot chocolate. It reminds me a lot of Tealux’s chocolate delight; however it is much more amazing, since the only flavoring here is vanilla beans. Delicious milk chocolate in a cup. Yum!!!
Now, if only I had ordered North Winds, I could have tried the base tea….!!!
Yes, I drank 2 huge mason jars of this tea iced, right after I drank 2 huge mason jars of coconut oolong iced, and I can’t even tell that’s it’s 100 degrees out. It could be that I can’t tell because I’m in the AC! Haha!
Awesome tea iced. Absolute melon goodness. Wow, I haven’t even had one cup of tea hot today….so weird.
