Butiki Teas

NUMMY! I am not big on chocolate teas but Stacy of Butiki won my heart with this one!
So huge chunks of berries which means once the tea has lived out its life I have a SNACK!! Haha.
Then these wonderful vegan chocolate nibs which you just have to be NOT tempted to eat before brewing so they can melt into the steep!
A WONDERFUL base that DOES show through the flavorings which are quite well balanced!
I was sitting there sipping then making this obnoxious sound with my mouth doing this smackedy smackedy tap tap sound motion in order to get all the flavor out of the chocolate which also enhanced the base flavor – I know its SO not necessary but I was trying to REALLY get ALL the flavors as I am considering this base for a blend Stacy and I are working on together (run on sentence? Perhaps!)
AN E WAY …. my daughter thought I was insane – but then I am. So what?
Its great.
I love it and that is coming from someone NOT big on chocolate teas!

Oh wow I didn’t realize that I’ve already tried this one?! Hmph.
Well it’s a goodie anyhow, so it’s not wasted.
Unfortunately though, my love for chai seems to have waned somewhat. I mean, this was good and all, but my all out lovethistea meter wasn’t blinking, nor has it been for any of the chais I’ve tried the last little while. I guess I’m in a phase. Boo!! I want to be able to love my chais again. Sighs.
Well, I still have a little bit left, enough to experiment now that I finally went through the notes and saw Kittenas suggestion of adding maple syrup. Uhm yes please!

On a non tea related note, there are 16 days til I leave for vacation. So many levels of yay! Only it seems that the last time I counted down, there were only 18 days and I swear that was almost a week ago… :/
I’m a little frustrated with certain circumstances right now. Really really need that vacation (can you hear me grinding my teeth from all the way over there?)

I love pumpkin!! yum!
Thanks to Will Work for Tea for the sample!!!
I needed a pick me up at work… and this is what I went for. I’ve been craving sweet teas at odd times, like in the morning haha.
Anyhow, the tea itself was a bit too spicy for me. I was not expecting that in a creme brule tea. Oh well, that’s a pretty minor complaint considering how delicious I found my cup to be! with milk and sugar, oh yes it’s very tasty! I can taste some pumpkin, but the cinnamon dominates the first two steeps. The third steep has more of a caramel tone to it, not so much “creme”. In fact, it reminded me in some ways of a pu-erh!
Now I’m wondering how it’d fare as a latte. drools

Thank you Stacy for this Sample!

I was soooo tired last night that I woke up on the couch about midnight having snoozed…zzzzz sitting up chin cupped in my hand (not a pretty picture). This is not how I sleep ever! Taking my zombie self off to my fluffy bed, I finally had the first full night’s rest since the High Hill Fire began on Saturday.

This morning I had this nice little paper wrapped mini Tuo Cha from Butiki to look forward to. Ahhhh. Puerh!

Steeping 7 minutes (after a 20 second rinse) 18 oz would be perfect for beginning my day.

While waiting, watching the fire news, I was stunned to find out that I am only 2.5 miles from the fire.

I really am mentally anxious for tea!

I expect a nice little Tuo Cha to produce an earthy flavor…mild and comforting but a bit predictable.
I should have known better than to assume that Stacy would be predictable in her choice of a Butiki Puerh Tuo Cha!

The flavor was mild and not earthy at all. Fresh then cooling in a way that reminded me of a forest. There was plenty of juice and a heat across my tongue lighting the way for more discovery. Something elusive…a flavor that was an herb in the background. This prompted me to go onto my patio and pick some Rosemary, Sage and Greek Oregano. Rubbing a little Sage between my fingers and smelling the scent? Maybe? Rosemary? No! Greek Oregano…? Um hum…Yes!
Greek Oregano is light, sunny reminds me of playing on a hillside in the Summer smelling the light, natural wild growing herbs.

I added some sweetening…which in this case increased the herbaceous quality which I found to be so desireable and unique in this Puerh.

What a surprise and treat this Puerh was for me. So different than I assumed or expected. So worth having again and again.

WOW! This tea is a mean badass! It’s drinking liquid pepper! Dry tea looks beautiful, shreds of guayusa with specks of bright red peppers. I can smell cinnamon, and pepper, and sniffing the tea made me sneeze for three or four times immediately! Liquid is of light body, it goes down easily, and the colour is brown. Steeped tea vaguely smells of, but it does not taste like, cinnamon (which I was afraid of – every time I was looking forward to trying some really hot, spicy tea it ended up being all cinnamon-y). You better prepare your throat for a little shock before the first sip. Because you will feel every sip of this tea all the way to your stomach. It’s a non-compromising, full-bodied taste of pure cayenne, slightly dried and refined. It is not insulting to the palate, at least not mine, but I belong to the type of people who are always on the search for ever hotter treat to their tastebuds. The hotness lingers on the palate long after you swallow. This is my first guayusa so I’m not sure what special qualities to appreciate in it; as to caffeine I’m drinking this early in the morning, so we’ll see how much caffein-ized I feel later in the day. I would definitely pair this tea with some food.

5 AM I awoke too early with a splitting headache from a cloud of smoke that desended to ground level from the High Park Fires. Uh!
I put on some clothes and walked a down the street towards the hills but stopped part way realizing that there were no hills to be seen. The smoke was too thick and the end of the block was invisable.

Again, my head throbbed…I wanted tea!
I had some new tea from Butiki that I had never sampled. The reviews were too good to resist. Raspberry Truffle certainly sounded more cheerful than the dirty smoke-fog.

Butiki Tea’s ingredients are first class. Organic, Vegan. This has chocolate, dry raspberries, and Kundalay tea. Notes of cinnamon and just sweet enough not to need sugar.
There is a creaminess that reminds you that this tea doesn’t taste like cake or pastry but a real chocolate coated, raspberry filled truffle. You know, the kind of candy that you sneak and eat by yourself savouring each little bite with delight. “Oh thiF is soooo gooB,” you say, with a muffled mouthful of gooey truffle dripping from the corners of your mouth and sticking to your fingers!
You understand why this tea is popular. Imagine drinking that truffle experience without the guilt of overindulgence (or the calories!). Yes!

I feel better, but…it would be good if you would send prayers for the firefighters and the displaced people here! Thanks!

(I’m sorry if my reviews are bad, right now I’m having a hard time with them…please understand it’s hard. Thanks! Doing my best.)

The last of my shopping is done! I found the ‘Mister Potato Head’ and the ‘Stuffed Puffy Gorilla’ for the two little bitty 2 year old grandsons. (Don’t worry, the potato head is for preschoolers!)

It’s interesting to have 2 year old boys with completely different needs. One (Hayden) is zooming ahead in his development and one (Owen) is slower.
Owen has Williams Syndrome. He likes soft and cuddly textures so the 3 foot tall gorilla will make him really happy!

Earlier today I took 8 year old Micah and 10 year old Donovan out for tea. We always have fun together! They met all my favorite servers at Happy Luckys, and ate scones. http://flic.kr/p/dDij7X

At one point, I held up my cup…and the boys held up theirs also.
I said, “Let’s make a toast. What would you like to toast Micah?”
“PIZZA!”,he said without any hesitation.
I couldn’t stop laughing! Of course he would like to toast pizza. He had no idea what a toast was! (I’m such a dorky Grandma)

We walked around town looking in all the store windows. The rock store, the dog cookie store, the Christmas decor store. Fun!

I dropped the boys off…came home and sortly began nodding off on the couch.
You know what I’m talking about. You turn on CNN and snooze!
It was pitiful!

I woke up amused at being an old lady napping on the couch, and decided to make a pot of tea.

There’s a plastic shoebox of Butiki Tea’s in my Cupboard. I pulled the box down, and remembered that I had some Ghirardelli Chocolate Chips in the freezer. What could I do with them?

Some tea companies mix mini chocolate chips into their tea blends so why couldn’t I mix in some of my own with Almond Indulgence Tea?

This idea sounded good to me and worth trying. It’s Christmas after all and Stacy wouldn’t mind!

I got the ingredients ready and popped some chocolate morsels into the basket with the tea to steep.

While waiting, I thought about what a wonderful person Stacy at Butiki Tea’s is. I can count on one hand the vendors that are really special, going beyond people I buy tea from, becoming people I care about.
Now and then, getting an email from Stacy asking how I’m feeling is something I never expected from the owner of a tea company. Stacy was one of the people long ago who welcomed me (and many of you) into the world of tea.

Thanks Stacy!

The tea was ready!

The taste was yummy (of course it was!) but not as chocolaty as I wanted so I plopped in some more chocolate chips, a little milk and stirred the whole thing together.
Yep, even Santa would be proud to drink this with his cookies on Christmas Eve! Creamy, almondy and chocolaty.

Oh boy! I’m awake now!

http://flic.kr/p/dDijjk OK…this is Preston, another server at Happy Luckys, single…24 and really nice! Merry Christmas I-Bloom and friends!

There have been a lot of Butiki Tea’s reviewed today.
Is there a Butiki full moon or something? Hey Stacy, what are you cooking up now?

I have to confess that tonight I watched the (awkward moment)
Finale of “So You Think You Can Dance!” Can I see a show of hands? Who else has watched the entire 9TH season with me? Fess up!

Right before the Finale began, I made a whole pot of Almond Indulgence and settled down with my tray of tea, a mug, cream and sweetening. I WAS READY!

I told Stacy that this tea reminds me of Apple Pie. I don’t know why since it’s an Almond tea but I think of Apple Pie when I taste it. In fact, this tea only needs a nudge of spice and it would make a great Chai. (Thinking about it and scheming I filed that thought under: Future Experiments with Tea.)

My favorite way to drink Almond Indulgence has been with cream and sweetened. I love it this way. I’d like it steeped in milk too. (Note to self…“Try milk steeping.”)

Feet up and mug in hand, I watched the results of the last show of the series. What creative choreography and gifted young dancers. They’ve inspired me. The Arts have always inspired me.

Does it matter that I can’t dance like those young, strong dancers.
No!
I dance with them in another way. I soar in my spirit with every lift, bending and spinning or rising up light as a leaf on the wind, my feet hardly touching the ground.

I fly!

The abandon that I still remember from earlier days, my younger years… playing a classical piece on the piano or putting my fingers on a canvas, creating thick, emotional strokes in the oil paint.

You never forget abandon. And you enjoy observing the joy of it in others your whole life.

What talent!

Thank you Stacy for this Sample Tea!

Ah this tea came on a good day! I have a smoke from forest fire headache. The best cure is TEA! My latest order from Butiki arrived which makes me very happy! This sample was inside and I LOVE IT! TEA ADDICT! ;)

I talk outloud to myself sometimes when I’m happy. (I say bad things when I’m upset outloud too…but that’s another story) Anyway….I bet some of you talk to yourselves too.
When I took my first sip of this tea I said, “Oh Stacy, you did it again you little stinker!” (Well, she is!) She made another naturally flavored tea that tastes so good I have to have more. It tastes just like an almond breakfast pastry. Creamy like frosting and buttery, the almond flavor from real almonds that you can see mixed with the tea. There is just enough spice that the cup is warmed but not screaming SPICE. So delicious that I can’t believe I drank a tea with this flavor instead of saying I just ate a pastry.
The tea is sweet enough to drink without sugar, but if you sweeten this as an indulgent desert …wow!
I say…Grrrrreat!
…great flavor!

My little grandkids would LOVE this! A great breakfast tea with sausage and pancakes or eggs…or at lunch with a chicken sandwich.

Stacy dear…you’ll be hearing from me again real soon! ;)

I am revisiting this tea this afternoon, using the same measurement of leaves from last night, and steeping them yet again. And again! This tea just keeps on going, like the Energizer bunny.

The flavors today are remarkably smooth, noticing only a trace of the mineral-y taste I experienced yesterday, sweet, a little bit of the honey-esque tone but more of a floral sweetness.

This is one of the most incredible Puerh teas I’ve encountered.

I’ve had six infusions of this tea thus far, and all have been incredible. The sixth was my favorite, because the tea has become remarkably smooth by this point, the flavors are seamless. Sweet, savory and delectable. Juicy, smoky, earthy, and slightly vegetative. The first couple of infusions had a very honey-esque note to them, but with the second infusion, I noticed that the honey was becoming a softer flavor and a sweet floral note seemed to be emerging. The third – fifth infusions were very similar to the second, with each subsequent infusion becoming smoother, until this sixth when I notice an incredibly smooth, rich cup.

This tea is by no means done. However, I do think I’ll put the leaves aside for now, and try a different tea for a bit… and come back to these later. It’s going to be a late night for me tonight, as hubby has to work very late, but, fortunately he is off work tomorrow so we can sleep in!

I’ll be back to this one in a bit.

My ‘tea‘ recipes are not complicated. In fact, they are almost too easy.

Years of rushing home from work to hungry people taught me to whip up a meal from scratch in no time flat. Long before there was a movement to eat seasonally, or buy from local farms, I figured out that this was an economical way to feed my family. Boxed, packaged foods cost too much for a single mom.

Now that I’m on my own, I still adhere to a simple, fresh way of eating…and I can whip up a meal that tastes great without costing much time or money.

Now and then, I like to make whole wheat pancakes. I make enough for the week and stack them with foil between the layers inside a bag to make them easy to separate and reheat. They can be used for breakfast, with cheese for lunch or filled like a crepe for dinner and rolled over.

I made pancakes with this tea and have more info and a picture on my blog www.teaandincense.com

I declared today my Butiki Day! I’m being a brave woman and drinking a whole big pot of Guayusa at 4:30pm because the closing ceremony of the Olympics will be on tonight and I intend to stay up and enjoy myself!
(I enjoy myself anyway!)

The Summer Days are beginning to cool finally or so it seems. We had the longest stream of days over 90 degree weather on record! Today, this pot of creamy tea tasted like my childhood Summer’s, listening for the ice cream truck melody…‘All around the mulberry bush the monkey chased the weasel’…playing rickety rack as it slowly came down the street. I could buy a 10 cent creamsicle being careful to eat it JUST SO! (Outside first then the creamy vanilla ice cream last…the reverse of how you eat an Oreo cookie).

Who cares about an energy boost when the flavor is so creamy and delicious. I sweetened mine. There’s even a little tingle that I like. Stacy know’s how to create her flavors well, like a magician with a wand. What I know is that I’ll always be a kid at heart and I love my creamsicles cold or hot like this yummy tea!

Thank you Stacy for this Sample

Woo Hoo Steepster is back up (and we all hope the improvements will be well worth the wait!).

Stacy got me again! The last few samples of tea with my order were so fantastic….I can’t live without them! I ordered more tea including this one while Steepster was down! I need to go to tea AA!

I was just finishing the most refreshing cup of Tangerine Creamsicle Guayusa and ready to review it on Steepster when…dah dah…:( the black screen told me to make another pot of tea!

Now I get to use the word…Backlogging! :)

I used a mesh brew basket in a mug for this sample and let it brew 6 minutes.
The steam was edible! It was like a double decker sandwich of flavors entering through the scent and liquor all at once…creamy, citrus, sweet flaky pastry, silky smooth…with such a light finish. Every, every,every (3 every’s) time I taste one of these Butiki luscious favored tea’s I’am blown away.

They’re never sour, overdone, gaudy or cheap tasting.
Butiki tea’s are refined yet simple. By simple, I mean…not fussy.
The natural flavor is beautiful because someone has the good sense to know that real organic flavor can’t be improved on.
The guayusa is supposed to give you a caffeine type of lift but without the gittery effects of caffeine. I don’t know why, but…I drank the tea then went and took a nap. For some reason, I don’t get a jolt from guayusa.

I’ll be watching for my Tangerine Creamsicle Guayusa and my Good Morning Sunshine Guayusa and my Raspberry Truffle and my Rose Violet Calendula Oolong to arrive. All wonderful! (there’s news in the wind of many, many new Butiki tea’s coming our way)shhhh!

This was another one of the samples that Bonnie kindly sent me. I was very excited to try this as I love pistachio ice cream (well, pistachio anything really). It had a more delicate flavor than I expected, but often times with green teas I’m finding it’s all about appreciating subtlety. The green tea base tastes fantastic, it’s very light and there are delicate flavors of cream and then stronger flavors of pistachio. Very good, it reminds me of Joy’s Teaspoon’s Enchanted Forest (probably because it’s the only other tea I’ve had that used nuts as flavoring). Butiki is definitely going on my list of places to buy from when I get more cash (along with Joy’s Teaspoon, PuerhShop, Den’s Tea, Fusion Tea Room and a slew of other places…).

This tea is really light, and I’ve made the mistake of brewing it up with some strongly-flavoured resteeps, and a smoky tea… so I’m missing out on most of the flavour, although I did get a good sip in earlier. This tea in particular is quite old; I believe it was one of the first I purchased from Butiki.

This tea seriously looked exactly like water when it was steeped. Just the barest hint of colour. There’s a wonderful sweet aroma emanating from the cup. Flavourwise, the tea is so light I can hardly taste it. It’s almost a.. corn nut? corn silk? sort of flavour with a bit of tea aftertaste.

I think I’m going to try the second infusion for closer to 10 minutes. This tea’s just a bit too light for me, personally, although the flavour hints at deliciousness.

ETA: Second infusion (82C for 10:15) has more flavour, and tastes kind of like sweet peas! Like, the flowers, not edible pea pods. Interesting! I think this tea simply needs a longer infusion time for me. Delicious, and so smooth.

So I didn’t notice that the leaves hadn’t fully been immersed until about halfway through the infusion… but hopefully that doesn’t affect the flavour. The tea does smell good, so here’s hoping!

Uh… never a good sign when one chokes on the first sip. Really gotta stop doing that. Anyhow, this is pretty tasty. Very light in flavour, but delicately sweet and a bit fruity. I feel like it suffered in strength from the partial infusion, which is unfortunate but an easy fix for the next infusions! I also feel like my tastebuds are a bit… food-clouded, at the moment, so it’s difficult for me to distinguish things. Either way, pleasant enough, holding on the rating until either the next infusion of next time I try it :)

ETA: Ah, another case of the second infusion being better. 170F/3 minutes, and I’m getting a light, sweetly scented cup with a delicious light, sweet, floral white tea. Very much enjoying this infusion. I blame the first on human error, not too shockingly. No astringency, just pure white tea sweetness. Im not experienced enough in straight whites to know if this is comparatively fabulous or not, but it’s definitely quite enjoyable.

Thanks Stacy for generously including this as a sample with my order!

I love how this tea looks, all twisted into little snakes, which also make it super easy to measure out! I had a bit of an issue brewing in that I guess the mug I used was a little too big width-wise, so the little snakes in my large infuser basket didn’t quite fit into the water to begin with (but I pushed them in as soon as they softened a bit).

I’m getting a flavour that I would usually classify as metallic and therefore reminiscent of oversteeped greens (or, so I’ve learned, tea leaves that have sat out wet for over a day. Ew.), however it morphs into a sort of pleasant tanginess which changes my view to being intrigued instead of icked out! I wonder if this is that lemon that comes out in cold-brewing?? There’s also a nice tangyish green tea aftertaste, and maybe just a touch of astringency.

So as greens go, it’s a different flavour than I’m used to – there’s a bit of sweetness reminding me of Verdant’s dragonwells, but the vegetal qualities are lacking. I’d have to say though, that although it’s interesting, it’s not a green that really fits my preferences for vegetal/seaweedy/rock sugar.

ETA: Second infusion (twisty leaves completely in-mug) for 3 min at ~177F is definitely better than the first. There’s more flavour, I’m getting a definite sweetness and the flavour is no longer coming off as metallic, though I’m still getting a bit of tanginess, which is interesting! Still not a profile I’d be likely to purchase to drink again, but deserving of a better rating than I initially gave it. Word of warning to potential buyers – make sure the little snakes fit fully in your cup! No brew baskets :)

Thank you again Stacy for this Sample tea

How does Stacy find such unusual tea’s? So far I’ve had coin shaped Pu-erh, hand wrapped little cigars of green tea, tea from small farms in Africa. Now a tea with dancing needles!
The handwritten note on my latest order instructed me to brew this Daba in a clear glass vessel because the needles stand up in the water! Oh really?!

I was having company this afternoon and thought it would be fun to share this special tea. The needles at first went to the top of the glass…then the tails dropped like little sea horses and danced in the pale liquor. Little green legs…dangling down…waiting for a wave or current to carry them further out to sea. How fun to watch!

First sip…the flavor was somewhat bitter. Maybe I had oversteeped in my excitement. The taste is very subtle and not very vegital. There is a bit of hay and tannin. The presentation was keen but the flavor was not that good.

Later in the evening, I thought I would give the tea a second chance. First steepings are often not the best. I should have known better (duh) and immediately steeped again.

I’m so glad I resteeped this tea! There is a sweetness that I did not expect! The tannin is there but gentle, there is juice and a light spinach flavor which is delightful.

Other aspects of this tea:
This tea created a nice tea buzz! Really! This was noticed by both me and my guest. You could feel the little electricity that tea can bring to the center of your body…then to the brain and back in such an interesting way. I know we’ve all felt this before…but this tea was a really good conductor! Just say’in….

Thanks Stacy!

Lions and Tigers and Tea! Thank you Stacy for sending this downy and delicious sample!

This one brews up into the most fascinating golden color, as if Apollo’s tears of joy at the taste had been collected in my cup! The base nuttiness woven with sweet pear makes for an understated but complex taste. In the mouth both flavors sit tightly together to form a dark cacao-ish hint of a profile but once the whisper of it is all that remains in your throat, the pieces melt into distinct and separate entities. There is a starchy (not in a bad way) mouthfeel that tells you up front this will be different and lingers slightly after each sip – moving your cup holding hand by divine intervention repeatedly toward your lips! Tasty!

Thank you Stacy for this sample

Stacy told me that this has been her favorite morning tea of late so when I had my choice of samples with my last order, I picked this one to enjoy! Her selecton of organic, high quality rare tea’s has me coming back for more.

This is an orthodox tea from a small farm in Kenya and part of the proceeds from sales go the promotion of Tea’s for Trees. Hooray!

The dry leaves look like the tangled main of a lion…all golden shades of various browns and blond hair wrapped and twisted elegantly askew. They smell dry like softest vanilla.

The wet leaves puff up into large brown ochre fellows, sweet smelling and reminiscent of bergamot.

The taste was like a walk through the tea plantation…the scent and flavor of sweet bosc pear then golden walnut and gentle not-too-malty tea underneath which was golden and sunny in character. There was a slight heat on my tongue that lasted long after my cup was empty and which I found to be a lovely lingering reminder of just how good this tea had been.
There was a comment from Stacy about a cocoa note. I had been trying to discover that flavor but found it to be elusive this time around. I tried the tea sweet which was very nice. Without additions the tea was sweet and delicious enough. I would not add milk.

I can see why Stacy loves this tea to begin her day. Not everyone likes the heavy Assams or stronger black tea’s. This is the perfect choice for a more moderate full flavored tea without big malt and smoke but a bit of fruity flavor and nuttiness. Super delicious!