268 Tasting Notes

95
drank White Rhino by Butiki Teas
268 tasting notes

Ok, time to work my way through my tasting note backlog. Yes, it’s 2am, but I knocked out 10 hours of sleep last night and am feeling great, so my natural night owl tendencies have come out to play. Plus, it’s Saturday night, so I can do whatever I want and I feel like drinking some tea :-P

This tea though. LOVE IT. Not only is it tasty as all get out, it’s just so interesting. It’s the white tea for black tea lovers ( I heard that on Steepster, although I don’t remember where, so the credit does not go to me). The leaves are just luscious; long and plump in browns, yellows, and greens. They smell citrus-y when brewing, although I did not get any citrus in the taste, and the liquor is a goldenrod yellow. So pretty :). The first sip is a mouth bomb of honey and malt dropped on your unsuspecting taste buds (mine don’t mind at all!). Once you’ve recovered, further sips bring out strong notes of bread and cream with subtle sweet potato notes floating here and there. Oh my yum, I have serious need of this tea. It will have a permanent place in my cupboard from now on! Thank you, Virginia, for sending me this sample! I discovered a new favorite :)

Flavors: Bread, Creamy, Honey, Malt, Sweet Potatoes

TheTeaFairy

It takes only a night owl to understand another :-)
And after reading this, thank god for ordering some!! See? You are now enabling me ;-)

mj

I would be a night owl every night if I wasn’t such a baby when I don’t get enough sleep (I’m a total grump face haha). Right now though, I’m having an awesome time drinking white tea and listening to Amy Winehouse :)
I hope you like it! You can blame this one on me, although I would point out you ordered it before reading my review :-P

TheTeaFairy

Haha! True, I did order before…but had I not, I would have after reading this!

Oh, and a total Amy Winehouse obsessed fan here…still crying her death.

mj

I didn’t really feel one way or the other about her music while she was still living, but I find I really appreciate it lately. I heard “Back to Black” today and couldn’t get it out of my head, which prompted this listening session. That song gets me every time!

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95

I don’t know about you, but I love waking up with the Jabberwocky. Once you get to know the Jabberwocky, you discover he is no fearsome beast, not at all ;-). In fact, the Jabberwocky smells like chocolate and anything that smells like chocolate is welcome at my breakfast table.
The first sip though. Big sigh So much better than the lovely aroma or the Steepster hype led me to believe! There’s a rush of salted caramel blended with a river of dark chocolate. There’s a gorgeous bready element that reminds me of short bread. In fact, the whole initial flavor combination resembles these homemade twix bars sprinkled with sea salt that I make sometimes. After that first sip, I started to notice this luxurious creamy element that adds a big dollop of crème fraîche on top of that twix bar. Despite all these heavy, rich flavors, this tea leaves you with a refreshing and cool sensation. The Jabberwocky is positively sinful but requires no “Hail Marys” or extra cardio afterwards :)

Flavors: Bread, Caramel, Chocolate, Cream, Salt

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 3 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 12 OZ / 354 ML
TheTeaFairy

Oh, so happy you like it as much as i do!!! “…a river of dark chocolate”…Mmmmmmm, I may have to borrow that someday. :-)

hippiechick 42

Now I want some! Shame on y’all! lol

TheTeaFairy

Haha! Hippiechick, I’ve been drinking loose lead tea all my life and WP is my biggest addiction to date…Once you start, you can’t stop!!

Ost

I just got up. Was wondering what to drink this afternoon…now I know. Thanks! XD

mj

You haven’t steered me wrong yet, Tea Fairy! Speaking of which, when you have time, would you mind sending me some darjeeling recommendations? And feel free to borrow away :)
Ost, I hope you like it too!

TeaLady441

Ooooh, you have sold me on this!

TheTeaFairy

Thanks for reminding me sweet girl…I have sent you the list :-)

mj

Thanks for the list TeaFairy! (Does it annoy you when I leave out the “The” at the beginning? If so, I will take the time to type it)
Cavocorax, I hope you like it! So much pressure! But I have faith in Brenden’s mad but completely awesome concoctions :)

TheTeaFairy

Lol, mj, you can drop the “the” with no problem, you can even write TTF for all I care but thanks for asking :-) I’m thinking of dropping the “the” myself, but then that would just make me “a” tea fairy, not “the” tea fairy, haha!

mj

You are definitely the tea fairy! Not just any old tea fairy :)

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The leaves again looked pretty much like the other 2nd and autumn flushes- thin, short, and brown. The liquor was a light sienna and smelled earthy and sweet. The taste was similar to the 2011 autumn (wine, earth, oak), but muskier. I’m not sure if muskier is the right word, but that’s as close as I can get right now. Also, it was less astringent than the 2011 autumn flush, although discounting that I preferred the flavor of the 2011 to this one.

Flavors: Earth, Oak, Red Wine

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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The leaves of this flush looked quite similar to the 2nd flush- short, thin and brown. The smell was also quite similar (fruity), but with a little bit more of a kick to it. The liquor was a darker sienna color and the taste was definitely more red wine. There were also earthy and oaky notes in the sip and it was the most astringent of the darjeelings I tried. For that reason, it was my least favorite.

Flavors: Earth, Oak, Red Wine

Preparation
1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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I decided to try another second flush, this time from this year. The leaves looked much the same as the 2013 second flush: small, thin, and short in shades of brown. The smell was fruity and maybe a little oaky? The liquor was a similar amber color. The tea did taste somewhat different. It was less sweet grape with a more mineral quality to it and was much more astringent. I preferred the 2013 to this one. (not that this one was bad at all!)

Flavors: Grapes, Mineral

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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This darjeeling looks a bit different from the first flush I just tried. The leaves are short and thin in shades of brown and the resulting liquor is an amber color (much darker than the first flush. The first thing that hit me when sipping was sweet grape taste, which was followed by a taste that reminds me of red wine without tasting exactly like it. Sorry if that makes no sense. Overall, this tea tasted “warm” to me while the first flush tasted very fresh.

Flavors: Grapes, Red Wine

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
Butiki Teas

You are describing the “muscatel” notes!

mj

Is that what that is? Haha, I never knew what muscatel was before although I had heard of it. Thanks so much for this box, I’m learning a ton!!

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Yay for getting to try a bunch of darjeelings! I thought I’d start with the first flush and then go in “chronological” order, if you know what I mean. The leaves of this tea are short, thin, and flaky, colored green and brown. The best way that I can describe the smell is that it smells slightly green. The leaves brew up a light golden yellow liquor and taste like gentle hay with that “mountain air” taste I associate with darjeelings. The sip finishes with some sweetness and subtle tingling on the tongue, without any astringency. First flush is where it’s at :)

Flavors: Hay, Sweet

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 3 min, 30 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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drank Dong Ding #1 by Educational TTB 2
268 tasting notes

This is the last of the oolongs! I did it! I didn’t try all the oolongs, I just tried one of each kind. The leaves are small, tightly rolled, and dark brown. The smell is a very strong oolong smell and the brew is dark amber. For me though, this oolong is maybe too roasted? It almost tastes burnt. It has a weird, almost coffee-like aftertaste that I was not a fan of at all. It’s just really in your face and not in a good way :-/.

Flavors: Burnt, Coffee, Roasted

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML
sherapop

I’ve noticed that I tend to prefer the less-oxidized, greener oolongs…

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drank Wild Tea (China) by Educational TTB 2
268 tasting notes

This wild tea has long, thin, and dark leaves that smell vegetal with a hint of floral. They brew up a pale yellow-green. The taste is very lightly, unoffensively vegetal with floral overtones and a little mineral. Altogether, it is just extremely fresh tasting and I really enjoyed it!

Flavors: Floral, Mineral, Vegetal

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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drank Tie Guan Yin by Educational TTB 2
268 tasting notes

The leaves are dark and light brown, loosely rolled and they brewed up a golden yellow liquor. The smell is that characteristic oolong smell. I’m not sure how else to describe it, but if you’ve ever smelled an oolong you know what I mean :). The taste is not characteristic of other oolongs I’ve had. It’s extremely buttery! Buttery roasted nuts. YUM.

Flavors: Butter, Roasted Nuts

Preparation
185 °F / 85 °C 3 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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Profile

Bio

Tea-obsessed, book worm scientist.

I love black tea, especially Chinese black tea- I’m looking at you Fujians and Yunnans! I also enjoy Indian teas, mostly first flush darjeelings (and a select few assams).
I think I’m recently starting to like oolongs better though- gasp! I’ve been cheating on my black teas with all these lovely, alluring green floral oolongs. Sorry I’m not sorry.
White tea gets a lot of love too! I am particularly fond of silver needle whites.
I can’t seem to appreciate green teas and rooibos is foul, IMO.

Other interests: Books! Board games! Nerdy entertainment like Harry Potter, Doctor Who, Battlestar Galactica, Game of Thrones, Sherlock, all the nature documentaries, etc etc. Also Disney!

I’m up for swaps!

Follow me on instagram if you like tea, food, and animal pics plus some other randomness:
http://instagram.com/mj1851

Location

Minneapolis, MN

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