Traditional Plum Pudding (Holiday Series: Yule)

I love anything plum – especially anything spiced plum. And I’m learning that I love this flavor any time of year, so I’m enjoying a cuppa well after the holidays and it’s not (too) weird!

This is a lightweight plum tea – smooth and comforting. There’s just a hint of spice, but I prefer that over what could be a deadly dose of hibiscus. (eep, the worst) I’d rather taste the plum, which this tea delivers!

I bet this is amazing deep in the heart of the holidays!

I’m in the mood for some dessert so I picked this tea. First time I tried it didn’t impress me. Don’t get me wrong, it’s nice tea but flavors were too subtle to notice. Just nice. Today I decided to make it chai style and it worked wonderfully. 8 min 1 1/2 tsp 175F 6 oz cup. It’s spicy and plum is quite noticeable . I really like it this way

I got this from JustJames quite some time ago. I tried it before, but held off writing any notes, because I had the same trouble as JustJames in pulling out the flavour. I tried different water temperatures and steeping times, and although I got the spice, the plum was not evident to me :(

My first infusion was nicely spiced, but I didn’t get any of the plum notes. My second infusion was less spicy but I got a hint of the pudding flavour.

I have enough leaves to try this one again. Maybe third time will be the charm.

Ok. I adore this tea. I can’t even really explain why….it just speaks to me.

The smell in the bag is sweet, and comforting…like cake…

Then steeped….it’s oh so sippable. Even at it’s hottest it’s so delicious…delicate, balanced, a little fruit, a little creaminess..

Then it cools a bit and there’s this aroma of a little spice..it isn’t astringent or too strong or too weak or bitter…it’s perfect. I LOVE this tea.

I was very sad to hear Stacy say it might be going soon. Stacy when you are about to take it off the shelf let me know…I’ll buy the remainder of the stock because this is one of my can’t live without teas…I just feel a little joy with every sip.

Like I said on facebook…it’s amazeballs

I really enjoy the base of this tea, but I still wish I got a little bit more plum. I added more leaf to my steep, which helped but I still want to be hit by plum. Maybe this is because I’ve been drinking a lot of heavily flavored teas lately.

Thank you to Stacy for this sample! I was excited to try another tea with the same base as my favorite maple pecan oolong. I could definitely taste the base here. I also get some citrus and spice, but they are pretty subtle. It smells delicious. I made sure to take a good whiff every time I sipped. It’s good, but overall, I would have liked a little more flavor here.

Had a couple cups of this while making dinner tonight, might have to re-log with more detail when I can pay closer attention as I sip. I like how sweet treat-y this one is; it lives up to its name with the flavor and feel of soaked fruit and wet cake. The plum flavor is lovely, and the citrus peel aspect is nice and light, not too heavy as it often is is flavored blends. The spice is balanced to be light and pleasant, not smack-you-over-the-head too. I like how I can count on Butiki flavored teas to never be one-note hit-by-a-2-by-4 cloying or just…too MUCH of any one thing, you know?

I totally have it in mind now to soak a cake in this tea and call it the improved version of plum pudding. :)

The flavor is subtle, but I always found pudding cake flavor to be subtle anyway (though I can’t speak specifically for plum pudding), so the tea is all the more authentic for it. I still might try more leaf next time to see what happens. Subtle flavor works in a cake since it has the texture and weighty mouthfeel to compensate. I think that this tea would be a good as a complement with a holiday dessert, when you don’t want conflict of heavy flavors.

I only have a little bit of this one so it was difficult to get the scent of the dry leaves, but the tea itself smells delicious, a bit like mulled cider spices. This tea gets quite dark quickly, and I worried about leaving it steeping for the recommended four minutes, but though the color is dark the tea does not become bitter/astringent. I taste the spices in this tea, but mostly the tea itself. It’s a nice oolong, full of flavor. I expected this tea to be sweet, and it’s not at all. I added a bit of sugar and it works well, but I suspect a tiny spoonful of condensed milk would be wonderful. All in all a great tea, my first Butiki tea, but definitely not my last!

Thanks go to Stephanie for this sample!

It’s cold and dreary here today so this warmly spiced tea sounds perfect. I’m making a big to-go mug of it to take with me shopping this afternoon since I’m off work! Yum! Warm and comforting :)