Nutmeg Cream

Why I took this long to write a tasting note regarding this tea is beyond me. Previous cups have been an obvious nutmeg, but this time around, I didn’t get any nutmeg whatsoever and instead reminded me a lot of Stacy’s previous cheesecake renditions. It must be the cream flavouring/aspect used in the cheesecake/cream blends.

This is… ok, but the base is not my favourite. It has a bit of an astringent flavour that I believe is not unexpected, but that I don’t love. It’s still ok, and the nutmeg helps, but if I’m honest, it just tastes like heartburn to me, heh.

Steepster just crashed on me and deleted my note D:

Unfortunately, I think that this is another tea which has fallen victim to my damp new flat. It’s not as damaged as the last sample, though, and I think the ‘spirit’ of the tea is still present, and there’s no yucky smokiness. I am hoping to pick some more of this up before Butiki closes to try it in its full glory.

Brewing, I can actually smell the cream, which is pretty amazing since even purely cream flavoured tea hasn’t been able to do this in the past. Flavour-wide, the cream is more present in mouthfeel, but the overall flavour is reminiscent of the eggnog I made last Christmas, so perhaps that’s due to the cream. The nutmeg is more present in flavour than smell, although it does definitely smell spicy. The base is prominent, but not overpowering. Stacy does a great job with pairing bases with flavours – it sort of sits alongside the nutmeg in a complimentary way. The cup was a little weak owing to the damp, but still very pleasant.

Sipdown! (3/174)

I could melt away into this cup and never come back! I added a little soy creamer and sugar and it is making this cup quite dreamy. The cream really amplifies the creaminess that the tea already has. I can smell a little nutmeg in the cup and get a hint of it just before the tea reaches my mouth. The cream takes over at the start of the sip, riding on a nice solid base, then the nutmeg comes back out at the end. The aftertaste might be my favorite part where they nutmeg and cream hang out together. I need to slow down because I’m downing this cup way too fast. It’s really hitting the spot!

So Cavocorax had sent me a sample of this and I was pretty jazzed about being able to try it. Especially considering that I very nearly ordered it when it went up for sale on Butiki’s website, but resisted in the end.
There was alot of dust/particles in the bottom of the package. Maybe it was flavoring or something, but I made sure to shake it up so I didn’t miss some possibly vital part of the tea. In hindsight, I should’ve left it alone. XD
For some reason, I had gotten it in my head that this was Hazelnut Cream, so not getting hazelnut in the first sip was a bit of a start. Lol!
I haven’t really had nutmeg much (or really at all if I’m being honest) so I wasn’t sure what to expect. It has a strange sharp/spicy/nutty sort of smell that’s present in the taste. Along with an almost powdery sort of taste sensation. Hard to describe. I do get a sort of cream taste in the background that’s like a smooth undercurrent. Not sweet and adding a bit of Truvia didn’t really do much at all for the tea. There was also alot of particles in the bottom of my cup that I’m pretty sure added extra bitterness, so I guess I should’ve left it settled.
I’m pretty sure that I don’t much care for it, so I’m glad that I didn’t end up buying it, but still glad to try it. Apparently nutmeg is one of the flavors I just don’t care for. Lol!

Wow, just home from a long trip on the bus, such crazy traffic! I have to go out again in a few hours but I just want to stay at home and hibernate now.

Just trying this tea now which is from a swap with Cameron B. I like nutmeg and I’ve never tried this before. I ended up making this in a giant mug! I wasn’t sure that I liked this so much when it was plain, but after soymilk and sugar was added it became transformed into a nice dessert tea. I definitely think the nutmeg element is prominent, and there is something creamy about it as well, so overall I was fairly pleased with this.

In other news, I did get notice from the EDD that I’m eligible for unemployment now. At least that money will cover my rent and maybe I won’t have to be so worried for the next few months. Rents are so expensive in SF that I will still have to use my savings to live but the unemployment money should help me to get by. I guess I still need to watch my tea spending for a while!

So Stacy from Butiki posted on Facebook that she had a stray ounce of this lingering around and I volunteered to be its new home! Hooray! She was also nice enough to include two samples even though I only spent $5 for this tea (plus the shipping). So yay for Stacy for being so nice! This is my first Butiki tea, although I have been plotting an order since I discovered them here on Steepster a few weeks ago. Soon!

Anyway, this tea is quite beautiful visually, even though it’s just tea leaves with a few golden flower petals. The leaves are nice mix of chocolately brown and gold, and the petals accent their color perfectly. It also smells quite lovely – all nutmeg and vanilla goodness reminiscent of eggnog. I brewed one teaspoon for 3 minutes (Stacy included a note recommending 190 degrees).

The brewed tea smells even better than the dry version. The nutmeg and vanilla have toned down a bit, but they are joined by luscious notes of chocolate and raisin, giving it a richness and depth. I was surprised when I tasted this that I didn’t get a sense of vanilla or cream that many other tasters described. I did get a light but multi-flavored base tea that is well-accented by the addition of nutmeg. The nutmeg hits me most at the beginning and end of the sip, while in the middle I taste lovely hints of raisin, wood, and honey. Quite tasty, and I didn’t miss the cream at all.

I drank this one au naturel, but I can definitely see it being a decadent eggnog treat with added milk and sugar. Thanks again, Stacy! :)

Another tea from Sil, which I believe came from Cavocorax originally.
This is my sweetened tea of the day, & it really is nice. I’m tempted to mix in some almond milk & a frozen banana in the blender, for an eggnog type drink, & if I’d thought of that before I drank half the cup of tea, I probably would have done it ;)
Another sip down, leaving me at 374.

Yummy in a cup!

I decided that I wanted to drink Butiki teas all day again today. It’s always a fun way to spend my tea day.

I started with this one. I had a teeny tiny bit left from what I took from the TTTTB what seems like ages ago. (That tea box is what really got me from enjoying a couple of Butiki Teas to loving Butiki Teas.)

Creamy, rich, just the right amount of nutmeg. Delicious.

It helped keep me a little more calm this morning once I got into the office.

I finally got to pick up my car yesterday, after 57 days in the body shop. He looks great. (Yes, my car is a boy. His name is Jake.) This is after they screwed up all the vinyl work before. But now he looks nice: https://www.flickr.com/gp/cheri0627/Bp16P7/

BUT

The one taillight and brakelight were both not working on my way home. And then trying to get to that to check it out, we realized that the hatchback wasn’t opening with the button. Nice. They actually broke the connector for the button and the license plate lights.

So I had to go back to the body shop and show them my problems. They’re ordering new parts.

And I’m still ticked off

But nice tea really helped.

This one is tasty! I waited a while after the kettle boiled for the water to cool, for fear of astringency. It seems to have worked in my favour.

It’s not an overly bold black tea, but a more gentle black base with a definite creamy aspect. The nutmeg is pretty subtle for me, but overall a good cup.

Thanks Roswell Strange!