Lemon French Macaron

One of my favourite Butiki teas, I think. The flavour is so perfectly ingrained in my memory that every time somebody drinks or mentions it I immediately have to brew myself a cup. The flavour is still going strong, much to my relief! It’s making me a bit angsty though because I’ve had to recently change my tea storage setup and I’m worried the new way won’t preserve the teas as well. I’m thinking about having a Butiki drink-a-thon in January to appreciate as much as I can while it’s still good.

Honestly this tea is a little bit genius. The dry leaf is beautiful and deliciously scented, and the whole time it’s steeping I can’t help sticking my head in the cup and inhaling. It’s almost as if something is baking! The initial sip reminds me of a lemon drizzle cake – lemon and butter notes are most prominent, and the lemon is a little more ‘zingy’ but there’s still that cakiness in the background that suggests this isn’t just another lemon tea (not that anything Butiki could be ‘just’ anything). The cream notes become more pronounced mid-sip and the flavour transforms into something more akin to lemon cupcake frosting. Finally, in the aftertaste the almond and vanilla notes become more prominent and meld perfectly into the buttery lemon to create a stunning lemon french macaron flavour which lingers for the longest time. My favourite way to drink this is plain, but with a hint of sugar the lemon flavour becomes more pronounced and it tastes more like I’d imagine a macaron with lemon curd would taste. Stacy recommends drinking it at lower temperatures, and incredibly the flavour gets even better as it cools. I’m going to be a very unhappy Nattie when the day comes that I run out of this. Luckily VariaTEA is coming to the rescue and sending me a couple of potential replacements!

Having actually had a lemon macaron before in France, I had high expectations for this.

Butiki hits the mark. So lovely and light and refreshing; clearly a good white tea base too. I also appreciate that this is very, very old and has been sitting in my cupboard for a few years. Added flavouring diminishes with time so I imagine a fresh blend of this would send me to heaven.

And I don’t even usually drink white teas.

Argh, this tea is a pain in the arse to measure. I ended up just dumping some in my cup and eyeballing it to see if it was the right amount. It still smells lovely and lemony despite the tea’s age. It tastes lemony as well but it doesn’t taste like straight-up dried lemon peel but more a sweet lemon cream. It’s mixed with the delicate hay-like flavours of the base with a hint of nuttiness. Age has dulled the flavour a bit, I think, but if you exercised your imagination a bit you could see how it tastes akin to a lemon macaron.

Lemon dish soap. Should give this too naughty kids needing a mouth washing!
I think maybe this part of the batch got a double dose of flavouring because it just doesn’t sound like any of the other reviews I’ve seen. Nope not at all!

Farewell lovely tea! This one tasted just like a delicious lemon cookie, not so much a macaron to me as a sablé, maybe, or even a lemon sugar cookie. Sweet and delicate, never bitter or sour, with just a hint of vanilla and almond—this is one I’ll miss, for sure. If anyone knows of a decent substitute, let me know!

I’m slowly working through the last of my Butiki teas, and it seemed like high time this one got an outing. The scent upon opening the bag is overwhelmingly lemony, with a background sweetness that totally puts me in mind of cupcakes, pastries, and macarons. It’s high-end bakery tea! As ever with Butiki, the dry leaf is absolutely gorgeous. The silver needles are very long – some up to 4cm – and a beautiful creamy pale green. They’re perfectly soft and downy, and the little pink and white puffs scattered throughout (I’m guessing these are the Amaranth and Calendula), only adds to this effect. There are a few almond slivers, too. I followed the recommended parameters and gave 2 tsp of leaf 3 minutes in water cooled to 180 degrees. The resulting liquor is a medium yellow-gold.

The flavour, as expected, is divine. It’s lemony, but in a primarily candy-like way with just a touch of sharpness. I’m thinking candied lemon peel at this point. Underlying the lemon is an intense creaminess, very reminiscent of sweetened pastry cream. The final flavour is a light almond nuttiness, very reminiscent of macarons. The white base is perfect for the delicate cream and macaron-shell notes, mildly sweet and a touch buttery without being overpowering. I’m totally and utterly happy with this one – it’s an amazing flavoured tea. It also means that I miss Butiki more than ever, but such is life.

A generous sample from Nicole had me singing a very familiar mantra when it comes to Butiki Teas these days. Nooo, no no no. Please no. Why is this so damn good? Why can’t I order it again? This tea is amazing, and the choice few people I allowed to sniff it (and maybe try a sip if they were lucky) totally agreed. This is pure lemon sugar cookie goodness in a tea. A hint of butter, a touch of something vaguely floral, and a smooth lemon flavor that has a champagne-bubbly note when it hits your tongue. This is the cookie you get that is lemon cake with a lemon glaze. It’s delicious and well-rounded and I am in pain, because I can’t acquire it in bulk. Better to have loved and lost than never loved at all, I suppose, but this loss is felt quite keenly. I would recommend the hell out of this, but it would feel like a cruel jest in light of the circumstances. Just know that those of you out there with this in their cupboard had best treasure it, as is befitting its ephemeral beauty.

The dry leaf aroma is a lemon icing dream. The brewed leaf aroma is even better! I wouldn’t think that’d be possible. The flavor is deliciously lemony but missing that sweetness I get in the aroma. I added a little Truvia and there it is! Now this tastes exactly like iced lemon pound cake! YUM! This tea is perfect! There isn’t a single thing about it I don’t love.

And now I’m going to cry because the measly 1 oz I have of it is all that’s left in this world. Why WHY did Butiki Teas have to close??! Excuse me while I go ball my eyes out. wails and sobs Okay, I’m back.

This tea is so delicious and mouth watering. The flavors are masterfully blended to complement each other and the base perfectly. The white tea is a beautiful, high quality, fuzzy silver needle. It tastes like a ray of sunshine beaming into a lemon orchard frosted with fluffs of sweetness. This is pure ecstasy in your mouth. I will shed quite a few tears when my meager stash of it is depleted. That will be a sad, sad day indeed. But today, today is filled with sunshine!

This is goodbye, Lemon French Macaron. I didn’t always get it right with you, but you never failed to be that warm, “in front of the fireplace with no deadlines” comfort tea. You came from an awesome joint order with OMGsrsly- forever associated with randomly buying quince, and kangaroo burger patties. Good times, old Macaron.

Please don’t leave yet.

Oh Lordy! Enjoying this tea right now – a sample from CameronB. This is soooo good. It is everything I always imagined it would be. In a way, I was kind of hoping it wouldn’t be because I can never get it again. However, this tea is just like a light lemon cake. Amazing good to the last drop.

What a shame this tea will not get made again.