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I have had this tea several times now and have tried different temps and steeping times, but I just can’t seem to get the hang of it. It is okay, but I am not getting amazing. I can taste a little chocolate and a little strawberry if I sweeten it. And there is that dry mouth feeling like I get with rooibos after each sip. I think I need to face the fact that this tea is not for me and move on. :(

Day 22 of the Advent calendar. I’m now drinking them in whatever order I feel like and this evening I wanted something non caffeinated. This really does have quite the mix of flavors! I get mostly cardamon on the sip and cacao on the aftertaste with maybe a little ginger heat. I might be able to pick out some light licorice too. It is very well done and I’m surprised at how much I am enjoying it. I don’t know that I like it enough to purchase it, but it will be resteeped for all it is worth.

I’m chuckling a little after reading the description. This drink will help me appear trendy AND adventurous! I better get out of the house to be seen with this drink in order to reap those benefits! ;)

This matcha came as a free sample with my order, I love free samples! This seems like an excellent way to try a new flavor and I wish they offered the option to buy 10 different flavors in this size as a try me pack.

I mixed it with a little sugar, powdered goat milk and hot water. Usually with eggnog, the most dominant flavor or scent is nutmeg, but it is more subtle in this letting the creamy custard like flavors shine. It is a little bitter mid sip, I’m guessing the free samples are the basic grade matcha which has that nip to it. I get a more full eggnog flavor as an aftertaste with it being creamier during the sip. It is a fun holiday flavor, but it isn’t amazing me with it’s flavor intensity. Looks like there is enough in the sample for a couple more cups, so I’ll try something different next time to see if I can get more flavor out of it. I’m excited that I got to try it. Thank you Red Leaf for the sample!

I am always on the hunt for the perfect almond tea, almond cookie, almond cake… you name it. I like almond. So when I was placing an order with Simpson & Vail, I had to try the two most promising almond teas that they had. Dry, this tea smells super cookie like and less almond like. Once brewed I get a really tasty smooth black tea base, but the almond is kind of in the background leaving me wanting more flavor. I steeped it for only three minutes, not wanting to over do it and turn it bitter, but I may have underdone it for this tea. I’ll have to play around with it a few more times before I give up on it. As it stands it is decent, but far from impressive and wowing.

Finally getting back to the advent calendar! I think this is day 9? This is a really enjoyable cup of Earl Grey in what I’m guessing is the really well balanced soft black tea base of theirs that I have tasted before. It is just so smooth! The bergamot is present, but not biting. Nothing is overpowering anything else. I’m not a huge EG fan, but this may be the nicest I have had. I must resteep!

This tea smells delicious both dry and brewed! The red berry scent is dominant and I wasn’t sure at first if it was raspberry or strawberry. This blend is the first green tea I have tried from Butiki and I like it! I’m getting the buttery chestnut flavors, but the ginger is so subtle that I can’t pick it out on the sip. I dislike a lot of cheap fruity teas because they taste really sharp and abrupt and this tea is nothing like those. It is so well rounded and the flavors work together so well that they kind of melt into one flavor experience making them hard to identify on their own. The first cup was very fruity, but that lessens a bit on the second steep, letting some of the background flavors come to the front. Third steep is less fruit, more butter. Wow, this is good! Wish I had ordered a larger amount!

I stuck my nose in this bag of tea and was met with a wonderfully earthy deep scent of spices and pumpkin. What disappoints me about many pumpkin spiced teas (or any product really) is the reliance on the spices to carry the suggestion of pumpkin when it really doesn’t have any pumpkin flavor at all. I swear I smell real pumpkin in here! When brewed, the smell is not as intense, but has all the same aspects as the dry tea. My first few sips were quite bland so I’m adding some sugar. I don’t know if it is my taste buds flickering in and out or the candied smoked salmon I have been nibbling on that is drowning out anything else, but I feel I am dooming this tea! Adding milk weakened it more and pumpkin is such a delicate background flavor as it is. This is going to have to go in my revisit when feeling better pile of tea. I’m sorry little tea, I’ll be nicer next time!

I got a sample of this from Skysamurai, thanks for sharing! :)

I really couldn’t pickup on any scent when this tea was dry or once brewed. When I took a sip, I did get a faint creamy coconut flavor, maaaaaybe a little almond when I think about it. Coconut lingers on the aftertaste. Slight bitterness that goes away with a little sugar, but really nothing too exciting. I love almond/wedding tea flavors, but this one a a bit dull. Glad I got to try it without having to buy a whole tin!

First thing I smell when opening the bag of this tea is tart ripe strawberries! Once brewed the scent mellows a little bit and reminds me of flavored chapstick I had as a kid. Scent memory is such a funny thing! The first few sips seem a little tart, almost bitter, but that mellows out and I’m left with a taste that reminds me a little of hibiscus. Is that the rhubarb? I’m not quite sure. I can taste the strawberries throughout the whole cup and I think I can pick out a buttery crust like flavor. It isn’t as smooth and balanced as other Butiki teas I have had, it has some edginess to it. I’d like to ponder this tea some more, but I have come to the end of my cup and have many new teas to try. Ruby Pie, we shall meet again soon!

I’m still feeling slightly under the weather, so that may color my experience of this tea, but I wanted to write down my notes anyways.

The first time I brewed this tea I think I over leafed it and had to toss the cup due to bitterness. I was much more conservative this time and it turned out a lot better. The base is nice and smooth, but the flavors are quite subtle. I get the creamy cheesecake flavor at the end, but am having trouble detecting anything other than that. The tea leaves my mouth dry after each sip, much like a rooibos, but with that lingering cheesecakeyness. True to the description, it does get a little bitter as it cools. I added a little milk to it at the end and it amped up the cheesecake factor, but drowned out any other flavors. I’m thinking this may be a little too refined and not enough “kick in the face” level of flavor for my palate, but I will be trying it again as my cold fades away and see if that changes.