Butiki Teas

This is only the second honeybush tea I’ve had and I loved the idea of it. Unfortunately I did not love this tea. And I’m thinking that I’m just not a fan of honeybush.

The smell of this dry smelled of sweet baked goods… Like sugar cookies. The tea as it steeped & the wet leaves smelled of warm cookie dough. So mouthwatering!

But as I drank the tea I found a note to it that I just did not like. I don’t know how to describe it or even where to begin to try. I just know I didn’t enjoy it. I detected this quality in the previous honeybush I’d tried (Honeybush Chocolate from Adagio) but the chocolate masked it so well that I didn’t even really realize it was there. It just flickered across my tongue briefly at the end of the sip & then it was gone from my mind. I wish that had been so with this tea!

I really hate that I didn’t like this tea but what can I say? I just don’t.

SIPDOWN! I’ve been a fan of having this one in my cupboard for a while now, though I think it’s more of a winter tea for me so i’m glad it’s done for now. I’ll likely restock this when it starts to get cold again since i tend to prefer it when it’s cold outside. I was inspired to finish this off since Helena reappeared for a bit today and this is certainly HER tea :)

Having a cup of this today to start my morning with the parents. My parents are coffee drinkers in the morning so I’m on my own for tea. We’re off to watch Star Trek today before my other half and I will get back in the car to drive back to Toronto. It’s been really nice seeing my parents for this brief time :) especially since we’re not likely to see them again until Christmas.

I had a cup of this in the afternoon for the lemony goodness of it. See previous tasting notes, but this is still an enjoyable cup for me. I don’t need it every day but when i do have it, i always really enjoy it.

thought this would be nice to sip on for my throat while getting ready for work. Apparently i’m sick because my tastebuds were like um no…what IS this? i drank it anyway because i know it’s a great cup, but i’m clearly not feeling well.

Kinda of a sip down. One bag finished, now on to my last bag of good morning sunshine in the house :) mini victory! In a rare turn of events this morning, my other half is still sleeping. We’ve both had a rough week so while he gets a bit more sleep in, I’m relaxing with a few cups of GMS to start my morning before I wake him. He’s indulging me today since we haven’t had a Saturday off in ages, and is going out with me to a new Toronto tea shop that’s have a 3 for 1 moving sale. Then we’re going to hit a new restaurant for lunch and spend the afternoon wandering somewhere we haven’t been before. Just because. :)

Chose this tea for a spot of sunshine in my day since its kinda of cold and overcast here today. I really love the lemon goodness of this tea. Another hit from Stacy :)

mid morning tea to give me a bit of energy while working. It’s strangely busy today as I think some people are back at work compared to last week. Really enjoying the creamy lemoney goodness of this one today.

Soooooo had a cup of this in an effort to wake up. Turns out it didn’t help and I’m falling asleep at my desk. Tme to get some sleep for a long day tomorrow lol.

Tasty lemon tea to end me off to bed.

Good afternoon is more like it. Wanted a lemony tea to soothe my throat and this one did the trick :) I really like this particular lemon flavour :)

Nothing says hello 3am testing like GMS. Throat is bothering me so I made a cup of this too sip on while I do testing for this evening?morning? Hopefully I can finish up quick and then get back to bed for a bit more sleep :)

So what I’ve discovered about good morning sunshine is that I love it cold brewed IF I use the left over tea from an initial hot steeping lol. This brings the intense lemon down a few notches and really makes for a nice iced brew. Pretty sure that this will be what I do anytime I make it hot!

Starting off the morning’s hot teas with this one. While I managed to get some much needed sleep last night, I’m still not doing too hot this morning. I figured this might be a good way to kick off the “morning” and help get me to a point where I can get some things done today. I have errands to run and actual work things to take care of that really needs to happen this weekend. I’m just hoping i can manage to get going. If not, at least i have tea to keep me company today :)

Rainy overcast grey icky day means happy sunshine tea! Yay!

I figure that the reason that Helena loves this so much is because it’s like drinking liquid lemon candy. You know those lemon hard sour candies? Yeah those ones. Had this today to try and chase away some of the rainy day blues from the weather. I really like the intense lemon flavouring. Can’t wait to cold brew this to try it out sometime as well!

So the official unchanged version of this finally made it to my doorstep and I have to say I am really digging it. I won’t replace Helena as the unofficial sponsor of this tea but it’s quite good with the lemon grass (sorry azz! lol) I can see this being my go to tea when i’m sick or have sort throat especially. I prefer a stronger tea to jump start me in the morning but this tea is going to be nice to have around. mmmmm

This tea is sponsered in part by Helena even if I did get the sample from indigobloom For those who aren’t following Helena she posts almost daily with this tea as her morning wake up and go tea. As a result, I’ve been wanting to try it for a bit. When indigo gave it to me she mentioned someone about the lemon but i was feeling overwhelmed by all the tea, likely muttered something incoherent that she took to mean i understood what shed said and then promptly forgot what it was :)

In any case, this is a lovely tea. I can understand having this as a staple in my cupboard. Stacy is going to awesomely bump up getting the grapefruit tea out so I’ll have to pick up some of this one when that comes out. I’ve already told my other half that because she’s so awesome there WILL be another tea order even though I promised to wait haha. He agreed but only if I can finish getting through all the samples in our house ATM. I figure if I can knock 10 out every weekend I should be good!

As for this tea….since this is apparently a random talk about everything else post – no I’m not awake yet-it reminds me of another butiki tea that I can’t place my finger on at the moment. Probably having sometig to do with the base. Once I figure out what the hell indigo told me about this tea I’ll be in a good place.

Thank you so much for this generous sample,Butiki Teas. Once again, I have to comment on the pristine condition of the leaves. I am just so impressed at the care with which this sample was obviously handled. They infuse beautifully as well, yeilding a bright yellow liquor.

I just did a note on a Bao Zhong and wasn’t too impressed so the fact that greener teas are not among my favorites could dictate some of what I write. For me the Bao Zhong leans hard toward the green side of oolongs. That said I am still impressed with the overall taste I’m currently experiencing. There are delicate intertwining notes of citrus,vanilla,floral notes, and green sweetness. The pineapple is genuine tasting-I’ve heard complaints about other teas attempting to create this flavor unsuccessfully. There’s a buttery creaminess that seems to come from the vanilla that is so prominant in the aftertaste as well. The green portion of this tea gives me that tidbit of dryness, though it’s still juicy and mouth watering. My wife insists that she detects no dryness or astringency whatsoever and she only finds the buttery creaminess throughout.

I ended up steeping this tea three times. The flavors all settled down into a mellow tasty cup. Somewhere in there I was able to appreciate the Bao Zhong part alot more with the subtle blending of added flavors. Thanks again Stacy, a wonderful drink indeed. I look forward to the other samples you’ve sent me yet to be tried. I’m sure to love them.

tunes-Adele=Crazy For You/Fool That I Am/Make You Feel My Love/Lovesong
I enjoy her classic jazz songs best and she chooses some greats to do covers tunes of.

Ode to Butiki tea:

As a free sample it came,
From Stacy, that was her name

Black Ceylon mixed well with some spices,
Those flavors go straight to my senses.

Plump Pumpkin-Cream sweetness,
Renders so much “yumness”!

Clouds of cinnamon, nutmeg,
More, Oh! More, please, I beg! 

What, why, is this not a Chaï?
Oh well, then I’m mystified.

Such as, it brings comfort,  
Pure bliss moment, too short!

So please honey, stand up, 
Just pour me one more cup !

The end.  I get it, not Baudelaire material… but still an honest effort from TheTeaFairy.

Bottom line:  me like this tea! 

Thank you Stacy for this sample

Hmm, I have no idea what tamarind is. This tea was really good. I was eating some leftover cake with it, and the sweetness of the cake really made the flavour pop. It is nice and creamy, but I am really not sure how to describe it.

Good suggestion Alphakitty!

EDIT: Upon Stacy’s suggestion to add sugar, I added sugar to my resteep for 5 minutes. It turned out really good. Cuts the bitterness of the first steep without sugar. This does taste a little bit more familiar now, I have probably have had tamarind like Alphakitty suggested.

first cup of the day because i need to get some sipdowns happening and we’ll be out of the house for a lot of the day..but then i get to be up overnight! haha thanks to a few generous folks for my birthday, my cupboard had a mini explosion so i’m back up to 169…which means to meet my goal i need 2 sipdowns M-F and then 28 on each of the two weekends left hahaha. Here goes nothing!

1 ah ah ah ah ah

(this tea..it will be back in my cupboard in the fall! thanks stacy! love the creamy pumpkin cremembrulee flavours.)

Only one sad cup left of this in the pouch after today’s cup. I’ll likely hold off reorder this one though until the fall months. It’s a great fall/winter tea but in summer i find it much harder to drink even though i love it. Good news is, that’s almost one more of my December teas wrapped up, since this month i should be trying to get through January teas.

had this one while watching the last episode of Hannibal season 2. One show down that i watch with my other half but we’re still working through Fringe and wanting to start game of thrones…and now longmire and falling skies are back….ugh. Not to mention that i think he’d like orphan black so i’m trying to hold off on that one. this one is getting to the end of the bag so it’s even more full of flavour from things settling to the bottom of the bag heh. sooo good. :)

backlog from yesterday as well – my other tea for shopping. I haven’t had this one in a while and i’m pleased to say that i DO still love this more than pumpkin milkshake. it was nice to have it again even in the heat of the day :)

Final Count yesterday: 120