Butiki Teas

I feel like I have this rated surprisingly highly considering my previous notes, but oh well. It was mildly sweet, still with an interesting purplish liquor, but not a ton of flavour. I don’t believe I ever had great luck with this purple tea, which is why I’m wondering about the rating, but maybe I had a good unlogged session at one point!

Brewed this as recommended today, and am definitely getting green tea-like flavours. I love how the liquor isn’t a typical tea colour though, kind of a strange purpley-greenish tone. Very unique. I apparently have more of this left than I thought, as I forgot that it only requires 1/2 a teaspoon per cup… so I guess I have about 8 cups left. So much tea!

Darn… computer died and I lost the tasting note I’d written up.

Anyways, I picked this tea up as part of the ‘Explore Kenya’ sampler pack, which I bought on a whim – my Masters project is focused on health-beneficial phytochemicals in asparagus, which include flavonoids (which is what the anthocyanins that make this tea purple are a subset of), so ever since I began my project my interest in foods containing such things has been piqued.

Visually, this tea didn’t look particularly purple to me – it looked more blackish. I’ll have to look more closely under better lighting though. The steep temperature seemed awfully low, but I went with it, and stuck to the lower end of the time range, which gave me a cup of lightish yellow/amber liquor (that’s the best I can do – it’s in a green cup!).

It tastes much like green tea to me, with a bit of an mild astringency showing up briefly (but it’s very mild). It’s a touch sweet, and has a definite tea aftertaste, kind of green/oolongy (like I said in a previous post – perhaps they’re actually all the same, and I just associate it with the tea I’m drinking at the time!) Good, certainly, but nothing particularly special. I would have been more intrigued if the liquor had come out purple :D However, I would love to know if there’s a greater health benefit associated with drinking this tea… one of the professors on my advisory committee did some research on antioxidants in green tea; maybe I should look things up/ask him!

ETA: 175F/way too long, for the second infusion. Tastes… rather like a black tea, actually. Can’t believe that it’s so lacking in astringency though, given that it seriously must have steeped for about 10 minutes or more. There’s some but it’s quite bearable. I will have to try a proper second (third, fourth?) infusion the next time.

I had been avoiding drinking this one, apparently, as grape isn’t my favourite flavour (I bought this out of curiousity), but I had forgotten that the oolong was quite prominent in here as well. Still a little too candy-ish for me to really love it, but it’s definitely true to the name, and if you like grapes and (green) oolong, this will undoubtedly be a treat for your tastebuds! I drank two tasty infusions last night and probably could have had a third, though I wasn’t in the mood for it.

So guess what greeted me when I came downstairs this morning…… my huge Butiki order had arrived bright and early!! It’s seriously some sort of miracle – she sent it out on Friday, there was a national holiday in Canada on Monday, yet I still managed to get it on Wednesday. Unbelievable (well…. except that I’m totally drinking this tea right now!)

So on with the review!

The brewed tea smells like a delightful combination of buttery oolong and sweet concord grape juice, although the grape is fairly subtle. Taste-wise it’s subtly grapey with a lovely oolong aftertaste. Upon a few sips, both flavours strengthen quite nicely. The grape definitely does not overpower the delicate flavour of the oolong, which is exactly the way I like it! Not sure I’ve ever met a tea that so accurately tastes like it is supposed to (except perhaps for Cantaloupe & Cream) – my problem with most flavoured oolongs is a lack of oolong flavour, or at least aftertaste, which kind of defeats the purpose of using an oolong base, for me. So big, big points for that, and now I’m super excited to try the Strawberry Oolong as well! That will have to wait for a while though – so many other things!

(Side note: as I have been swallowing this tea, I noticed that my throat is sore! Not scratchy-sore, but lump-in-throat sore, which is sometimes a precursor to sickness (or the result of crying, but no tears yet for me today, so it isn’t that). Really hoping I’m not headed for a cold…)

ETA: Second infusion (175F/4:15) is pretty much the same. Yum. Glad the grape flavour is lingering through this infusion.

ETA again: Third infusion (175-180/~4min) still has grape flavour!! And oolong, but that’s perhaps disappearing a bit more. I used about half the water for this infusion.

ETA: Fourth infusion (175-180/infinite) is grapey and has some astringency (not surprising). I think this one can get to four good infusions, as long as the leaves are removed a touch sooner… they have been floating around in my cup for about an hour – oops! Oolonginess very limited in this infusion, sadly.

Helena’s favourite tea made a blog appearance today! haha

It’s just what I need to try to overcome the gloom and STUDYSTUDYSTUDY my LUSH stuff. I really have to think of it like school, but it’s so much more important than school because I need to prove myself as not-just-a-seasonal-worker.

Man I blather on sometimes.

This tea is lemony goodness!

http://www.daisychubb.com/review-good-morning-sunshine-by-butiki-teas/

This is delicious!
Thank you Stacy from Butiki Teas – I won 1 oz of this tea on Twitter!

It’s an awesome start to my day. The dry smell and brewed smell are teeming with sweet lemon. Lemon is something that I never think of – but when I drink it, I’m in happy heaven. AND when I eat it!

This tea is more than just lemon drops – I’m drinking it without sweetener and I’m getting the taste of sweet, tart, creamy and delicious lemon bars. Every family’s recipe is different – but every bar is amazing in my books. As is this tea.

There’s this great tingly, refreshing sensation after each sip. I’m not sure what ingredient does it, but it’s very nice and refreshing in the morning. Your mouth feels clean and fresh! Does that also make it a good date tea? I think so ;)

Just got home from The Avengers and this tea is still on my mind!
First all all, thank you to Stacy of Butiki for sending me this sample! I’m excited to try everything – but this one smelled too good to pass up this morning.

I’m going to write a longer review later once I’ve tried a few more teas, but this one was a real treat! The flavour was very nice and strong – my favourite part was that it was definitely tangerine – I couldn’t confuse it with any other generic citrus flavour! It was very specific, juicy and refreshing. Would make an amazing iced tea I think. Oh and the cream! It’s so nice and sweet, just like a creamsicle. I’m obsessed with making my own creamsicle milkshakes lately (SO not healthy, but SO delicious!) and it reminds me of that!

I’m still a newbie when it comes to guayusa, but so far I’m liking it as a base. This one in particular was quite smooth and produced a dark brew. I used a teasac so the little bits didn’t bother me – all the guayusa’s I’ve tried so far have been quite fine (size wise) – but they hold up to a 5 min+ brew with no bitterness – just a stronger flavour!

Such a treat to try this tea, thank you!

Oh I am a happy camper!
So Stacy of Butiki did me a solid and took out the lemongrass from my blend and added a little extra Meyer Lemon rind because I don’t like lemongrass AT ALL.
My tea is amazing and I am sure the original is just as good if not better for those who like lemongrass as it was her master blend having it in there.
This tea is a good morning wake up – both cleansing and flavorful!
There is a slight creaminess to it – fresh zesty lemon flavor – and its somehow just slightly sweet. I did not add anything to my cup.
Citrus – especially lemon is a known mood enhancer – studies have shown that when used in offices the employees are more productive. Lemon is uplifting and energizing so I thought with the guayusa it should be the perfect morning cup and let me tell you – it is perfection!
LOVE this!
Thank you Stacy for spoiling me and making this without the lemongrass. YUMMMMMMM

Oh my. Oh yum num num num num! So good!

The green tea and flavors of pistachio and cream meld seamlessly together … so sweet and creamy and nutty and GOOD. The green tea is sweet and barely vegetal. I taste hints of vegetation, but, they are very faint. The pistachio tastes sweet and nutty, and adds a delectable toasty note to the cup. The cream tastes … well, creamy. Smooth and rich and offers a sweet vanilla tone.

This one is awesome served hot, and just as delicious served iced. Love this one … absolutely LOVE it.

Earlier against my better judgement I had some froyo from Orange Leaf. It was good don’t get me wrong but the sappy sweetness was clinging to my taste buds about making me ill so I reached for something I knew would not be too sweet but just the right amount of natural goodness to follow up my fruity but TOO sweet froyo! (frozen yogurt).
I think this may save me from my food coma!
So silky in the mouth, so cleansing, so clear and crisp and so natural! Just the right touch of strawberry goodness FRESH strawberry and as stated before NOT sugary!
I think I need to add more leaf though as it is a TOUCH weak which is probably my fault I was being greedy with it as I only got a 1.2 ounce :(
My mistake there!
Next time I must get a larger quantity!
Thank you Stacy for saving me!

Stacy you did it again! A high quality finely blended tea that invokes the flavor of real fresh strawberries but the sweet ones, not the under ripe tart ones lol. This has NO artificial flavoring in the taste and the oolong still is allowed to come through. Thank you Stacy!

I want to thank Butiki Teas for sending me this wonderful tea. I really didn’t expect such a generous amount. Thank you!

The dry tea is so cute. It’s whole dark leaves compressed into a thickish coin shape. I could tell from the smell and appearance that it’s a cooked puerh before even reading about it. The smell was woodsy and puerh-y. haha, I don’t know how to describe that particular odor. :)

The first brew is a bit light, which is to be expected, but I could tell it was going to get better. This tea is warm and smooth. I can detect leather and wood with a cocoa aftertaste. Hmm… I’m on the second steep now and it is so much better. More cocoa. I’m loving this aftertaste! I suppose one might even say this is a bit tobacco-y, which I’d only know because dad refuses to quit smoking. :(

As the cup cools, I’m tasting something bright like lemon. Refreshing!

I sometimes think puerh is the cabernet of tea. I hate cabernet. I really like this puerh. :) I’m rarely if ever in the mood for puerh, which is a shame since this one is so good. I can’t imagine wanting this tea too much as the weather gets warmer either. Then again, my desk at work is right under the air conditioning vent so maybe I’ll have good cause to drink this at work. :)

Listening to Trans-Siberian Orchestra radio on Pandora. :)

A good Almond Tea is very hard to find. Most are either sick with artificial flavors or have a terrible after taste! Or both! This one is perfect! Now I must say – I had a sample of the almond cookie before and I think of the two if I had to choose just one I would go for the cookie version BUT I love this too. I know that Stacy has been blending and re-blending this mix for a while now – some people prefer one – some the other – I suggest that these become two totally separate blends! :) I know Stacy Im asking a lot lol but really they are both excellent and both different enough for people to have favorites! :)
This one here though is really very nice. Smooth, no bitter or astringent tastes, the cinnamon is very light and as TeaEqualsBliss said sits in the background and does so quite nicely. Mine is the almond indulgence version and still has this cinnamon quality. I must stress it is a very light cinnamon, not a hot one. The almond could not be any better – really perfect almond flavor – NO nasty after taste. I am quite certain this would be yummy with milk and or sugar but it is not necessary at all.
Thank you Stacy! Glad I ordered this one!

This is scrumptious! Tastes just like it smells, like an tangerine creamsicle!
The smell is awakening, the flavor is creamy more so on the after taste, the initial sip is circusy. As it cools the cream is more prominent and less in the after taste and more in the entire flavor. There is a slight tinge of an after taste that is sort of twangy and dry but not bothersome to me. Like dry wine. Some may not like this but thats fine more tea for me lol. Hubby does not like the Guayusa sediment but it does not bother me at all – then again he is not used to tea as a whole let alone Guayusa.
A very tasty tea that lingers on the palate!

journalogging #4 of 4

Another great sample from Bonnie, this one comes with a small amount of unfounded hesitation on my part.

After comparing my notes to what I read from others here, I will summarily agree with those who enjoyed this one and felt foolish for worrying they wouldn’t. Butiki, you have my full attention!

Thanks to Stacy at Butiki for this sample!

I drink flowery tea only when I’m in the MOOD for them. The mood strikes me fairly infrequently.

This afternoon, there was (and is) a forest fire in Poudre Canyon. I noticed the air was smelling strongly of smoke. The wind had kicked up and the fire had doubled, making me concerned for the people needing to evacuate. I called my daughter to find out how the air was at her house…“Dirty, dark and soot in the air”, which I had seen from 10 miles away. She was closer to the fire, although not in the hills. Her home and 8 kids are only a few blocks from a reservoir. I felt relief.

I wanted to wipe the smoke away and bring back the Springtime. I had a sample tea that had the promise of flowers. Rose Violet Calendula Oolong. What better time to drink this tea than now.

I steeped the Oolong 4 minutes letting the fragrant buds fill me with the most beautiful heady floral bouquet. The sipping from beginning to end was a delight.

My first impression was of candied violets, not overly sweet or cloying but delicate and very juicy. The taste turned to crenshaw melon and became buttercream…almost no astringency at all present. The floral bouquet filled my mouth and the scent was surrounding me creating a complete experience. My glass cup of the light yellow liquor was filled again and I delighted in the tea. Violet stood out as the distinct floral up front but, I can’t say that there was a primary rose flavor, a jasmine flavor, a calendula flavor…but a harmony of the other floral flavors.

I added a little sugar at the end…trying to imagine a tea party…and the sugar was such a great addition for a dessert tea. I think this is a perfect, perfect tea party tea!

If you would please say a prayer for all the people in the path of fires going on in Arizona and Colorado please and the firefighters too. Thanks!

So good! Delicious malty tone but not quite as heavy as an Assam, I’d say it was somewhere in between Darjeeling and Assam – with flavors that match. There is a woody tone to it that reminds me of a Darjeeling. It is rich and earthy without being too strong. There is a fair amount of astringency, perhaps more than might be expected from a lighter bodied tea. But it is a crisp, tangy astringency, leaving the palate feeling clean and slightly dry. The aftertaste is earthy and a little sweet.

A very pleasant afternoon cuppa.

Wooo Hooo 200 Tasting Notes! Well, if you don’t pat yoursef on the back, who will?!

What to do, what to do? My 200th review should be something different. I love me some Puerh…yes I do. Today’s tea should be something different. Stacy (owner of Butiki Teas) had graciously provided me with an ounce of Wild Purple Buds Puerh (Sheng) and this seemed the right choice for this 200th occasion. Thank you to Stacy!

The dry leaf looks amazing. The leaves don’t look like tea leaves, or not what I’ve ever seen before. The leaf is large, full of spiky buds that look like wheat…green, brown, gold and lavender tipped.
The instructions are 3-5 second steep, 195F for 20+ steepings! Begin the day with this tea!!! I started today at 7:30 a.m. and I’m not going to write about 20+ infusions.

I used my PIAO glass infuser pot to watch the leaves and control time.
The liquor color was consistantly pale champagne yellow through all infusions.

Wet Leaves:
1. Floral, vegital, smoky tobacco, and brine scented. Brown, golden and purple tipped.
2.-4. Strongly vegital scented.
5.-6. Leaves were greener and not as multicolored. They opened up, especially the buds and the scent was still strongly vegital.

Flavor:
1. The first impression was on my lips, the coating of cream that I could feel like butter then spreading throughout my mouth like the flavor of creamy white sweet corn. The taste was a little salty and completely smooth and without any tannin or bitterness at all.
2. A little tannin was present on this round right up front, then sweet and creamy like new Spring green beans. There was no bitter or acidic finish.
3. This was the best pour. The buttery feel was coating my lips and the vegital flavor had become cooked greens or butter lettuce…and the tannin had jumped to the finish…leaving a slightly peppery feel on the tongue. This is a Puerh? I am not able to comprehend that this is a Puerh. No earthiness…it tastes like a green tea. But not.
4. What now? My brain was confused. When I took another sip, the flavor was mineral, sweet and juicy, smooth and buttery with a tingling…then a honey wheat bread and greens taste. Sure, how did that make sense? Was I almost discribing a salad with croutons?
5.-6. These steepings brought out more buttery, smoothness and a little saltiness. A new floral quality that I found to be vaguely like paperwhite was now present. Tannin was dry like linen on the finish making the tea very juicy.

Here I added a little sugar. The saltiness of the Puerh and the vegital quality with the tannin with a bit of sugar created a beautiful balance of sweet/salty tea that brightened the cup tremendously. Here is where I would play with this effect. It made this tea dance and sparkle with flavor.

I have been pleased with the tea’s from Butiki…the new ones that are not commonly available elsewhere like the Wild Purple Bud Puerh and the Blue Nettle and some of the African Tea’s. Most of all the wonderful customer service has been so appreciated!

http://youtu.be/PSH0eRKq1lE Bagpipes…Well! (Bonnie Cameron-Johnstone)

Second Review

The first time I tried this interesting looking tea I was a bit timid. I had never seen tea cigars before. Little hand rolled tea leaves several inches long and gorgeous. I wanted to steep exactly as the instructions specified so I was watching the unfolding as much as I was tasting the tea.

This time, I completely ignored the look of the leaves and went straight for favor.
I steeped this tea a little longer and ended up with a rich honey colored liquor.
Everything about the artichokey, vegital flavors listed as typical for this tea went…zip… out the window.

What I tasted was malt and fruit. Whoa…wait…hold on! Is that possible?

I tasted the smoothest honied malt with a hint of smoke at the end and a bite of astringency on the tongue-tip.
Did someone mix darjeeling, assam or black tea with this green tea? How can this be a green tea? It has to be some kind of crossover mutant tea!

If you have any of this tea, steep some a little longer and tell me what you think!

Unbelievable!

Before I review this tea, take a good look at the picture of the tea itself. Yes, it is hand rolled and twisted…and the leaves are whole and full of buds. This tea is from Sri Lanka, and Fair Trade…glad to say!

I wondered if my tea friends at Happy Lucky’s Tea House had ever seen tea like this one. I decided to get spiffed up and went on a short trip to Old Town. The first comment when the guys saw the tea was “Which end do you light” …ha..ha…and then “I’ve never seen a tea like that”…followed quickly by a ching of a Gaiwan getting ready for brewing of my offered Blue Nettle Tea.

Only 2 (creatures…sticks…cigars?) of tea are needed for 8oz. / 180F for 3min.
This Green Tea was floral but delicate and the leaves had a scent that was not orchid or any flower we could discribe. We agreed there was a clean sugar taste but not rock sugar. No artichoke or seaweed taste was detected. There was a bit of tannin on when the liquid cooled and a smooth buttery mouthfeel.

What a puzzle this tea was. I gave each of the 3 gents and the owner a sample of my tea. There needs to be more time and discovery but a lot of interest was generated among the group that did the tasting. We all agreed that this tea was something special!
Leave it to Butiki to bring along a new tea adventure!

I would suggest serving this tea in a glass gaiwan or small glass teapot. It is fun to watch.
We commented on how much it looked like a sea creature, a long worm ready to become a butterfly. I can’t wait to take time alone to taste this tea again!

Thanks Stacy for this tea sample!

The last time I tasted this tea, I had been drinking loose leaf tea for about 4 months, so tasting it again was a fun comparison!

I’ve learned that I LOVE strong Kenyan tea so I ignored Stacy’s suggested brew time of 2.5 minutes and opted for 3.5 minutes testing along the way. The longer time would suit others who like the bang of a bold tea that can handle the time.

The taste was black current, sweet dry prune and black pepper…all of which came as a swelling up of flavor towards the back of the throat.

I sweetened my tea and added cream (it was my morning tea)…then sat while my body continued to slowly awaken from sleep.

I’ve never been a morning person, even through three decades of work, I would arise an extra hour earlier than necessary to sit with ‘coffee’, until I had to get ready and could cope with the day.

Now tea is my morning companion, and I can make the wake-up time last as long as I want it to. What a luxury!

While I was sitting in appreciation of my wealth of ‘time’, my thoughts began to wander.
I’ve been making lots of curries, something that I find comforting in cold weather.
Because of my allergies, I’ve adapted recipes to remove beans, tomato, eggplant, green peppers and potato. Thai curries, instead of Indian Curries, have given me more options (Indian Curries use potato and beans in almost everything!) and are delicious.

Along the way, I’ve discovered that certain tea’s are better companions to the curries I make. Kenyan tea’s, some Puerh’s and Thai Chaa Khao Hoom Reistee stand up well to spice (depending on the dish).

I’d like to expand my list of tea’s and welcome comments from other people who make curry.

I appreciate the unique tea sourcing from Butiki (and we all love Stacy!)!

Thanks to Stacy at Butiki Teas for this Sample!

I love, love, love the service from Stacy! Could not be better! The fact that I am able to pick the samples that I want to try is such a cool deal…I mean…who does this now days?!
And, I don’t know of any other company her size that has the amount of African teas from small or organic farms either. This is the future of tea that I want to support!

I chose the Kenya Kangaita as one of my free samples and it is a hand-picked tea.
The wet leaves remind me more of a Puer…all rich red-brown, large and woody chopped looking. The scent was even a bit earthy and vegital but sweet, a little malty and floral in a way I could not figure out.
When I tasted the tea, the flavor was clean and bright, without any tannin…and juicy. There again was the floral scent and flavor that I was having problems identifying. I had just emptied the pot of tea, so I took off the lid and stuck my nose inside as far as possible and inhaled over and over again…(like a tea nerd-nut)… and came away with some conclusions on scent and flavor.
There was orange pekoe, apricot, a little malt, licorice..itsy, pepper on the tongue, the tea was juicy and clean with tannin developing when the tea begins to cool. The flavors are also super wonderful with sugar and cream. I WISH I HAD MORE!

I really like this tea! It’s $4.00 an oz. and for me, I think it’s good to support the growth of small farms.

Tea and a Movie
The downtime with Steepster today drove me to my Netflix and a Romance movie. A Foreign Romance movie with “Subtitles”. Ah…you do have to pay attention and read!
I’ve been reviewing such bold tea lately (Pu-erh’s especially) and wanted to turn a corner abruptly and review a tea to match my movie mood. I decided on a tea that I will discribe as romantic and sensual (Stacy at Butiki should like that discription Ha!).

The beauty of the green Oolong nuggets and the scent of the leaves when wet is so lovely. It is the flavor however, that is the crowne jewel. The Strawberry flavor does not hide the character of pure Organic Oolong tea. It enhances the natural flavor if anything, and layers naturally with it. The taste is soft and creamy, coating your tongue and when it cools a bit there is no horrid bitterness. I sweetened my tea, I like it that way. When you grow older and watch old romance movies (or the newer ones) your own memories of life and love are refreshed and come alive again. In your own mind you are young forever like the old woman in Titanic.
It’s fun to pick tea for an occasion. Pu-erh is for a mystery movie. Assam is nice for an old English Drama. You can find so many tea’s to match movies…so what are your favorites? The Pu-erh I had the other day…hum…something a little wild…or trippy…

What do you suggest as a tea movie pairing?