Butiki Teas

This is a very refreshing tea. The cantaloupe is assertive without being overpowering. The cream comes in at the back end of the tasting and is a nice complement to the cantaloupe. I see this as a nice afternoon pick me up or a lazy summer morning first brew. Anyway, it’s hard to go wrong with this one.

Additional notes: sample sipdown! I’m not sure WHAT is going on with my tastebuds lately… it seems like every black tea I’ve been having tastes like chalky woodchips. And it doesn’t matter how I steep the tea… it’s still chalky woodchips. It better fix itself. I don’t want these delicious teas to taste terrible!

Raspberries and chocolate is my favorite combination of flavors. As usual, you can’t beat Butiki teas. I don’t know how these teas are so different from any others that I’ve tried. I love the red color of the Kundaly leaves after they’ve been steeped. And the flavor certainly goes well with raspberry and chocolate! The chocolate is silky smooth and the raspberry flavor is sweet. The perfect Valentine’s Day tea! DELICIOUS!

Butiki’s oolong teas are my favorite! Really, try any of their oolongs. They won’t disappoint. This has a lovely grape scent and flavor paired with the light floral of an oolong. The best kind of oolong, I think. Seriously, in the dead of winter, this tea reminded me of what flowers smell like. When is spring?

Additional notes: It’s National Pumpkin Day so hearing that, I had a piece of best ever grocery store pumpkin pie for breakfast…. with cool whip. And I’ll be enjoying this tea all day. Probably my oldest Butiki tea and it still tastes fantastic. No other tea company used pumpkin flakes like Butiki did. And this is Ceylon? Butiki even had the best Ceylon tea. What the? Is everyone annoyed yet with how I’m always saying old teas still taste delicious? It’s because I’m always amazed the flavor hasn’t aged more.

Additional notes: Yes, I’m having this one again a month after I finished the last of my sample. I’m sipping it now and with dinner! Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

This does seem different than my sample was (from over two years ago, of course I don’t expect it to be the same leaves). The base seems a bit different – better. But it does seem like there were less pumpkin flakes, but to be fair I think they floated to the bottom of the pouch. I wish there were ten times more pumpkin in this blend! I also should have tried my pumpkin milkshake sample today! The ONLY complaint I could EVER have with Butiki, is I hate their non-resealable pouches. The best teas ever deserve the best packaging! But this lovely tea will go perfect with dinner. I’m thankful for Butiki!

Additional notes: Sample sipdown of this lovely tea! I wanted to get to this one since I’ve read some tasting notes that say the pumpkin flavor diminishes as it ages. But it tastes just as good to me! Though it may be helped by a couple pinches of the Premium Taiwanese Assam I added to it, since it didn’t look like there was a full teaspoon of the pumpkin left. I don’t really love Ceylon bases (least favorite black tea in general) so obviously this assam did help give it a fuller flavor. It doesn’t matter if it is a delectable Butiki Ceylon, Ceylon is still so plain to me. The pumpkin flavor here is so good though! I could use more of it though. But to me, the pumpkin tastes the same to me as when I first tried this sample in Feb 2012 (I had to look at the tasting note). Yikes if it takes me that long to get through SAMPLES. Butiki is awesome!

I think it’s tough to get a pumpkin tea right, but this one is amazing! The pumpkin scent (which filled the room) and creamy, spicy taste are fantastic! The spices are perfect, and the ceylon base makes it even more perfect. I could wish for a stronger black tea, but it would probably diminish the pumpkin flavor. I mean, there are LITERAL pumpkin flakes in this tea! My favorite part: the steep color is an exact pumpkin orange! I’m stunned at the magical tea powers that Butiki has. They are consistently a perfect mixture of ingredients to make the most delicious teas.

Additional notes: Sipdown! For being a two and a half year old sample, I really didn’t taste much flavor loss from this guayusa. It’s nice to know guayusa doesn’t get old tasting! I would definitely buy this unique blend with my next order.

Additional notes: Having this one again. My sinuses are bugging me (thanks for yet another fun thing, winter! Why not get dark at 4:30PM when there was hardly any light all day anyway? Or any light for weeks? sigh.) I just LOVE this tea. It is the perfect amount of heat & spiciness. Cinnamon, cayenne, chili peppers! This one might be good mixed with something chocolatey, but I wouldn’t want to ruin how perfect this one already is by adding anything to it. And the guayusa is sure to give me an energy boost!

This is JUST the perfect spicy tea I’ve been looking for! While trying to decide which tea to drink this morning, I was looking at the snow falling out the window and decided this one would be appropriate. I steeped this for the perfect amount of heat. The base tea works great with these flavors. I love it because it has cinnamon and cayenne! Yum! The toasty, spicy flavor really stays with you. I haven’t tried a not-delicious tea from Butiki yet – they are PROS.

additional notes: Thanks so much for including this in your cupboard clearout, StarFevre! I loved this one when I first tried it…. I can’t believe I tried it eight years ago. And somehow this pouch is still very very delicious! It’s in a pouch I don’t remember Butiki using though… it’s more of a resealable pouch than one of those fold top bags they always had. So maybe this was from a subscription type thing. The flavor is still so good. It looks a little crumbled now though… but I’ll still enjoy it!

Additional notes: Azzrian sent me a sampling of this one a while back. thanks so much! I tried and loved a sample direct from Butiki a while back as well, so it was nice to revisit. I saw Azzrian’s tasting notes and was inspired to have a cup. I love this one. It’s creamy and nutty on a nice green tea base. I would love it if there was MORE pistachio flavor. BUT if you oversteep the green tea leaves to get more of the pistachio flavor, the tea will get bitter. But leaving the leaves in longer would give more of a pistachio flavor! Conundrum!

I’m never tried pistachio ice cream, but I have had delicious pistachio muffins. One of my favorite teas, Special Teas Vienna Winter Green has pistachios, so now I’d like to try any tea with pistachios. This tea is great! The pistachios are scrumptious, and pairs really well with a light green tea base. It has a silky smooth and creamy flavor, too (obviously like ice cream, so the name is accurate!) A perfect pistachio blend – I couldn’t think of a better mix of ingredients. Simple yet sophisticated.

This tea is a nice white tea. It tasted almost like hot water with little floral and fruity notes popping in and out. Not really my thing. It tastes better when steeped for a longer time though. Good tea overall! It fits my mood right now. I want something light.

I just started my ICU rotation, and I am drained. I’m too tired to write a full review, but this is a good white tea. Mild and dainty. The dry leaves are fuzzy white and smell really good. The taste is very very mild. It is naturally sweet, and I love that.

So I finished this tea up today. I love this tea so much, but not enough to buy it again. I think it is because I have so many teas. Hopefully, I will be able to stick to just certain types of teas. Who knows!

Anyhow, after steeping this tea, I remembered how smooth this was! The scent of the dry leaf was, again, fruity and berry-like. Just like the other Kenyan teas from Butiki. The scent of the leaves post-steep smelled burnt, toasty, and roasty. It was almost off-putting. However, as soon as the liquid hit my mouth I knew I was wrong! This tea is delicious and smooth. I had to let it cool off to get the real flavors. There was some nutty and toasty and cocoa flavors to this.

I accidentally let this cool to room temperature. I still took a sip, and it tasted even better! I wonder what this tea is like cold! It was slightly sweet and fruity! Yum! No bitterness… no astringency! Very refreshing and soothing. I like!

I took the day off to run errands and relax today. I am so happy I did. I get to enjoy teas as well! This tea is so good! It gives me a soft but nice caffeine kick. The nutty notes definitely stand out, as well as the cocoa and slightly tobacco-ish notes. Good tea. The leaves look like yunnan leaves with its brown to light brown, soft, fuzzy waves/curls. It smells and tastes almost like yunnan as well!

I took the day off today to run errands and relax. I am happy I did that! I’m getting to drink lots of teas! :)