612 Tasting Notes
I’ve been slacking on getting to this tea because from the very first time I even perused Butiki’s website I had huge hopes for it—holiday latkes and applesauce are one of my all-time favorite comfort foods and the mere existence of such a tea blew my mind! Didn’t want to be disappointed, and wanted to try it at just the right moment when I could really pay attention to it.
The tea is visually stunning—all those pieces of yummy goodness and gorgeous green leaves! And as with every Butiki offering I’ve tried the smell is dead on, transporting me straight to my parents’ kitchen in the evening, snow outside, grating mountains of potatoes, the smell of them frying along with the sweet warmth of applesauce on the stove. So lovely. I love how evocative her teas can be, downright Proustian at times.
The flavor is wonderful too, and Stacy’s directions are spot on: with a bit of sugar you get lots of the applesauce at the front with hints of the potato gently wafting overhead and eventually joining the party full-on; with salt, more potato initially with sweetness subtly entering the picture. You might think the savory with sweet wouldn’t work, would clash perhaps, but they pair beautifully here as in the supper menu of its namesake. And somehow the whole thing manages to be satisfying without being heavy (probably thanks to the mao feng green tea base). Not at all too salty either. Yum.
This is also kind of a wonder to me because the past couple months I’ve remembered something I knew back in high school tea drinking days and forgot in my hiatus from the habit, namely that I almost always despise apple pieces in tea (which is a headscratcher in itself because apples are one of my favorite fruits; I’m from the empire state after all :b). Yet none of that fruit-tarty astringency I loathe is on display here; it’s the difference between spiced, rich applesauce with its full mouthfeel and the standard fruit tea puckeriness. So yay.
EDIT: Someone mentioned eating the leftover chunks of apple and potato, and ‘cause I’m a curious sheep I followed suit and immediately thought of my maternal grandfather—he was an Irish house painter who loved potato so much he’d even eat it raw! In the summer when we’d go over to his house to visit we’d go in the garden in the backyard and eat fresh peas in their pods too. So that was a nice bonus unexpected sense memory.
Preparation
This wasn’t bad at all, but I just had Persimmon Tree’s Mint Chocolate Chip Rooibos a couple days ago and it evoked that rich creamy dessert flavor more vividly. This one’s more on the “fresh mint” zippy side of things, which is good in its own way but I happen to prefer that ice cream-y treatiness! Certainly fine, just not as indulgent (and I was quite astonished at how accurate PT’s was, so it’s not a dis at all).
Preparation
I love how creamy and sweet this smells both dry and brewing, more like really good pastry that includes fresh strawberries (a summer tart, yum) than most blah grocery store berry tea. That said, I was a bit nervous as I tend not to like astringent fruity teas and alas there was some of that element I dislike in the cup. A little bit of milk helped some but didn’t erase that zingy now-the-inside-of-my-mouth-needs-scrubbing dimension I just don’t like. Alas. If it was my sort of thing I’d be all over this though; it’s extremely well done for the kind of tea it is. Guess I’ll send some of it to my tea buddy via post, and/or ice it (bet it’d be good that way!).
Preparation
My first matcha!! I was so nervous making it since I’ve never done it before, but I can tell with practice it should be no problem. I haven’t figured out what’s going to be my dedicated repurposed matcha bowl yet, so I improvised using a wide shallow bowl to do the whisking and then transferring to a gaiwan. It was pretty messy—thin film of green powder all over the place, and some of it goop as it got wet accidentally, whoops.
A little surprised by the taste given how all the matcha lovers on Steepster describe it. It was indeed creamy and thick, frothy, with some sweetness especially at the front, but it also tastes exactly how I would’ve guessed powdered whole green tea leaves would taste before reading about it from fans—grassy and pretty bitter, especially at the back and lingering in the aftertaste. That said, I don’t dislike it entirely. I think I just need to get used to it. The aspects that are lovely are lovely enough I can be patient and keep working on it. When I reached the bottom there was some powder left despite my sifting, which made the whole thing end on a sweet, even thicker note, which I liked but I’m guessing means I need more practice whisking.
Preparation
This tea smells perfect dry—lusciously creamy earl grey without the harsh vanilla extract burn note some EGCs have. Just fresh, heady vanilla, flowers, and black tea. Brewed it just smells richer than many EGCs too. The flavor is strong but not too overwhelming, and with milk it’s so rich and creamy both texture and flavor-wise it’s almost shocking this is tea (looks and tastes almost like a vanilla coffee latte). Yum.
Preparation
We also found this to be an excellent EGC.
It is really wonderful! I’ve been on a sort of gradual “One Earl Grey to rule them all” quest this year and your research into it has been very helpful in giving me leads. (:
Thanks for your very kind comments. However, my search to find an EG that my wife will enjoy was made possible by the prior research of many more senior Steepster members. Specifically, Ashmanra, Dinosara, JacquelineM, SimplyJenW, SororiTea Sisters: Azzarian, LiberTeas & TeaEqualsBliss, & Tea Sipper, to name just a few. Our EG search has also been greatly assisted by each of the tea suppliers who have been kind enough to provide free samples in consideration for our reviews: Arbor Teas, DAVIDsTEA, Nina’s Paris, Steep City Teas, Teajo Teas, Teas Etc., The Tea Merchant, and Zen Tea Life.
Smells and tastes a bit like bottled pina colada/creamy tropical cocktail mix, and I think the unmistakable rooibos smell contributes to the feeling it’s a mix rather than the ideal fresh ingredients by lending it an overly sweet and vaguely plastic element (I think the lemongrass is contributing too…it’s strange, I adore lemongrass when cooking but have noticed in tea so far I find it makes things smell chemical, plastic, once even vaguely urine-y, ick). It isn’t bad really, and if you like pina coladas (cue music) that have that sort of flavor you might dig this. But personally I don’t love it and there are so many dessert tea possibilities out there that I have loved I don’t think I’ll ever re-up.
Preparation
Impressed with how much this smells and tastes like mint chocolate chip ice cream (one of my favorite flavors) with some milk. Husband walked into the kitchen while it was steeping and was like “Mmmm! Smells good in here, like mint chocolate chip ice cream—where is it??” and was surprised when I explained it was tea. A very nice dessert option.
Preparation
Not as smoky as I was anticipating (makes sense though; my intro to smoke teas was a very hardcore lapsang souchong served at Crumpets and this is my first keemun-on-its-own); brewing it smells more like toasty chocolate than anything, with the smoke sneaking in on the chocolate note’s coattails. The smoke’s subtlety is really quite nice here because the bigness of the toasty chocolate aroma complements it so well.
Does taste rather bitter (which kind of works actually, with the chocolate aroma…makes it seem like an almost painfully dark bar of chocolate). I’d steep it for a minute less next time and see if that makes it perfect.
This tea is one of my absolute favorites! :-)
I was a bit scared to try it also because I started off with Cantaloupe and Cream which is a wonder in how accurate it is, and Pistachio Ice Cream (a flavor which is my total undoing as pistachio is my favorite nut!). Was sure it’d somehow let me down after those. But yeah, it’s wonderful! (:
I love eating raw potato with a light sprinkle of salt.
Might have to be brave and try this tea.
Chelle- You will love it if you love potatoes!
All this potato tea talk today and I’m wondering what it would taste like to add matcha to mashed potatoes…
Very interesting idea!