5272 Tasting Notes
I was packing some of this up for Dexter3657 (I was actually shocked when I realized I was sending Dex a Butiki tea but I am always happy to share)and once I had some out, I decided to brew myself up a cup.
For some reason I always forget to double the leaf when I use my gravity steeper so I only used 1.5 tsp for 16 oz and then after pouring the water realized and had to frantically find the tea again and quickly dump in the other 1.5 tsp. Luckily, the end result is pretty tasty!
Honestly, this is probably the most accurate pumpkin flavor I have ever had in a tea. It was shocking when I realized how spot on it was (although I am not sure why given this is a Butiki blend after all). Moreover, I can taste the base and to me it is slightly vegetal and yet that only enhances the pumpkin. Although, aside from a nice smoothness, I don’t get much “milkshake” which makes me sad – not sad enough that I am not happy to drink the mug but just a little disappointed. Nothing I can’t get over though.
Preparation
I have a bag of caffeine-free teas in my swap box. My plan was to reach into that bag and the first tea my hand touched would be the one I drank. It didn’t quite work out that way because I pulled out Lemon Lime Cream Tart and was not in the mood for it. So when I pulled the bag out and looked through things, I went with this one.
I should preface this by saying that I tend to hold Butiki Tea’s to a higher standard. When I open a Butiki package I have high expectations. Unfortunately, this is falling just slightly short of what I hoped for. Don’t get me wrong, it is a good cup of tea alas the rooibos is more present than I anticipated and the coconut is a tad bit muted. I expected more sweetness and a little more cream. Weirdly enough I feel like I have had something similar in the past.
ETA: Jessie’s Tea!! This tastes similar to Jessie’s Tea to me. That was bugging me.
Preparation
Sipdown!! (195)
Two days ago I hit the 450 tasting note milestone, and now (thanks in large part to an inspiring competition with Roswell Strange) I am writing my 500TH TASTING NOTE. Unfortunately, it just had to be for a ridiculous little tea called Monkey Fart.
Luckily, the taste is not nearly as hard to get behind as the name. I have already said what I needed to say about this tea. It is a nice smooth black that sneakily transitions to sweet banana goodness. However, I decided to drink this up so that I could use the pitcher to cold brew another one of my SBTs.
On another note, I also intend to cold brew another tea but can’t decide which one. I am happy to take some suggestions. What teas (preferably blacks) have you guys cold brewed and enjoyed??
Preparation
Haha, congrats. I think it’s cool that you hit that milestone with a funny-named tea. :-)
Thank you. It really is a strange name. However, I think this is the perfect tea for my brother. He likes iced tea, loves banana and is a male in his 20s so a banana iced tea named Monkey Fart would be right up his alley.
I’m not huge in cold brewed black teas thus far, but one I did enjoy was Superberry from David’s.
I will keep that in mind. Alas I don’t have any of that :( Thanks for the suggestion though!
Congrats on 500! As far as iced goes, seconding Superberry from David’s. Blueberry Black (and White) from Adagio are surprisingly good. I find anything with bright berry flavors generally works pretty well.
Well onto the shopping list Superberry goes. Alas there is also no Adagio teas in my cupboard (with the exception of Honeybush Mango). I will keep those in mind. Thanks moraiwe.
I don’t know why superberry isn’t on david’s website though.
Yay 500!
Congrats on 500! White Angel by Tea Desire is something I’ve steeped successfully cold.
WOOOOOT! congratultions on 500!
(I have 50g of White Angel, so if you want some next swap to cold brew let me know)
Congrats on 500!!
Sipdown!! (196)
So I am not a huge fan of citrus teas and yet this is my second citrus tea this hour. I am not sure how I worked that out but at least both of the teas are pleasant enough.
This was a little overleafed but that is due to the fact that I didn’t have enough to make another cup so I just tossed it all into the infuser. I am getting a lot of the base which is on the bitter side. That is mixed with the orange flavor so it is sort of like drinking a glass of orange peels. Not the most pleasant cup but at least it is gone now.
Preparation
How do you make your tea? We picked some up from Teavana after trying the sample. Unfortunately we cannot get the same flavoring as the sample.
The samples use a lot of sugar. If you’re not using sugar you won’t get the same flavour.
The samples use lots of Sugar as OMGsrsly said and Teavana also overleafs like mad.
Before I start, I am just going to leave this here: http://imgur.com/gallery/isIwb. It got a chuckle from me. Have to love the magic of the internet.
Anyways, this tea came to me from Veronica. I would not have ever given this tea a second look, nor would I have bought it on my own. However, it gets a lot of love on steepster and that piqued my curiosity and luckily Veronica was generous enough to send me a sample.
Even smelling the tea, I was already preparing to write that it is not for me and offer up the other cup I have. I am happy to report that that is not the case. This cup has a little something for everyone – spice from the cinnamon, savory from the coriander, sweet from the vanilla, and tart from the citrus. Truly a well-rounded cup. Am I in love with it? No. Will I get more of this in the future? Probably not. But I am enjoying this cup and I won’t have any problems finishing up the rest of the sample. Thank you Veronica for the opportunity to satisfy my curiosity.
Preparation
Aimee Popovacki sent this my way when I first joined steepster. Since there is another swap from her on its way to me, I figured I should probably try to work on our last one. That means enjoying a cup of this tasty tea.
It is really a pleasant cup in its simplicity. Sweet, minty, and delicious. I seriously considered restocking on this when I initially started drinking it but then Sil sent me Della Terra’s Anti V-Day Treat and I decided as far as sweet and minty black teas go, that is the one I would stock up on. However, if I were ever in a pinch, this is not a bad alternative.
Thanks Aimee!!
Preparation
Sipdown!! (198)
As far as pu’erhs go, this is not bad. There is a nice caramel flavor. However it is still a pu’erh and though I enjoyed this the first time I had it, it has become clear that I am not really a pu’erh fan. For that reason alone I won’t be restocking this.
Preparation
I hear you. Have never really been a fan of pu-erh either.
Its soooooooo good lol
Wait, Sil. Are you saying this is good or pu’erh in general?
puerh. love it. can’t get enough of it. i’ve never tried this one but caramel/toffee + puerh sounds like win to me :)
I really liked this initially. I guess I have come to realize that pu’erh is just not for me though.
yep…i hear you. that’s like me and greens, whites, most oolongs. I don’t hate them but i’d almost always rather drink a black or a puerh.
I prefer blacks (and genmaicha). Although I keep some green, whites, and oolongs around for a bit of variety or for when the mood strikes.
Sipdown!! (199)
My friend who gave me the rooibos chai I had last night also gave me this tea. She told me it is her all-time favourite chai and was just so excited to finally be giving me tea that once again I couldn’t say no.
However, this cup is a whole lot of NO! It is licorice through and through and I am not a licorice fan. I won’t even waste putting milk in this to see if that helps. This is getting dumped and hopefully my friend doesn’t ask what I thought about it :S
Preparation
I got distracted so this cup is now cold. It is really not good cold. All the flavors combine into one thick, odd taste. The word “muddy” comes to mind. I know that sounds strange but the creaminess of the coconut makes it come off smooth like the texture of mud, with a bit of earthy spice from the cinnamon and a thickness from the chocolate. All in all, this tea just has too much going on for its own good.
Preparation
This is one of those teas that can be good or really bad. My last cup was the latter…not sure I want to finish off the rest of it (which is like 1 cup worth) for fear of the ickiness. :P
I had this before and liked it and I have also had it and not been pleased. This got cold and when it is cold, it is bad.
Good to know!!
muddy is exactly how i would describe it… also… giving up might be another word.. its like they just threw ingredients in a pot that they thought might work but really didnt.
I am glad you understand, Aimee!
Yes… it’s totally muddy. It smells so good, but it tastes like a muddled mess. Guess that makes sense on a stormy night. :( I made sure not to buy more of it.
Most of the time I don’t mind it. It doesn’t hurt that I didn’t pay for it but rather got it as a bonus when I bought other stuff.
yeah, i only bought a to go cup of it because i was skeptical to begin with. It kind of reminded me of cocoa canela.. i liked the idea of cocoa canela but the murkiness, and taste were weird.
No wonder you sent me so much in our last swap, Aimee. Also I got 50 g of this free when I bought other teas so I am not too upset that I don’t love it.
lol … yeahhh! i bought a ton of bags of it when it was 2 for 5…. and the one i wanted there was only three so i took the cocoa canela by default haha.
Sipdown!! (200)
This came to me from Lovelylotus when I first started on steepster and I finally finished it today. Although I am glad I tried it, I am not too sad to see it go. I find the honeydew pleasant enough but it is such a subtle flavor to begin with that it is being drowned out by the more prominent mate. Not bad but not something I reach for. Nonetheless, thank you Lovelylotus for sharing :)
On another note, I finally tidied up my tea stash a little bit. I now have a multitude of different boxes including a swap box (teas that I want to swap out), a box of swaps (teas sent to me by other steepsters), and a sipdown box (teas with a mere one or two cups left). I think my roommate will probably appreciate that my teas are not as vastly spread out anymore.
Preparation
I have some of this, but haven’t tried it yet… I keep putting off trying it, even though I really think I’ll like it (love mate, love honeydew).
I may have sent some of this your way :S
So hopefully you like it.
Maybe I’ll try it later today or tomorrow while I seem to be able to. I do only have enough for two or three cups, so if I love it like I think I will then having more will be great :)
Haha. I sort of used the large swap envelope to slip in a few teas that I had a ridiculous surplus of.
Why do we always drink the same teas as each other? It just kinda seems to be happening more frequently :P
haha it is actually weirder now because both our stashes have grown so much that it seems less likely we would reach for the same blend at the same time. Although, I suppose we have also bought many of the same teas recently where as when we started we didn’t have much in common.
And I guess we swap very frequently too, so you have bits of what I have and vice versa. It just always cracks me up, though! Also, this may be jinxing it a little, but this is day two of no tooth pain (so far)! So yay for that!
Yay for no pain!! I will keep my fingers crossed that it stays that way.
And it entertains me too. I guess great minds think alike :P
(I keep thinking that I’ve grown up and become adult enough to appreciate Butiki – ask to try/swap for one here and there hoping that it will be the case….)