Yay, one of my samples from Butiki! I’ve been looking at this tea since I found their website, and I’m way excited to try it. :D I have to say this is the most beautiful tea I’ve seen thus far. The leaves are so dramatic – crazy long and twisty and spindly like the roots of some ancient tree. And they’re pretty much pitch black which makes them all the more gorgeous. There are a few cream-colored dry flower petals in here as well, as a nice contrast and accent to the leaves. The smell is not what I expected: I get a lot of yogurt scent for some reason. Maybe I’m crazy, heh. But it’s definitely vanilla yogurt with some caramelly drizzle on top. I’m glad the sample is meant for one serving because I can imagine this tea being a pain in the butt to measure. :P
The leaves get so huge when this steeps! It reminds me of steeping oolong in terms of how much it expands in the water. Amazing! This aroma is much more what I would expect from this tea. I can smell caramel and vanilla goodness mixed with a lot of raisin and little bit of yogurt (?!). Drinking this is like eating raisins! Which is fine with me because I happen to love raisins. So raisin is definitely the most prominent taste for me, with a little hint of cocoa. I didn’t seem to get much caramel or vanilla at first, so I added a tiny bit of sugar to the second half of the cup and they came out immediately. Yum yum yum. I don’t have any experience with Taiwanese assams so I think I would have to try a plain one to really be able to pick up on the flavoring in this tea. I suspect it blends so well with the base that I can’t pick it out individually, which is a good thing!
For some reason, this tea has a very tart or sour aftertaste for me… Anyone else experience that?
Flavors: Caramel, Cocoa, Raisins, Vanilla
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That sounds like a very intriguing tea.
Yeah, I tasted that sourness afterwards too. I didn’t like it because of that.
mj, I’m glad it’s not just me! :P That part was odd but I loved the rest.
the raisins are because this tea uses a taiwanese assam as a base. taiwanese black teas are known for having delicious raisin notes.
apt, I’ll have to try the plain Taiwanese assams that Butiki has then. :)
I also dug the wild black.
That sounds like a very intriguing tea.
Yeah, I tasted that sourness afterwards too. I didn’t like it because of that.
mj, I’m glad it’s not just me! :P That part was odd but I loved the rest.
the raisins are because this tea uses a taiwanese assam as a base. taiwanese black teas are known for having delicious raisin notes.
apt, I’ll have to try the plain Taiwanese assams that Butiki has then. :)
I also dug the wild black.