Part 2 in my Don’t Be Afraid Of Tea series.
Some of my teas are getting pretty old. Out of curiosity I searched my email archives for my first Butiki order. It was placed 11 months ago. Yikes. So yeah, now I know which ones to prioritize.
Dry leaf consists of gunpowder-like pellets that are fragrant with a metallic tang. Like gunpowder, they also expand a crazy amount while steeping (how the heck did they get such a long stem rolled into such a tiny ball?!) but with a sweet, woody (iirc) aroma.
Initially I wasn’t sure what to make of the first infusion, as I wasn’t tasting honey or apples or anything else in the notes, but flowers. Just oolongy, orchidy flowers, especially in the aftertaste, which made me seriously question my palate. Fortunately I like most florals in my tea, so I was happy. Subsequent steeps were progressively weaker, with that same metallic tang from the dry leaf scent coming out in the third.
Not what I was expecting, but very enjoyable nonetheless! I’ll try using different water & parameters to see if I can coax out some of the flavors that other people are getting.
