Tamarind Pop

So basically the city is shut down today due to weather, no busses, no mail, no school (college & university included), even Walmart is closing. Highways closed to & from the city.
So I’m doing a sample sipdown. Finished off pineapple upsidedown cake.
Then this.

I wasn’t getting much of this flavour wise, I was getting scents of spices & almost coffee like smells.
I’m still not sure how this actually tastes, I have a wee bit left to make a small mug. So we will see then.
No numerical rating for now.

I’m not sure I’ve ever had Tamarind soda before or what tamarind tastes like. But I do know that this tea is really smooth and tasty with some honey and milk. I’m now curious to find a tamarind soda to compare it to!

Another from my Butiki order. I couldn’t resist this one, I am familiar with tamarind only in some asian cooking but it is an interesting taste and I wondered how it would go in tea. I made a pot for the beau and myself this evening, and was surprised by the aroma. I didn’t pick up on anything I could call tamarind, instead I found it smelled of vanilla and reminded me of the Caramel Vanilla Assam (in aroma at least). It also reminds me of a monk’s blend I have with vanilla and pomegranate, randomly. Definitely not bad, but not what I expected, aroma-wise.

Steeped, I still just get the sense of vanilla and black tea. It smells like it will be a bit bitter, but I steeped it per directions – 3 minutes with boiling water. Hmm. First sips yield the expected results. Slightly astringent black tea with some vanilla. Not creamy yummy vanilla, but still something that makes me think of vanilla. Nothing says tamarind for me. I added a small piece of rock sugar (also from butiki) but it didn’t really dissolve as hoped, and didn’t change the taste for me. This isn’t bad, but definitely disappointing. It tastes almost exactly like a low quality monk’s blend I picked up once. I will try again to see if I can’t improve on this result, but this was a miss for me. The beau loves it though so if I can’t fix it up he will have no problem drinking it down.

Thinking about it, and I think part of my problem is the tea base. I prefer sweet Chinese blacks that I don’t have to do anything to, where this seems to need some sugar (which I don’t like to use). I will try steeping it more gently next time!

Update: Despite sweetening the rest of the pot, I find it quite bitter. The beau rates this at a 79 but I like it even less as I get further in. Disappointing.

This is interesting! I’ve never had tamarind fruit before so I don’t really know what this should taste like, but after seeing all the high reviews for it I asked for this as my sample!

It is pretty great. There are some vanilla-y notes, and some fruity notes and it almost makes me think of cream soda (like TeaEqualsBliss mentioned).

I’m not sure I’d go out of my way to order this in the future as there are other Butiki teas I enjoy more and I usually have to restrain myself, but I’m happy I was able to try it!

Thanks Stacy for being so generous with your samples!

Thanks to Alphakitty for a sample of this.

This is a really interesting tea! I’m not too familiar with Tamarind (I’ve only had it in soda form a couple times), so I don’t know how closely the taste compares. There definitely is a little bit of astringency and “mouth feel”.

I thought it was good unsweetened, but decided to add some sugar (gasp!) per the suggestion of other reviewers. It definitely brings out the flavor and makes it taste more like a tamarind soda.

I’m going to leave a rating off because this tea is so unique and I’m not quite sure how to properly rate it.

Additional notes: Had to buy this one with my order because I was always fondly remembering the sample I savored over the years. It’s such an interesting base with fruity flavor that almost recalls creamsicle to me since I’m not entirely sure what tamarind should taste like anyway. But the Nepal Guranse base is like caramel or vanilla, very light. Just as good as I remember but this one is a unique one to forget.

So I tried this with brown sugar and Oh MY! Now I know why the description says that it has hints of caramel because the cooler it got the more I smelled of vanilla and caramel. This is much richer with sugar and I was so sad to reach the bottom of the cup.

0.5 tbsp for 186 ml

Smooth leathery notes of black tea. Mellow fruity-ness of the tamarind comes through and complements the black notes very well.

This is an incredibly delicious and unique tea. I don’t think I’ve ever had tamarind, so I have no basis to determine if it actually tastes like tamarind. However, regardless of accuracy, this tea smells and tastes divine. It’s not like any other tea I’ve had before. It’s smooth and sweet by itself, but with a tiny drop of honey, it really pops.
Very well done Butiki Teas!

The only tamarind-flavored thing I’ve had before was ice cream (which was delicious), so I was excited about this sample. Through association, the first sip immediately reminded me of all the Mexican grocery stores I’ve visited. The spiciness especially.

I added a bit of sugar to it when I’d had half the glass already (still very warm), but I think I prefer it unsweetened. The spiciness of it isn’t so noticeable when sweetened, but I preferred having it there.