Tamarind Pop

First off thank you to Stacy for this sample :)

I’ve never had tamarind anything before, so I thought a tamarind tea might be pretty interesting. It definitely was! The aroma in my little sample bag was sweet… vanilla… cookies… but with an interesting sharper note beneath it. It smelled intriguing.

After pulling my teaball out of my cup, the resulting cup was surprisingly sour! I know that that is a characteristic of tamarind and I recalled Stacy’s note saying to add some sugar to it. I ended up sweetening it more than I would normally have done in order to remove the sourness, but once I did it was a completely different tea. The caramel, vanilla and cacao notes described came forward & while it was still a very unusual tea, the sugar really made it shine for me. The more I sip on my cup, the more I like this tea. At first I thought “well it’s good, but probably not something I would drink often” but as I’m nearing the end of my cup I think that I could see myself drinking it more often than I imagined :)

I just discovered that this is the only tamarind tea in the database! How interesting. I’ve never had tamarind by itself (I looked it up and apparently it’s a legume) but I have had it in Indian and Mexican food so I at least have some idea what it tastes like. It’s a little sweet and tangy.

This is a surprisingly accurate tamarind flavor! There’s also something that’s almost chocolatey. It’s an interesting mix: tangy and sharp with a sweet, smooth finish. I’m liking it a lot.

I’m another person that is unfamiliar with Tamarind so unfortunately I have nothing to compare this with.

Whilst raw this tea has no particular fragrance and the leaves are a mixture of brown and red which is perfect for autumn. Whilst brewed it retains a lovely dark brown colour.

Without sugar:
Alright this tastes like a strong black tea with oodles of natural sweetness and a touch of sourness and bitterness. I’m guessing the sugar would mask the sourness and bitterness a little bit. There is a touch of vanilla which helps to smooth out the fizzy sourness.

With sweetener:
Still a lovely and strong black tea but with more sweetness and more vanilla. It would seem that the sweetener truly does bring out some of the flavours. Now there is also a dark taste, very similar to dark cocoa.

Definitely a unique tasting blend, while not being my favourite from Butiki it’s still wonderful as something different. Very glad I ordered this.

Another generous sample from Stacy, whee. Had this one for afternoon tea with my husband while he had Della Terra Blueberry Crumble (which I also enjoy for its coffee cake qualities, but I’m trying to let him have the most straightforwardly sweet bakery type teas as I know he likes those and might be pickier about other ones). Unfortunately I think the powerful aroma of his took over a bit and maybe I missed some of this tea’s nuance. I was nervous about this one anyway—hence the sample request as opposed to ordering a small amount—because, confession: I am a bit leery of tamarind! It is not like me, and I always wonder if I should get over it and just try all the fantastic Mexican candies with it in spades, but the couple of times I’ve cooked with tamarind paste it has been so intensely mouth puckering (and I’m someone who loves lemon overkill in Moroccan cooking and cocktails, thinks vinegar is delicious, and prefers foods pickled) I nearly threw out dinner. I know the soda isn’t really like that—my husband loves trying all the exotic flavors of soda at the international grocer’s so I’m no stranger to it—but I still got nervous. But this is not painfully tart at all. It’s got a little astringency, as it should (it gives it a very slight fizzy pop feel), but it’s surprisingly full of rich round sweet flavors like vanilla. This is a subtle tea. I worry some of its charms might have been lost in the din of sandwiches and chatter, but it was pleasant even so.

Weird, I had a tasting note and then it disappeared. Anyway, I usually love flavored guayusas from Butiki Teas, but I just didn’t get the flavor I was supposed to be getting from this tea. I think I’m not the right audience for it…and it’s going to a great new home. :-)

Here is another sample. I haven’t ever had tamarind soda. My only experience with tamarind is using tamarind paste to make pad Thai, and this definitely doesn’t have tanginess/sourness I expected…Maybe just a small amount in the aftertaste. This is very nice. I think I might like this with rich, spicy foods. Because I’m thinking of Thai food, massaman curry or tom kha sounds good. Maybe I’ll order more and try it!

Loose leaf
Appearance? Dark, black/orange hints of green
Aroma when Dry: fruity, can smell the sticky tart tartness, with some subtle undertones
After water is first poured: non specific fruit notes
At end of steep:
Tea liquor:
first color: light dusty brown
At end of steep: bland fruity
Staple? No, but Possible seasonal treat.
Time of day preferred: unsure as of yet
Taste:
first notes: dry, bland
Additives used (milk, honey, sugar etc)? Not at first, added Raw Sugar at half a cup.
Lingers? Yes, with the sticky earthiness of the top notes in tamarind, light tart tang
As it cools? Dissipates into earthy dustiness. leaves mouth as dry as expected for tamarind.
At warm, not hot, with the addition of raw sugar, it is opening up a bit more, with the full layers of noted found in raw tamarind.

Reflecting:I will try again another day, thinking this might be better in summer.

Honestly I never knew what to make of this. I have no knowledge of tamarind outside of this tea, and it’s just such a unique flavour that I have no idea what else I would compare it to. It’s earthy, a little sour, and has hints of caramel which only really pop when sweetened. It sounds like this is pretty accurate for what the concept of this blend was going for though, so I guess that’s a plus. It’s not a flavour I would really crave or actively choose often, but as I’m sipping on it it does grow on me. It’s much better sweetened than plain. This final cup is cold brewed, because it’s named ‘pop’ and that’s something you drink cold. I do think I prefer it this way. It’s less fruity, more earthy, and still a little on the bitter side, which surprised me because it wasn’t steeping for that long. I think this might be part of the ‘tamarind’ flavour, though, so I’ll give it a free pass on the bitterness. Again, not my favourite, but a super unique tea I’m happy to have tried.

Sipdown 232/400.

With all the high ratings I had high hope but I’m honestly not that impressed. Perhaps it’s because my sample doesn’t contain enough tamarind. Regardless I’m getting mainly earthy / woodsy undertones calmed by a smooth caramel / vanilla flavor.

Trying this one again for a second time as I am sitting here doing my taxes. I feel that the earthy tones are coming out even more when it’s warm. I think it’s better around 2 mins of steep time. Both times I’ve gone past that I feel that the tea has too much of a twiggy …woodsy flavor. Which I don’t really like.

Cooking TTB

I tried to stay away from these teas. Its kind of like a being on a diet. You want to have the chocolate but you know that if you have that one little taste that you will just crave and want more and more. That is what this tea reminds me of. Being on a diet and knowing that I can’t have something but wanting it. With Butiki closing, I didn’t want to try these teas knowing that I wouldn’t have a place to resupply my craving. Its smooth. Its rich. I’m not getting sweet but more of a caramel note to the finish. I now feel everybody’s sorrow and pain. I now know what I’ve been missing all this time. It seems that I’m always late to the party. . SIGH. . . .