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Final sample from Janelle – thank you so much for the crazy amount of Butiki samples you sent me!! I’ve been able to try so many teas that I’d otherwise never have had the chance to and it’s been wonderful.

Sadly this tea is not ending our swap on the highest of high notes, largely just due to personal preference: it’s no big secret that I’m not really a fan of vanilla teas, and this is just too mild for my tastes. My brother nodded approvingly and said that he could taste the birthday cake, which is further evidence that it’s not the tea, it’s me. Ah well. It’s a bit early on for the switch to herbals but after the Peach HoppiTea I had last I wanted something milder and less exciting (hypocritical of me, I know). This was just a little milder than I had in mind. I can taste a creamy vanilla frosting element, especially after adding a pinch of sugar, and the leaf is super pretty, but I just think that I’ll always be disappointed in blends in this vein. I was going to give the mug to my brother, since he seemed to like it, but then I caught my eye on the toffee vodka I got for Christmas (along with coconut and butterscotch flavoured vodkas!) and decided to add a drop of that instead. Yes, I know I’m selfish. Honestly just a tiny drop made such an improvement! Ooh it’s like a toffee cupcake now. Okay I can get behind this.

Sipdown 71/377, another sample from MissB.

Oh, crap. I love this. I really, really love this. Why did I have to love this?! With hindsight, I should have realised I would want to bathe in this tea forever because three of my favourite things to drink are tea, beer, and anything peach flavoured. Azzrian I bow down to you for coming up with the idea for this tea. It’s sweet and peachy, herbaceous and hopp-y, and a little bit malty and still distinctly tea. The peach note is juicy and fresh, and really popped after I added sugar. The base tea pairs really well, and is the perfect level of malty and peachy to perfectly support the flavours. The hops come through more strongly in the scent than the flavour, but there is a distinct, slightly-bitter-but-not-in-a-bad-way beeriness to the tea which amazes me. It’s a different kind of hoppiness than the Rhubarb Vanilla Ale tea that I drank last night and it comes across as a definite light beer note. Oh my god I adore this. Ideally it’s one I’d keep in stock permanently, but life is not that kind. I wish I’d discovered how much I love this while Butiki was still open, but then again, I don’t think I would have loved it quite as much back then. I don’t think I’ll ever come across another tea like this, sadly, but I will now be on the lookout for peach flavoured craft beers! I’m getting to the bottom of my cup now. Expletive.

I thought I’d write up a note on this while I still have vague memories of drinking the last of my Eggnog and Pralines sample a few days ago. As I said at the time, I do prefer this one.

I actually ended up with this tea because when Butiki were closing down I placed an order which included 1/2oz of their Creamy Eggnog tea, but Stacy ran out before getting to my order and so (after checking I was okay with it) substituted this new one instead. It worked out pretty well, I think, because I really like the hint of nutmeg in this which apparently wasn’t part of the old blend, and even though the base tea was changed I’m not all that clued-in on green teas, and as they’re both smooth buttery greens I doubt I would have been able to tell much of a difference. Stacy also sent me a couple of ounces of the Organic Spring Twist – which I’ve already reviewed – on its own in my mystery box, and I like being able to compare the two and pick out exactly what is from the base and what is additional flavours.

As always, Stacy created this tea masterfully, and the base blends together really well with the flavours of the creamy eggnog and spicy nutmeg, though I maintain that I’d have liked to have seen a Butiki eggnog tea that didn’t use a green base tea. I much prefer this to the Eggnog & Pralines blend, I think largely because the base is much sweeter and more buttery, and doesn’t have that strong savoury vegetal note that was present in E&P from the Glenburn Estate Green. The creamy eggnog is present even in the scent of this tea, which surprised me a lot given my scepticism over cream-flavoured teas. It’s the most noticeable note in the initial sip, followed by the buttery green tea and nutmeg together, and then again in the aftertaste it’s pure sweet eggnog. I added a little sugar, not because I thought it needed it but just because I’m trying everything as many ways as I can for my Butiki drink-a-thon, and it makes the eggnog note even more pronounced. It also gets somewhat stronger the more it cools, up until a point and then the flavour starts to disappear. I’m wondering what this might be like cold-brewed, and I think I might just be curious enough to try it.

Sipdown! (70/377)

One of the last samples I received from the wonderful Janelle. I’m so proud of myself for the rate I’m managing to get through them all!

This was tasty, but another one that I automatically trusted the brewing instructions on and should have gone with my gut instead. After around three minutes steeping, this was a beautiful mix of rhubarb and vanilla, with some malt and hoppy notes in the background. After the final minute, the base had taken over much more, and I’m not generally a fan of Keemuns, so this wasn’t necessarily a good thing for me. It is, however, much more reminiscent of an ale this way, so I do think it’s an accurate name for it, but I personally preferred it when it was all rhubarb and vanilla. As per the recommendations I added a tiny bit of sugar, careful not to overdo it and lose the hops flavour, and it did bring out the rhubarb note more, but still behind the malty Keemun and hops. The vanilla is more pronounced with sugar, too, but I tend to associate vanilla with general sweetness so maybe that’s just me. I didn’t try this with milk, because even though I would usually prefer it with a Keemun or any strong malty black tea, I thought it would ruin the ‘ale’ aim of the tea. There was only minimal astringency, and it honestly did remind me of beer, even with the mouthfeel, so I didn’t mind it, really. Even though I would have preferred a more dominating rhubarb and vanilla flavour, in a real ale they would of course be more back-notes than anything else, so I do think Stacy did a good job in creating what she was aiming for. As this cools it gets a bit more astringent and the rhubarb and vanilla become less noticeable, with the hops dominating more. I definitely preferred this while it was still hot. Not just-brewed hot, because the flavour did develop some after a little cooling time, but before it got lukewarm.

As a side-note: sorry if my notes are weirdly formal at the moment. I’m applying for a lot of jobs, doing online tests etc. and I’m finding it hard to shake the writing style.

Yummy! I was talking to Red Fennekin in part about puerh, and I had a hankerin’ so I grabbed this one and it was a goood choice. I’m not sure which base it uses but it is good. The flavouring isn’t what I’d call weak, but it’s delicate enough and the puerh more than holds its own. The lime flavour is more noticeable than the watermelon, but the watermelon note does actually come through, which I think is an achievement with such a delicate flavour. Especially since I didn’t get it in the Watermelon Xylophone! It was actually delicious on its own, with the puerh all mellow and chilling with the bright juicy lime and the sweet delicate watermelon, but since it’s called slushie I wanted it to come across more fake and artificial – I think that’s the first time I’ve ever said that about a tea – so I added a generous amount of sugar and it really did turn it into a more grown-up version of a melted lime slushie. The watermelon is more in the background with sugar, mostly because it brought out the lime so much more, but I can still tell it’s there. The puerh base is still really good and can definitely take a lot. Even with the stronger citrus flavour and added sugar it’s a beautiful tea. Silky, earthy, and something umami that’s not sweet and not savoury but somewhere in between. Noms all round.

Drinking this again because it’s SHERLOCK NIGHT! I think my second sample tin will be all gone this time next week, sadly. Perfect timing, though. This was weak tonight because I had to choose between a weak cup of tea and missing the start of Sherlock, and well, there aren’t many things I’d choose over tea, but Sherlock is one of them (especially when I’ve drank said tea many times before). I will make sure I brew it properly for the send-off, though. Cinnamon was actually surprisingly prominent and Sherlock was amazing.

Upping my rating from 73 because this tea consistently makes me happy.

Another tea I don’t know quite what to make of – I may be a poor judge of this tea since I have absolutely no idea what it’s supposed to taste like, having never heard of tamarind before MissB sent me this. For that reason this will probably be a short tasting note.

From reading others’ tasting notes, it sounds like this still tastes basically as it should. It’s earthy, fruity in a nondescript (or just indescribable to me) way, and a little bit sour. It’s on the more astringent side than I like, but this is easily fixed with a splash of milk. The earthy base is the most prominent, though after reading some of the tasting notes it sounds like the earthiness might actually be a part of the tamarind flavour itself. I added a little sugar, which brought out more of the fruitiness, and then milk, which mellowed out the tea but didn’t change its flavour too much except, weirdly, adding to the sour note. Every now and again I get an echo of a sense memory, like maybe this is a familiar flavour after all, but I’m not sure why. It’s truly odd, but I’m happy to try it.

Matcha smoothie before work! I added 1 teaspoon of this to 200ml of coconut milk and 1 banana. The result is super sweet but pretty tasty! The raspberry is pretty subtle, but more prominent than the coconut. It’s like a raspberry banana cream pie has been liquefied. The super sweetness is starting to hurt my teeth, but I gotta blame the banana for that – it’s overripe, starting to get a little black in places, and I prefer my bananas still a bit green. Good energy boost to start the day, though!

Alright so usually I’d thank whoever sent the tea my way before I got into my tasting note, but this one was actually sent to me by MissB, Janelle and VariaTEA on three separate occassions, so thank you everyone!

Wow, this is a strong-smelling tea! The particular sample I’m drinking from tonight was from MissB, and even though it was from pretty much the first tea package I ever received almost three years ago it was packaged really well and is still packing a punch – I almost choked when I sniffed the dry leaf! I did stick my nose right in the pouch, though… I never expected to enjoy this tea, because as a concept I find root beer to be really weird. Floats, I can get behind – sticking ice cream on the top of some fizzy pop? count me in! – but root beer itself always seemed weirdly medicinal to me, and therefore not really a flavour I wanted to be drinking in my pop. On my first sip of the tea my mind was not changed. It does taste a lot like root beer, which I was simultaneously impressed and disappointed with, but when it’s hot and flat it doesn’t seem quite as strange to me for some reason. I added half a sugar out of curiosity and it didn’t really do much, except maybe add to the tooth-rotting pop impression. The vanilla note is there too, but doesn’t really convey ice cream to me since that’s pretty impossible to do in a hot liquid form. My brother, who likes root beer, was very impressed with this one and would have drank the whole mug if I hadn’t infected it with my cold germs before he could.

I must be enjoying this one more than I thought, because as I’m writing up this note I’ve guzzled down most of my mug and seem to be contemplating making another right away. Maybe I’ll take some to work with me tomorrow Sunday lunch service is hectic and I start 4-6 hours earlier than I usually do; I’m going to need matcha smoothie levels of energy.

Resteeped my leaves, since it seemed a shame not to when it used so much to begin with. The melon flavour is definitely more subdued this time, but I think the coffee note is even more pronounced. In the first cup the base tea seemed to support the flavours, which were the star of the show, but this time it’s the other way around. The cantaloupe note does come through first, but the main body of the tea is classically darjeeling notes. It’s a fairly floral tea, which pairs well with the supporting melon note, and also has some earthiness which is well matched with the espresso. Everything is much more evenly balanced in this cup than the last. As it starts to cool the tea becomes slightly bitter, so it’s definitely best drank hot. For the second time this week I’m regretting throwing out my leaf after the second steep without tasting the tea; this could easily have gone for a third.