Butterfly Herbs

I discovered Butterfly Herbs as I was passing through downtown Missoula. The store itself is lovely, an old-timey shop with big glass jars of candy, coffee, herbs, and tea. I opened some of the jars to sniff them, but the teas I was most interested in (black teas flavored with things like lime, wild cherry, currants, etc.) smelled incredibly chemical. Perhaps they’re using alcohol-based flavorings? I’ve never really run into this before with tea, so I decided to take the safe route with this orange pekoe, which smelled perfectly harmless.

Now that I’ve got it steeped up, I think I may have gone too safe. The flavor isn’t bad, just weak and flat. Hard to tell if this is from age or it’s just a weak strain. Maybe adding extra leaves next time will help.

HGTTB

I am always excited to try a new lychee tea and this was no different. However, I’m not sure how I feel about this blend. The congou is a touch smokey but other than that it is rather flat which would be perfect to highlight the lychee flavor. Unfortunately though, the lychee flavor doesn’t take advantage of this mellow base and instead it also decides to hide in the background until the end of the sip where it appears as a floral aftertaste.

HGTTB

At first, I wasn’t too big on the taste of this tea. It has a light scent of rose, and the bright smell that is lychee fruit. The more I drink it, the more I warm up to it. It reminds me of my favorite Lychee bubble tea I used to get whenever I went to West Edmonton Mall. It doesn’t seem to have a lot of different layers to it, but it’s a nice mix, smooth. It leaves a suprisingly sour after-taste. I’m glad I tried it, but I don’t think it’s one I would need to keep on my shelf.

This is a very well rounded brew. The Congou gives it a smoky and bold flavor. This dark and rough taste is then smoothed out by roses. I did not taste lychee except for the slight sweet after taste. This is a very red floral tea. I can get behind this blend; I enjoy its florality without the chalkiness of pollen. Its very decent.

Cooking TTB #16

This is a very smooth black tea with a strong floral flavor. There was a bit of astringency at the end of the sip. Not my favorite…but there have been so many winners in this box, I really can’t complain!

This is my first time drinking a congou. It’s very smooth. So far the only problem I have with this tea is that I think more of roses then I do of lychee. If you were to remove the lychee flavor I think the tea itself would be good on it’s own.