612 Tasting Notes
Earthy. Smells toasty and tastes a bit like green tea. Pretty, bright green balls in the bag. Like many of the oolongs I’ve tried since that first terrible milk or whatever it was one, this was nice but not my favorite sort of thing. Fine, just not thrilling/exciting me.
Preparation
YAY a peach tea I don’t hate! I adore height of summer peaches and am always bummed how brief a window they’re REALLY good, transcendently James and the Giant Peach-level succulent with that titillating perfume-y musk going on, and this is pretty impressive at capturing that. The next time I get grouchy about the lack of good peaches available I’ll need to remember I have this.
Preparation
I ate the nuts out of this after 4 steepings and they were ridiculously delicious. Nice seasonal pick. I’ve noticed I tend to have my socks most knocked off by Butiki’s summery-er flavor profiles (like the melon teas, and today’s Flowery Pineapple Oolong) and haven’t been quite as obsessed with the warmer, spicier offerings, but that’s not to say they’re not well done at all; I just find them less insanely dead-on evocative and strong. Maybe part of it is those warmer, spicier, richer flavors are more prevalent in the dessert tea world so it somehow seems less special even though it’s often way better in execution than the myriad other teas out there. Whatever it is…aside from Potato Pancakes and Applesauce (and where else are you going to find that!), a lot of the cool weather Butiki teas I enjoy but don’t feel like I MUST keep around at all times. This was in that vein. Tasty and better than so many other similar things, but not zomg essential. Really lovely for a fall day like today though.
Preparation
Wow, you can really taste and smell the calendula—there’s a sort of cooling medicinal property that’s refreshing and, when combined with the floral and marine and fruity pineapple components, just relaxes and rejuvenates one in the most vivid “Calgon take me away” “go to your happy place” tropical island-evoking way. That medicinal aspect also sort of creates the impression of an alcoholic fizz, like beachy refreshing cocktails with the punch and without the plastic sugarbomb part (think Hemingway’s daiquiri instead of the opaque frozen fruity kind found in salsa-serving establishments). This would be a great tea when it’s dreary and cold out and you’re feeling stir-crazy through the winter months and want to be reminded of summer vacations to sunny, sandy places.
Preparation
It’s my layman’s understanding that yellow tea is pretty hard to acquire at a reasonable price outside of China (or at has been least up until very recently), and I’m aware of the possibility of inferior or even counterfeit teas branded as such. Not at all implying that’s the case here, just noting in general as I really have no basis to judge what an authentic yellow tea “should” be like. (I have a couple more coming my way this month, so maybe I’ll get a better handle on what the general characteristics are based on common traits between the few I’ll be able to try.)
That said, I’m quite taken by how unique this appears. Dry it looks a little like long golden/tippy black leaves, there’s definitely a bit of oxidation, and the dry smell is quite extraordinary—it really is like a cross between all the basic tea types I’ve tried. There’s the toastiness of black tea and roasted oolongs, but also a fresh green mossiness more akin to greens and other types of oolongs, and that whole “delicately sweet floral perfume” aspect of Chinese whites and scented teas. Brewed in the cup this is surprisingly reddish brown but with gold undertones, reminds me of some of the peachiest and roastiest most classic/old-fashioned oolongs. The flavor is very mild and pretty smooth but as it cools a gentle darjeeling-ish woody astringency comes in that I really dig. As it cools further a fruity sweetness comes in. Good choice on an overcast damp mossy fall day like this as it evokes mossy forests and wet wood. Reminds me a bit of a class of oolongs, I forget which but I had some from Butiki a while back, where there are darjeeling qualities. Or perhaps it was the darjeeling that had oolong qualities, I forget. Whatever it is, I like it and it does come off as pretty unique.
Preparation
With a name like ‘fragrant bud’ you’ll get raised eyebrows and interest everywhere except Washington State and Colorado.
Hahaha! I was just reading somewhere a couple days ago about a group in Denver or Boulder, some area around there I think, passing out free joints in an attempt to raise awareness about the marijuana tax plan they’re against. Surreal to me!
Yeah, this isn’t like California where I grew up and you’d probably see lots of people getting silly and toking up. I still haven’t seen it in public and I live down the street from Colorado State University! Nobody wants unreasonable taxation which would hurt the medical marijuana users and encourage illegal purchases from underground growers. Not good! What should happen is research, jobs and tourism to show how well the system can work. Much like our breweries…My town led the nation as the safest drivers in the United States! (Not bad for a beer town!)
I’m jealous. This summer was the first time I’ve ever been in Colorado—it’s a beautiful place full of lots of wonderful things to see and eat and drink and enjoy. And yeah, I like that the voting public there seems to really think through all possibilities and keep an open mind. Frontrunners and innovation for sure. So much better than reactionary fearmongering without facts, which is unfortunately what my current home state leads in. :b
Ditto about making a placeholder so I can log this properly later as I enjoyed it tonight but am dead tired…
I love how the more you steep it the creamier the texture gets—I’m a big fan of the smoothness of huang shan mao fengs. The flavor is nutty and sweet, and gets more floral upon resteep. I think for me, dragon wells in general are more immediately satisfying/gratifying and straightforward than HSMFs but HSMFs have a nuance and gradually unfolding loveliness that is, in the right mood/context, more enchanting. I really like both, hooray.
Preparation
Delicious, and I’ve generally had bad luck with strawberry teas (though I do love ATR’s Nirvana…green tea bases seem to help). I need to add more to this note later, but I wanted to at least have this placeholder because I’m quite sleepy tonight but really enjoyed it…
As always with Butiki blends I’m amazed at how evocative and accurate the flavors are, particularly the buttery toffee element. I’m pretty sure I’d never have thought to combine strawberry jam with toffee, but it’s delightful. The ginger seems to somehow keep it from being cloying, warming things up just enough to round the sweetness out. What a treat.
