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4/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

This is a damn fine dessert flavored tea, I must say. Lately I’ve been lukewarm about that category in general because of the weather and my growing exposure to premium pure tea leaves, greens, and oolongs (what a wonderful spring and summer of discovery it’s been—thanks Steepster!), but I’m PMSing like whoa (guess what I thought would be a good lunch today? A bowl of potato chips and a square of dark chocolate…after I ate it I was like “ohhhhh so THAT’s why I’ve been so cranky and teary lately” duh!) and every other sample from Teajo I’ve tried so far has been great so…and yeah, as with all the others I’m very impressed. The aroma and flavor is strong, present, but never fake or chemical tasting, with lovely balance between sweet-tart berry and thick bold chocolate, yum. Furthermore the tea base is very decent (not always the case with sweet flavored teas!), assertive enough to hold its own and not get lost in the shuffle without being harsh, bitter, or so bold as to clash with or distract from the flavoring. As it’s not wimpy, it also handles additions well—I splashed my second cup with a bit of almond milk and that was delicious too.

Pretty smooth, rich stuff. Definitely evokes desserts with this flavor combo (one of my absolute favorites by the way, especially since usually when raspberry’s put in chocolate desserts it’s a given the chocolate’s going to be the deep dark kind, stuff like flourless cakes and tortes, YUM)—right down to a sort of luscious, berry jam mouthfeel. The best raspberry chocolate tea I’ve tried for sure, and I’ve a feeling it’ll be hard to top.

5/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

keep drinking quart mason jars of this cold steeped every day because it’s so good (that day i first tried it as part of that cold steeped green tea off, i wound up thinking about it all night and like 2 days straight following…it was that compelling!). thinking more and more that this is my favorite green tea, and the one that has turned me into an unabashed fan of greens now. it has this clean steamed plain white rice aspect i love, along with the more conventional but very well done sweet refreshing qualities of a good green, that sweet pea thing. all this with little of the cons of many greens—there’s no harshness or burny bitter mouthfeel, and the grassiness is light and sweet, not overpowering. laoshan village has got to be some magic place, i reckon.

5/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

Last night everything smelled amazing outside post-rain, and it wasn’t cool exactly but it wasn’t blistering hot either, yay. It still feels a bit like that today. After 2 weeks of sleep deprivation I finally got enough this morning and it’s set to be a low-key Sunday for me, with possible projects for fun (I’m considering spraying chalkboard paint onto small stackable mason jars for more tea storage, atmosphere might be too moist for that to be wise though…) but nothing pressing for once. Just had simple toasted cheese turkey sandwiches cut into triangles with tomato for lunch as if we’re little kids stuck indoors on a rainy day, slices of cheesecake for dessert, and I’m drinking this and feeling at peace. It’s pretty pretty pretty good!

5/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

Was nervous this would not live up the hype—the massive, wondrous hype!—but worry not, for it is everything I was hoping for—sweet as can be in a good way, and rich. Dry and freshly brewed it smells like honey, roasted (and so caramelized) sweet potato, and cinnamon. There is the slightest tinge of intense chocolate too. Tastes like those things—especially cinnamon-y sweet potato—along with raisin and waffle mid- and end-sip. Reminds me a lot of the handful of premium blacks I tried all at once months and months ago, stuff from Teavivre and Verdant, with that extremely satisfying, starchy-sweet “rich food” sort of feel.

I’ll add that, no surprise from Butiki, the dry leaves are just absolutely gorgeous, gloriously long and gently twisted, delightful spindles. I just wanna photograph ’em!

I really need to try this one, along with Verdant Golden Fleece and Teavivre Bailin Gongfu, gongfu-style now that I have a gaiwan.

4/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

Did a green tea cold-steep-athon this afternoon, it was this one, Verdant Laoshan Bilochun Green, and Tea Zone Jade Dew Drop. The Verdant and Butiki were delicious (no surprise there) while the Tea Zone one was a case of “blink and it gets bitter”—I know cold steeping greens can do that quickly, so I was careful to check every hour and it still happened. Oh well. Maybe with some syrup it will be salvageable; my husband’ll probably drink it, ha.

This was just what I’d expect from a fruity, naturally flavored, high-quality-tea-base offering from Butiki—light, subtle, but powerfully accurate in true-fruit taste. Wonderfully refreshing to boot. I’m a grapefruit fanatic (it’s probably my number one fruit choice for basing cocktails on, my veggie analog being cucumber) so I’m very pleased. Great summer choice.

2/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

Did a green tea cold-steep-athon this afternoon, it was this one, Verdant Laoshan Bilochun Green, and Butiki Grapefruit Dragon. The Verdant and Butiki were delicious (no surprise there) while this was a case of “blink and it gets bitter”—I know cold steeping greens can do that quickly, so I was careful to check every hour and it still happened. Oh well. Maybe with some syrup it will be salvageable; my husband’ll probably drink it, ha. I’m not too surprised though, as even when I purchased it it was more for the novelty of actually being in a city’s walk-in tea shop for once (!) and I wasn’t expecting much of anything, let alone for it to stand up to a taste test with the likes of Verdant and Butiki.

I will definitely try it hot at some point, soon hopefully, and maybe even cold steep one more time for a very very short period of time and see what I think then.

5/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

Did a green tea cold-steep-athon this afternoon, it was this one, Butiki Grapefruit Dragon, and Tea Zone Jade Dew Drop. This is the winner! Both this and Butiki were delicious while the Tea Zone one was a case of “blink and it gets bitter”—I know cold steeping greens can do that quickly, so I was careful to check every hour and it still happened. Oh well. Maybe with some syrup it will be salvageable; my husband’ll probably drink it, ha.

This one is the most savory of the 3, in that delicious “feels like eating lunch” way some greens can be. There’s a tinge of natural sweetness to balance it out too. Very fresh crisp straight-from-the-garden green bean-y, yum. Bit of snap pea and nuts too. The more I drink the more I love it—I’m really beginning to love greens, and so far my favorites have been from Den’s and Verdant. I’m realizing I like them best when they have that savory-with-a-touch-of-sweetness, drinks-like-a-meal-but-still-refreshing thing going on.

EDIT: So a day later, I’m still dreaming about this one. Definitely one of my favorite greens.

4/5 (see my bio for more info on my new pared down scale)

Oh man, I love this one! I love the color—light and pretty, almost like if a green mixed with a peachy oolong or a white—and while dainty, the flavor is delicious, full of wonderful elements like butter, cream, nuts, and light, clean sweetness, like really delicious sweet clean water (yay Memphis artesian well water, “sweetest in the world”!)—so sparkling clean it reminds me just a little of fresh mint. And there’s the lightest hint of floral, for once a floral I can get behind—indeed, orchid! Yesss. This is a fantastic early afternoon, femmy without the usual roses-and-jasmine-perfume cup. Refreshing without being astringent, nice and smooth, delicate but full.