Flowery Pineapple Oolong

Yes…this is in my cupboard. It’s an oolong. and i LOVE IT! Stacy sent me a sample of this a while back and after drinking it, i tried a couple other pineapple oolongs and this one was at the top of my list! So i bought some more…and then forgot about it…until this morning. YUUUUUUUUMMMMYYYYY!

My Butiki order arrived today! So excited, I ripped open the box immediately and started my kettle. I could smell the pineapple right when I ripped open the box. Oh wow, this is gonna be good!

4 minutes seems like it isn’t a long time, but waiting for this tea to steep, it seemed like an eternity…..the smell is intoxicating.

Sip….WOW!!!! I am transported back to Hawaii, sitting on the beach eating fresh, sweet pineapple and ice cream…the waves rolling in and the sand in between my toes….ah….

This tea is super fresh pineapple, sweet, and so natural. Then the oolong makes an appearance, not vegetal, but silky and smooth. At the end of the sip, I get a flowery note.

Resteep- 85 degrees, 5 minutes: more oolong coming through, and the pineapple isn’t as strong. The floral notes are still there. Still amazing!

Edit: I had put the last few sips of each steep in the fridge to chill. As much as I like this tea hot, I don’t like it as much cold. There is just something about oolong that I don’t like cold.

If this is included in tomorrow’s Butiki sale- there is no way I’m resisting an order. I need to stock up! So goooooood! :-)

Mmm, I can certainly taste the bao zhong here! DELICIOUS! But the pineapple flavour is unfortunately too light for me to enjoy it as such. I’m getting floral, slightly fruity notes at the end of the sip, which must be the pineapple (along with a bit of aroma). We just had a fresh pineapple for dessert this evening; I should have saved a touch of the juice and infused a bit here!

Either way, I think we should all be thankful that Stacy didn’t decide to put hibiscus in here to make the tea tart!! Hahahahaha.

ETA: Second infusion in half the water (same brewing parameters) is a slightly fruity pouchong. Definitely worth it, but the flavouring is pretty much absent.

So according to tasting notes the last time I had this one was three months ago, and that seems pretty accurate to me; but man – that’s way too long to go without enjoying this delicious tea!

I steeped up a large mug for myself this morning and it was every bit as juicy and sticky sweet as I remember it being; definitely worthy of the 100 rating I’ve given it! I could probably drink a mug of this everyday all summer and never get tired of it. It’s exactly like drinking the juices from a freshly cut ripe pineapple with the tiniest pinch of something floral added to the mix, and then the nice gentle oolong base.

God I love Pineapple teas.

Oh, man this smells amazing in the bag, pineapple and flowery, a touch of Hawaii for sure. I could hardly wait to try it.

I steeped this for around 3 minutes at 180F and got a very light yellowish/green tea liquor. This smells very pineapple-y and tastes lovely, really like pineapple juice especially in the finish. I’m not picking up much on anything buttery but I am getting the orchid notes for sure. I will have to play with my steeping parameters a bit on this one. This will be a great one to experiment with as well, I bet it’s really good with soymilk added or maybe some rum extract. Virgin pina colada tea… yummy! I don’t sweeten too many things but I thought this was better with a touch of sugar. =)

I got a second steep out of this one and it is still flavorful.

Thank you Stacy for this Tea!

This is the first review of one of Stacy’s new tea’s.

About a month or so ago, I was chatting (PM) with Stacy and told her that I thought Butiki should/could create a Pineapple Oolong Tea. I noticed that many people on Steepster enjoy pineapple but seemed to have a hard time finding that taste in a tea that they really liked. I tried to buy a highly reguarded pineapple tea myself but it was always unavailable. I pushed poor Stacy a little, she thought it over, did her amazing flavor magic, and here is the result…Flowery Pineapple Oolong!

I was waiting for the Post all this morning…where’s that Butiki Box?!
Watered the plants, cleaned house…and finally…the Post arrived!
Ripping open the package, then beginning the brewing of my pot of tea was one fluid movement. (There should be a program called ‘Dancing with your Tea’ because I would win!) I had fresh spring water in my electric kettle…so swoop, heat, pour water in the teapot…done.

It was a long 4 minute steeping! ‘bing’

The liquor was pale yellow and steaming with the scent of orchids and tropical fruit.

I took a sip…and Oh Stacy! The flavor was the softest pillow of pineapple resting on a bed of sweet fragrant white orchids. The tip of my tongue tasted some pineapple tang. That tangy taste was from the perfect blending of natural pineapple bits and Oolong tea leaves.
This was super juicy and super creamy…even…yes… an exotic experience that transported me to a cool Island Beach lined with Palm Trees. Relaxing! Ahhhh! (Where is that Old Spice commercial guy?)

There was a little temptation that I gave in to.

Reaching into the steeping basket…I picked out a piece of pineapple and chewed on that one piece slowly… while sipping my tea. It was almost sinful…(but not)… it tasted so good!

I added sweetening, and my cup came alive with pineapple goodness. (Stacy suggests raw brown sugar crystals).

You could almost make this a cocktail worthy of Rum and a decorative umbrella! Chilled this tea doesn’t get bitter! OH…the possibilities are endless!!!

Another little thing I do with melon or acidic fruit tea’s (like pineapple) is place some sea salt in the palm of my hand (just a little), taste the salt…then drink some tea. The flavor of the fruit POPS.

My 2 cents worth:
It’s important to let tea companies know what we, the consumers, are interested in drinking. They often listen. Butiki is one of the companies that is customer oriented and listens to us. There are others that do the same. Hooray for them!!!!

Great job creating a fabulous tea again Stacy! Stupendous!

http://youtu.be/-MRMqsP9Kb0 The Pineapple Song

After tasting this, I couldn’t believe how long I waited to order from Butiki. I am LOVING everything so far. This one might just be my favourite.

I love how light and crisp and refreshing it is. This is probably the freshest-tasting pineapple flavour that I’ve had in a tea. It’s not overly candy-sweet or sickly at all, just a bright, smooth kiss of pineapple. Deelish!

I think the floral note is what makes it so interesting and addicting. Is it a flavouring that’s added, or just a natural quality of the oolong? Either way it’s really, really lovely. I don’t have oolongs that often, but I’m really starting to enjoy them.

I had it hot for my first try, but I’ll definitely try it iced as well. It would be SO delicious iced, I can just tell! I like that it’s one of those versatile teas that’ll be tasty no matter the temperature.

Mmmm, love this tea!

Did a blog entry on it, http://oolongowl.wordpress.com/2013/02/18/flowery-pineapple-oolong-from-butiki-teas-tea-review/

I’m spending the day working on crochet stuff and watching more Boys Over Flowers. That show is total soap opera like and addicting! Perfect to watch tea to!

The base tea here is wonderful, and the dry tea gets extra bonus points for the big, lush pieces of pineapple. Scent wise, it’s not for me – I get a sweaty, chemical ginger note I’m guessing is the ‘flowery’ part of the equation, and which reminds me of Kusmi’s ginger-lemon on a bad leaf day. I say chemical, but it’s the same type of ‘natural chemical’ as tiger balm – a fairly pungent traditional remedy-like scent that lingers in the cup as well. I’m unsure whether it’s the calendula or this specific pineapple; if I come across another tea with calendula, I’ll try to remember to update this note.

Flavour wise, this is very soapy to me. I get no pineapple or general fruitiness at all, just a (non-bitter) citrus-gingery soap. Not undrinkable soap, if that makes any sense – I’m almost through my cup and I won’t avoid this tea in the future, but it’s just a very cosmetic floral note, for lack of a better word.

So far into my Butiki safari, I feel I’d probably have more luck with the unscented teas as staples; the flavourings haven’t quite been what I look for (I should add there are a few I’ve tried that I have yet to review).

On the other hand, I’m enjoying this a lot, because it’s really helped me characterize exactly what it is I want from a flavoured tea (especially as I’ve compared a number of teas directly with similarly flavoured ones from Lupicia) and also because it’s made me appreciate the base teas so much more.

Butiki use really phenomenal teas, and it’s the first company that has really ever made me the least bit excited about venturing from the world of flavoured teas, which is quite a feat in itself.

[From my Butiki order to Santa Clara, October 2013.]