Maple Pecan Oolong

I made a pot of this, lightly sweetened with Maple syrup, to drink with one of my students. She loved it! It is pretty tasty, but for me, it’s not something I’ll ever really love. The pecan flavor is from real pecans, but somehow that bitter material that resides between the nut & it’s shell manages to be present in my cup, which I don’t care much for. If it wasn’t for that, this tea would be perfect.
And there is just enough for one more cup, so I think I’ll start a new Sipdown Extravaganza box!

Thank you Stacy for this tea sample!

Who says you can’t have dessert before dinner?

Are you nuts? I’m nuts! Actually, I’m CRAZY about this new tea!

My favorite nuts to bake with are PECAN’S and my favorite syrup is MAPLE and my favorite beverage is TEA and you roll them all together in one cup and I’m done for!

Oh, this is buttery too.

The flavor is very good and sweet enough without adding anything,but I know Stacy. These darker tea’s are best with some raw sugar rocks. Yes! Really the best!

I’m going to try adding a little Lapsang Souchong on a cold day to this tea (make it smoke).
Oh, and drink it alongside a grilled cheese sandwich, YUM! How about alongside chicken…yes, really good….almost like chicken maple pecan waffles but without the calories.
Speaking of calories…I won a Pecan Pie contest during Black History Month (for my kids) and the calories, ugh!
Pecan pie flavor without the calories, brilliant! The prize goes to you Stacy and did I mention there are REAL pecans in this tea?!

You did an awesome job again Stacy girl. I think we girls need a night out! (OK some guys can come too…)

Another naturally flavored, handcrafted with love tea!

This is a tea that I was very excited to work on. I love love love fresh maple syrup but when I was young I never liked it. I would always use fresh fruit or butter (before being vegan) or ice cream or whipped cream but I could not stand maple syrup. It wasn’t until my 20s that I was coerced into giving maple syrup another chance. Before that I had only ever tried Aunt Jemimas or some other artificial syrup that doesn’t even contain maple syrup. Now I buy my syrup from a farmers markets or Whole Foods. I’m still making up for lost maple syrup time.

I decided on using the Nilgiri Frost Oolong as a base for a number of reasons. The tea had some similar characteristics to the flavor of maple and pecan and I knew the notes of the tea would mesh well with the flavoring. Also, it had a nice weighty body. A thin body would not seem right for a maple blend. The leaves are long and strong enough to carry some heavier chunks of pecans. I love to use high quality bases that work with the flavorings and not just simply cover them.

The base tea is a Nilgiri Frost Oolong grown at a high altitude that exposes the tea leaves to a light frost during some of the winter nights. This tea is grown in limited quantities because of the special conditions that must exist. It is a sweet tasting tea that has citrus, pecan, peach, and oak notes.

The leaves of Maple Pecan Oolong are long, thin, and wiry, ranging from chocolate to charcoal in color. Large chunks of pecans are present. The leaves produce an intoxicatingly sweet aroma. Without sugar, the tea is naturally lightly sweet with a light maple and pecan flavor. Citrus and oaky notes are also presenet. Reducing the tea to 1 teaspoon for 8oz of water will reduce some of the citrus and oaky notes. With some sugar the maple and pecan notes are intensified and the citrus and oaky notes are lighter but produce an almost crust like flavor. It tastes just like a pecan maple pie. The maple lasts long after the sip and I can taste it on my lips.

With a new Butiki order on its way, I’m trying to work through as many teas from my previous orders as possible. This is one I’ve neglected for too long, especially since I’ve been trying to identify oolongs I can get along with for a good long while now.

Dry, this smells amazing – maple and pecan in equal measure. Rich, sweet, nutty, almost syrupy. There are generous pieces of pecan in with the oolong, and the leaves are, for the most part, long and wiry, slightly twisted.

I brewed this as per packet parameters. 170 degree water for about 4 minutes. My first thought on tasting went something like “Ohh. This is lovely.” Not my normal response to an oolong, it has to be said. This is heavily flavoured and pretty rich – rather like drinking maple syrup, only not thick or sticky. The maple is the first thing I can taste – sweet, rich, almost buttery. The pecan develops second, adding an almost toasted flavour which cuts through the sweetness well. The oolong provides just the right kind of base – substantial but not too strong or overpowering. It’s perfect here, adding a faint but discernible mineral taste in the background, and brining the whole thing together really well. Another oolong I can add to my (very short) list of likes. Brilliantly done.

I made this at the proper temperature and I definitely get more maple out of it! it’s not as in your face as DT’s Oh Canada but it works well with the pecan. By the way if you oversteep it all you can taste is pecan :D

It’s my birthday! Yay me!

I’m super big on birthdays. There’s just something lovely about an entire day for celebrating one person. For my birthday, I took the day off work so I could sleep late and relax. The plan was to get brunch when I woke up, but it’s snowing! I have exactly zero desire to spend 20 minutes walking in the snow today, especially since I’m going out tonight. Two outings in the freezing cold on the same day? No, thank you.

Instead, I’m going to stay inside with a nice, hot cup of tea. What better tea theme for my b-day than Butiki? Especially since Stacy is releasing a bunch of new flavors today. I know it’s a coincidence, but I’m calling it a birthday bonus from the universe. Also I can rationalize buying all of them as a present to myself. Whee!

This tea is hands-down one of my all-time favorite Butiki blends. I stocked up when Stacy announced that she’s closing up shop. This is just the perfect blend for a cold, snowy day. It’s sweet maple nutty goodness. The mouthfeel is so thick it’s almost syrupy. The only downside is that this tea oversteeps and gets bitter fairly easily. There’s an easy fix for that though – just pour some out and add more hot water (thanks for that tip Stacy!).

Now to sit back and enjoy the snow from indoors with a nice hot cuppa…

Because of the sale and potential freebies this weekend I thought I’d try this tea again. I steeped as recommended on the package.

While I love the idea, and the maple pecan flavours are lovely, I don’t like the base tea. I’m not sure exactly why, but it just doesn’t work as well for me as I hoped.

I mean, maple pecan is my favourite ice cream flavour. I expected to adore the tea.

It makes me rather sad, but I guess that’s how it is. I’m sorry, tea. It’s not you, it’s me.

Edit: As I continue drinking, the impression is sharp, icy, effervescence. I don’t know how that works with tea, but it’s not something that works for me.)

I so want to love this tea! The tea itself truly is a masterpiece, and I know everyone else adores it, but I can’t seem to get completely on board. It really is creamy and delicious, and the maple sweetness is so lovely, but the pecans just aren’t quite doing it for me.

I’ve tried it multiple times now, and I’m just waiting on my second steep from today to cool now. I have a couple cups worth left and I think perhaps next time I have the urge to brew some up, I will measure it out sans pecans to see if it works better for me.

This tea took me completely by surprise! The sweet creaminess along with the full body makes for a very enjoyable cup. I thought for a moment someone had slipped some sweetener into my cup. It’s shocking how smooth and tasty this tea really is, and the fact that it lingers in the mouth is a very nice bonus!

First of all, I love pecans and there are plenty of large pieces found in the darker colored tea leaves. The first impression I got was something entirely different than I anticipate – deep tones of dried berries or fruit, in the range of dates or raisins. The taste in the mouth is one of a good quality granola bar that has plenty of raisins. This slowly changes to the milkier, almost ice cream-like. In fact, for all of you that dairy doesn’t bother the conscience, it takes almost exactly like Butter Pecan ice cream! Of course it’s only a tea, but you’ll have a tough time convincing your taste buds otherwise!

It’s plain and simple – this is a delicious tea! This is saying a lot coming form someone that typically stays with straight or traditional teas. There is no question, this tea can easily replace a desert. It is very satisfying. Thanks, Stacy from Butiki, for this great quality and palate pleasing tea! Job well done!

Additional notes: Just wanted to say that I’m still very impressed with this one. I see the black oolong leaves and I think it will be like a Fujian charcoal tasting oolong, but it is just buttery. It’s like a buttery flavored tea without the vegetableness of a tea that is green. And with maple and pecan, of course!