Heaven's Trash

Please take any review that I do on black tea with a grain of salt because I truly do not enjoy many black teas.
This one is masterfully blended and high quality as is evidenced by the fact that I was able to get 4 steeps out of it which is phenomenal by any stretch of the imagination. It’s remarkably smooth for a black tea and only has a hint of bitterness. I do detect a slightly fruity aftertaste which seems dark and resinous in nature. I’m thinking that it must be the plum. It has an earthy, malty quality that is pretty pronounced but calms down to perfection by the second steep.
Per usual, when I drink black tea, the first cup is generally a tad strong for me and this offering was no exception. Cup 2, 3 nd 4 were quite nice.
This tea would never be a first pick for me but then again, no black tea would be unless I added almond milk and sugar (which I only reserve for my coffee.) With that being said, it’s head and shoulders above most tea offerings nowadays and even though my tea leaves are older, they still pack a solid punch to the credit of the expert craftsmanship that once was, Butiki Teas.

Accidentally steeped at boiling because I’m an idiot and I wasn’t paying attention, but it’s still fantastic with almost no astringency, which was a surprise to me since I find Darjeelings tend to get pretty astringent quickly when they’re not taken care of properly. All the old notes I remember so well are here – malt, honey, chocolate, and a citrus finish. Today there’s a little more florality, a jasmine-like note coming through right at the end of the sip which I suspect might be due to the less-than-stellar steeping I gave the Darjeeling. I don’t mind it, though. I’m looking forward to a couple of resteeps before I finally say goodbye to this tea for good.

What a wonderful blend this is! Where the breakfast blends I’ve been drinking lately are blunt force objects, this one is a positive symphony of flavors, each perfectly in tune with the other. There’s a lot going on—malt, honey, cocoa, stone fruit, that perfect hit of astringency—but it works. And I suppose it’s no wonder, given that it contains two of my favorite straight blacks: the inimitable PTA and luscious Giddapahar Darjeeling. Teas like this are the reason I still miss Butiki. If I could get my hands on more, it’d be a definite restock; as it is, I’m going to savor my last few cups on long, slow weekend mornings like this one.

Totally lost track of time today helping Mum organize/purge the house. Never got past my first steep. ACK!!! So I threw this in the fridge for a cold steep, as caffeine at this hour could slay me. I’m excited to see how it turns out :P

I don’t know what came over me this morning, but an unflavored tea seemed to be the thing to drink.
I had a combination of excitement and trepidation, as I had heard a great deal about this tea. Trepidation unfounded, as this was lovely
This was gorgeous, light and delicious. The flavors could have come across as heavy and solid and unforgiving as a block of solid tea. This has got a lightness to it, which makes the flavors glow.
I think a slice of lemon would do well. I’ll try that next!

I brewed this up this morning and was quite excited given the rave reviews this tea has been getting but tbh I was disappointed. It’s good but I find I enjoy the individual elements much more than the combination of them together. I just find them to be richer in flavor where as this is muted to me (and I know that is probably just me since so many others love this). However, my lack of love for this tea makes it that much easier to happily pass this along to another steepster who will enjoy it far more than I ever could.

thank you Kittenna! This is one of those tasting notes that makes me sad because I was never able to pick this up myself. And it’s good. i very much appreciate the share from Kittenna today and will be resteeping this until the flavour is dead. This is juicy and delicious and everything in between here and there and everywhere. I am a fan! I don’t get a lot of chocolate notes from this one but that’s ok by me. I can mostly smell them versus tasting them. Seriously. delicious! So sad i missed out on this one.. sniffles

Got this tea in my last Butiki order. Hadn’t tried it till yesterday. On Steepster it says there are a LOT of flavors. Kinda diverse, and I wasn’t sure what to think. But then in tasting notes it acted like it’s a really chocolate-y, malty tea. Which made me decide to buy it in the first place. XD
So I wasn’t exactly sure what to think going into this one.
But I was actually pleasantly surprised.
It was rather fruity. I tasted raisins and plums. Pretty bready too.
Kinda malty, but not overly so. Maybe a bit chocolate-y, but nothing too noticeable.
Overall it was a delicious tea and I’m really glad I got to pick some up! (:
Another win from Butiki!

This is such a delicious tea. I am not finding it to be overly malty or chocolatey, in fact it’s reading on my tongue as being incredibly, wonderfully JUICY. Like an explosion of slightly fruity, slightly malty tea with definite honey notes.

Truly, it doesn’t even matter to me, because ultimately when it comes down to it, it’s just so full of flavor and juiciness – such a smooth mouthfeel.

I’m on steep 2 for this morning.
I’m not even missing my daily AM coffee that I’ve been having regularly since going back to work! (6:30am wake ups don’t agree with my delicate composition :))

Anyway, no big surprise here. Another Butiki fave that I will mourn when it’s gone.

(Brewed to my own specifications.)
Method:
2.5tsp/10oz
pre-boiling
2min 30sec

Wow, this is really something lovely. It’s dark and rich while maintaining a lightness in body. It’s malty, but not heavy. Each sip begins with a strong and somewhat bitter cocoa flavor. There are undertones of damp leaves, wet earth, wood. It then smoothly transitions into a springy, plummy fruitiness. There’s something like raisins there. But there’s also tang. Following quickly behind are notes of honey, baked bread, and butter. The flavors are thick and coat the lining of your tongue. After, I notice those flavors receding as floral, somewhat vegetal notes take their place. These I presume come from the Giddapahar. I haven’t tried any of the teas on their own, so it’s difficult to say. A touch of bitterness rests on my tongue, along with nuttiness, and that light floral finish. I’m impressed. It’s been a while since I’ve had a tea so complex. It took a lot of concentration and discernment to be able to pull every flavor apart. I’m out of practice! I would love to have this tea in the morning. After consideration, I believe it would best be saved for slow, reflective mornings…and mornings with someone special. It’s a special tea, for special mornings.