199 Tasting Notes

73

I have some major backlogging to do!

Certainly a surprise here! I didn’t expect to like this one so much since smoky teas still seem so weird to me. But, anything Butiki must be tasted!! So, I bought it and let it sit there for a couple months untouched before finally working up the courage to try it out on a cold night. The banana was totally there and, while the maple was not something I necessarily would have picked out as actually being maple, I think it did well to keep the smokiness from becoming campfireyness :) I thought this was one I was going to end up trying once and then pawning off on others (though,since Stacy closed, nothing Butiki really has to be pawned off in this community so much as hoarded and protected with your life hahahah) . However, I will be happy to drink the rest of this on the last remaining cold evenings as spring hits :)

Flavors: Smoked, Sweet

Zack S.

Hmm but if you only rated it a 73 then perhaps you would like some combination of teas from your wishlist in exchange for the rest of your Smoked Maple Banana?? Its one of my favs and I am trying to scavenge all that is left out there!! I have Earl Grey Cream by Zen, Apricot by Harney, Soho by Harney, and Lychee by Harney… or feel free to check my Cupboard and Swap Thread in the forums!

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82
drank Wellness by ESP Emporium
199 tasting notes

I liked this so much more than I expected to! I bought it because of the abnormal ingredients…carrot, beet, eucalyptus….it all sounded so good until I opened the bag and ONLY smelled tangerine. That made me very sad, as I am generally not super fond of orangey-flavored teas. However, the eucalyptus and lemongrass really came through and made the tangerine just a minor background flavor. I definitely won’t have a problem drinking this for the rest of cold season :)

Flavors: Eucalyptus, Lemongrass, Orange, Tart

Ost

Aha I have yet to try this. XD I was so curious when you told me the ingredients. So weird!

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79
drank Forever Nuts by DAVIDsTEA
199 tasting notes

I’ve been wanting to try this one for such a long time! Thanks to Ost, I finally got to :)
This smells lovely and delivers more nuttiness than I expected it to once I read the label. Being that the nutty flavor is coming from almonds, I like it slightly less than Brazillionaire from DAVIDs or Maple Pecan Oolong from Butiki (which are my two favorite nut-based teas) because those nut flavors come from my two favorite nuts. But, almond would be my third favorite.

This one hit the spot nicely when I was wanting a creamy nutty dessert tonight :)

Flavors: Almond, Apple, Hibiscus

TeaNecromancer

I love the idea of a nutty tea, though it having hibiscus is such a turn off to me :( how tart does the hibiscus make this one?

The Cookie Lady

Not really tart at all because of the creamy nut aspect. I don’t add sugar to my teas either. I feel like whatever tart you might get in this is more like apple tart than the usual kind of tart you get from hibiscus.

TeaNecromancer

Good to know! I will have to give it a try :)

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60
drank Valentines by Adagio Teas
199 tasting notes

This was a sample from Flyawaybirdie from my Secret Santa present :) I was looking forward to this one. As it turns out, I’ve already been spoiled by Lupicia’s Chocolate & Strawberry Puer tea, because this one couldn’t hold a candle to that one. It’s light on flavor and didn’t deliver on the rose petals at all. Oh well. Once less tea I’ll be tempted to buy :)

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77

Ok…well…this was interesting. Upon steeping this, I was so excited because it smelled delicious! Caramel, toffee, a little coffee sort of roastyness….Taking the first sip, though, was another story entirely. I tasted nothing more than puerh. I took a few more sips and then got bored with it, walking away to get a few chores done. About 30 minutes later, I came by to pick the cup up and dump it but was tempted to try it just once more since it smelled so darn good. To my surprise, it was sooo so so much better cooled! I absolutely tasted everything wonderful that I was smelling :) Ah, sweet cooled redemption! I could see myself picking some of this up now. Thanks, Ost, for sending me a sample of this (at some point in time).

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66

I’m not exactly sure why but…I didn’t like the flavoring in this. Both the smell and taste of this particular flavoring didn’t work for me even though I’ve had other cream of earl grey teas before. The bergamot was good, but the cream did me in. I will, however, be interested in trying other flavors from Tealated. This was a free sample and I have a white peach sample to try another time.

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73

I am both really happy and really disappointed with tea for having cacao shells as an ingredient. While they taste lovely in this tea, they totally mess with the salted caramel flavor I was promised! It smells like it’s going to be totally awesome when you first pour water over it. But, as it brews, it loses the caramelized sugar smell and develops a smell that is decidedly not cacao but is totally a result of the cacao shells. Overall, I’m really glad I picked up a box of this for $2 to drink at work, but I’m still on the lookout for a true salted caramel flavor. Maybe I just need to add sugar? Ugh…I hate when I have to add anything. I’ll just take this for what it is and not what it claimed it would be.

Anlina

I have been disappointed by all the salted caramel teas I’ve tried, but I would be so happy to find one that captures the flavour really well.

The Cookie Lady

It just doesn’t seem like a flavor that would be so difficult to replicate, since so many places do caramel quite well on it’s own. But, then again, what do I know? I just drink the stuff. Kudos to those who have to figure out how to properly flavor it :)

Anlina

I feel the same way. It makes me inclined to experiment with blending something myself, but I haven’t got around to it yet.

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Well, this was weird. Perhaps I’m just feeling off today or something…but…this was not tropical at all. I didn’t get any of the fruit I expected and was instead met with a very floral tea. Hmm…I’m going to have to try this again before rating.

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75

This is most certainly extra bergamot-y. My only complaint here is that you really don’t taste the black tea at all. I was hoping this would be like a more bergamot-y version of Bigelow’s earl grey…which seemed to have more actual tea taste to it last time I had it. Oh well. This will make an excellent latte :)

Flavors: Bergamot

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74

I made this plain for my boyfriend and as a vanilla latte for myself. I’m not sure I’d do it as a latte again because it seemed to wash out the base tea and marshmallow altogether. It just mostly tasted like caramel milk. Without anything added, it was more interesting to drink. Not my absolute favorite, though.

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Profile

Bio

I am a teacher for an after school tutoring program serving grades 1-12 and the Assistant Director of an English language program. Dealing with people who are just learning how to communicate can be stressful. Since I’ve never been (and never want to be) a coffee drinker, I was happy to have found a tea I liked when I started college. Bigelow French Vanilla was my first ever favorite tea. I am just learning to love loose leaf. I drink tea both hot and cold every single day.

I’m not too much of a fancy-pants when it comes to tea drinking. As long as it tastes good and doesn’t take up my whole paycheck, I’m happy. I find I am mostly enjoying flavored blacks and oolongs, as well as whites and the occasional green tea. I’m struggling with plain greens. I take to fruit-flavored greens much more readily. The only reason I ever sweeten a tea is if I hear it brings out a particular flavor in that tea. Otherwise, I don’t usually add sweeteners. When it comes to milk, I again don’t usually add any. But, when I do, I only use almond milk or coconut milk (the thin kind that comes in a carton from Trader Joe’s…not the thick canned kind).

Love: Floral (especially jasmine and rose), caramel, maple, nuts, cream, cake/cookie flavors, chocolate, and fruit (especially peach, pineapple, berries, raisins, and coconut)

Loathe: Peppermint, licorice, really strong vegetable flavors, mint/chocolate combo, heavily spiced teas

Aside from tea, I also really REALLY enjoy reading.

NOTE: I haven’t been putting my one to two cup samples in my cupboard because that’s really only enough for tasting and experimenting. If it’s in my cupboard, it means I have enough to go back to it if I’m craving it (or if somebody wants to swap).

Location

Southern California

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