Lauren | A Quarter to Tea Send Message

I’ve been compulsively hoarding the last of my Butiki teas. It’s a bit like Smaug sprawled over a mountain of tea leaves, really.

But the tea isn’t getting any younger and I’d like to drink it while it’s still amazing.

Because it’s definitely still amazing.

This one held up so much better than I could have imagined. It’s still that clean juicy watermelon flavor with a subtle, natural sweetness that may as well be real watermelon. The flavor has faded just a little, but it only made the base shine more. Cream and sweet, wet straw.

Two delicious infusions.

So, I’m pretty sure I’ll be scraping myself off the walls later because I’m three steeps in (I’d guess I have 2 more I can get here) and already ready and willing to conquer on the world (which is to say that fantastic hyper aware euphoria that comes with drinking far, far too much tea).

First steep – 60 sec
Second – 60 sec
Third – 90 sec

In short, the 2016 version of this tea is amazing. It’s slightly sweeter than previous years, but still incredibly smooth and vegetal with an overall umami flavor. The second steep introduced a bit of butteriness in taste and texture. Not bitter at all, but there’s a slight drying astringency that builds, but not in a negative way. The aftertaste is asparagus and artichoke.

Definitely worth busting the kyusu out.

It even looks like spring!
http://imgur.com/dnKN8CI

So I managed to catch a bug over New Years, so there was a definite delay on shipping as I got over that. Took advantage of my taste buds being deadend and consumed more that my fair share of spicy teas, though.

Anyway, my sister is way better at finding nifty things on Etsy than me. She got me some Pokémon bath bombs for the holidays that I couldn’t wait to try.

So the Nidoran I caught in my first bomb is chilling here with me and a cup of tea now.

I really like the strong vanilla notes in here. I don’t care for the cedar flavor that some rooibos seems to have and I’ve found vanilla to really temper that and make it a much smoother cup.

That said this tea reminds me of an oreo mint brownie or something of that sort with that vanilla cream note balanced with mint and chocolate.

Perfect way to wrap up this week.

This cup is Marzipan’s fault.

I’m normally not a fan of Tulsi, but this is just sitting with me really well tonight.

Edit: Autocorrect on my phone slaughtered this post. Yikes.

One of the few teas that thankfully tastes different than it smells. It smells like coconut and swamp.

Smooth and earthy with slightly honey figgy notes. Has almost a spicy feeling finish, like when capsaicin tickles the back of your throat.

I still prefer my pu-erh unflavored.

It’s not everyday my husband and I get to dress up as a Rivendell elf and a Nazgul and stand up in a wedding for our friends (who were dressed as The Night Sky and Master Chief — her handmade costume was lit and so gorgeous!), with guest appearances from Poison Ivy, Batman, Drake, Lara Croft, Amy Pond and a few others.

Congratulations to them! It was a fantastic night!

As far as the tea goes, it’s a total comfort tea.

It’s a sweet slightly floral natural orange flavor. The rum kind of binds to the sweetness and has a caramel or spun sugar note. The chocolate slips into the tail of the sip and rounds it out with more depth.

I really love the Assam in this. It’s the necessary, grounding note in the whole cup. It adds a little more natural dark cocoa flavor and a richer body to the cup that keeps the liquor from feeling thin.

Just the pick me up I needed :)

I hope everyone is having a fantastic Halloween!