183 Tasting Notes
I’m not quite sure how to describe this tea. It’s … different.
The dry smell is a bit gingery, but the sea lettuce or burdock (I’m not sure which) overwhelms the senses. It’s a strange smell. I love cardamom, ginger, and peppermint, which are all in this mix, but I have a feeling they are secondary notes.
Once steeped, the smell is milder, but still smells of sea lettuce with a hint of ginger. Tasting it, well, hmm. It’s kind of blah. Not bad, just meh. I don’t taste the cardamom or peppermint at all. It tastes kind of like gingery lettuce water, if that makes sense. I like the idea of the burdock and the red clover, as I know of their health benefits, but I’m not sure what sea lettuce is supposed to be good for. I’ll have to look that up.
I’ll likely finish off my small packet of this at some time, but unless sea lettuce turns out to be a miracle plant of some sort, I doubt I’ll be getting more of this.
ETA: O.k., I just found out that sea lettuce is the name of a number of species of green algae. Algae can have quite a few health benefits, but I already consume it in a powdered form, so I’ll probably skip the tea in the future.
Preparation
This is a very pleasant tea. Not a knock your socks off one, but a nice, smooth, goes down easy and smells good one.
I like the citrus smell of the dry leaf (tisane) and the smell continues once steeped. Any grassy taste the guayusa may have is masked by the lemon, but not in a harsh way. It doesn’t leave my throat dry like some lemon teas do.
I was hoping for a pick-me-up with the caffeine in the guayusa. It may have worked. I’m still awake, and I’ve felt like a zombie who just wants to go to sleep for the last few days (do zombies sleep?).
I’ve had two infusions of it so far, and would go for a third, but it’s 6pm, so I should probably switch to something with less caffeine now.
Preparation
After 3 straight days of drinking Bravissimo due to a sore throat, I decided that it was time for something different. I wanted to try one of my new guayusas, but it’s too late for that much caffeine, so I decided that Exotic Pear should be next.
I found it hard to judge the proper amt of tea to use due to the flowers in the mix, but I think I used enough. It ends up being a very delicately flavoured tea. I added some sugar to bring out the flavour, as is suggested, but I think the sugar overwhelmed it instead. I don’t taste pear at all.
Overall, not a bad tea, but not a great one, either. I might mix this with something else in the future.
Preparation
I’ve been feeling under the weather, and my throat is really hurting me. I tried to decide which tea would be the most helpful, and Bravissimo is the first that came to mind.
I’ve had 4 cups of it so far, and it is very soothing. I don’t expect miracles out of it, but it tastes good and is helping me to stay hydrated.
Preparation
Wow.
This is the first oolong tea that I’ve actually liked, and my favourite of the Butiki teas I’ve tried so far.
It smells great in the bag, but that can be misleading, so I wasn’t expecting quite how good it was when I tried it.What a beautiful, smooth, maple flavour. I drank the whole cup before I remembered that people suggested adding a bit of sugar to bring out the maple even more. I’m not sure if it’s possible for it to get better, but I’ll try that with the next infusion.
Preparation
I drank the whole cup and I couldn’t tell you what it tasted like. I blame that on feeling a bit under the weather, though. I think my tastebuds and sense of smell have been compromised.
I do smell some nuttiness when smelling the dry tea, but didn’t get much from the prepared tea. On the positive side, it was very smooth, which my sore throat appreciated, and I didn’t taste any bitterness.
I’m going to hold off ranking this one until my senses are back to where they should be. I have a feeling I’m missing some nuances here.
Preparation
I’ve been on the search for a few good coconut teas. I think I’ve found one.
I’ve got a bit of a sore throat, so I was worried the rooibos base would be too harsh and woody, but it’s quite smooth. I get a hint of coconut, but it’s very delicate. I might prefer the coconut a bit stronger, but it’s still really good. I can see drinking this anytime of the day.
Preparation
I’m afraid I may be a tad cynical. When I read the reviews saying that this smelled exactly like cantaloupe (my favourite fruit), part of me was hopeful, but a larger part was thinking, “Yeah right. No one could make a tea smell like CANTALOUPE”. I was wrong. It smells exactly like cantaloupe. I can only hope it tastes as good as it smells.
I was very careful steeping this (used the thermometer, watched the clock, and everything) as I didn’t want any operator-errors.
I can smell a light scent of cantaloupe wafting from the cup. I like the taste of it hot. The white tea is very present, but I can still taste a hint of cantaloupe. I’m going to let this one cool a bit and see if the flavours change at all.
3 hrs later: I like it cold. The white tea recedes to the background, and the cantaloupe becomes the major flavour. This makes it a take to work tea for me, as they’re always cold before I finish them.
Preparation
My first Butiki tea! My order came today and it was hard to decide what to try first. I decided to smell a few, and this one smelled soooo good, I decided it was first in the pot. I don’t know how creamy can have a smell, but that’s what it smells like – creamy.
Interestingly, I don’t get much of a smell from the tea once steeped. Tasting it – there’s that creaminess again. I wouldn’t call it eggnog, exactly (it’s been years since I had eggnog, or even milk, though, so don’t trust my tastebuds), but it has a nice, light, creamy taste.
I actually tried adding some nutmeg to the second infusion as one of the other reviewers suggested. I think it was a mistake, as the nutmeg overwhelmed the other flavours. A touch of cane sugar helped to balance it out again, but I think I’ll leave this plain in the future.
A good start to my Butiki adventure. Only another 18 to try now…