13 Tasting Notes

80

I’m backlogging this, this is what I had yesterday, so it might be a bit light on details. This was a very good, smooth black tea. No bitterness or astringency. I didn’t really taste the fruity finish that the description lists. What I did taste was a note of yams or sweet potatoes, which sounds weird for a tea but it was actually interesting and tasty. For me, the initial note was the sweet potato taste followed by the black tea taste, no fruity finish.

I put some of this in a travel mug to go, and left about half of it in my car while I was at a Beethoven piano sonata marathon. By the time I came back, it was ice cold, so, I unintentionally found out this makes a very good iced tea, lol.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec

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98

WOW.

I recently placed a fairly sizable order with Butiki largely based on reviews on this site. As an aside, the Butiki folks are wonderful. I corresponded with them a bit via email and they offered excellent customer service and follow-up on my order. The order was fulfilled, shipped, and delivered very quickly.

I got my order from them in the mail today and decided to try this tea, thinking a maple pecan oolong would warm the soul on a wintry day.

I was right, and WOW the taste of this tea was wonderful. There aren’t enough superlatives to describe how good it was. It was definitely a When Harry Met Sally “I’ll have what she’s having!” type experience. (Those that have seen When Harry Met Sally know what I’m talking about. Those that haven’t should go watch it, preferably with a cup of Maple Pecan Oolong.)

The flavor was exactly the ideal of what I imagined it’d taste like. The maple and pecan flavors are very rich without being over-the-top decadent. Just the right amount of sweetness: yes, it’s definitely there, but it’s not an overwhelming, POW! in-your-face type sweetness.

I’m still learning about the vocabulary of reviewing teas, and so just learning to pay attention to things like mouthfeel, but I would say this tea is very smooth.

I steeped it per the instructions on the bag: 170 degrees at 4 minutes.

The only reason I didn’t rate this a 100 is because the subsequent steeps (on the third one now) are a little weaker than the first, whereas some other teas I’ve had still taste roughly the same on the third or fourth steep. I did do the second and third steeps at 4 minutes though, like the first, so in future I’ll try adding more steep times to subsequent steeps.

Bottom line: If you read the title of “Maple Pecan Oolong,” and think, “Ooo, that might be something I’d like,” go get this tea, you won’t be disappointed.

Preparation
170 °F / 76 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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I can definitely taste the notes of honey and muscat grapes in this, which to me are much more present in the smell of the tea than in the taste. Those notes are quickly replaced with the typical black tea taste (which is nice in this one) but this is even more quickly replaced with a bitter taste which lingers a bit. This tea starts out great but the finish is only so-so.

I’m not sure if there’s anything I can do in my steeping to decrease the bitterness – I’m somewhat of a novice so if someone has any suggestions, let me know. I did, however, steep it according to the instructions on the bag, at 190 degrees for 4 minutes. (The instructions state 4-5). There is also a good chance that my tasting experience was corrupted by not having a neutral palate…. I ate a couple of small clementine oranges, which are very sweet, about 10 or 15 minutes before I had this tea.

This tea seems like it has the potential to be quite good if I can find a way to tone down the bitter finish. Second steep soon forthcoming.

EDIT: Second steep still was at 190 but only for 3:40 this time. Much, much less of the bitter taste, however, the other flavors were also diminished. Next time I make this I’ll have to be sure and try a shorter steep time on the first steep.

EDIT 2: Picked up my cup again (the second steep) after it sat awhile and picked up some spicy notes that I didn’t before. Black pepper and another spice that I can pinpoint but the name escapes me at the moment. (I’m not that good with spice names, I’ll look it up in a bit, I know which container in the cupboard it is but not the name.) Definitely very interesting, if nothing else this seems like a very complex tea.

Preparation
190 °F / 87 °C 4 min, 0 sec

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