My Butiki samples have arrived! I’m very excited to try so many new Butiki gems. I’m not sure if it’s just Stacy picking the teas, but someone over at Butiki REALLY knows how to find the right teas. I wanted to start with the Hattialli because the Hattialli Golden Lion was probably my favorite tea of all time.
Steep #1 //2 tsps // 13 min after boiling // 3 1/2 min steep
I waited 13 minutes for the water to cool because somehow that worked better for me with the other Hattialli than boiling water (though it could have also been just five minutes after boiling.) This one isn’t QUITE the same, but it’s still an amazing tea. Maybe better than the second harvest I tried of the Lion, but not the first harvest I tried. The flavor isn’t as detailed to me, it’s missing the plum, apricot, more chocolate, sweet potato. All of those things are very subtley there, and I probably wouldn’t even notice them if I hadn’t known to look for them in the other tea. This isn’t supposed to be the same tea anyway, though it shares the Hattialli name.
Steep #2 // 8 min after boiling // 3 1/2 min
The second steep loses even more of those extra flavors, but it gains a ton more chocolate. I don’t think it’s a very strong chocolate tea compared to others, but I’m surprised at how much chocolate is actually here, since the leaves are mostly golden colored. Golden leaves usually taste like honey, not chocolate. But man this cup was addicting and I just sat there zombie-eyed sipping and sipping. I sure do wish I had bought truckloads of the first harvest of the Lion. High standards with my most favorite tea! This one is still definitely worth trying, as I haven’t tasted this type of tea anywhere else before.
ETA: Steep #3 // half a mug // just boiled // 3-4 min
This steep was an afterthought, but it was still very tasty! I thought it would be a lot worse. I’ll have to remember to do a full third steep with the rest of my sample the next time.
OH and if anyone is selling any of the first harvest of the Lion (I think it was before July 2013), I’ll buy it!
