Irish Cream Cheesecake

I was pretty worried about this one given the reviews. I was made even more worried as it cooled quite a bit before I could try it given a pretty intense conversation I was having with my sister. Luckily, it is not the astringent cup I was expecting. It is nothing special either but at least it is not offensive. Mostly it just tastes like a creamy black tea.

Had a cup of this earlier today, and feel like I did something wrong with it. For starters, I underleafed. The bag said 1 tsp per 8 ounces, and Steepster says 1 1/2 teaspoons. I’m going to say then that this is likely user error, because I got little out of the drink. It was tasty, for sure, however it was more like what I imagine Caramel Vanilla Assam from Butiki to be, instead of an Irish Cheesecake. Will try again before rating.

Backlog, from before this tea was in the Steepster DB!

Yowza, the smell is everything you want it to be both dry and steeping. I’m only guessing and knowing me I’ll be wrong, but I think this has mallow in it maybe (?) as it has the same luscious cake-y smell that’s a huge part of my obsession with the (sadly discontinued for now :( ) Birthday Cake. Drooooling. Once again it’s abruptly cold as a witch’s tit (is that too racy for Steepster? Ack) tonight—says it’s going to feel like 7F, I’m shivering by the window (the best place to get a wireless signal in our apartment) and worried about the feral cat in our foyer (I fed her extra today, she’s in her roughneck home and I put a thick blanket over the top of it…still…). Got horrifying news this morning that R’s grandmother’s home burned down (his sister has been occupying it, long story there) with the dog in it (… seriously, there are no words), R gets evaluated at work this week, and tomorrow begins the insanity that is Thanksgiving week. Teas I’ve been mega excited about seem the thing right now (also, I want to know if I like the teas Stacy sent as samples before the Black Friday sale!).

This is exactly what I was expecting from a Butiki tea called Irish Cream Cheesecake—dreamy smell, subtle but uncanny flavor, good mouthfeel (and that hug in a cup any good tea can provide in a time of dark cold weather and stress!). G’ah, the smell. Oh so good. I could be imagining it but you even get the liquor aspect in the finished cup. The cheesecake tang is the subtlest component, coming out mid and late sip alongside the black tea flavor, but it’s great and dead-on too. What’s neat about this one is it feels like it’d work well as a morning tea, not just a dessert one, because there is true yummy strong black tea flavor, not just the cream and cake (though there’s that too, in spades, and nothing that feels artificial or cloying). As someone who just had chocolate pie for breakfast, I approve of a tea you can drink for breakfast that feels like a dessert treat at the same time! I think I will definitely be ordering more of this. It’s perfect when it’s freezing cold first thing in the morning and you need something to comfort you and tastes rich, sends that signal to the body that you’re putting on padding to stay warm.

Man, that smell. You think you’ll get saturated in it and stop being able to appreciate it, but then it wafts up when half the cup’s gone and your heart lights up all over again.

Got this for Christmas and figured now that the cold is gone I could start drinking new teas again. So this was my pick from my new Butiki stuff.
I definitely get a sweet cheesecake smell from the dry leaf so I had high hopes for the brew.
Unfortunately I didn’t get that same wonderful-ness in the brew. My first impressions were bitter and strong astringency with a sharp-ish sort of grass sensation. It’s so astringent that the back of my throat is fairly clicking each time I swallow. I vaguely get what might be a cheesecake taste after adding some sugar, and this strange other taste that I can’t really identify. Maybe that’s the ‘Irish Cream’ taste, though since I’m not sure what that tastes like by itself, I have no way to verify.
So this one’s a no go for me. I’m not going to give it a rating though because I did add a smidge more leaf to the pot since I was using just over 8oz of water, so maybe that would account for the bitterness. But I can’t imagine that it would count for the astringency.
So into the no bin this goes.

New tea for the day. This one smelled absolutely amazing – a wonderful, fluffy cheesecake smell. Unfortunately I am not getting that in the taste. The flavor was extremely strong and on the verge of being almost bitter. There was a little Irish Cream finish, but only a bit. The cheesecake is almost impossible to find. I’m tasting more of a malty chocolate flavor rather than the cheesecake. I added milk and sweetener and that helped to bring out some of the cheesecake notes, but not a lot. I steeped this tea according to the recommendations – 3 minutes at 205. I think I will try it next time at 2.5 minutes and see if that makes a difference. Not a bad tea, because I like strong black teas (especially in the morning) but I just didn’t get any of the flavors that the description and the smell promised. Somehow I messed up my Butiki order and ended up with 2 of these, so I gave one to my mom for Christmas. I think that she will like it as she loves strong teas and Irish Cream. Oh well, it was about time for a blah tea since I’ve been trying so many new ones lately that I love!

-Dry blend has medium black and brown tea leaves with small blue and yellow petals.
-Dry leaves smell lightly of cheesecake. Tea liquor aroma has notes of chocolate, cheesecake and maltiness.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange brown color.
-Very strong and robust black tea flavor with an Irish Cream finish. Very heavy chocolate aftertaste with a faint taste of cheesecake.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Good tea. A very strong black tea with little cream or cheesecake flavor.

This was delicious, the Irish cream is very light but it is nice. I didn’t get too much in the cheesecake department, but I haven’t tried it with sweetener yet, so I have a feeling that sweetener will bring out that cheesecake a little more.
Once again, another delicious black!

Stacy sent me a sample of this with my last order, & it’s definitely not for me. Still, thanks for letting me sample it!

I had this as my first cup this morning. I am not a fan. When I think cheesecake I think creamy, sweet, and rich. This just hit me as a strong black breakfast tea, but I can’t detect any cheesecake. I tried adding milk and sugar, but still did not get cheesecake.

Great Canadian Traveling Tea Box

1.5 teaspoons + sweetener

Hmm, this tastes pretty similar to the base of the Nutmeg Cream, a little bitter and astringent even with added sweetener. So based on the fact that Nutmeg Cream and this have Organic Sournee Second Flush in it, I should probably shy away from that as a base with this brand. Anywhoo, I’m not getting much in the way of flavor with this. Maybe a hint of cream but I’m mostly tasting the base and it’s making the back of my mouth dry. Not a fan of this and will pass on the rest of the baggy to the next traveling box receiver.

I received a package in the mail from Janelle today! Even though I have a strict no caffeine after work policy, I had to try one of the teas. This is the one I made first, but that was an accident, I wanted to try Ruby Pie first, but grabbed this one. This definitely smells like Irish cream, but I’m not getting it in the taste. It was also quite bitter sans sweetener, but that could be because I over-steeped it, like always. With sweetener added, the bitterness was gone. I doubt the lack of flavour is due to over-steeping as many other reviews point this out as well. An ok tea, but I don’t think I will order this, so glad I got to try it! Thanks Janelle!