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Another Butiki sample from Mandy! I’m not generally a huge fan of chocolate teas, but I haven’t tried one yet from Stacy so we shall see! There are chocolate chips and pieces of dehydrated strawberry mixed in with the Assam base. The leaves are quite small compared to the other black teas I’ve seen from her. It smells like strawberries, yum! Steeped 3 minutes.

The brewed aroma is strawberry and those layered chocolate wafer cookies – the ones with the really light and crisp wafers with the waffle print, and then the chocolate filling between them. I think I can smell a little espresso mixing in with the chocolate. The strawberry flavor in this reminds me of those strawberry goo-filled hard candies that are wrapped in the foil that looks like a strawberry! I find the combination of the dark chocolate and the espresso together to be a bit bitter, even with sugar added. However, the strawberry is definitely the star. I get a bit of chocolate throughout, and I only taste the espresso in the aftertaste.

Overall, this is quite tasty, but I’m glad I didn’t order it over other things. Thanks Mandy!

I got this in a swap from Mandy! Thanks, dear! I have recently discovered a love for oxidized oolongs, and I love maple, so this is a no brainer. The dry leaves are beautiful – very large and jet black, spindly and spiky like some creepy tree’s branches. There are a couple of big pieces of pecan in mine. Dry, this smells like… alcohol. Ick. Hopefully that doesn’t continue on to the brewed aroma! I was surprised that the recommended temperature is 170 degrees, seems low for an oolong to me. But I will follow it because Stacy certainly knows her own teas better than I do! :P

Yay, the alcohol smell is gone! I definitely smell maple, and there’s a creamy nuttiness from the pecans. Underneath, I catch the scent of autumn leaves from the oolong. Well, I’m now happy about the 170 degree temperature because I get to drink it faster, hah! Honestly, I was expecting this to be stronger considering Mandy’s sample was a bit of a generous 1.5 tsp. But it is definitely delicious! The flavoring is roughly equal in strength to the base tea, so I get to taste them both, which is very nice considering I was curious about the oolong base too. It’s maple first, then I get that creamy, nutty pecan flavor toward the end of the sip. Finding this a bit astringent plain.

I added vanilla soymilk to the second half of my cup, and I think I prefer it this way. The creaminess of the milk really brings out the nutty side of the tea, but the maple is still there too, especially at the end. Yum! This is how I would most likely drink this tea if I were to buy it. Thanks Mandy!

I just realized I hadn’t tried this tea yet! Gasp! I’m sorry Whispering Pines, I didn’t meant to neglect you! I received a sample of this from Nicole, and I also bought a decent amount of it in a stash sale (was it Shadowfall? I don’t remember now, sorry!) It’s funny, even though this is a far less tippy Yunnan (appears to be about 30-40% tips?) than the others I’ve had from them, I can still definitely tell the quality difference in the leaves between their tea and other companies’ similar offerings. The leaves are long and unbroken, and very light and fluffy. And the golden tips have an obvious fuzzy texture and metallic appearance. Lovely! The smell is quite mild, like most Yunnan teas I’ve tried (some exceptions with the bud varieties). It’s light malt with some honey sweetness and vague fruit reference.

Brewed, it smells slightly earthy, but nowhere near the amount of the darker Yunnans I’ve been trying lately. And there’s definitely malt and dark dried fruit alongside it, which really turns it away from the mineral/smoke element that can be present in these teas. The taste is also somewhat earthy, but there’s no smoke here. There is malt and molasses with some dark dried fruits (raisins, cherries, figs maybe), and these really help to take the edge off of the earth notes and make this tea much more enjoyable for me. I wouldn’t call this tea bready, but it’s almost there. Not my favorite, but not bad for an everyday Yunnan, especially for someone who likes those darker flavors.

From Nicole with love! That girl must have quite the Yunnan collection considering the number she’s sent to me. :P This one is almost all black leaves with just a few scant golden tips. The dry leaf smells rather earthy with some sweetness. I’m thinking this is going to be another “dark” Yunnan, which are not my favorites. Oh well, for science! ;)

The aroma is quite earthy with that smoky edge, but there’s also sweetness and a bit of raisin or dried fruit. Whew, very earthy in taste! It’s times like these that I wish I had real maple syrup so I could try these slightly smoky teas “Terri-style”. I’ll have to pick some up the next time I go to a real grocery store (there’s a small one on the bottom floor of our apartment that we generally use, convenient but they don’t have everything and some of it’s more expensive).

Welp, I don’t really have much else to say about this tea. It’s just not my style! :P

Another tea sent to me by the lovely and benevolent Sarsonator! Apparently she doesn’t much care for this one. It looks like a mix of various stuff. There are huge pieces of something that resembles bark, is this what carob looks like? It seems to be mostly dried orange peel with some wild rice, elderberries, and spices mixed in. It smells quite similar to Elder Grove by Whispering Pines, probably because of the cinnamon. I steeped 1.5-2 teaspoons for 5 minutes.

Wow! Brewed, this smells exactly like hot, gooey cinnamon rolls with orange glaze on top. Yummmmm. I must say, I don’t understand how anyone could not like this tea! It tastes like a combination of cinnamon rolls and apple pie! Somewhat similar to Elder Grove but with pastry notes and orange included. This is super delicious! Sarsonator, you crazy! ;)

GA! GA! OH LA LA!

…sorry. I was really excited for this blend, and I love Sarsonator forever for sending me a sample! I had to add this tea to the database, so I guess no one else on here has tried it yet? Hooray pressure! ;)

So, this is a genmaicha with some unconventional ingredients. I’ve had the base tea on its own and enjoyed it, I remember it being a smooth and creamy light green tea. This tea has two types of toasted rice – jasmine and Minnesota wild. There are also lovely golden flower petals for color, and juniper berries (I assume they’re dried, but they still have their plump fresh appearance). I didn’t see any vanilla bean pieces in mine, but supposedly they’re in there. The dry scent is toasted grains with a very light vegetal note in the background.

Brewed, the aroma is a basic genmaicha – green tea (albeit a mild green tea) and lovely toasted rice. Have I mentioned I love genmaicha? Sipping this tea, I get the impression of a traditional genmaicha done very well. The base tea is exceptionally smooth and creamy, its main vegetal note would be butternut squash. As I near the end of the sip, it becomes creamy vanilla almond or soy milk. Mmm… The toasted rice adds that lovely nutty flavor, and goes perfectly with the creamy soy and light oat notes of the base tea. I would have enjoyed a tad bit more vanilla, as I only really find it near the end of the sip. But I digress! I honestly am unsure what juniper berries taste like, but I would assume similar to pine? Either way, I don’t get any of that here. Same with the saffron.

Overall, I actually really like this tea. I would consider it more of a traditional genmaicha, but exceptionally smooth and creamy. Delicious! :)

Edit: I forgot to mention that this blend was created for Lady Gaga, in case anyone was confused by the beginning of the note… Lol.

Yay, another Butiki sample from Sarsonator! I’ve become very curious about oxidized oolongs since trying the Eastern Beauty from Green Terrace, and anything from Butiki is sure to be good. :D The leaves look very similar to the Eastern Beauty – they’re very dark brown/purple with some silvery spots. They seem so fragile, and are very lightweight. I found that this tea has almost no dry scent, just a little bit of hay and autumn leaves. I followed the instructions on Butiki’s website: 2 teaspoons at 195 degrees for 4 minutes.

The brewed aroma is very floral, which surprised me! There’s also some fruity sweetness, and a strong honey note. This actually tastes quite different from the Eastern Beauty that I had before. It’s much more floral, which is not generally my favorite note, but it’s not terrible here. There’s a fruit taste which I would identify as tart but sweet plums along with a deeper raisin-like flavor. The background is all autumn leaves and hay, with a richness that reminds me of molasses. And obviously there’s that honeyed sweetness (this is a leafhopper tea, after all), but honestly I was expecting it to be stronger based on the aroma.

Very good, both similar and different from the one I had previously tried! Thanks Sars!

Hooray, I got my swap from Sarsonator! I’ve been (im)patiently awaiting the arrival of Lady Gaga (aka Minnesota Blend). However, I don’t believe that she has tried it yet herself, so I’m not going to make it right this second, even though I want to! I’m actually really happy this came today, because now I get to try this tea and Oriental Beauty before tomorrow’s sale so I’ll know whether I need to order them or not. Hooray for excellent timing! :)

Anyway, this tea smells amazing! Very sweet and strong coconut and banana scents, and I definitely get some cookie or pie crust too. It’s like coconut cream pie combined with that amazing banana pudding concoction that has the whipped cream and the vanilla wafer cookies!

And, of course, it tastes fantastic! I definitely still get the coconut cream pie and banana pudding mash-up dessert. There’s a cookie element here, and a little bit of toffee. The coconut flavor kind of reminds me of those chewy coconut candies that have the pink, white, and brown stripes (sorry, I have no idea what they’re called, but they’re little cubes and they’re individually wrapped). I wouldn’t call it the most “authentic” coconut, since real coconuts are much milder and not sweet, but I think it works perfectly in this blend. The banana is the same way – it’s definitely more of a banana candy flavor (reminds me of banana-flavored chews or taffy) but I love it! It’s lovely banana-coconut candy tea with toffee chip cookies and whipped cream over the top! I had mine with a bit of sugar but I bet this would be amazing with milk as well. :)

Edit: Psssst, here’s a picture of the candies! http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7b/Sundaes-Neopolitan-Coconut-Candies.jpg

This sample came from Nicole. Visually, it looks like a generic semi-tippy Yunnan, though the leaves are a bit more broken than I would like. The leaves are mostly dark, maybe with 30% golden tips. Dry, it smells pretty sweet and malty. I did my usual 3 minute brew.

The brewed aroma is earthy with malt or dark bread notes, raisins, and honey. The taste is quite similar. There’s a definitely earthy quality, but I don’t get mineral or smoke with it. Definitely a lot of malt here, but I wouldn’t describe it as bread. I also get a dark dried fruit flavor, which makes me think of raisins combined with the richness of molasses. There’s isn’t a ton of sweetness, however. There’s just a little hint of an herbaceous spice note that I’ve found in several other dark Yunnan and Fujian teas. I would describe this as being between the “dark” Yunnans (earth/mineral/smoke) and the “middling” Yunnans (mostly bread/honey/dried fruit). This tea is okay, but not something that I would purchase. I tend to love the middling to light (pastry/honey/stonefruit) Yunnans the most though. :)

Another Persimmon Tree tea. Honestly, I didn’t realize that this is a green oolong. The leaves are quite dark and they’re not rolled up, just long and twisty. I was quite surprised when I took the brewing basket out of my cup and saw how pale the infusion was! The dry leaf didn’t necessarily smell green, just sweet and vanilla-esque with some butter rum notes. Oh well, onward and upward! :P

This is actually quite tasty, even though I don’t generally enjoy greener oolongs. The vanilla and cream is quite strong, and there’s a definite buttery quality than approaches butter rum or butterscotch when combined with the other two flavors. I do notice a slight green grassy or vegetal quality lingering in the background, but it’s not too noticeable and I don’t mind it at all. There’s also a touch of floral (of course) and a slight fruit aftertaste, either from the “mandarin” or naturally from the oolong base. Speaking of mandarin, I don’t really taste citrus in this blend, but I feel it doesn’t necessarily need it with the richness of the other flavors. Quite good overall! :)