523 Tasting Notes
yummy tea! This will be my go-to autumn tea this year I think.
I noticed this tea again when I saw the new name, but I always avoided it before. I’ve never liked nut-based teas or cookie-flavored teas. The new name made me take note again and I decided to give it a try. I’m so glad I did!
I can best describe it as Butiki’s pumpkin creme brulé without the pumpkin. I make this comparison mainly to indicate the similarity in quality and strength of spices. Many spiced teas that I’ve had are underwhelming, but this is just right. If you like the pumpkin creme brulé, you’ll definitely like this one too :)
I can detect the almond notes, which I usually don’t like, but this tea is an exception. All the spices and flavors are perfectly balanced.
Incidentally, when I first tried pumpkin creme brulé, I was new to tea and I deemed it the “best tea ever.” It’s still a favorite, but I’m not always in the mood for it. I greet this current tea after a tea-hiatus and have similar feelings towards it. I think that autumn-spice type teas call to me most when I haven’t had a lot of tea for a while. They are a special treat not to be overdone, much like the festivities of the holidays. :)
This is my very first cup of tea in several weeks! I’ve been out of tea and unable to afford any for a while.
I was excited when I first heard about this tea. Espresso and strawberries? together? yay! But dessert teas and me rarely get along. Whenever there is a dessert tea I like, it comes from Butiki teas, so the odds are always in my favor here. Except that I should really know better by now that chocolate in teas, with rare exception, adds a flat and muddy characteristic that I don’t care for.
This tea is like a muted ruby pie tea. The espresso flavor doesn’t come through as strong for me as it seems to for other reviewers. But that’s probably because I like my coffee über-strong. A dainty coffee note won’t likely catch my attention. The strawberry isn’t very tart and blends well with the chocolate notes. I can definitely see how it imitates a cupcake (as opposed to a pie).
I am drinking this without the recommended sugar because I always like to know what a tea tastes like before hand. I will have to try it with sugar next time and update my review.
Overall, not a bad tea, but not a favorite either.
In other news, while I am farther away from my immediate family, with whom I used to share teas, I am now closer to extended family and I am planning to visit with lots of tea to share soon! I am also preparing a thank-you tea package for my parents who helped me out with some food money when I first got to Colorado. They love tea, thanks to me, but they are so stubborn about purchasing their own. I know they are due for a re-stock :) yay for tea!
Finishing off my sample of this tea. It’s not such a bad white tea. I might have to increase my rating. The flavor is still quite delicate, but thats not always a bad thing. I’m picking up a lot more of the floral notes this time. It’s a lot better than the heavy-hay flavored whites that I usually come across.
Flavors: Flowers, Hay
Finally a tea with some flavor! The last two Arbor tea samples I reviewed were lacking in that area. :p
This is a creamy/buttery green tea. The vegetal flavor is not as intense as in my favorite Japanese greens, but its still there and very nice. Stay tuned for more notes on this tea as I finish the rest of my sample bag.
In the mean time, look look what I did! I made a video and I am so proud of myself! I actually let myself be on camera and posted it for the public to see. I feel like I turned over a new leaf of confidence ٩(^ᴗ^)۶ although it might take several videos of various things to actually act confident. haha. but this particular one is to prove my ability to talk backwards. I always say I can, but people have had to take my word for it. I don’t “read” the words backwards in my head like the small handful of others who do this. I say them phonetically so that a recording can be reversed and verified, which I do in the video with a reverse recording app. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcliR8SkhMc
The first time I made this tea, I could hardly taste it at all. I used the recommended 1.5tsp. This time I used a tablespoon and I can detect the flavor better, but it is still very delicate. I notice mostly the characteristic hay flavor of silver needle as well as a faint floral that comes and goes with each sip.
I finally bought some new teas. can you believe it? I went all June without any new tea. Crazy!
I’ve been wanting to try Hawaiian tea for a while, so I was excited to try finally get some. It’s a very delicate flavored green tea; buttery and very little astringency. I tend to prefer stronger flavored green teas, but this is still a very pleasant cup.
I’m on a roll here with the backlogs. Ive been slacking! I had this one so long ago, but I remember it very well and I kept copy of my notes in my own spreadsheet.
I was wary trying this one since I hate cheesecake. I mean, really. . cheese + dessert? whose crazy idea was that anyway? But, I received a free sample of this so I tried it. It smelled absolutely divine. Probably the best smelling flavored tea I’ve come across yet (except maybe 8 candles from DT, that one smells divine but tastes horrid!) I was disappointed with the flavor though. It wasn’t bad, but just plain. It was plain and nutty with a strange aftertaste. The smell was good enough to keep me drinking the cup, but I wouldn’t repurchase this one if it was still available.
Another really late log (I forgot to log it when I had it last). I’ve actually had this one a few times. The first time, I thought it tasted very much like the roasted Iron Goddess also from Whispering Pines. If I didn’t see that the leaves were different, I almost would have thought it was the same one. Except, not quite. I didn’t pick up any of the coconut notes that I got from the Iron Goddess.
This is a decent super roasty tea, but not my favorite Big Red Robe.
I was going through my personal tea rating spreadsheet and I noticed that I didn’t have this one rated. . which means I haven’t logged it here yet. This has been my go-to tea for the past month or so. I only have a few sachets left and I can’t get anymore until mid july because everything is out of stock until the bamboo harvest is over. (OK, so there’s a bit of a money issue on my side, but I want tea dammit! surely this counts as a necessity - and with the new blends showing up from some of my favorite places, I feel an irresponsible splurge coming on ;) )
I’ve already made it known that I love mint, so I am biased to rating most mint blends pretty high. As far as being a blend goes, the peppermint drowns out most of the bamboo flavor. This could be a good thing for anyone who wants bamboo for the health benefits, but who doesn’t like the flavor. I like plain bamboo and I like mint, so its all good to me no matter what. I started getting bamboo tea when I heard how good it is for skin and hair. Grow hair grow! (so close to waist atm :) )
