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So great. Makes a superb iced tea. We used to drink this whenever we had lunch at the late, great Takashimaya New York. Nice, fruity natural mango flavor, not too perfumy. You still know you’re drinking a black tea. Can’t say enough good things about this tea – one of my favorites!

I debated reviewing this for some time, since it’s essentially gone forever – so sad! I’d never had Butiki Teas before and am now rather upset that I’m so late to the game. However, I want to have a tasting note, if only to record how awesome these teas are! I love almond flavored teas and this is one of the best I’ve ever had. Natural almond flavor, a little cinnamon, almost an almond pastry-like quality. Really good and I’ll miss it!

Very much enjoyed this tea. The caramel and vanilla flavors are nicely balanced, although I didn’t actually taste any salt, that was OK with me, I get the general idea. Would’ve been interesting if they did include a tiny bite of salt in it, but I think David’s is too mainstream to try something like that. Still, I don’t love it any less! I needed to add more tea than the recommended amount because I found the flavor to be a bit weak and didn’t want to oversteep it. I drink this always with milk and unsweetened, my preferred way to drink dessert type teas.

Not sure what I can add to this, since it’s been so heavily reviewed, but here goes! I couldn’t wait to try this, so I ended up steeping some almost right after I opened the package.

Dry leaf scent was sweet, like sugar, and I picked up on cream right away. The tea liquor has those two scents plus butter. First few sips were just the brew, nothing added. Mostly creamy and buttery taste with a very subtle cinnamon note. Next I added milk, which amped up the cream flavor and transformed it into more of a baked good taste. It wasn’t until I added a tiny amount of coconut sugar that the tea fully lived up to it’s namesake. And, yes, it does have flavor reminiscent of a fresh baked pastry. I didn’t get much almond flavor, though I could see the almonds in the blend, I mean, they are right there, but the taste didn’t come through for me. And the strangest thing was that there was no black tea flavor. A tea that doesn’t taste like tea? Interesting.

For Marzipan: how does this compare with Lupicia’s Cookie? Well, they are completely different. Brioche has mostly cream and butter with a hint of cinnamon, and is much more subtle. Cookie is much more aromatic, and has a stronger flavor of sweetness and milkiness .

So, bottom line is I really like this tea, it’s subtle but well-balanced and certainly a great dessert black. I’ll definitely be friends with Brioche, but my heart belongs to Cookie.

UPDATE: brewed some with breakfast this morning, and steeped it longer than the amount recommended. And there it was: almond! The tea is so mild I think it can handle a steep as long as 6 minutes, so I’ll be doing an extended steep time from now on. More flavor that way and I didn’t get any acid or bitterness, either.

I don’t usually like to review teas when I’ve got a cold coming on, but I don’t believe my taste buds or sense of smell has been compromised (yet), so here we go. I love Ceylon teas, Nuwara Eliya(h) in particular, and for me, Lupicia’s the one to beat. Hands down favorite Ceylon. Trouble is, it’s really tough to get, unless you’re lucky enough to be able to visit a Lupicia retail store (none by me – they all seem to be on the West Coast or in Japan). I’ve never been able to get it from their website in all the years I’ve ordered from them. This current stash is from Kyoto, where I picked up 100g – the only thing that stopped me from getting more is the fear that it would get too old before I drank all of it (insert facepalm of regret here).
So, this tea. It’s a delicate, bright, clean taste that has a slight, almost lemony finish to it. It’s the kind of taste that I used to think of whenever I thought of what tea should taste like, long before I knew that there are so many types and flavors of tea out there. It’s been so long since I had it last that I drank the first cup plain, and then added milk to the second. I love milk in my teas, not ALL of them, just many of the unflavored and flavored blacks. This tea works so well either way, and so far, it remains my favorite Ceylon.

Sipdown 2 of 2 today! This was a 1 ounce purchase since I wasn’t sure about it. The dry leaf smells amazing – fruity, slight spicy, floral. Brewed up and iced, the floral notes really come out. It tastes…healthy. Like something you’d have in an upscale cafe that serves lots of healthy salads, sandwiches, and vegetarian dishes. Weird I know, but that’s just what comes to mind. I might buy it again, but it seems more like a warmer weather tea to me.

Sipdown 1 of 2 today! Despite being alarmingly old (2 years, 3 years maybe?), it held up well to the very end. Maltiness is reduced, but still there. A bit vegetal from the Ceylon (or age). Balance was starting to be off a bit. This was a versatile tea, good for when I wanted a solid unflavored black, great as a base for my homemade chai. I’ll probably get more eventually, but I’ve got so many other teas, plus so many more I’d like to try, it may be awhile.

Such a winner, this one. Exactly what comes to mind when you want a warming, seasonal tea for the fall. Perfectly yummy, I don’t see myself ever getting tired of it (well, maybe I will once spring comes around again, but that’s far off now). Love this tea!

It seemed so promising. A fresh, autumnal, Apple cider flavor? Sign me up! Smelled delicious while brewing, and the first hit upon tasting was true to the name: apple cider goodness! But then came this odd chemical sweetness that ended with an almost bitter note. I can’t get past it. Glad I only bought one ounce.

This is my go-to for iced tea in the colder weather months. Wonderful iced, also lovely hot. Not overly fruity, not heavy-handed on the ginger. Nicely balanced as is, but I like to blend it with a little bit of vanilla tea to really round out the flavors. This one I always tend to keep in my pantry as it’s one of my favorites.