Second Butiki of the morning! I followed the recommendation again with this one, and gave 1 tsp of leaf 3 minutes in boiling water. While brewing, the scent is distinctively bready. It reminds me of an assam in some ways, although not as sweet or malty.
The bready flavour is retained quite strongly in the initial sip. There’s a cake-like aspect to it also, but it’s more reminiscent of banana loaf than traditional sponge. Flavours of walnut and cinnamon emerge in the mid sip, rounded off with a vanilla sweetness that really does make me think of frosting. The base tea is the perfect choice – it’s not too obtrusive, but I suspect that it’s responsible for the bread/cake flavour, which is such an essential and integral part of the tea as a whole.
I’ve only tried a couple of carrot cake flavoured teas before, but if I’d never tried any I’d still have said that this one is spot on. It’s as close to carrot cake as it should be possible to get in liquid form, and I particularly enjoy the progression between flavours; bread/cake, walnut, cinnamon, vanilla. Just like eating an actual slice, I suppose!
I really admire Stacy’s ability to create flavoured tea like this, and I’ll certainly miss this one when it’s gone. I’d actually like to have tried it with a cream cheese frosting flavour – if any company could pull that off, Butiki could have. Since that’s not going to happen, I’ll content myself with vanilla. Either way, it’s sheer brilliance.
