60 Tasting Notes
This tea is truly magical! Extremely well blended! I actually had to check back at the ingredients since I was no longer sure that it was vegan, but of course it was. I saw something on Steepster a while ago written by a representative of a tea company about how blending tea was not some magical art. I strongly disagree with that statement. Very good blends, like this tea are art. I believe it is very easy to tell when love, creativity, and time have been committed to the creation of a tea. I know that is how I used to blend teas and still do for myself and I can tell the same type of care from some other tea companies.
Today was such a completely awful day. I knew I needed something extra special to comfort me. So, I decided to mix a portion of my Premium Taiwanese Assam with Whispering Pine’s Imperial Gold Bud Dian Hong and add some pure ground vanilla. This hit the spot perfectly. It was sweet, creamy, malty, chocolatey, caramely and vanillay goodness. This cup did not make it long since I couldn’t stop drinking it. I’m crossing my fingers that the rest of the day is just a bit better.
Aww no, I hope tomorrow will be better for you. :(
Thank you, Fjellrev! :) For now, I’ll just be hiding out.
Oh no! Sorry to hear you had an awful day, but here’s hoping that tea was the start of an amazing come back day of you. Sounds like a lovely tea, and could make anyone’s bad day turn around. :)
Hope the day improves and that tomorrow is completely the opposite.
Thank you yyz & Amariel!! :)
Having a delicious cup of this now, while I’m working on posting a garage sale on our website. This tea is so amazing. It’s tasting very powered sugary today. I’m really wondering how this would taste mixed with our PTA. I bet it would be delicious. I never got around to it but I always wanted to do a Butiki Breakfast Blend with this tea, PTA, and our Mi Xian Black. I think I will make a blend for myself.
So excited to see the garage sale. :) (I love my tea set I bought from you off your garage sale). And, a blend just for yourself sounds absolutely marvelous and tremendously well deserved. <3
DeliriumsFrogs-It’s mostly going to be left over tins, thermoses, etc but I will be posting a few items from my house. There is a really great teaware set that I will be breaking up. I’ll post a sneak peek on instagram. :) Also, there will be those necklaces we made but never did anything with.
Oh yeah and a few cupping sets.
Those awesome tea vial necklaces with the little cup charm?!?!?!?! I loved those!! (i’d have to grab one…)
DeleriumsFrogs-Yes! Those are the ones. If you want one, let me know I can always hold one for you. We only have 3 and I would like to keep one for myself. We have Hello Sweetie, Citrus Dream, and Almond Indulgence. I’m waiting to hear back from the person that made them about pricing. I’m trying to convince her to keep it low.
When are you going to put up the garage sale items? Like this week? Also would it be in the day or night time? Asking because I have work this week xD
Ost-Not sure yet. I was thinking about posting to our official Facebook page a little bit at a time before doing the website post since it takes more effort to post on the website. Are you looking for anything in particular?
Here is what we will definitely be posting:
3 small cup sets, 2 cups each. Different sets
1 glass tea pot
2 8 cup pyrex measuring cups
These cups: http://instagram.com/p/zOPOnnlfKU/?modal=true
2 bombillas
5 cupping sets (white cup and steeping vessel)
1 small cup (oc Japan)
1 large tea dispenser (this is maybe 12 cups, stays hot 24ish hours)
1 large metal thermos
1 paisley gaiwan
tins-so many tins
2 magnetic tea displays
unsold teaware (not a lot but tea jars, and yixing cups with white ceramic on the inside)
oh man..those necklaces…hello sweetie!
Sil-I was looking at the Hello Sweetie more as a ‘break in case of emergency’.
I will be waiting with baited breath for the pricing on those. Heh
I’m with Sil…. those necklaces!!! :))))
I’m totally wanting to yell, HOLD ONE FOR ME!, but I don’t want to be all greedy and grab one before anyone else… (honestly, I love all your teas, so it wouldn’t matter at all which tea was in the vial)
They are a little more then I would like. They are $15.99 and come with a chain.
Ahhhhh! I really love them, but I should probably hold off… They’re so perfect, though! (I can’t ever find decent tea jewelry…)
Do you still have the pics handy Stacy? Pretty sure i’d still love one but my memory is a little foggy.
Welcome back Stacy! Hope you had a wonderful trip!
Now about that tea dispenser… How much do you think it will be?
Sil-let me email you a pic. I’m trying to find the really nice pics my friend took but do have the charm one readily available.
Kaylee-Thank you so much! I did, it was so wonderful. :) The dispenser will probably be $8 + shipping.
Garage sale is on! https://www.facebook.com/butikiteas
Can I lay dibs on the dispenser now?
Kaylee-Absolutely. Here is a pic: http://s1094.photobucket.com/user/butikiteas/media/Garage%20Sale/BigThermos_zps46319c9e.jpg.html?o=9 Still interested? Send me your zip code. If I remember correctly, shipping probably wouldn’t be too bad. I saved one for myself. They are great. I use them at parties and potlucks.
Sil-Let me know ASAP if you would like a first crack at the necklaces. Will be posting them today but can hold one for you if you are interested.
Gosh, I love this tea! Yums! Perfectly cocoa and caramel notes for my mood! Merry KwanzaaChristmasDiwaliHanukkahSolsticeFestivusNewYearsAndAnyOtherHolidayIMayHaveForgotten Everyone! Yay! :)
Merry Variousholidays to you too! :)
Thanks Stephanie! :)
w00t merry everything!
I’ll have to try this tea. I love Assam, but your’s sounds like a particularly good one! :)
Mike-I’m so sorry but we are no longer selling this.
Oh, no problem! I’ll check out the teas you do have available! :) Thanks for letting me know!
Mike-We are closing up shop this week but will have a big sale soon. If you end up buying something, let me know and I will give a sample of the Premium Taiwanese Assam that I set aside for myself.
^I meant a sample from the PTA that I set aside for myself. I did set aside quite a bit.
Wow, that’s so nice of you! I’ll definitely take a look now! I’m sorry that you’re closing shop, it sounds like you make some great teas! Thanks so much!
Mike-No problem. We will be doing a sale in a few days, roughly 35%-40% off. If you do buy, just send me an email to add some PTA for you or mention it in the “instructions to seller section” and I’ll be sure to add that for you. I’m happy to be closing even though I’m a little sad. :)
Awesome, thanks again! I don’t want to cut too much into your stash though! :P The Caramel Vanilla Assam and the Taiwanese Wild Mountain Black both look amazing, I’ll most likely order them if they’re available!
Mike-No problem, don’t worry I saved quite a bit for myself. Unfortunately, those teas were some of the first to go. We have already lost over 2/3 of our teas.
That Glenburn Estate Green looks great…looks like you still have some of that, right? :)
Oh my yum! Out of all of the new teas, this is my absolute favorite. It is just so unique and autumny. The squash is very present and sweet, like a roasted squash and the cinnamon is sweet and slightly spicy, while the soft vanilla adds warmth. It literally feels like autumn in a cup. It’s just one of those teas that you take a sip and then another and before you know it the tea is gone. Unfortunately, we don’t have much of this since I purchased the smallest amount of flavoring but I’m thinking I might pick up more because I have a feeling that everyone will like this one.
want. naaao!
^It’s so yums!
really hope there’s enough for me to be able to pick up all the new teas in my next order! haha. stupid canada post.
Sounds good!
Sounds wonderful, but hey, no surprise there!
Thanks guys! I’m really proud of this one. :)
Can’t find it :(
Sounds very unique and tempting!!
hippiechick-It goes online tomorrow or tonight if I don’t burn out soon.
Lilysmom-I think it’s pretty unique. So far, I haven’t come across any other squash teas. It’s really delicious!
Sounds yummy can’t wait to try it!
Excellent tea!
Please do pick up some more this tea is so delicious! :)
Taking a nice 10 minute break before I go back to the craziness! I picked up a really fantastic pumpkin scone this morning. This is delicious and has the perfect amount of pumpkin and spice and goes perfect with the Crimson Horizon. Crimson Horizon is my go to tea when I’m feeling exhausted and I don’t want guayusa. It gives me some extra zip.
Looks like we should have all of last Monday’s orders out by the end of tomorrow! Woot! That’s 2 days ahead of what I anticipated. I’m hoping this week and next will be moving much faster since we should have more help and I’m hoping that by the end of next Friday that we catch up to 1-2 day processing times. That would be great and would give me some time to work on the new blends.
Way to go!
Super important scone business question: Where did you get the pumpkin scone? XD
Thanks, Cheri! :)
TeaPet-Too far for you, but I picked it up at Grindcore Coffee House in Philly. It’s an all vegan punky coffee shop.
Aw rats… I was hoping it was from a small chain or something similar… Sankyu though!
mmmmmm….crimson horizon…. wonderful choice any day. :)
Ahhhhh, finally getting to enjoy PTA again. I missed it so much! Sometimes it is really nice to have a long break from one of your favorite teas just so that you appreciate it again when it’s back. Malty, caramely, chocolaty awesomeness!
I’ve been doing a lot of experimenting with tea cocktails lately. So far, the reviews from friends have been very good. I’ve also been testing out cocktails against each other to see which ones are favored. The Hello Sweetie teatini is just a huge success. For anyone that is interested in the recipe, here’s a link: http://butikiteas.blogspot.com/2014/08/butiki-after-hours-hello-sweetie-teatini.html.
Last weekend I tested out the Red Queen martini and Lemon French Macaron martini. The Red Queen martini had an espresso vodka and plain vodka and had a mostly espresso flavor with strawberry at the end. This was a huge success with espresso and coffee fans. The Lemon French Martini had Frangelico and plain vodka. The combo of the lemon and fragelico (hazelnut liquor) was similar to a chocolate cake shot but more just like birthday cake. Everyone seemed to love that even people who were not fans of citrus. This one was pretty complex.
Oh yeah! I haven’t made that Hello Sweetie tea-tini yet!
Thanks for posting the recipe!
Stephanie-You so need to try it. If anyone does try it and doesn’t have brown crystal sugar, sugar in the raw can be substituted but you would want to use less sugar.
mj-You’re welcome! We will also be posting the other 2 recipes at some point as well. :)
Oooh what about Red Queen with Bailey’s or Kahlua? I know what I’m brewing tomorrow…
Those sound delicious! If you try them, let us know how it goes. :)
I made teatinis for guests yesterday and this tea with Kettle One Vodka was a huge success! I made 8oz of tea and doubled the amount of tea I would normally use plus I added 2 tablespoons of brown crystal sugar while it was steeping. Then added vodka and ice until the shaker was full and shook it. Made about 3 martinis. It came out amazing. It had the perfect sweetness with burned caramel notes, black tea, and the coconut and banana flavors. The vodka was hardly noticeable. The martinis were a huge hit! Will definitely have to come up with a recipe.
Nice! I want to come to your house… :)
awesome! sounds delicious!
It was fantastic! I will have to make more tonight and take pics and come up with a real recipe. :)
What a great idea! I may have to try that sometime. Will you post the “finalized” recipe?
mj-absolutely! :)
Sounds awesome! (Other than the coconut…)
That’s my kind of tea-party!!!
I think this sounds soooo goood. I bet it’d be good with rum or bourbon instead of vodka as well, might pair nicely with the coconut.
Oh man, this is hitting the spot right now. The nice thing about this CTC is that it is quite a bit more forgiving than most CTCs that I’ve had. I know I overleafed but it really doesn’t taste that way and in the past I certainly let the time go for 2min+ without repercussions. Some days you just need a nice CTC to push you out of exhaustion. The bready notes are especially present but I love how the chocolate notes peak through. Sometimes when a cup of tea is just perfect, I tend to let out a sigh. I notice this mostly with the Premium Taiwanese Assam but I definitely sighed when I had this cup.
I’m finally starting to catch up on some emails and random work that has been put off because of the sale. It feels good to have finally gotten every single order out and to be mostly caught up on other orders. During the sale we discontinued Strawberry Oolong & Premium Chai. Unfortunately, we also ran out of our Khongea Golden Tips. Khongea decided not to sell the golden tips this year which means that we have to rework Ruby Pie and Malty Irish Breakfast. I think this time around we will be making the Ruby Pie gluten-free, that way we will have only gluten-free products.
So, I have been thinking about Black Friday through Cyber Monday. I know it is months away but it is really important to prep in advance since it is so crazy. We typically do sales all 4 days. Each day is like our Birthday Bash with the buy certain level and get a certain amount in free tea. Plus each day there are special bonuses like buy $60 in tea and get a new exclusive tea or something like that. We also run contests. I’m trying to figure out if this year we should change the format to gaining a percentage off of the order instead. I waver back and forth. The percentage off would mean we would have to refund every order which would be a pain. This is because we use PayPal as our shopping cart which doesn’t allow for promo codes. Unfortunately, we trapped ourselves into this because changing the cart now with over a hundred products would be very time consuming and potentially expensive but it will have to be done at some point. I do like the idea of free teas because it maybe allows someone to splurge a little. Not really sure what would be preferred.
Also, been thinking about doing a Tea of the Week special. It wouldn’t necessarily be every week but at the beginning of a week I would do a blog about a tea, discuss why it is in our collection, take some more detailed pictures, brew it (western, gongfu, and grandpas style) with notes, and maybe answer some questions. Also, we would offer that tea at a discounted rated for the entire week. Not sure if there is any interest in this.
I really like the Tea of the Week idea! :D
Personally, I am not a fan of the “buy this much and get this free” on anything because it forces me to spend a certain amount and I have a budget. For example, what if I want only $40 + shipping but the minimum amount to get free stuff is higher. I like sales where I get money off. Sadly, like you said, you can’t do promo codes. I think it’s the psychology of it. Some People like seeing -6.99 under the total.
I personally like discount coupons too, but that sucks about Paypal making it difficult. I’m surprised to hear it works like that!
And the tiered sale with free does work for me, but it does require a lot more planning than I’m used to. :P I’m not sure how else you could do it though, so I’ll just be happy that you’re able to offer some promo that I can take advantage of!
I like the tea of the week idea. I liked the birthday bash special with the tiers and getting something for free, but I know how much work that is for you, validating that the orders are right amounts, etc. You could do a spend X amount, get a tea from this list for free kind of special. Yes, it limits the options people have, but I think it would be easier for you.
I like the percentage off idea. I don’t really know about PayPal or running a website but would it be easier to do the percentage off of the teas each instead of the whole order? Also I like the idea of brewing teas in different ways it’s nice to get different perspectives from the same tea
Cavocorax-The problem is that PayPal is our sole shopping cart system. They don’t offer coupon codes at all. I do like them though because I feel like it is a more secure checkout system for our customers but it comes with a few problems. Another issue is that it allows previous purchases or saved orders to sit in the cart for a very long time. Great for the customer, nightmare for us and one of the reasons we don’t do sales as much anymore. We would have people buying things we no longer carry, items that had price raises at the old price, and shopping carts full of items on sale that haven’t been on sale for years.
So it seems like the tea of the week idea would work. Awesome! Now to think about which tea to do first. Maybe our Kenyan Silver Needles?
I think I might do a poll for the Black Friday Sale. Or maybe I mix it up. Maybe the first 2 days are a percentage off and the next 2 gets you free tea? Would still do a tier system. Maybe 20% off all order, orders over $40 25%, orders over $60 27% or something like that.
Krystal-Unfortunately, doing individual sales for every tea would be a nightmare the way our code is set up now.
I don’t have an issue with refunding the money but I think this could create 2 problems.
1. Not seeing the percentage off right there might allow people to misspurchase thinking they are getting off more/less then anticipated.
2. Influx of emails asking for the refund or questions about the refund, creating much more work when we won’t be able to get to all of the emails right away. Even if explicitly stated in rules, this could be an issue. Especially, if someone is worried that they won’t qualify for the refund.
I dislike the tea of The week idea because of the Canada factor…I preferred your sales of 1-3 things that could be encorporated into an order. I LOVE the blog idea through :)
I had no idea uncompleted purchases sat in the cart and caused headaches for you! I found tons of things before my last order that were still in my cart from previous orders I decided not to finish at the time. I cleared them all out and started again, but I’ll remember from now on to make sure to clear that cart as soon as I decide to wait on a wishlist!
Weighing in late on this one, but I love the tea of the week idea.
I do prefer a percent-off sale model. What if we all lobby PayPal to start allowing coupon codes?
Good to know! :)
Darjeelings are not always my favorite. I’m extraordinarily picky about them. For the last two years, my absolute favorite has been from Giddapahar. While, this estate seems to be a tad greener with their processing, the flavor is just outstanding. The tea is very complex and has wonderful sweet almond notes with peach and blackberry notes. There is just so much going on and quite a variety of flavors, including wood, lemon, hay, earth, and jasmine notes. When I heard that Giddapahar was making a special limited handrolled 2nd flush, I knew I had to jump at the opportunity, especially because they only made 11 kilos worth of this tea. It’s absolutely gorgeous. I was so excited when it arrived, I tore open the package. Wow, the scent was so amazing! The taste profile is very similar to the first flush, except that there is a muscatel flavor and the green-ness is much more toned down. It’s also a much fuller body and the astringency is gone. I’m really enjoying this tea quite a bit. It has a wonderful juicy flavor. Almond, peach, jasmine, and hay notes are the most prominent. There is something else present but I can’t put my finger on it right now. Will definitely have to experiment more on this one. Since this is so limited, when it’s gone it’s gone.
In other news, I’m working on 2 new teas today, a caramel apple Gui Fei and a mimosa puerh (this may or may not be a chai). Normally, I come up with flavors then find a tea for them and modify them from there but these guys I’m working with teas that I really want to flavor and trying to develop flavors for them specifically. I have done this with our Champagne & Rose Cream but it’s not typically how I work.
Oh yum. You sure make this one sound tempting! I am super intrigued by your caramel apple and mimosa ideas, too :)
Caramel apple anything would be fantastic. ;)
You make this second flush sound good. A little greener is more to my liking.
And since Champagne & Rose is one of my favorites that you do, I’d really like to see what you come up with on these other two. :)
Stephanie-This new Giddapahar is soooo delicious! I’m trying to figure out how much to save for myself.
I hope they come out good. I love working with the flavors in the tea and trying to bring them out a little more. crosses fingers
Cameron B-Indeed!
Cheri-It’s so yummy! I just flew through my first cup.
I’m excited to be working with these two teas. The Gui Fei is so unique and it was just calling to be paired with apple. The loose puerh was really begging for some citrus. So glad you like the Champagne & Rose Cream! That is probably the flavored tea I drink the most right now.
It seems as though Specialty Darjeelings are on the rise. Ambootia and Moondakotee are making fairly expensive Haute Couture Darjeelings for Mariage Freres. I’ve been meaning to try your teas and maybe I’ll get around to it in the near future.
Excelsior-they really are, especially in the last two years. It seems they are feeling the pressure to make teas that can compete with other countries luxury teas.
Caramel apple and mimosa chai both sound awesome. I’m going to have to revisit the gui fei oolong now so I can decide whether to get the caramel apple…
The caramel apple Gui Fei came out amazing! Needs some tweaking but I love it!
How much of this tea did you decide to sell? Do I need to place an order immediately, or can I wait until next week, do you think?
Cheri-You should have no problem waiting. Since it is a more expensive tea and a Darjeeling (Darjeelings don’t sell fast for us), it should be available for a few months.
Thanks! I’m trying to force myself to reorganize my tea pantry before I order more teas. It’s a mess and I don’t even know what all is in there anymore.
I agree, it is an art. If it is to be a great tea. I mean, if some blender wants to throw a bunch of stuff together without much care, then sure, in that case, it’s not an art. But truly good tea, no…truly fantastic tea, is blended with care, and is sincerely an art.
Plunkybug-I agree! :)
There are companies that have wonderful tea but they just don’t really blend well. It’s a different talent.
That is the first thing that came to mind when i had it. What an amazing blend. This is a first for me to hear that mixing was a taboo. well i will surely continue steeping the mixed flavors . Cheers !
Stacy, come back. We miss you and your teas and your passion for the craft.
Seconded!
A motion has been put on the table. All in favor?
Aye!
I sure miss Butiki. Sipped Three Friends today… almost gone! STILL DELICIOUS.