Custom (Butiki)

Yup. This is still in my cupboard. Still delicious, but losing serious steam. Starting to taste stale. Gotta finish this up asap!!!

It seems I was having a day of favourites.
This was as good as ever today. Yum.

I made this cold brew style today and accidentally steeped for 9hrs vs the 3 that I intended.
So while it isn’t exactly bitter, it’s not at all what I had hoped for. Kindof bubblgummy in that standard “fruit” tea way and a teeny hint of Cilantro… Boo!! that was why I commissioned the blend in the first place. I heart cilantro!!
Thus, considering those two factors, not to mention that iced tea is not my fave, this is most definitely on the MEH side of things, but oh well, I accept full responsibility for that.
One day I’ll try again, when I have the time to pay proper attention!! Or when we finally find room in the freezer, I’ll make it iced (double strength over cubes)

I’ve had this with short and long steeps and I love it both ways. Short is great when I know I’ll be around all day, but it’s so very satisfying when I can indulge in a longer one. The depth of the mango and cilantro flavour really gets me! and I’m truly looking forward to making a big batch of this iced, to drink while I read a book on the balcony. Hurry up summer!
Also… Stacy rocks. Very very much!

Oh Stacy you have made me into a giggling tea nymph! I cannot get enough of this stuff. It is just perfect.
Normally I can’t stand hibiscus, but in this case it’s really added that special something. The mango is sweet, but with that extra punch of tart, it really tastes like mango salad.
And the cilantro. I love it almost more than tea. It is so darn tasty, I could eat it on it’s own with just a little bit of olive oil and lemon.
It’s really hard not to rate this because I would put it way up there, but since this is a custom blend made just for me I’ll have to resist.
The only downfall is that I filled up the tin I saved for it, but still have lots more to fill tins with… which means it will go stale before I can drink even half.
Oh and I need to make it with purified water, since tap water really ruins the delicate white base notes. Bah!

Butiki Teas is having an awesome “Create-Your-Own-Blend” tea contest. I was honored to have one of my submissions nominated by her panel of judges.

You can view the teas and vote here: http://www.butikiteas.com/Contest.html

Here is my submission:

Grateful Castaway’s Chilipaya Sweet Tropical Heat
Autumn, 1645

You, an intrepid tea trader caught in a storm in the Atlantic and blown wildly off course. Your mast torn, you drift for days, surviving by eating dry tea leaves and drinking rainwater captured in your tiny yixing teapot. At sunset, you see a speck of land on the horizon. You feel elated that your journey of hardship is over. However, hunger, thirst, and delirium overtake you and you drift helplessly off to sleep dreaming of better days to come. Hours later, you awake to a hot sun beating down on you. You are on a sandy beach clutching your last tea chest, out of the corner of your eye you spot the remnants of your ship smashed against some nearby rocks. With no tools, and no strength, you cannot access your only source of nourishment-your Nilgiri Frost Oolong tea leaves. Too weak to stand, you contemplate the last hours of your life. Suddenly, a crash right next to your ear! Just missing your head, your tea chest has been smashed open by a falling coconut! Landing within arms reach, you see the coconut has been cracked open as well and you find some of your tea leaves steeping in the coconut shell. Your stomach is not ready for solid food, so you guzzle the coconut milk tea with all your remaining constitution. Invigorated from the unusual drink, you arise and survey your surroundings. The beach is deserted, save for the lone, sparse coconut tree. The island appears uninhabited. You grab the last two coconuts and decide to move inland to search the distant forest for fresh water. It is essential to keep hydrated until the inevitable rescue of the important tea trader occurs. Inside the forest, you find myriad types of ripened fruit within arms reach or on the ground-papayas, mangos, limes, sucking every last drop of juice before you devour their flesh. The sugar rush is intense and you begin to ramble through the dense forest somewhat recklessly, picking up various fruits as you go. You encounter an unusual bush with a pretty little orange-red fruit. You take a bite and experience so much fire down your throat that you drop the fruit and fall backwards, spilling all of your tropical comestibles. Could this be the “hellfire habanero” you had seen mentioned in Magellan’s journals? Uprighting yourself, you frantically grab your coconut milk tea to cool off, only to realize as you gulp that the dreaded firebomb along with your other fruits has fallen into the drink. Strangely, the other fruits seem to tame the “devil fruit” in your tea. Although your throat still feels a little bit of heat, the succulent papaya fuses wonderfully into this serendipitous concoction, soothing your throat and heartburn. You calm down and start to notice the unique flavors. The unusual combination of sweet tropical fruits with the devil heat is amazing! Mangos, limes, habanero peppers, papaya, coconut and tea blending together as one. Papaya, habanero, and coconut are most prominent, but all the fruits are also identifiable separately. You thank fate for bestowing upon you this nectar of the gods as you continue to imbibe. You savor the sweetness and spice without getting the sugar high or burning throat as when eating all those tropical delights whole. Feeling relaxed, a quiet alertness takes over, your senses finely tuned. You see a creek that leads to a lush waterfall. Huge butterflies of every color casually flutter around you. A rainbow of delicate flowers emerges in every direction. Birds and trees of such beauty and rarity abound. You meander down to the stream gathering some crystal-clear water to make a cup of proper Nilgiri Frost Oolong in your coconut shell. As it steeps, you cannot help yourself, you are compelled to start throwing pieces of papaya, mango, lime, and yes, even a piece of that devil habanero into the shell! You ponder your fate while you sip this magical elixir. Away from the frenetic world, alone in this tropical paradise, your fears of survival until rescue evaporate and instead you, the grateful castaway, wonder “Do I ever WANT to be rescued?”

Grateful Castaway’s Chilipaya Sweet Tropical Heat is concocted by a fortuitous melange of Nilgiri Frost Oolong tea from the Blue Mountains of South India, red habanero peppers, papaya chunks, coconut shreds, mango pieces, lime and minute amounts of ginger bits and freeze-dried garlic. Daydreams of tropical paradise included at no extra charge.

mmmmm i have having an excellent morning. Delicious teas, quiet work day and time to just relax. :) Also love being able to watch TV while i’m working heh – not something i do often but today i don’t need to concentrate as hard as I usually do. :) I’ll have to restock this one eventually when i get around to placing another Butiki order. :)

nom nom nom. I keep thinking that i’ve shared this more often than i have. It must be because i hoard this. I love this version from stacy so much :)

it has been WAAAAY too long since i had this tea. I really love this blend, so much more than 3 friends. Not that three friends is bad, but it’s less for me. I really need to bring this out more often.

had a cup of this in the afternoon…today is just a day to enjoy and drink what i want :) I haven’t had this in a while since i keep wanting to hoard and save it.

I had this in the morning and it was delicious. One of these days i’ll try three friends again but i’m pretty sure i’ll still enjoy two friends more :)

I’ve got some backlogging to do…yes i do! It’s been a busy couple of week. Had this one a couple of days ago and it’s still as delicious and wonderful. I love this version from Stacy and as long as she’ll keep making it, i’ll keep it in my cupboard :)

pulled this one out of the cupboard this morning as well since i wanted a tasty delicious sure thing to go with my straight black. Still really loving this and i’ll be sorry when it’s gone and i have to beg stacy to blend up some more for me :)

Mmmmm…..busted open the package of this one today and man, I’d almost forgotten how delicious this one is. I really do love it with this base and the lack of marshmallows. Such a good yummy cup of orange and chocolate!

Past sipdown – the last of one of my 1oz bags, which always tasted better than the bulk amount I bought near the end of Butiki’s run. Just such a delicious chocolate/orange combo on the perfect PTA base.

Working on sipping this down via travel mug, since it does pretty well. Another great cup last weekend!

Drank while consuming Mini Eggs. Kind of killed the chocolate flavour, but the tea was still delicious, which is saying something. Most dessert teas die when your mouth is contaminated by actual chocolate.

Another tea I have two bags of. This is from the batch that I believe was tastier; however, it seems to have lost more flavour than the other. That said, there’s still that hint of extra-deliciousness about it. No idea what it is, but it could be chocolate or vanilla flavouring that’s stronger in this batch, making it tastier.

Looks like the 4oz bag of this survived the work mouse (it probably wasn’t at work). Unfortunately, this is the bag that doesn’t taste as good. It never has; I can’t pinpoint what’s different about it, but it’s just not as good. Not as chocolatey? Not sure. Still tasty, but not as amazing as the other bags I had (I had one at work for sure. Uncertain if I finished it or whether it was eaten).

Still chugging through this one! Down to the last ounce or so of my ginormous bag, though I know I have another bag of it somewhere too (I think it’s at work). Definitely no longer in its glorious prime, but it’s still tasty enough.

Backlog.

Travel-mugged this a while ago, and it was good, although this particular batch is not my favourite. High hopes for some of the various other bags I have kicking around.

Backlog from two Mondays ago (continued).

Determined I’m going to at least catch up with some of these notes tonight! Drank this in a travel mug a couple weeks ago; it was good as usual, but I think my 4 oz. from the Birthday Sale last year just aren’t as tasty as other batches. That’s ok though, it’s still good.

Drank this recently. Need to stop drinking it so much because I’m tiring of it. Sigh. I might have had it more than once, actually, but it’s only getting one very backlogged tasting note.

Glorious, glorious tea.