Emily M Send Message

Sample sipdown! Got this with my last Butiki order and figured it’d be nice at this time of night.

Dry, this tea is floral smelling with a slight buttery hint to it. There is also an underlying sweetness in the smell.

Once brewed, the tea smells a little more buttery, with a nice hay-esque scent and some mellow floral notes. This also smells slightly sweet. I love the way this smells! Nice and light and refreshing!

Taste: First and foremost I would like to say how smooth this one is! The mouthfeel here is spectacular! The hay-esque notes are coming through in the taste; very pleasant and light. There is also a light buttery note to this tea, which is very enjoyable. The floral taste here is also light (thanks goodness it isn’t overpowering!) and lingers in the aftertaste. There is also a slight earthy taste hovering in here, which is interesting. The sweetness I smelled is coming through both in the middle and at the end of the sip, with very light peach-like notes detectable every once in awhile. Also, absolutely no astringency – hooray!

I’m enjoying this cuppa very much! It’s smooth, refreshing, light, and soothing. May have to add this to the shopping list so I can play with it a little more. This time around I think I used a little more water than I should have, and I think the flavors may be enhanced slightly if I were to use less. Not that this mistake takes away from the tea! I still find it really nice. =) Just think I may be able to get a bit more out of it.

Thanks for sending this sample my way, Stacy!

EDIT: 2nd steep was more floral.

Sample sipdown!

This one, brewed, smells slightly buttery with strong notes of marigold and vanilla. I’m also picking up some lemon notes. I’m not thrilled on the marigold being so pronounced… but we’ll see.

Taste: I’m definately getting a lot of the floral marigold and vanilla aspects in the taste. There is a slight citrus thing going on as well. There’s a buttery taste in the very beginning of the sip that disappears into floral/vanilla very quickly. This is a VERY smooth cuppa, but unfortunately I don’t think it’s for me. It isn’t undrinkable, I just don’t think the flavors are working for me. The vanilla, in my opinion, is a little artificial tasting, even though the ingredients are supposedly natural. Maybe it’s the vanilla and the citrus together that is making me get this taste. Also, the marigold/floral taste is more pronounced than I was expecting. Finally, the creamy taste I was hoping for is limited to the beginning of the sip. While very smooth on the tongue, the flavor just isn’t showing up for me. =(

Overall, it’s not a favorite. I wouldn’t say it’s undrinkable. It just isn’t my cuppa. Vanilla can be hit or miss with me sometimes, so I wouldn’t blame the tea. Maybe if the person really liked vanilla/floral teas and was looking for something smooth they would enjoy this one more than I.

Sample sipdown! Got this one in my last sample package from The Whistling Kettle.

Dry, the tea smells like Mango and Pear, with a bit of earthiness from the Pu-erh.

Once brewed, the tea smells more like strawberry pu-erh with a slight pear undertone. The mango has disappeared, it seems.

Taste: I’m getting mostly strawberry/pu-erh here too. I think the white tea has slightly mellowed out the pu-erh, but it’s not detectable. It’s a tad tart, mildly sweet, and mostly earthy/woodsy. There is a little of the pear taste on the finish of the sip, but I wish it had been more detectable throughout. I find it odd that there is no mango taste here.
As the tea cools down, the fruity taste emerges more and the earthiness tones down. The flavors work alright here, but I don’t see anything really WOW about them. I think there is some room for improvement for this blend.

Overall, this is decent. I don’t think I’d buy it and keep it around, but I was happy I got to try it.

Free sample form Upton! Cool. I guess they started giving out samples with every order, as this is the second time I got a little bonus! =)

This tea smells nice and toasty, with a slight nuttiness and a bit of the green tea base.

Taste wise, this one is pretty good. It’s partially sweet, has the nice toasty taste I love in a Genmaicha, and is nice and smooth. It’s also got a nice vegetal/earthy taste mixed in.

It’s a basic Genmaicha, but there’s nothing wrong with that. It’s tastey, relaxing, and just what I needed after a really rough night at work. Happy I got to sample this!

Got a sample of this in my last Upton order. Glad I did, as I do like it and was happy to get to try it.

This tea smells nutty, roasty, and earthy/woodsy once brewed. It’s interesting. I was actually expecting a slight vegetal note because of the slight green character of the oolong, but I’m not really picking any up. Not that this is a bad thing. I don’t mind either way.

The taste of this one is slightly roasty (though not nutty), with a stronger earthy/woodsy character. It’s pretty smooth in the front of the mouth and slightly (very slightly) drying in the back. I’m also picking up a slight sweetness, and that sweetness carries into the aftertaste. The more it cools, the more that sweetness is highlighted. Interesting. There’s also a nice champagne like smell coming from the cup, now. I don’t really think it’s coming through in the taste, though.

Overall, this is a nice oolong offered from Upton. I’ll have to see how this stacks up against the other oolong samples I ordered from them. I like the different aspects of the flavor and how they work together. It’s got some nice complexity. I’d buy this again. It would make a nice standard, everyday oolong. =)

Yum! Just as delicious as I remember. Glad I ordered some more! Just the thing I needed to wake me up this morning and get my day started.
This black tea is so impressive. No astringency, an awesome buttery/baked good taste, slight honey notes, and a nice mild earthiness. See previous notes for more in depth taste profile.

Does anyone else know of a good black tea with no astringency and a similar/non astringent profile? I’m trying to get more into blacks, but I’m a little hesitant.

This one sounded so promising, I just had to try it! Used my gaiwan, increasing by 15 sec with each steep.

Wash: I took a sip of it, and yum! Nice and sweet, with a strong honey smell. Can’t wait to get brewing.

1st steep: Buttery, strong honey like scent.
Taste: Sweet, slightly vegetal. Notes of a wine-like flavor are present. Honey notes are also present. There is also a slight buttery note, and the mouthfeel is smooth.

2nd steep: This brew smells very sweet, slightly like honey, and has a stronger wine like scent to it.
Taste: Sweet, honey taste in front, followed by the wine like (barley?) taste. Ends with a nice sweet note, mixed with a little vegetal oolong taste. I’m also picking up some fruitiness. It’s almost like what a mango flavored honey tastes like. Interesting. Buttery note I picked up previously wasn’t detected this time around, but I don’t miss it! This steep was exceptional!

3rd Steep: Smells more like a wine, with very light honey notes.
Taste: This one is less sweet. Tastes more like a dry wine. Has a bit of a drying effect on the mouth, too. The slight sweetness of the cup comes at the end of the sip. Fruitiness is absent in this cup, as well, but it’s nice in its own way. Still think the second steep is going to be my favorite.

4th Steep: Surprise! The sweet smell is back! Honey and wine.
Taste: This brew is sweeter than the last, but still not as sweet as the 2nd. It’s also slightly buttery again. Very smooth, not drying anymore. The wine taste is very laid back in this brew, and what I can only describe as a “typical oolong tea” taste has entered the picture. Slightly earthy, and delicious. Interesting steep.

5th Steep: Sweet and the most wine-like smelling brew. Nice honey-ish notes, too.
Taste: Reprise of the 2nd steep! Well, almost. The wine taste is a little stronger in this one, but the honey taste and the slight fruitiness is back. There’s also a lingering sweetness at the end of the sip! Yum!

I feel like this tea could probably go a few more steeps, but I think I need a break. It’s kind of late, and if I don’t stop now I probably won’t sleep. ;)

Overall, a very, very nice oolong. A new favorite, that’s for sure. Thanks Azzrian for bringing this one to my attention! And thanks Mandala for having this one in stock!

Had this one yesterday on the go and took notes while I was in class (pay attention!? Nah…not when I have tea tasting notes to write!).

When I saw that Butiki had an eggnog flavored tea I was so very excited. This year I seem to have developed an egg intolerance of some sort (just feel really sick to my stomach), which means goodbye fried egg sandwich’s, farewell scrambled eggs, and worst of all – so long Eggnog! This holiday season was a rough one, as we had eggnog in the house and I kept drinking it even though it made me feel sick. Anyway, when I found this (too bad it was AFTER the holidays, as this could’ve saved me a lot of discomfort!) I was thrilled! I swear, I heard the Hallelujah chorus and a beam of golden light shined down on my computer screen!

So, here it is, the solution to my eggnog problems. Verdict: I was not disappointed!

Dry, this smells just like rich creamy eggnog – a real treat to my nose! Once brewed it picks up a little of the vegetal green tea scent, but the eggnog/vanilla/creamy/sweet scent is still very much there.

The taste: The creaminess of this cup is amazing! It’s not cloying like real eggnog can be, which is a plus. The eggnog taste and the vanilla taste aren’t artificial, but seem quite natural (as natural as an eggnog taste can be). The blending of this flavor with the green tea base is also really well done, as it provides sweetness but also, through the vegetal notes, keeps the eggnog flavor in check. Very refreshing, yet at the same time nice and dessert-y.
As others have said, the spices are missing, but I don’t find myself too upset about it. I think this tea works very well in capturing the eggnog taste while keeping it unique. I think adding the spices to this tea would take away from all the great aspects I found.

Overall, I’m very pleased with this substitute. Is it real eggnog? No. Is it just as delicious? Yes, in its own wonderful way. Plus, it doesn’t make me feel sick, so that’s a big plus! =)
Big thanks to Stacy at Butiki for blending this up.

This is my first Genmaicha, and what a treat it is!
I love how it looks before it’s brewed. It’s got a great contrast between the white popcorn bits, the toasted rise, and the green tea leaves. I love it when a tea can make me happy just by looking at it!

Anyway, the smell of this brew is very toasty and slightly sweet. The toasted rice stands out the most, followed the green tea base and the popcorn. I love that I can smell each ingredient in the tea.

Taste-wise, this is quite nice. Toasty, slightly sweet, and best of all – no astringency! Yay! The green tea base provides a nice earthy tone to the tea, and the taste of the toasted rice and popcorn work very well with it. I love how the taste of the popcorn lingers after the sip! I’m also really digging the green tea base – I sometimes have a problem with green tea being either too grassy or getting bitter quickly. There’s none of that in this cuppa, and that’s the way I like it!
This is perfect on a cold day/night. Warms you right up!

Can’t wait to resteep this one and see how it holds up!

Notes to come. First, I want to try this one again.