Blueberry Purple Tea

Sipdown…I think this is a better steep than the first one. I added more sugar, and milk, and the berry notes pop with juiciness all over my mouth. It does remind me a little of Blueberry Jam, but it is not quite the same. And this one is stevia free which I like. I might be willing to try a little more of this at some point down the road.

This was one of the samples I got with me first Butiki order. It’s actually one of the ones I was most curious about, being a person that likes blueberry and being intrigued by the “purple” base. It’s an interesting tea to look at. The leaves are dark — almost black in colour — and quite fine. There are pieces of dried blueberry and what I’m assuming are cornflowers scattered throughout. The scent is quite delicate. It’s definetly blueberry, but there’s also an earthy sweetness to it that I really like. It almost reminds me of compost, in the best possible way!

To taste, this is actually really nice. I wasn’t at all sure what to expect, but it shares in taste the same candy-like sweetness and faint touch of blueberry that it possessed in scent when dry. It’s very subtle and delicate, but it’s definetly moreish. There’s a very, very slight astringency, but it’s so slight it’s barely there. As it cools, the blueberry taste comes out more clearly, along with a slight creaminess I didn’t notice at first. Rewardingly, there is a tinge of purple about the liquor.

I had no idea what my reaction was going to be to this tea, but I’ve been very pleasantly surprised. I’m glad I decided to try it as a sample, but it’s definetly one I’ll come back to in future orders!

Why did I buy this tea? Not really sure. For some reason it sounded like a fun blend and I do not regret buying it. It does smell like blueberries and word “purple” seems very appropriate. If colors would have taste assigned to them then this is how purple would smell/taste. It’s light and slightly tart without harshness that sometimes lemony/citrus/berries blends have. Overall very pleasant.

This is very yummy! The tea looks a bit blueish/purple like blueberry juice. I’m enjoying it a lot better than David’s tea white tiger :D

I offered to make a small pot of this to share with my wife and she got very excited. “Oooh, yes, in the clear teapot!”

“…the tea itself isn’t purple, honey, just the leaves.”

“… … … pout”

“I’m sorry?”

“Hmph. The tea is a liiiiiiiie.”

So my wife is pouting about the lack of purple in this tea. That being said, we are enjoying it. We agree it tastes kind of like blueberry muffins. It is very, very tasty. But with the amount of tea we already have in the house and the price point, we decided not to restock just now. It is a delicious tea well worth the price, but we already have many, many teas to drink and while it is a tasty tea, it didn’t strike us as one we had to keep in stock. Maybe later!

My 2nd Purple Tea! Woot!

Here’s what I am smelling…black tea, green tea, blueberry, floral, and something that resembles Tulsi.

Here’s what I am tasting…strong earthiness, grassier green tea notes, the brashiness of a black tea, blueberry berries and leaves, floral notes thru-out.

A little of this goes a long way. I think I over infused but it’s still a conversationable cup! I will be trying this again before passing it along to my SororiTEA Sister LiberTEAs!

I do love the blueberry notes here, tho! Ahhhh!

while swamped in a stash of samples and purchases, i feel terribly indecisive about what to try. all but lost on an island of tea.. i am pleasantly marooned!

since it is early morning, i am very thirsty and craving a full-bodied black that i can add milk & sugar to, for extra decadence. but somehow, this one keeps calling my name.
the aroma alone is a rich, spongy, cake-y blueberry muffin! blue blue blue. i am getting blueberries all around!

WOW, what an aroma! and i’m a blueberry enthusiast. i love blueberry-flavored things: from muffins to pies to tea! real or artificial. sometimes i’ll put an entire pint of blueberries into a smoothie. they are very high in antioxidants, by the way.

i also like blueberry-flavored coffee from Dunkin Donuts, and that ‘blueberry muffin’ flavor reminds me somewhat of the smell of this tea: scrumptious, comforting and straight up delicious. when brewing, i’ll try to behave & sip this straight (at first) but may add some brown sugar & perhaps a spot of milk for a blueberry muffin creme experience.

the verdict: i am sad to report that the flavor was very weak. it was but a trace of the compelling aroma which seemed to promise so much. i felt like i was drinking faintly-flavored water. i am truly left wanting more…BUT i wholeheartedly loved the smell & think a heaping dose of this tea (much more than the 1/2 tsp recommended amount) steeped in less water will yield a much better, fuller taste.

since this was a sample, i’d actually like to order an ounce or 2 of this to see if my experiment holds up. i am determined to get my blueberry fix, one way or another! but for what it’s worth, i’m very happy i got to try my first purple tea which i’d never even heard of before!….it is rare, unique & apparently high in antioxidants as per the Butiki website: http://www.butikiteas.com/Exploring%20Kenya.html

Hmm… a very interesting tea! It takes a little while for the flavor to develop on your tongue. I first taste an earthy tea flavor. This is closely followed by a tart fruit flavor that slowly finishes in a mellow, slightly astringent blueberry note. Very cool! I wish that there was more of a sweet blueberry flavor as I taste mostly an earthy tea. I will say that the tea base complements the subtle blueberry flavor. I also find the dry leaf to look awfully pretty as well. Love the cornflowers against the dark tea!

I received my package from Butiki Teas today and immediately ripped it open! Stacey sent me a sample of this blueberry purple tea. I heated up a pot of water and opened this small bag for a whiff. my my my! It smells absolutely delicious. It smells like blueberry flavored candy! I love the small bits of blue cornflowers. The leaves were small… and resembled something like the insides of a cardamom pod. They were black with bits of blue cornflowers. I brewed this up using a tetsubin and poured it into my small white cups. One very small one for tasting, one slightly larger one for my husband, and the other one for me.

The liquor appeared to be a medium brown color with a slight tinge of blue/purple. It smells just like the leaves but a little less intense. It tastes so GOOD! I noticed some floral tones but mostly blueberries and slight sweetness. There was no bitterness to it. I love this flavor. It is so smooth. It is like a blueberry cream or a blueberry yogurt without the sourness to it. Wow. I am in love with this tea. At the end of my sip, I detected a slight astringency in the back of my tongue. It wasn’t anything offensive though.

Another great tea from Butiki Teas! I haven’t been disappointed!

This is… odd. I used 1/2 tsp in 8 oz water for 5 minutes like directed, and I have a barely tinted, blueberry scented… water?

Oh wait. As the tea cools, the base becomes very strongly pronounced. Not sure if this is residual steeping from the bits left in the bottom of my mug, or just what it tastes like. Earthy? Yeah. Strong? Oh my goodness yes. Blueberry? Definitely.

For me this tea is an interesting, tasty novelty, but not something I’d keep stocked.