Peach HoppiTea

Okay finally some snippits from the full review which will be on http://sororiteasisters.com/ on the 26th

Stacy of Butiki Teas and I communicated via email for weeks developing my dream tea. I knew I wanted a tea modeled after my favorite Lambic brew. It was a peachy, sweet, and hoppy beer. What Stacy created not only brought back that exact flavor but she did so in a natural, organic way that makes this tea just BURST with ripe juicy flavors! Now I know many of us tea drinkers love to eat our tea! We pick out the pieces of fruit, nuts, herbs, etc from our steeped leaves and chew on them. Often times we end up spitting it out due to being either bitter, or chemical tasting, or whatever but when I pick out the big, sweet, juicy peaches from my spent leaves, they are so very very good! Just like I picked them from a tree in an orchard! This flavor is not only noticeable in the aroma of the cup but in every single sip! Big, ripe, juicy, natural, bursting with flavor peaches!

The hops, they are not bitter as many people think of bitter, they don’t make you pucker up like eating a sour candy. They are herbaceous, a tart sharp note on the middle back part of the tongue.

Now there are several companies that do the custom blend thing. Only a couple that do it in an interesting way. Most custom blends are made by selecting some elements from a drop down menu and thats it. Now not to knock those types of custom blends as I actually have made quite a few from various companies and have loved them! The difference here however is that Stacy will really work with you one on one over a period of time, until the exact idea of your blend is captured and you agree with the outcome!

There is a sweetness that was imperative in this blend yet the only sweetener in this tea are the peaches themselves! The hops are the exact species I had asked for, and the base works in perfect harmony.

Its a really long review so be sure to check it out! :)

Well this has been a gorgeous Sunday. Reading, tea and a mid-50 degree day in January, with no plans on the horizon. All weekends should be like this.

I picked this tea mostly because it’s one of the few Butiki teas from my last order that I have not tried yet. That and it smelled so temptingly of peaches when I opened the bag that there was no way I’d be able to try anything else. As it is I want time to speed up to summer so that I can eat a fresh one…peaches in season are one of my favorite things.

Once steeped the fresh peach smell turns into banana and peach. Maybe the hops did that? The flavor is sort of bitter banana peach, too. I’m drinking these first sips plain but I’m thinking this might need sugar to help ease the bitter notes…

Ah, much better. The sugar emphasizes the juiciness of the peach that much more and reduces some of the bitter flavor, which I am now realizing is from the hops and not the tea base. For some reason I assumed hops = carbonation. I’m sure it surprises no one when I say that I’m not a big beer drinker.

This is absolutely a fantastic tea though- outstanding with a little bit of sugar. The flavor accuracy of the peach is my favorite part, and I imagine this would be perfect iced in the summer. If it lasts me that long

Oh man! I don’t like beer,but the hops in this lends such an amazing counterpointt the peach! It brings out the sweetness while at the same time deepening it. Sweet and bitter dance in complicated patterns around my mouth. While trying to figure out what it tastes like my mind flips back and forth between peach sour gummies and peach pie, but neither of those seem quite right. I really need to have this a few more times to fully diagram the flavor.

Oddly enough I also tasted onions on the first couplef sips, which could just be a fluke, but I foundit strange.

Azzrian sent me some of this – it’s her custom blend via Butiki Teas and I am pretty jazzed about trying it! I couldn’t find it in the database so I am sorry if it’s a double!

It sort of smells like a crusty-peach bread stick or something…prior and during infusion.

The liquor is a light orange-brown…there are floaties AKA a texture to it, too.

After infusion was complete – it smelled more like fresh peaches and wheat or barley or maybe even a little hay-like. There is a bit of a brothy-type flavor/texture to it, too, that was surprising yet welcomed.

I guess in a way it taste like a flat-beer…but in a tasty way! :)

This is completely different than other teas I have had…I do really like it. It has a pleasant morphing flavor roller coaster going on and I find that fascinating!

As it sits at room temp for a few moments it does get sweeter and peachier. YUM! This is tasty!

Tea #27 from HHTTB2

Let’s talk a minute about Wisconsin. You know, the state with the highest percentage of binge drinkers in the US. There’s also over 130 breweries just kind of chilling here. We’re not alcoholics , we’re professionals.

So, a beer-inspired tea is right up my alley and I’ve been dancing around the idea of trying this one for a while. I was really excited when it popped up in the tea box.

Once steeped, the tea has a primary bready/baked smell with juicy peaches. Like a peach oatmeal or unsweetened peach tarts. As far as taste goes, this is a very good peach tea! The Cascade hops definitely adds a slightly bitter herbaceous note with citrus accents that really pairs well with the peach. The peach is juicy, ripe and real peach tasting. And the base does have a malty quality, while still being quite light (but not thin). It becomes sweeter and juicier as the cup cools, as well. The aftertaste is mostly peach, with just a hint of lingering hops.

I really would like to make this into a tea syrup and make a fizzy beverage out of this!

yay! Thank you so much for sharing, Azzrian! A combination of my two favorite drinks! I had been hoping to get some back when Stacy mentioned it on the boards because I was seriously at the time at a place with a peach IPA on draft.

This being based on a lambic is interesting. I have only had a raspberry one, and they are way too sweet for me. This tea is not too sweet, but it is pretty peachy! I think Georgia would give it a seal of approval just based on that.

I am liking it better now that the cup is cold. I don’t even know what I got distracted doing, probably something with the bird given the feather stuck to the bottle of Chai Cola still on the table. I can taste the hops more now, which definitely makes it taste a bit more like an IPA. I looooove hops. And I imagine the base tea makes it all the better.

I’m going to have to try the guranse on its own at some point definitely.

This makes me especially excited for when I have the money for a custom blend, because I want it to be based on tripel beers I could so go for their flavor without their insane alcohol by volume numbers, as I learned the hard way on Saturday.

Thank you again Azzrian!

0.9 tablespoons for 248 ml

The brewed tea has an enticing aroma. Creamy and baked good notes with a soft sweet peach. Reminds me a bit of peach oatmeal.

On the sip, pleasant malty sweetness. The sweetness is a sustaining note appearing slighty at the start of the sip, blooming into the middle and carrying through until the aftertaste. Very smooth tasting. Creamy notes in the flavour. Black tea notes present and peek out in the flavour near the end. All the flavours are very well blended. Velvety mouth-feel. Hint of flavourful astringency in the aftertaste.

Thanks to Kittenna for letting me try some of this one!

This is a nice peach tea. Natural juicy peach tea. I’m not really getting the hops or beer that others experience. For me this is better HOT, it gets a bit astringent as it cools.

Thanks TheTeaFairy for sending me this sample.

Though I don’t drink as much flavoured tea as I used to, I still keep some variety around and I especially like to drink them during the Holidays.

This is a casual conversation between me and my brother on his last visit (M=me, B= bro)

M: Want something to drink? I’ll make some tea.

B: I’d prefer a beer.

M: I didn’t buy any, I’ll make you some beer tea.

B: ?????

M: Yes, I have a tea that tastes exactly like peach beer, pretttt-ty awww-some!

B: ?????

M: What, you don’t believe me?

B: Not even tempted. Do you have cola, rootbeer?

M: Hmmm…no. Sorry…but…dare I say it…I have rootbeer tea, does that count?

B: Sis, you need to see a doctor, really. I worry. It’s bad. Addictions need to be treated.

M: Well, before we rush to the emergency, sure you don’t want to give peachy beer a try?

B: Either that or tap?

M: Pretty much, yep…

B: Alright, but just to please YOU! Promise this never happened, I don’t want urban legends to start spreading, I have a reputation to preserve, I’m a beer guy and I don’t do peachy girly tea!

M: Oh, common, just quit it Macho Man, we all know you watch General Hospital every day. A little bit of tea won’t kill ya!

B: General Hospital is underrated.

M: Whatever… So? How do you like them now, peachy beer tea?

B: Honest? Tastes just like day after lukewarm flat beer that accidentally got mixed with peach baby food puree during the party. I. Don’t. Ever. Want. To. Drink. This. Again. Please?

(Sorry Stacy, that’s not MY opinion but HIS, remember?)

M: Ah!!!! So you admit it does taste like beer!!! Told you! Please admire and appreciate this as it should. Takes hours and hours of practice and immense knowledge and wisdom to create that kind of magic. Requires tea alchemist skills that only Stacy has acquired. Respect. Remember that, bro.

End of conversation. At this point, we lost it. We are cracking up, crying of laughter.

Me and my brother have always «played» together like this. As any healthy brother/sister relationship, we love to tease each other. His visit was a big surprise, I wasn’t expecting him. He didn’t say so, but I know he came to check on me, to make sure I’m ok. His presence chased away the darkness for a little while. He’s got my back, he always has and I love him so much for that. Family is everything folks…

Cheers bro, love ya!

P.S. To make things clear, I do love this tea!!!

I live in a brewery town, BEER TOWN USA is what it should say on the town sign!
Breweries buy ingredients for beer in the tea shop and the 2 spice shops in Old Town. Fields of golden hops grow close by. New Belgium Brewery, Coopersmith’s, Odell’s, Feisty Spirits Distillery, Fort Collins Breweries, nine just within a few blocks of each other.

I wondered what a Hoppi Tea would taste like? With some excitement, I rushed with my little packet of Butiki Tea for Andy (tea blender) to taste. I love Stacy’s creativity and had been talking to Andy about a beer tea creation of his own for the tea shop since we’re a brewery town (but not a Peach Hoppi copy).

When I arrived at the shop, people were wandering in after classes ended at the University. It was the end of a hot (95 degree) afternoon. Today was the first NFL football game of the season with the Bronco’s playing and I was asked to explain football to a newly arrived Cambodian agriculture student who had never seen a Football game before and had just slept in a bed with a mattress for the first time.

I took a deep breath and did my best.

By the time I finished my explanation, I needed a real beer (and he probably needed one too!). He asked me why I came alone today to the tea shop, because he had seen me before with my granddaughters Schey. I knew it would blow his mind, but I had to tell him that I lived by myself and not with my daughter and 8 grandchildren. He was a bit shocked at the idea that I as a grandmother lived separate from my family.

Ah well. Culture shock. Poor young man.

I love my tea shop! There’s never a dull moment!

Back to the Hoppi Tea!

Joe did a splendid job steeping a batch for tasting and everyone had pretty much the same reaction to the taste.

The comments were:
This is a drinking tea and not a tea tasting tea!
Meant for drinking with food more than on it’s own.
A little bitter but in a great way!

I listened to the opinions and comments around me and agreed that the tea should be ‘drunk’ not ‘sipped’.
I’d prefer drinking the tea with a food like pizza which would counter the sweet-bitterness with saltiness (classic beer pairing foods would work well…chili and so on!).

I liked the flavor! Can’t wait to play with it at home some more!

Stacy, some more brewery tea’s!!!