The Black Lotus

Tea type
Black Tea
Ingredients
Not available
Flavors
Caramel, Citrus, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Muscatel, Wood, Mushrooms, Dark Chocolate, Raisins, Nutty, Sugar, Nuts, Flowers
Sold in
Not available
Caffeine
Not available
Certification
Not available
Edit tea info Last updated by Kittenna
Average preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 4 g 11 oz / 330 ml

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87 Tasting Notes View all

  • “My Breakfast Blend tea of the day, which was enjoyed as an after breakfast cup. Today this is feeling very bright, but otherwise tasty. :) (yes, I’m still a grumpus)” Read full tasting note
  • “So, I’m sitting here working and watching Sherlock (ok so maybe I wasn’t working that hard) while drinking a lovely cup of The Black Lotus when all of the sudden they mention that a gang is called...” Read full tasting note
  • “Quick recount of the last two weeks… 1) New puppy 2) Toddler gets sick 3) Preschooler gets sick 4) I get walking pneumonia over spring break (luckily at home, but no school for kids and a mom with...” Read full tasting note
    100
  • “every 500 years there is an eclipse… the world is dark but for certain iridescent flowers. only upon the most still lakes and ponds does it gleam… the black lotus; invisible by sunlight, black...” Read full tasting note
    100

From Butiki Teas

This English Breakfast blend combines the best of three worlds, including some of our favorite teas from three different regions. Our Premium Taiwanese Assam adds chocolate and raisin notes and delivers a delicious malty flavor, while the Giddapahar Darjeeling Extra Special conveys almond, jasmine, and citrus notes. Finally, the Congou Keemun adds a touch of earthiness and mushroom notes. These premium teas blend well together to create a complex malty yet smooth breakfast tea that merits the name The Black Lotus.

Ingredients: Premium Taiwanese Assam, Giddapahar Darjeeling Extra Special, Congou Keemun

Recommended Brew Time: 4 minutes
Recommended Amount: 1 1/2 teaspoon of tea for 8oz of water
Recommended Temperature: 212 F degrees

For more information, please visit: http://www.butikiteas.com

About Butiki Teas View company

Company description not available.

87 Tasting Notes

84
31 tasting notes

This is a great blend. The Darjeeling lends a candy floral sweetness (I also enjoy the Giddapahar Darjeeling as a standalone). The Assam adds a malty backbone for that floral sweetness to stand on, with just a hint of the keemun in the background. It’s very light and refreshing for an English Breakfast blend.

Flavors: Flowers, Malt

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 4 tsp 24 OZ / 709 ML

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15575 tasting notes

Mmmmm, Butiki!

Thanks again Kittenna for the share of this one. I really enjoyed the cup of it that I had yesterday; definitely still really flavourful even if this is old, old tea. Aroma coming from the steeped cup was all honey, yams, and French Bread – intoxicatingly delicious smelling! The steeped tea was a bit different, but still great – less yam/baked bread and more honey and raisins, with this undertone that was challenging to place at first. Eventually I realized that was I was tasting was this weird, but delicious, note that reminded me of the “Basil Honey” that my favourite poutine place here in Montreal makes that you can add to your poutines instead of gravy. It’s only a hint of basil, and mostly a creamy honey flavour – but that tiny hint of basil in the undertones of this tea alongside the stronger honey notes in the body of the cup definitely were coming together in a way that made me think of that sauce.

VariaTEA

What’s your favorite poutine place?!

Roswell Strange

So far Notre Boeuf de Grade, but I also really enjoyed the poutine from Hippi Poutin, as well.

Roswell Strange

I also work SUPER CLOSE to Orange Julep, and I’m told that they have good poutine too – but I need to double check if it’s vegetarian gravy first.

Evol Ving Ness

omigoodness, it’s been so loooooooong since I’ve had poutine.

Evol Ving Ness

VariaTEA, which poutine in Toronto is your favourite? And which one in Montreal in your favourite?

VariaTEA

I am a poutine snob and wont eat them outside Montreal. My favorite in Montreal is either one at a Portuguese chicken place (surprisingly) or I’m a frite alors fan but RS cant eat there as a vegetarian since the fries are cooked in beef grease.

Kittenna

Oooh, jealous. This tea I know I finished off at work. I likely wrote a tasting note about it in some form, somewhere, that wasn’t copied here, but it was fantastic.

Kittenna

Also now all I want to do is eat poutine…

Evol Ving Ness

Hmm, thanks. I haven’t found a poutine place in Toronto that works for me. The search continues. I like the Frites Alors poutine, but haven’t been wowed by it. Sadly, I won’t be in Montreal any time soon.

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1113 tasting notes

All the malt!
205f for eight minutes (you better believe it)

Awesome mouth feel, great taste, and it isn’t bitter after I tried to kill it :)

Stephanie

My fave!!!!

Liquid Proust

& then he brews it for three minutes after… it went from breakfast to dessert :)

Stephanie

Try it iced sometime OMG

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1812 tasting notes

Drinking the last of this sample. That was a wonderful cuppa. I recommend it, even if it is no longer available.
Thanks for sharing, Terri HarpLady!

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92
1908 tasting notes

While Butiki Teas has some fascinating flavours, many of their plain teas caught my eye as well. It’s rare that you find a company that’s good at doing both flavoured and unflavoured blends (along with a few single-source teas). But then Butiki Teas is a rarity in and of itself. ;)

This turned out to be a lighter blend than I expected, given the keemun and assam, but it definitively has some fruity and citrus notes and while flavourful it’s mild enough to be drunk without any milk. The citrus notes are at the start but what follows on their heels are toasted malty notes that I recognize having tried Butiki’s assam before. The tea finished off with faint bitter cocoa flavours one might get from a keemun.

This is a very well-balanced tea and a great late-morning cuppa.

Preparation
Boiling 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 10 OZ / 295 ML
Sil

..and now she’s gone…. lesigh

Zack S.

Hi! Just wondering if you have any of this tea available to swap? Its one of my all-time favs and I’m trying to get my hands on more of it since it has become unavailable =(

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157 tasting notes

Method:
2.5tsp/10oz
boiling
4min

I was surprised at the smoothness of this tea, given the amount of time steeped and the water temp. (I avoid using boiling water with anything but pu-erh.) It’s thick, juicy, malty, and has some fruity citrus-like tones. There’s a drying, wine-like quality to it as well. It’s surprisingly mellow. None of the flavors are overwhelming or in your face…They’re all pretty well balanced with each other. There’s a little honey sweetness, a touch of caramel, and if I try very hard I can pick out some floral notes underneath it all. What I’m not picking up on is earth, cocoa, mushroom, or raisin. Not even close. If anything it reads to me as more “mineral” than “damp earth”, but that’s only because it leaves a vaguely metallic taste in my mouth long after I’ve swallowed the tea. Like how you can taste iron, when you lick a spot of blood from a paper cut? Like that, except toned WAY down. It’s on the same spectrum. But it’s definitely not mushroom. It’s bright and chipper, malty and fruity and sweet. It’s a good no-fuss breakfast tea, which is what I’ll certainly be drinking it as! (Seriously, still impressed by how smooth it was.) I prefer my dark, heavy, sweet potato-caramel-malt breakfast teas…but I’ll make do. This one just didn’t strike the right chord with me.

Flavors: Caramel, Citrus, Floral, Fruity, Honey, Malt, Mineral, Muscatel, Wood

Stephanie

Dang I loved this one!

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85
292 tasting notes

I was so curious about The Black Lotus. Even the name is awesome. The reviews are great. It arrived here fast – loving the design of the bag. So sad Butiki is closing right when I am discovering them.

I brewed this twice – the first time I must have done it too hot a steep and too little as it wasn’t quite strong enough. I resteeped at a cooler temperature, added in some more leaves, and more of the flavor came out.

Both steeps had flavor and were pleasant. I agree with some of the reviewers who said it is more of an afternoon treat tea. It has the blends of a morning breakfast but typically I see breakfast blends as more robust. This is creamier and smoother, and perfect for an early evening on the porch or an afternoon pick-up.

There are a lot of flavors described in this mix – what I taste, with my weak buds, is an earthy, smooth black tea with a bit of mushroom. Very nice. The mushroom shouldn’t turn off anyone who doesn’t like mushrooms either, it’s just pleasant, earthy, hard to describe. Even the coating of my mouth and tongue seem to feel smoother after frequent sips.

There is absolutely no bitterness or astringency – thankfully. I steeped it a long time the second time (forgot about it for a second) and still no bitterness. A great quality tea that really tastes great quality.

When I think of breakfast blends, I think of waking up – with this blend, I think of relaxing and mentally stimulating at the same time.

Flavors: Mushrooms

Preparation
200 °F / 93 °C 5 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 5 OZ / 147 ML
Zack S.

Hi! Just wondering if you have any of this tea available to swap? Its one of my all-time favs and I’m trying to get my hands on more of it since it has become unavailable =(

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91
921 tasting notes

I really shouldn’t be drinking black tea, my insomnia has been out of control lately…but since I am going to be awake all night anyway, I might as well be alert and get something accomplished! So the aroma of the dry leaves didn’t really strike me, there was some, but it was distant, woody, and a bit chocolaty. The brewed leaves are much the same, they smell really good, not overly strong, but good!

Oh man, the liquid is really rich, sweet and cocoa filled with muscatel and a touch of forest loam. That taste is mellow, and I even accidentally let it over steep a bit (forgot to put on the timer and got distracted painting a monster…oops) but it is not bitter.

Sweet, muscatel, loamy, chocolaty…so many notes, and all of them really tasty. I even detect a bit of fruitiness at the finish.

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72
6444 tasting notes

Butiki really is a great company for straight black teas and this is no exception. It is slightly astringent but mostly it is malty and sweet with notes of caramel and fruits. Great, as to be expected, but at the same time, not better than any of the straight blacks I already have in quantity so though I am super thankful to Inkling for the taste of this that I got before its gone, I am not heartbroken I won’t be having it again. 183.

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95
961 tasting notes

Another fantastic offering from Butiki! This one is surprisingly smooth for a breakfast blend. I don’t notice any astringency and I didn’t feel the need to add milk, which is unusual for me. But in spite of being so smooth, it’s still strong, flavorful, and malty. It also re-steeps beautifully.

Flavors: Dark Chocolate, Malt, Raisins

Preparation
205 °F / 96 °C 4 min, 0 sec 1 tsp 8 OZ / 236 ML

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