Organic Sourenee Black Blossom

Oooh, I love Stacy’s samples, they always surprise me, and 9 times out of 10, I end up ordering whatever it is that she’s sent along.

Now, I’ve got some dryness to my mouth right now from the teas I had earlier (one of which had flavoring that I’m allergic to), so I doubt this will be a very accurate read on this tea. It still tastes malty, thick, cocoa-y, and has a hint of honey in there somewhere. While it’s less ka-POW than some blacks I’ve had, it’s still a delicious tea.

Mmm.. Little buttery, little malty, little floral… Others who have said Assam +Darj are very correct. This is an unusual tea without much if any of the dryness typically associated with Darjeelings. While I didn’t try any of the previous Sourenee that Butiki had, this is a very good option from this estate (in my limited experience of 3 Sourenees, anyway).

OMG, Stacy, this is the best Darj I have EVER tasted!
Please, sir, I want some more…
MOAR???
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZrgxHvNNUc

I can’t thank Stacy enough for sending this sample my way—it’s glorious!
The aroma while steeping was so chocolatey, with floral hints and warm fruits. I feel like I’ve said this a lot this week, but I couldn’t stop smelling it!
My first sip and I was in love. Caramelized peach with soft citrus notes, along with that round, chocolately base that is so, so delicious, made this a perfect cup of tea.
I could drink this every day and be a very happy lady. :)
The finish is light and bright, just enough bite to be interesting—balanced completely with each flavour progression.

I feel so lucky to have had such amazing teas lately (Butiki orders have a way of making me feel super special…like the kid that’s chosen to take home the class hamster for spring break, or something—I ALWAYS wanted to be that kid! ugh), all so good that they’ve been added to my ‘favourites’ list. This tea is no exception.
It. is. a. favourite.

This was a super generous sample Stacy threw in with my order! Thank you!

So, one tea type I wouldn’t have thought to request from Butiki is Darjeeling, not because I haven’t liked the one or two I’ve tried (I definitely have—the Giddahapar Extra Special is one of my all-time favorite Darjs!), but because it’s one of those nostalgic comfort food types I don’t really need luxe versions of to enjoy, if that makes any sense. Plus, I still have approximately 8 billion different kinds from that massive Teabox sampler (I love that thing). I tend to look to Butiki for flavored stuff I can’t find anywhere else, or for some of the, to me anyway as a newbie, innovative or more niche tea types being made around the world (like, who even knew Japan makes pu erh? I didn’t!). Turns out though, this is riiiiiight up my alley. It’s all the things I love in a Darj—it’s got a clean, lightly floral element at the end of the sip, and that woody aspect I adore is so beautiful here, not so much a dry raspy woodiness (although there is that and I’m glad), but also a deeper, almost mossy, damp sort of wood, a little like wet forest bark. And you know how I’m always going on about how some of my favorite black teas straddle the line between the woody astringency of Indian legacy teas and the sweet smooth starchiness of Chinese tea? This does that beautifully; there’s a yeasted bread/grain aroma I associate with Chinese tea and a soft fullness, but it balances with those woody clean Darjeeling notes. A beautiful morning tea that inspires contemplation, ideal given today’s Friday.

ETA: I like Stacy’s description of how it almost feels more like an Assam at the beginning and a Darjeeling at the end. That’s a really good way of putting it! The first whiff is rich and sweet and hints at chocolate like a good Assam, the middle is that woodiness that is both Darj-y but beyond the usual, almost wet, then I get the starchiness, and then the end is when the sparkly clean notes one associates with Darjeeling come in full and linger.

Thought I would give a short review of this since it came up today and we will be selling it online shortly-ish. Right now I’m doing anything to avoid working on taxes which really need to be done. Must do taxes today and not get distracted by everything else. The things I’ve done in order to avoid taxes. Definitely the worst part of this job.

On to the best part, tasting tea. This tea is somewhat similar to our Organic Sourenee Second Flush with one huge difference it is way more forgiving and less astringent. The regular version of Sourenee needs to be brewed with precision or it can taste very bitter. I think this is why we had very mixed reviews and feedback of that tea. It was difficult to get it to the precise spot where it was perfect but when you did, it was amazing. This tea is much more forgiving and based on memory it is sweeter, less astringent, and has a much fuller body. Mmmmm, this is super buttery, chocolatey, woody, with a hint of floral at the end of the sip. It is also a little bit malty. In some ways this reminds me more of an Assam than a Darjeeling until the end of the sip, which it becomes unmistakably Darjeeling. This cup is certainly hitting the spot right now. Delicious! I’m so glad we picked up this tea, even though we were really late to the game.

In addition to this tea, we have some other teas that are slated to be added to the website soon. We are bringing back the Birthday Cake herbal for a limited time but also adding a Baked Ali Shan and a Fu Shou Shan (which is our answer to missing out on the Da Yu Ling this year, really could kick myself for missing that). We still need to add the Lattakoojan Assam but there is very minimal prep work needed to be done before that goes online.