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“Not entirely sure what to make of this one. The dry leaf is jet black, but once wet it looks like a dark green tea. I was puzzling over it while sipping it piping hot, then returned to it after it...” Read full tasting note
“Wow, this is strong. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my first cup, and then wandered off for a few minutes while it brewed. I came back to it and added a splash of milk, not really sure what to expect....” Read full tasting note
“Sample from Kittenna. Thank you! Finished it up today, and while I liked it I didn’t love it. Of course, burning my tongue on my quesadilla might have contributed to that, but it was fairly...” Read full tasting note
“Captain’s Personal Log- My replicator seems only capable of making hot earl grey. While fortunate when we had a visiting Captain, not my preferred beverage. And there is only so much raktajino I...” Read full tasting note
Kenyan Obsidian originates from the Mount Kenya tea region in Kangaita, Kenya. Tea is grown at 5,000 to 7,000 feet above sea level in this region, where the soil is rich with minerals. This complex tea has mahogany, apricot, biscuit, malt, spice, and roasted notes. Grapefruit notes appear towards the end of each sip and linger. We highly recommend our Kenya Obsidian as a breakfast tea or iced tea.
Ingredients: Kenya Black Tea
Recommended Brew Time: 2 minutes 30 seconds
Recommended Amount: 1 level teaspoon of tea for 8oz of water
Recommended Temperature: 212 F (boiling)
For more information, please visit: www.butikiteas.com.
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Free tea with the last joint Butiki order! This counts as an immediate sipdown (yay!) because there’s probably only enough for a cup’s worth for each person in on the order.
Anyhow, this is a tea I hadn’t tried, which is exciting! Wasn’t sure what to expect (except maybe, a super dark liquor), and was bad and defied the recommendations, opting to go with my standard 1.5tsp/2min route instead of 1tsp/2.5min. The result is lighter than I had expected, being only the regular colour of black tea (dark reddish brown). The aroma is quite nice, all fragrant and sweet – sweet hay, perhaps? Flavourwise, it’s perhaps a bit overly strong (ok Stacy, you win this time! :P) and certainly has a powerful presence, verging on astringency but not into the realm of unpleasantness. Specifically, it tastes like the sort of black tea I’m not overly fond of… like bagged Lipton/Tetley. Obviously higher quality and lacking bitterness, but the same flavour profile. To be honest, it comes off a bit like mold to me, but when I say that, I’m referring to the flavour profile as a whole, not just this specific tea. Just not a profile I’m fond of, and would typically add milk/sugar, which would erase any weirdness.
Overall, I maybe brewed this a bit too strong, but I doubt proper brewing would change my opinion on it. Just not a black for me!
This came to me as a freebie with my order! Thanks Stacy!
Artichoke! I think I taste artichoke at the start of the sip. I get a bit of malt at the end of the sip. The first few sips had a little bite, but it mellowed out quickly. The aftertaste is interesting too in a way I can’t describe. This is the type of tea that I go crazy for with cream and sugar. I feel like I’m disrespecting the tea a little by doing that, but… I’m going to do it anyway. And you can’t stop me. I did it! And it’s delicious. Creamy artichoke! And buttery. I do love artichoke. I have had so much tea this morning that I think it’s making me a little loopy!
had a go at this one this morning. I’m struggling to get ready to leave the house, mostly because i don’t want to. So i pulled this one out of the cupboard, hoping it would have enough bite to it, to get me going. Turns out, this is a decent black, with a little brightness to it…not sure how else to describe it. I can see this turning bitter fairly easily if over steeped. It was exactly what i needed to get going this morning, but in the grand scheme of things, i prefer other teas from stacy :)
A sample from Butiki! I love Kenyan teas, so if Butiki is offering it, it must be a good one. The leaves here are small but not CTC small. Sadly, the only flavor I’m getting yet again is tomato soup. Kenyan teas don’t usually taste like tomato soup! Many of the samples from Butiki did… I’m wondering if it’s a tea within the pouch of samples that could be changing the flavors? Nothing in my experience could do that though. Maybe one of my infusers is doing it? But other teas taste fine in that infuser. It’s like tea torture only being able to taste the tomato soup of these teas, and I’m kind of sick of mentioning it. I also had another assam to see if it tastes the same and it had the same delicious flavor as before, so I don’t know. My taste buds are destroying these teas.
Steep #1 // few minutes after boiling // 2 1/2 min
Steep #2 // just boiled // 3 or 4 min
This is a nice basic black tea. It has a deep, malty flavor that reminds me quite a bit of Assam, with some undertones of dried apricot. I can’t say I picked up on any grapefruit—that bit of the official description had me intrigued—but it makes for a solid morning cup nonetheless.
Love this one. Rich, strong, sweet, and complex. This tea definitely shines with a longer brewing time. I tried 2:30 for my first cup and didn’t really get much, but I did 3:45 this morning got so many delicious flavors! Lovely.
Flavors: Pumpkin, spice, fruit, malt, and honey.
