Shiva's Breakfast

Sad Butiki sipdown. Though this isn’t as strong as my usual breakfast blends, the Darjeeling—which I love—comes through nicely. There’s a hint of citrus and some very faint cocoa. This one pales in comparison to Heaven’s Trash, but nonetheless it’s a blend I would’ve liked to be able to get some more of.

I drank this one a couple of times over the weekend. Now that I’ve finished off my flavoured Butiki blends, I’ve pulled out the straights and started working on those. I used 1 tsp of leaf for my cup, and gave it 3.5 minutes in boiling water. I defied the recommendation and added a splash of milk, simply because that’s how I prefer my tea first thing. It’s plenty strong enough to stand up to a dash of milk, anyway, so no harm done.

I found this one to be a pretty unique breakfast blend. I usually expect blends containing assam to be predominantly sweet and malty – it’s a characteristic that just seems to dominate. Not so here, which is really no bad thing – it’s refreshing to taste something a little different! Shiva’s Breakfast starts out a little sweet and chocolatey, but it has a strong citrus flavour in the mid-sip which is also a little bitter in the way of grapefruit or bergamot. The end of the sip reveals the flavour of what I can only describe as green wood – a little sappy and chlorophyll like, with slight floral hints.

I think this tea really makes the most of its component blends. They work together very well, with the strongest characteristic of each contributing something to the whole. No one tea or flavour dominates, so it’s actually a pretty complex taste experience – certainly different from an “ordinary” breakfast blend! I’ll probably save this one a little simply because it’s so unique – I’m not sure where I’ll find another tea like this one I’m finished with my bag.

I’m incredibly late to the party on this tea. I never ordered this one from Butiki because back then I sometimes struggled with darjeeling when it was too green/wood tasting…..I thought the other teas would take away from the strength of the assam and honestly, at that point in my tea education I didn’t really know what a nilgiri was. Well, sitting here with the first sip in my mouth, I taste why many loved this blend.

The assam gives this blend a nice solid malty base note, but instead of the usual stone fruit mid note that comes with assam, the darjeeling and nilgiri blend together to bring the flavor profile to the center of the cup. There is certainly citrus and a touch of floral woodsiness…like the faint smell in a forest when the trees are in bloom (I’m thinking specifically dogwoods). My beloved stone fruit note is still here as well, joined by these other notes that the blend brings…..
This is not a hearty breakfast blend by my palate. This is the one that I’d reach for (if I had any more!) on a cloying summer morning when my usual assam just seemed too heavy. It’s more “fruit and yogurt” than “scone”…but one can’t live on scones alone…. (lord knows I’ve tried!) :)

Harpy HoliDaze!
I’m starting my busy day with this lovely tea, along with this breakfast
http://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2012/05/broiled-ham-hock-with-braised-cabbage.html
And now on with the day!
1. Today is my Mom’s birthday, she is 80!
2. My new washer & drier will arrive today sometime before noon!
3. My last xmas gig of the year is at 10pm tonight
Everyone have a wonderful day!

Stacy was nice enough to pick this out for me. It smells interesting, I get different notes from the different teas. Mostly, it has a malty scent. The flavour is more on the citrus side, with some hints of malty chocolate. It’s a nice blend.

breakfast tea with the best tea sister evaaar! I got to try this one out, which is great since it’s on my list of things to order from Stacy, and this let me try it first. I sadly mostly just remember that this was smooth, and delicious. It was the right blend of ceylon and darjeeling for me – neither one overpowering the other. on the whole, a great accompaniment to delicious terri made breakfast!

This tea was fabulous this morning. All I really noticed the first time was the strength, but today it had great citrus and malt notes. Yum! A perfect wake-me-up!

Lovely Stephanie sent me a sample. I tried it 3 ways
First – plain. Robust and smooth, some florals and malt. Perfect breakfast tea , not on empty stomach. Egg and cheese on a crossaint.
Second- with condensed milk. While it was yummy I probably overdid it. Because when it cooled became too sweet for my taste. I’m partial to condensed milk and can eat it right out the can. Gross, right?
Third – splash of milk and maple syrup. Dessert in a cup. Let me just say this tea was gorgeous chocolaty color. Not every tea takes milk well. Sometimes it looks murky and disgusting . Not this tea. Fabuloso with milk. Maple syrup just tiny bit rounded out florals and malt.
To conclude, no additions as a breakfast tea and milk + maple syrup as afternoon
I resteep it @5min. Was very satisfying cup, almost like original

I picked this out of the sip down bowl this morning because I’m a good girl. The sip down bowl sits on the counter to encourage me to finish off the little bits of things and clean up my collection.

This was the last of a sample from Stephanie and I liked it. I don’t think I like it as much as Malty Irish Breakfast, so if I had to pick a black tea to order from Butiki it would be MIB, but it was nice. I’m certainly enjoying it this rainy Friday morning.

Yay! A new breakfast blend from Butiki. The Black Lotus is one of my favorite black teas right now, so I’m quite excited to try this one.

As with the Black Lotus I think the darjeeling on top of all the darker richer notes really makes this blend pop. Definitely worth a try if you are a fan of bold blacks!