Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Black
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Boomstick combines tangerine, grapefruit, and bergamot flavors with our Kenyan Obsidian tea and orange peel pieces for a citrus lovers dream. Each citrus flavor can be detected on its own but is also cohesive. This tea is a bit of an adventure as each sip has a different dominant flavor. The citrus flavor is not overly aggressive, with just a mild tartness. We highly recommend Boomstick as a breakfast tea.
Read more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
This review is scheduled to be published just after Butiki announces their final sale. Yes, I’ve said it a couple of times on here, very soon, Butiki Teas will soon be no more. And while that does make me sad to say goodbye to a truly great tea company, I am happy that this company came to the decision not because they needed to close due to slow sales or anything like that, but because the owner, Stacy, wants to focus on other things now. In her announcement to Steepster, she said:
When I first started this company, my husband asked me to come up with a goal of how much in sales we could ever dream of making in a year. Well, thanks to you all, we have quadrupled that number! I would have never imagined we would have become this successful and I am so grateful to all of my customers for making us what we are today. Thank you so very much.
Reading that brought a smile to my face. In this age when it seems like so many companies are struggling to stay out of the red, it’s great to read that a small company did so well. And a tea company at that! It’s truly inspiring.
And it would seem that I am – at least partially – the inspiration for the creation of this tea! When she mentioned that she had bergamot, grapefruit and tangerine flavors, I suggested that she combine these three flavors with a black tea base. At the time, I was thinking she use her Sansia black tea base – having enjoyed it so much with the Chocolate Chili Truffle tea – I thought that the strong honey tones of the black tea would pair nicely with the citrus fruits.
Instead, Stacy chose her Kenyan Obsidian as a base which Stacy describes as “grapefruity, malty, and woody.” I also taste a sweetness to this and I don’t know if it’s the tea itself or the combination of the tea plus these particular flavors but I do get a light honey note that’s quite pleasant with the citrus fruit.
I thought about adding a dollop of honey to the cup to enhance those tones, but, I kind of like this straight up. It’s sweet but not too sweet, and the citrus gives it a tangy flavor – tart … but not pucker-y tart. Just enough tart that I can feel my taste buds sort of perk up (especially in the finish) from the tart.
This is a really lovely celebration of citrus flavor. Butiki suggests this as a breakfast tea. It would make a wonderful breakfast accompaniment (perhaps instead of fruit juice!) But I also found that this is LOVELY iced. It’s very refreshing.
This will be my final review of Butiki Teas here on SororiTea Sisters (I do still have a couple of teas of theirs that I’ll be drinking and talking about over on Steepster!) so I wish Stacy all the luck in the world with whatever adventure she takes on next. I raise my teacup to her and say, Bravo! And thank you for bringing us so many wonderful teas – you (and your teas!) will be missed.
And … as you head on over to Butiki Teas to see what’s on sale (and what’s left!) be sure to add some of this tea to your cart. You’ll be glad you did!
Irish Cream Butter Crisps White Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Tea Description:
Our Irish Cream Butter Crisps tea pairs an intense creaminess with rich buttery sugar crisps for a decadent dessert treat. Adding some brown crystal sugar intensifies the sugar cookie component and cuts some of the creamy flavor. This is our creamiest tea yet.
Read more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
A few days ago, Butiki Teas announced that their last day of operation would be January 31st. I still have a couple of other teas from them that I plan on reviewing – and some of them are now sold out and not returning – so you won’t be able to buy them, but I hope that you’ll be enjoying what I have to say about them anyway!
This is one such tea. It’s been sold out!
I’m really happy that I got to order some before it sold out because this is yummy! Just as the description above suggests, it’s really creamy.
The first thing I noticed was a strong buttery flavor. It tasted like I was drinking a butter cookie. It was sweet, but not too sweet, but definitely creamy and rich like a butter shortbread cookie.
I taste hints of Irish Cream but these are faint undertones. Mostly what I taste is butter! The white tea base has a hay-like flavor and I taste subtle whispers of fruit. I found myself wishing I tasted more of the Irish Cream, but I do love this creamy, buttery sweetness that I’m tasting!
Since this is a white tea, I decided to resteep it. And the second infusion was just as flavorful as the first – I’m still getting that really strong, buttery taste. This actually tastes like someone liquefied a buttery shortbread cookie and added the liquid to a cup of white tea. It’s such a strong, well defined flavor.
A really lovely tea – and as I sit here, drinking it, I can’t help but feel more than a wee bit sad that Butiki Teas is closing. They will be missed!
Lime Marshmallow White Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Lime Marshmallow pairs our Organic Bai Mu Dan with gentle lime and creamy marshmallow. The sweet lime flavor is immediately noticeable followed by a marshmallow flavor that lingers. Adding some sugar will create a gooey marshmallow flavor with hints of sweet lime.
Read more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
OK, this was the tea that got me. I wasn’t going to order more teas from Butiki Teas since they did announce that they were going to close. I was sad to hear of their closing, but I figured that I had enough teas that I need to review that I didn’t really need more tea. That is until I saw “Lime Marshmallow.” How do I pass that up?
Answer: I don’t!
And this is delicious. This cup that I’m drinking at the moment is actually the second time that I’ve had the tea. The first cup was a little less flavorful than this one. I steeped that in my Breville One-Touch and I have often stated that white teas shouldn’t be steeped in the tea maker because the leaves just aren’t conducive to the way the tea maker operates. Or something like that.
I’ve found that when I steep white teas in the Breville, not all of the leaves that I’ve put into the basket get submerged into the water. For a white tea, I recommend using a teapot and allowing the leaves to steep loose, or if you’ve just gotta use an infuser basket, try a Kati Tumbler.
This time when I steeped it, I got my ceramic teapot and I measured out 3 bamboo scoops of leaf into the teapot. Then I poured in water heated to 170°F and let the tea steep for 4 minutes. Now we’re talking some tasty tea!
I tasted it first before adding any sweetener. It’s nice with a bright, vibrant lime flavor. But I didn’t get a lot of creamy, marshmallow-y flavor. So I took Butiki’s advice and added a little bit of turbinado sugar to the cup and now I can taste that “gooey” marshmallow flavor. It tastes sweet and fluffy.
The white tea is a good base for these flavors too. It’s light and has a subtle hay-like flavor. It’s delicate enough for the flavors of lime and marshmallow to emerge fully without it becoming a really cloying taste, and I am still tasting tea. The tea doesn’t hide behind the flavoring.
I’m glad that I placed that order!
Organic Ancient Phoenix Pu-erh Tea from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: Pu-erh
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our Organic Ancient Phoenix Puerh originates from a sustainable farm on Wuliang Mountain in China and is handpicked by the Yi tribe of Yunnan. This Shou (ripe) puerh was harvested in 2011 from organic ancient trees. The tea is pressed into cakes using only skilled hands and a unique fragrant wood. Organic Ancient Phoenix Puerh is smooth and rich with raw cocoa, oak, and sweet tobacco notes. This high quality tea can handle a substantial amount of infusions.
Read more about this tea on Steepster.
Taster’s Review:
A few weeks ago, Butiki Teas announced on Steepster that it was closing permanently very soon. I was very sad about this announcement because Butiki Teas is one of my favorite purveyors. So, I started sorting through my stash to see if I had any teas on hand from Butiki that I had not yet reviewed so that I could offer a goodbye to one of my favorite tea companies here on SororiTea Sisters – and this is the tea that I found. So, yeah, this tea is no longer available from Butiki Teas, but this review is less about the tea for me and more about offering a heartfelt farewell to a wonderful tea company.
And this Ancient Phoenix Pu-erh is absolutely lovely. It doesn’t surprise me, because I can’t say that I’ve had anything from Butiki that I wasn’t impressed with! (Which is why I’m sad to see them go!)
These tiny Pu-erh cakes are about the size (in diameter) of a quarter although they’re a bit thicker than a coin. It makes portioning rather simple, I just dropped one of the “coins” into my gaiwan and covered it with hot water (190°F) for 15 seconds to awaken the leaves. Then I strained and discarded the liquid. I poured the water over the coin – which is already starting to break apart – and infused it for a minute. Then I poured the tea into my teacup and enjoyed. Pu-erh offers multiple infusions and this was just the first of many cups that I’d enjoy this evening.
My first cup is sweet. It’s almost a sugary sweetness. There are notes of earth to the cup as well, but the sweetness is stronger than the earthy qualities. (I like that in a pu-erh!) It’s a very soft tasting tea, this first cup. Much softer than I’m used to from a pu-erh. There are light spice notes.
The second cup was also steeped for 1 minute. Usually, I add 15 seconds onto the steep time but that wasn’t needed here. This has a much deeper flavor. Some of the earthy notes have emerged now. I’m still getting those spice notes I mentioned with the first cup, as well as the sweetness. I taste notes of leather and cacao and wood. This is a very complex cup. Very smooth. No astringency. No bitterness.
The third cup – well, the third cup and I didn’t really agree. I steeped it for a full minute again and I found it to be a little reminiscent of a thick cup of coffee. Not a good coffee either. Kind of like a tar-like coffee you might find in one of those 24-hour truck stop diners that don’t get a lot of traffic so the coffee’s been sitting there for the last six or seven hours. I found it interesting that at least one of the tasters of this tea on Steepster experienced a less than favorable third infusion as well. Weird.
So, I tossed that cup and went for infusion #4. This time, rather than setting a timer, I just watched the color and when the color was dark I poured it. I would estimate that the fourth infusion was about 20 seconds. Much better than infusion #3, this is earthy, kind of mushroom-y, with notes of leather and cacao. I am picking up an undertone of molasses-like sweetness. A very smooth, mellow and deeply flavored cup.
I kept on steeping. I found that by the fifth cup, this had become a very pleasant tea. This is a tea that you can’t really set a timer – you just need to watch it. When the color becomes dark, it’s time to pour and enjoy. Sweet with notes of spice. Cacao! The earthy notes are starting to become less prominent and allowing the sweeter characteristics to come forward.
As I sip this tea, I raise my cup to the greatness that is Butiki Teas. I recommend to all of you – if you haven’t yet tried any of this company’s teas, shop now before you lose that opportunity. I will miss you, Butiki Teas!
Champagne & Rose Cream White Tea Blend from Butiki Teas
Tea Information:
Leaf Type: White
Where to Buy: Butiki Teas
Tea Description:
Our luxurious Champagne & Rose Cream pairs our Glenburn Silver Needle with sweet champagne, fresh cream, and delicate rose notes. The initial sip delivers a lingering sweetness and tang of champagne. Rose and cream notes remain long after each sip. The malty flavor of the Silver Needle tea adds to the champagne flavor and there is a bubbliness that can be felt on the tongue. With each continuing sip the rose and cream notes become stronger. We recommend drinking this tea at a cooler temperature.
Ingredients: Glenburn Silver Needle, Rosebuds, Amaranth, Organic Natural Flavoring (vegan)
Learn more about this tea here.
Taster’s Review:
I’m impressed with this Champagne & Rose Cream White Tea Blend from Butiki Teas! That shouldn’t surprise me, of course, because I’m often impressed by this company … that’s why Butiki Teas is one of my favorite tea companies. They know what they’re doing!
I’ve tasted several different champagne flavored teas, but I think that this one just may be the most impressive to date. The champagne notes are so clear and on point. The white tea base is delicate and sweet, and accentuates the champagne very nicely, and I especially appreciate how these two flavors don’t seem to be competing with one another. They meld almost seamlessly, offering a flavor that is both champagne and tea – but in a soft, delicious way that is in keeping with the nature of the white tea. The rose is also subtle here, and the floral notes linger on the palate.
The sip starts off sweet, with notes of champagne and white tea making their presence known immediately. A soft rose note comes through next. Throughout the sip, I notice notes of cream, but it isn’t a heavy cream taste. It’s sort of there, just beneath the rose notes.
I have mentioned on more than one occasion on this blog that I’m not much of a consumer of alcoholic beverages, but one thing that I do remember from the days when I did consume an alcoholic beverage or two is how quickly champagne would go to my head. I’d start feeling “bubbly” very quickly (I guess I’m kind of a lightweight when it comes to booze), and I guess the reason I bring that up is because I’m feeling bubbly (but in a non-intoxicated way!) over this tea too!
A really amazing tea!