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!
