This is one I really wanted to love a lot – it sounds like it’s made for me, and it smells like it’s made for me. There is no end to how luscious this tea smells in the bag. It’s not quite up there with Lupicia’s Cookie or Mariage Frères Mariage Impérial, but it’s seriously good, nonetheless. There’s caramel, vanilla and the lush, malty tea base.
It brews up rich and dark – most of the depth of the scent of the dry leaf is lost in the steep for me. Flavor wise, I do get most of the notes from the bag, but it’s just so subtle. If I’d tried this before any Mariage Frères or Lupicia teas with similar flavorings, such as the two mentioned above, I would have been completely sold. At this stage of my tea safari, though, there’s just no need for a tea this delicate.
This is beautifully put together, the base tea is silky smooth, and it’s definitely high up on the list of the Butiki must-tries. That much said, there’s no room for it in my permanent collection.
[From my Butiki order to Santa Clara, October 2013.]
Boiling, 3 min