Butterbeer

Sipdown!

I had this one yesterday morning, so my memory of it is a little hazy. I remember liking it. Picked up on some of the butteriness and a bit of licorice and something that reminded me of root beer.

Thanks for the sample, Lala!

I brewed this to do a little taste test next to 52teas rootbeer float. The butterbeer smells more of rootbeer but I find myself missing the marshmallow and vanilla that are in the rootbeer float. It definitely tastes like rootbeer. Although it leaves a strange sweet after taste in my throat that I’m not fond of.

Back when this tea first came out I was a bit disappointed in Frank’s interpretation of butterbeer. I had imagined it to be buttery creamy butterscotch with malty undertones and smooth foamy bubbles. And since Hermione had supposedly gotten a bit tipsy on it once, I thought there might be about 1% or 2% alcohol content. Obviously you can’t get foam and alcohol into tea, but still… root beer did not match my imagination.
Yet, this tea regularly gets great reviews so I curious to try it anyway. Fortunately, Ashmanra was generous enough to share, what I assume was, the remnants of her pouch of this tea.

Now that my sinuses have mostly recovered, I was able to appreciate this tea.
The scent is definitely buttery root beer. I do have fond childhood memories of root beer so it’s always a nice flavor for me. The brewed tea is a dark reddish brown with nicely balanced tea and root beer flavor. The licorice is shy here, which is fine by me. The chicory probably provides body though I don’t really taste it. It’s pleasant and cooling in a traditional Chinese yin/yang sense.
I don’t normally sweeten my tea, but this one sort of demands it. A teaspoon of sugar in the raw and a splash of cream brings this a little closer to my imagined ideal. It’s not butterscotch, but this is a pretty tasty interpretation. I can’t wait to drink this again. :)

Well this tea is a big old NOPE for me. It’s probably not this tea’s fault… I hate root beer. It’s a shame because all of a sudden, I was like “I’m going to watch Harry Potter and drink this tea.” Also, I’ve had “real” butterbeer at the Wizarding World of Harry Potter and it was sooooo delicious. It was cream soda based; no root beer. That’s more of what I was expecting. I won’t rate it because of my aversion to root beer. Anyway, I love all things Potter and was very happy to be able to try this courtesy of Miss B. Thanks!

Boo. I am so disappointed. I was expecting so much more out of this. I bought the SBT Butterbeer pouch and it was epic: tasted exactly like I expected it to. Butterscotch, malt and butter$. This one tastes similar, but toned way down. Maybe it’s lost some of it’s flavour over time? I really don’t know.

Thank you so much MissB for sending this :)

All of the tasting notes that I see for this tea are from the original blend, and I know what I’ve got is a reblend… so I’m curious if anyone else has had a similar experience with this one. Because, one sip and I had to dump it. Tasted – literally – like cardboard.

Miss B gave this to me along with her day #6 tea for the 12 Days of Christmas 2014. I was sooo excited when I opened this!!! I LOVE Harry Potter! I saved this tea for just the right day, and today was that, relaxing day with my Hubby. The black tea with the note of butter sweetness was good indeed with the buttery taste being the main thing I tasted. It was a sweet butter taste with a tad artificial aftertaste, but still good all the same. Thanks again Miss B, You Rock!

Oddly, I got away from using Steepster, during my business trip last week. But I am back! This morning, I kicked it off with a pot of Butterbeer, which did not get finished, before leaving for work, so half of the pot awaits my return in the fridge. Should make a tasty, cool beverage, this evening.