Traditional Plum Pudding (Holiday Series: Yule)

I imagine Stacy must have gone to sleep one Wintry night with the wind howling through the branches outside…full of dreams of fairies and liquor soaked plum pudding, a flaming spectacle at the end of a comforting meal.
Night-owl that she is, she would have jumped out of bed…run barefooted to her workshop to prepare a splendid tea, paying homage to that special pudding.

Has she succeeded in her magical efforts? Indeed she has!

My first thought was that I had Campbells Original Scot’s Shortbread in a cup, full of buttery sugary cookie. The richest kind! It was the Oolong Tea base that gave this buttery sweetness (along with some brown sugar).
Then there was more! An orange and vanilla taste, very clean citrus, made me want to take a dessert spoon and dig into my tea.
I added some cream…the way I would add real whipped cream to a pudding… and ugh… it was so, so good!

What would I serve to complete this as a dessert? Some dark chocolate, rum cake or perhaps some pecans and golden raisins.

Lovely tea treat!

Once I was making Pumpkin Milkshake 2.0, I looked for another tea I could brew at the same temperature. This was the first one I grabbed.

I will preface this by saying I have no idea what Plum Pudding tastes like. None whatsoever. And I don’t usually eat plums. Nonetheless, this appealed to me for reasons that are as much a mystery to me as they might be to you. What I do know is that this is a tasty cup. It is not in-your-face bold flavor but there is a distinctively plum taste. I don’t get too much spice but I can detect some hiding within the cup. And there is a nice creaminess to this as well.

This is like the plum pudding tea for sophisticated adults (I am in no way qualified to say that but just go with it) as its beauty comes from the subtlety. Whereas teas that are sugary and fun and over-the-top are stuff I think children would like (not exclusively children though), Butiki is always something that is better suited for someone who can appreciate the simple beauties in the world. Anyways, this is a weird rant so I will stop. Sometimes I need to remember that I don’t need to share every idea that pops into my head.

When this tea popped up last year, I knew that I had to give it a try… it’s plum pudding! Anything plum tends to get my approval, plus a plum dessert makes it even better! For some reason, I never slipped this into my shopping cart and have waited until now to give it a try. The scent of this tea is interesting.. at first I’m hit with something rather fishy.. almost like a puerh. I realize, though, that it’s not so fishy, but may just be the base of the blend mixed with plum. Strange how your nose can interpret different scents!

Sipping… I’m getting some nice fruit notes, a bit like plum, but not entirely plum-specific. There is a hint of something creamy in the background — it’s not the same kind of creamy as cantaloupe & cream, but is so delicious because it swirls around the plum & oolong notes. I am also getting a tiny bit of spice and it works so well with the plum + the oolong that I’m actually finding spice to be enjoyable! I’m so pleased that the base and the flavors work so perfectly together — this tea gives me an image of a dark, sweet, fall/winter plummy dessert. The cup finishes with a bit of astringency, but it brings to mind the tart skin of a plum. The cream, plum and spice help to hide the astringency a little bit. Although it’s not my favorite tea from Butiki, I could see myself adding this to a future order.

hmm. so two steeps so far. the first one i made a hash of (operator error) because i had green onions with dinner and failed to anticipate that the delicate nature of the tea afterwards would resonate as orange hued scallions. with milk. ew. i brushed, i gargled, i waited and tried again… but i’m still not managing to recreate the smell from the dry blend into a liquid equivalent.

i will suspend numerical evaluation until i can actually accomplish a detectable result. i’m getting a hint of orange and a hint of cinnamon, but nothing remotely strong enough to be considered a christmas pudding. second time round i even over leafed, over steeped and used less water! let me know if you have any suggestions…

UPDATE: okay, three strikes and i’m out. i have been having a bad tea day and even with stacy’s guidance i am not convincing this tea to do what it’s supposed to. it doesn’t like me. obviously. however i have a very keen tea buddy who wants to take a shot at it. SCRIBBLES….YOU’RE UP!

05-19-2013
this is one of those teas that i wanted to try it as soon as i saw it.
this oolong is so comforting! and the flavors are mild yet effective.
both steeps were good too!
glad i have a little more. i may even add a little touch of brown sugar crystals like they recommend.
thank to Sil for this wonderfully balanced tea!

06-24-2013
today i am drinking this with animal crackers.
i dunk them in it yes i do.

Resteep! This is a little thinner in feel this time around, but not in a bad way. It makes it feel like a lighter (e.g. white) tea. The stone fruit taste is still strong and there’s more of the base this time around, which is delicious.

This is one sad village. I walked uptown in this chilly weather to get milk (and thought I’d snag some half and half) and the freshest stuff they had expires on the 6th. The half and half was even worse, the freshest expiring on the 3rd. Wow. So I passed on that. I’ll continue using 2% milk while I’m here. It really makes you appreciate the urban life!

So I’ll try this oolong for now! I know Steepsterites mentioned that this is quite weakly flavoured, and I almost didn’t get it, but thought, why not? I like oolongs anyway.

Indeed, it is very subtly flavoured. I wouldn’t even think it was flavoured if I had no previous knowledge of this tea. But I can say that it is incredibly buttery. As I’m letting it cool down, a light bakery note has unfolded alongside the butteriness. This reminds me more of, say, a butter cookie than a pudding. I’ve never actually had Christmas pudding before but based on the traditional ingredients, I’d imagine that it’s similar to my grandma’s Christmas cake. That said, I still say that the subtle buttery sweetness here is closer to a cookie than a Christmas cake/pudding.

But I agree with others that I’d ultimately like to see more flavour. I was hoping for more spices, particularly the cinnamon. There’s a vague fruitiness dancing around the buttery note, as well, but it could very well be part of the base. In other words, I’ve had unflavoured oolongs in the past that were just as fruity.

I’m looking forward to experimenting with this one further, but for now, I’m in the Too Subtle camp.

Additional notes: Sample sipdown! I’m raising the rating on this one from an 83 because it is a much better tea. I can appreciate it more now. I do like the flavors that are here, but I guess originally I expected a little more. Another last teaspoon I was treasuring! Also, I heard on a Butiki tasting note that Ruby Pie was going to be slightly different, so I HAD to order some. I think the Ruby Pie is perfect the way it is. I’ve been waiting to order anyway, but I probably should have waited! I probably just needed the excuse though. :D

This is another of the fantastic teas from my swap with OMGsrsly. I requested it for my holiday tea project, but it’s striking me more like a summer blend than something specific to the holidays. Here’s how I made it up:

Teaware: Mesh tea ball in china cup
Measured dry: 1-1/2tsp
Temperature: About 170º F (boiled it then got distracted)
Steeping Time: 4min initially, then added 1min
Additives: 1-1/2tsp raw sugar

After I first checked the steep, it was a little light and I wasn’t picking up any plum at all. Adding a minute to the steep helped bring out a fruity aftertaste, but I’m not sure if it’s ever going to be very overt. The black tea is really the predominant note here, with maybe a hint of the cornflower and cinnamon. Because I did over-steep it a little, there is some noticeable astringency.

I have enough left over to make one more cup, and I think the next time I make it I won’t worry so much about pushing it into turning plum and just enjoy it as a slightly different blend of black.

Happy Christmas, friends! I hope everyone is enjoying the day with lots of food and family and friends! We opened presents earlier today and haven’t even started cooking yet since my Mom is busy playing with the iPad that I surprised her with. She barely even has a cell phone, so this is a big deal. We had banana cream cheese stuffed french toast this morning, so we’re still full from that. It’s been a good day. :)

I’ve had a few other teas this morning, but this was the new tea that I wanted to try today. I don’t think I’ve ever had plum pudding, but would like to try it after having this tea. This tea is very lightly flavored, and very smooth. It’s a nice relaxing tea for Christmas afternoon. I can taste fruitiness, rum and spices and it’s becoming more flavorful as it cools.

-Dry blend has very large black and brown tea leaves with pieces of orange peel and small blue and orange petals.
-Dry leaves smell of sweet fruit, spices and rum. Tea liquor aroma is fruity with a hint of sweet spices.
-Tea liquor is a clear medium orange yellow color.
-Light malty and spicy flavor and finish. Fruity plum and rum aftertaste.
-Best with milk and sweetener.
-Very good tea. A smooth cup. Light fruity flavor with a hint of rum and spices.