I bought this tea knowing full well it wouldn’t taste anything like baked goods or truffles or whatever they say it is “supposed” to be. I found the idea of a pseudo-Indian savory tea really intriguing, so into my cart it went!
The smell of the dry leaves is incredible. And I almost understand the name: the very first whiff is very much like buttery baked goods, and then you get a big hit of that cumin. It’s so intriguing, I spent a long time just smelling it! It tastes very interesting: the spices come out well and are almost chai-like, there’s a nuttiness from the pistachio, the cumin almost makes it savory but there’s a creamy vanilla-like texture that brings it back to sweet. I don’t really know how to rate this one so I am just going to leave it off: I really enjoyed it, but it’s a very very odd tea and definitely not for everyone. I plan on mixing some with a rose congou and sweetening with honey to create more of an Indian dessert feel!
This looks like the Butter Truffle tea (same ingredient list too) from ESP Emporium… so either one of these companies is the supplier (and the other company just wasn’t very clever with the naming of their tea) or, they both get it from the same supplier who calls it butter truffle, and both companies aren’t very clever naming their teas.
The name for this sounds so good, like butter-stuffed chocolate truffles, but all the reviews seem so mediocre. Part of me wants to try it but the other part knows I’ll be disappointed!
I know it’s secret info, but I wish there was a place where we could see where a company wholesales its teas from so we could compare across vendors. Like, if I want to order an Earl grey from different sites, how do I know it’s not all just the same tea from Metropolitan?
LiberTEAS – this is from Amy oh, and I seem to recall her or someone else saying that they got this same tea from ESP Emporium. And yeah – the naming is very misleading.
Alphakitty – it’s interesting enough of a tea to be worth a try, in my opinion, but it does not taste like butter-stuffed chocolate truffles. Just Indian-style spices.
Rachel – I agree. I guess the best thing is to stick to companies that you know blend their own teas?
@Rachel: that would put a lot of businesses out of work, I think. I personally don’t mind when a company resells tea – I would “guesstimate” that about 75 – 90 percent of all companies out there do that – but, what I don’t like is when they make it sound like they blend/flavor it themselves.
I have noticed that too. After visiting a local tea shop, who made me feel like they blend their own teas, and looking for reviews on their flavors (angels dream and mango amazon are the ones i can remember) there seem to be a lot of different companies that sell tea by that same name. This made me even more disappointed in this particular place, the mold floating in the simple syrup was just the tip of the iceburg.
MOLD?!! AGHH!!!
Oh gross…