Huge Black Friday through Cyber Monday SALE!!!!!!

For all of Friday, November 23^rd through all of Monday, November 26^th we will be offering $20 of free tea of your choice with a purchase of $40.00 of tea.  Please read all the rules carefully.  Additionally, we will be offering special bonuses each day:

• Friday: Eggnog Day!  Spend $50 on teas & teawares and get a half ounce of our brand new eggnog tea!

• Saturday: Rooibos Day!  Spend $45 on teas & teawares and get an ounce of rooibos of your choice!

• Sunday: Guayusa Day!  Spend $50 on teas & teawares and get an ounce of guayusa of your choice!

• Monday: Premium Tea Day! Spend $55 on teas & teawares and get any one of the following: ½ oz of Mi Xian Black (retail $6.25), ½ oz Anxi Tie Guan Yin (retail $6.25), or ½ oz of Fukamushi Sencha Tenjo (retail $7.25)!

• Contest: By making any purchase Friday through Monday you will be automatically entered into a drawing for a chance to win a gaiwan of your choice.

The rules:

• Teawares, accessories, and samplers will not be counted towards the 'tea purchase' or as 'free tea' but can absolutely be added to the order.

• Free shipping offers do not apply, even if a $75 order is made.  Shipping will not be charged on the “free tea portion” for US and Canadian customers.  International orders will be assessed shipping charges after the purchase or can request a quote.  Please note we may not be able to respond that day. 

• Free samples will not be offered during this sale.

• Purchases that qualify for this sale must be made during November 23-26^th Eastern Standard Time and the daily specials apply for that day only (EST).

•  The “free tea” must fall within the dollar limit.  For example if you purchase $40 in teas, your free teas cannot exceed $20.00, not even by $.25.  No exceptions.

• Please let us know what free teas you would like with your order either in the “instructions to seller” section during check out or in a separate email.  If you qualify for the bonus of the day, make sure to let us know what you would like added to your order if there are multiple options.  If you do not let us know which teas you would like and do not respond to our emails within 5 days, the special will be void and teas will be shipped as is.  Please check your email box for communications from us.

• Failure to follow rules may make your purchase ineligible for this offer.

Please note that we will start shipping orders Tuesday, November  27^thafter  we have declared a contest winner for the free gaiwan.  Please allow 5 business days from Tuesday for teas to be shipped out of our office as we expect this to be a popular sale.  Our communications may also be somewhat slow. 

Butiki Teas Super Awesome Free Tea Contest (Flavored Or Plain Teas) 2 Contests

So, the title might sound a little inflated but I’m in a super awesome mood so everything seems super awesome.

Contest #1 – Win A Custom Blend (Flavored or Herbal Blend)

This is the first time we are trying this, so hopefully this works out well but we think it will be fun.  We would like to offer a prize of 1 custom blend of 4oz of tea base plus any additions to the base (this custom blend is valued up to $60 and can potentially come out to 8oz of tea). 

How the contest works:  Send us your ideas for a custom blend.  Each person can suggest up to 3 ideas.  Please keep the tea bases to teas we currently stock.  Check here for base tea ideas (though we do have some teas that are not listed, including: Bi Lo Chun, Darjeeling, Moonshine, and a stronger Assam): http://www.butikiteas.com/.  Herbals may include herbs, flowers, fruits, and spices that we do not carry.  Submission for ideas are due by October 19^th.  We will compile all ideas.  If there are duplicate ideas, the first person to come up with the idea will be chosen.  Some ideas might not be workable for us.  If an idea is not realistic for us, we will email you back and let you suggest another idea.  After all the ideas have been compiled, we will choose the best 10 ideas and put them on our blog for voting.  Voting will close November 2nd and the person with the most votes will win.  We will contact the winner and discuss their thoughts on what the tea should taste like.  We will work on blending the tea then send the winner a sample for 1 round of feedback.  After the tea has been blended, the winner may choose a name (within reason, keep it PG13) and the 4+ oz of tea will be shipped out.  We will then offer at least a limited release of the tea so that everyone can have a chance to purchase the blend.    

Fine Print (Please read): Custom blends are risky.  The tea might not turn out as anticipated.  We will do what we can to get the blend as close as possible.  Send as much info about your blend ideas as possible.  It’s easier to choose a blend if there is an idea of what base tea will be used or at least what category of tea.  A description would be even better.  The more info we have the higher chance there is to make it into the final 10.  Please also keep in mind that we are a vegan company, we can recreate many non-vegan flavors but will not add non-vegan ingredients.  For instance, it is fine to suggest items such as marshmallow or cream flavorings but we will not add dried meats.  Send your ideas (up to 3) to stacylim@butikiteas.com with the subject line “Contest-Custom Blend”.  With your ideas, please provide us with your full name and make sure you are sending the email from an email address you check regularly.  We will not keep your email addresses after the contest ends, send you unrelated emails or sell your email address.  Please note it may take several days for us to confirm your entry.  Also, we would love to see people discuss their ideas on here after they have submitted them.  A discussion would be fun.  Also, we would love to see feedback about what you think of this contest. 

Contest #2- Win A Luxury Sampler Plus 1 ounce of our Wild Purple Buds Puerh (Plain Tea)

The winner of this contest will win our Luxury Sampler which includes our Anxi Tie Guan Yin (oolong), Organic Huangshan Mao Feng (green tea), and Mi Xian Black (black tea).  Each tea is housed in a tin and the tins are housed in a burgundy organza bag.  For more information about our Luxury Sampler, please check here: http://www.butikiteas.com/LuxurySampler.html   Also, the winner will win 1 oz of either 2011 or 2012 Wild Purple Buds Puerh (the choice is up to the winner).   For more information about this puerh, please check here: http://www.butikiteas.com/Puerh.html.  To win this contest, we are looking for blog reviews (or facebook reviews if you don’t have a blog) of our plain tea.  Simply write a review of any of our plain teas (negative or positive) and send us a link and we will enter you in a drawing that will be chosen randomly at www.random.org.  Simply send us a link to your review to stacylim@butikiteas.com with the subject line “Contest-Plain Tea” and send us your full name and make sure you are sending the email from an email address you check regularly.  We will not keep your email addresses after the contest ends, send you unrelated emails or sell your email address.  You may submit as many links as you like and each link will count as a separate entry.  Entries may be submitted up until November 2nd.  Please note it may take several days for us to confirm your entry. 

You may enter both contests.  We do accept international entries.     

New SALE!!!!!!!!!!!

On Sale until October 12th- http://www.butikiteas.com/On%20Sale.html
Grapefruit Dragon-38% off ($4.00 an ounce)
2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong-32% off ($4.25 an ounce)
Anxi Tie Guan Yin-24% off ($4.75 for half an ounce)
Premium Chai-17% off ($6.00 for 2 ounces)
Good Morning Sunshine-16% off ($3.75 an ounce)

Price Reduction
Our Wild Purple Buds Puerh have been reduced in price by 42%.
We have also added a 2012 harvest, so you may choose a 2012 or 2011 harvest. Check it out: http://www.butikiteas.com/Puerh.html

What’s New
Luxury Sampler-Check it out http://www.butikiteas.com/LuxurySampler.html
This includes our Anxi Tie Guan Yin, our Organic Huangshan Mao Feng, and our Mi Xian Black in tins housed in a burgundy organza bag.

We will be running 2 new contests!!! One for flavored tea (this is an interesting contest for us) drinkers and one for plain tea drinkers. We should have something posted within the day.

We are also currently working on a number of new teas and will have some new teas from the Glenburn Estate up shortly as well as a wonderful premium Bi Lo Chun.

The Sad, The Glad, What's Next

The Sad
I'm sad to say that our entire stock of Organic Spring Twist has been sold.  This was one of my personal favorite green teas but hopefully we will be restocking it next spring/summer. For those of you that enjoyed this wonderful tea, I would like to recommend our Organic Huangshan Mao Feng, which has sweet pea, artichoke, white corn, and fresh cut grass notes as well as some light Brazil nut notes.  Our Organic Huangshan Mao Feng is currently on sale for $4.00 a half ounce.


The Glad
Recently, we have added 2 new teas and a new sampler to our site.  Here is a little more info about those items:

Maple Pecan Oolong
Our Maple Pecan Oolong utilizes our Nilgiri Frost Oolong base. This smooth, silky tea has maple notes that develop into pecan notes then finish with maple notes that linger. Some citrus notes may also be detected. The flavors weave together brilliantly and are well balanced with the oolong base. With a little sugar the maple and pecan intensify for a wonderful desert treat that resembles a pecan pie. We recommend adding sugar slowly; too much sugar and the tea will taste like exactly like fresh maple syrup with a hint of pecan. Check it out: Oolong Teas

Grapefruit Dragon
Our Grapefruit Dragon has an Organic Dragon Well base that originates from Anhui, China. At the beginning of the sip, the grapefruit is almost immediately noticed then the mellow sweet marine notes of the green tea appear. Towards the end of the sip, more intense natural grapefruit notes produce a slight tartness that tingles the tongue. The grapefruit flavor most resembles pink grapefruit or perhaps a gentle white grapefruit. With a little brown crystal sugar the grapefruit flavor is much sweeter and juicier with only minimal tartness and somewhat resembles a Grapefruit Brulee but sweeter.  Check it out: Green Teas

Autumn Comfort Sampler
all is one of our favorite seasons. As the weather cools, we look forward to fuzzy blankets, leaves changing colors, rich foods, decadent desserts, and joyful holidays. Our Autumn Comfort brings together some of the wonderful flavors of the season. This sampler offers 1oz each of the following teas/tisane: Maple Pecan Oolong, Cider Guayusa, Pumpkin Creme Brulee (black tea), and Almond Indulgence (black tea). Purchased individually, these teas would cost $19.00 but together we are offering them for only $14.75. That's 22% off their individual prices  Check it out: Samplers





What's Next
Quite a bit is going on here at Butiki Teas.  Right now we are waiting on one ingredient to arrive before our Pistachio Ice Cream tea is back in stock.  Hopefully, it will arrive in a week so we can immediately start blending a new batch.  Additionally, we are in the final stages of preparing the Luxury Sampler.  This sampler will include our Mi Xian Black, Organic Huangshan Mao Feng, and our Anxi Tie Guan Yin.  The teas will be housed in individual tins and will come in a burgandy organza bag.  In the next month or so we will be adding some new tea ware to our site.  We will also be adding a few Glenburn Estate teas within the next few months and a new premium Bi Lo Chun will be added shortly.  Lastly, we have several new flavored teas in the works.  Our current project is a marshmallow tea.  Right now we are leaning towards a Marshmallow Darjeeling but would love to hear suggestions.  We are hoping to have a marshmallow tea ready by the end of October.

-Stacy Lim      

Office Closed for Long Weekend

IMPORTANT: Our office is closed Friday, September 7^th through Monday, September 10^th.  Any purchases made Friday through Monday will be shipped out on Tuesday, September 11th.  We apologize for the inconvenience.  During this time we will be offering 3 free samples of your choice (Organic Daba Mountain Jade is the only tea not eligible for sample).  Please let us know which samples you would like to try when you check out by listing them in the “Instructions to Merchant” section or by sending us an email.  Thank you for your patience.  –Stacy Lim   

Behind The Name: Watermelon Xylophone Edition

Before Watermelon Xylophone (white tea) was even ready to be put on our website, we had been getting a lot of questions about the name of the tea.  So the dilemma remained do I tell customers about the origin of the name or let it remain a mystery to add to the mystique of this tea.  I’ve decided to discuss the origin of the name because it is still a kind of mystery to me anyways.   

After creating the initial blend, I was having great difficulty coming up with a name.  The tea tasted just like watermelon to me.  Watermelon Tea is really not that enticing of a name.  On a 2 hour car ride with my husband, Joel, to pretty much the middle of nowhere in Pennsylvania we spent about an hour doing a brainstorming session, throwing out what seemed like hundreds on names.  We went through names such as: Soothing Watermelon, Sensual Watermelon, Juicy Watermelon, Watermelon Candy, Enticing Watermelon, Summer Watermelon etc etc etc but nothing hit us as amazing.  Then out of nowhere I just blurted out Watermelon Xylophone.  My logic at that time was that something that has nothing to do with watermelon sounded better than the names we were coming up with.  But then we both actually started to like how that sounded.  Kind of catchy I thought and hey maybe it’s not so unrelated.   

Watermelon Xylophone is music for your mouth and its light and fun just like xylophone music.  So, you might be asking why was xylophone randomly in your brain?  Who thinks about xylophones enough to blurt it out randomly?  Well, I suppose I have been in a xylophone mood recently but why I got into a xylophone mood in the first place is beyond me.  Anyways, I had really been inspired by xylophone music at the time.  Above is one of my favorite xylophone related videos on youtube.  It kind of represents Watermelon Xylophone.  I mean who could not be in a good mood listening to Super Mario Brothers 2 theme song done in ragtime?  Watch that one all the way through, the end is awesome. 

I wish we had a better reason to call this charming tea Watermelon Xylophone, but unfortunately the truth isn't always so poetic.  A fellow Steepster poster, TheTeaFairy, had guessed "...the needles do remind me of the long keys of a xylophone.  And just like a xylophone, the taste escalates and explodes in a beautiful ascent!".  What a beautiful interpretation.  I love it!

For more information on our brand new tea, Watermelon Xylophone, check it out here:  Watermelon Xylophone

-Stacy

Behind The Name: The Killer's Vanilla Edition

Why did we name a mint, lavender, vanilla, guayusa blend The Killer’s Vanilla?  Well, that's a good question.  For months we were working on a vanilla guayusa with no success.  We made some good vanilla guayusas but nothing that hit us as unique or amazing.  

For some inspiration we turned to iTunes to help us out and looked for every song with the word vanilla in it.  It was The Killer’s Vanilla that truly inspired us.  After listening to that song for what must have been hours on end we knew we had to create something smooth, subtle, relaxed yet there needs to be something deceptive about the blend.  The song itself is very relaxed, loose, comforting, warm, spacey and dark with moments of fast, hard chaos.  A bit of a juxtaposition and that is what our guayusa needed to be.  Since we had already chosen the vanilla, which to us is relaxing we wanted to continue that theme with some relaxing lavender and subtle spearmint.  Now we have a relaxing blend but at the same time the high caffeine content of the guayusa creates a sense of alertness.  Sleepy, more like relaxed, yet wide awake.  We loved it.  Another interesting contrast is tasting this tea with and without sugar.  Without sugar it tastes like an earthy herbal blend but with sugar it tastes like a creamy dessert treat.    

Above is a video clip of The Killer’s Vanilla (don't worry its advertisement-free).  Thank you The Killer's Vanilla for providing great inspiration to us.  Here is a link to one of our favorite artists, Amon Tobin:    http://www.amontobin.com.

For more information about The Killer's Vanilla guayusa, check out our website:    Butiki Teas Guayusa Selection 

-Stacy

Our Cantaloupe & Cream Took 3rd @ North American Tea Championship

We are very excited to announce that our Cantaloupe & Cream won 3rd place in the Flavored White Tea category of the 2012 Spring Hot Tea Class of the North American Tea Championship!!!!  This was the only tea that we had entered into NATC.   

As someone that is very critical of my own work, I never expected that a tea I would create would win any awards.  Love and care is put into every single tea that we make (as well as quality ingredients) and we are very proud that we won 3rd place.  We would have never entered this tea had we not seen the reviews at Steepster.  While we get frequent purchases and praise of our Cantaloupe & Cream, it still hadn't hit us that this tea was extra special until we had read some of the reviews at Steepster.  Big thanks to everyone that has supported us, reviewed our teas, and of course our awesome customers!

You can find more info about Cantaloupe & Cream here:  http://www.butikiteas.com/White.html

-Stacy Lim

Office Closed For Long Weekend

IMPORTANT: Our office is closed Friday, August 3rd through Monday, August 6th.  Any purchases made Friday through Monday will be shipped out on Tuesday the 7th.  We apologize for the inconvenience.  During this time we will be offering 3 free samples of your choice (Organic Daba Mountain Jade is the only tea not eligible for sample).  Please let us know which samples you would like to try when you check out by listing them in the “Instructions to Merchant” section or by sending us an email.  Thank you for your patience.  –Stacy Lim   

Huge One Day Sale Bonanza!!!

Stacy Lim, the owner of Butiki Teas, is celebrating her birthday on July 25th.  What better way to celebrate than by offering an exciting one day sale.  For all of July 25th we will be offering $10 of free tea of your choice with a purchase of $30.00 of tea or $25 of free tea of your choice with a purchase of $60.00 of tea.  Please read all the rules carefully.

The rules:

• Teawares and accessories will not be counted as a 'tea purchase' or as 'free tea'. 
• Free shipping offers do not apply, even if a $75 order is made.
• Free samples will not be offered during this sale.
• The initial purchase cannot include items that are currently on sale and cannot include samplers; however, the free teas portion may include sales items at their sales prices.  Our current teas on sale include:  Mi Xian Black, Flowery Pineapple Oolong, Cider Guayusa and Organic Assam.
• Purchases that qualify for this sale must be made on July 25^th Eastern Standard Time.
• The “free tea” must fall within the dollar limit.  For example if you purchase $30 in teas, your free teas cannot exceed $10.00, not even by $.25.  No exceptions. 
• Please let us know what free teas you would like with your order either in the “instructions to seller” section during check out or in a separate email.
• Failure to follow rules may make your purchase ineligible for this offer.

Please note that the office is closed on July 25th and no email confirmations will be sent until the following day.  Please allow for 2-4 business days for teas to be shipped out of our office. 

 http://www.butikiteas.com/

SALES, New Teas, & Upcoming Teas.

SALE-Until August 10th

Mi Xian Black-19% off, now $9.50 an ounce

Flowery Pineapple Oolong-23% off, now $5.00 1/2 ounce

Cider Guayusa- 22% off, now $3.50 an ounce

Organic Assam-50% off, now $2.80 an ounce

Check out our sales here: Butiki Teas Sale Page

Also, be sure to check out our "Samplers" page for other great deals: http://www.butikiteas.com/Samplers.html

New Teas-Recently Added Teas

2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong-Our aged oolong is sourced from the Dong Ding tea growing region of Nantou County in Taiwan and was harvested in the spring of 2003. The varietal is Si Ji Chuan also known as Four Season. Our aged oolong was crafted by blend master Chen Pei Wen and is re-roasted every 2-3 years to minimize moisture content. 2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong is a rich full-bodied silky tea. The charcoal-colored leaves of this smooth oolong produce notes of honey suckle, bark, and grass and has a natural sweetness with no astringency present. This tea is also low in caffeine.

Gui Fei Oolong-Our Gui Fei Oolong was sourced from Lugu Township in Nantou County, Taiwan and is a particularly unique tea. Green leafhoppers are allowed to bite the tea leaves which causes the leaves to begin the healing process which creates the honey notes in this tea and also begins the oxidation process. This tea utilized traditional Dong Ding processing techniques. Gui Fei Oolong has a natural sweetness to it and produces no astringency. Notes of honey, lightly burned toast, raw almonds and apples can be detected.

Mi Xian Black-Our Mi Xian Black tea is sourced from Ali Shan region in Taiwan. This exquisite premium grade tea utilizes the Chin Xin varietal and is pesticide free. Mi Xian Black is a relatively new style of black tea and is very rare. Similar to our Gui Fei Oolong, leafhoppers are allowed to bite the leaves in order initiate the plant’s healing process which produces a honey-like aroma. Juicy peach and honey notes mingle and linger. Some lychee and mild citrus notes can also be detected. This smooth and mellow tea is sweet with a creamy mouth-feel.

Premium Taiwanese Assam-Our Premium Taiwanese Assam is sourced from Yuchih Township in Nantou County, Taiwan. Assam bushes were brought to Taiwan in the early twentieth century but have since been refined by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station. The long dark chocolate colored leaves produce a sweet fruity aroma. This malty tea has rich chocolate notes with notes of cinnamon, clove, and raisins.

Other Recent Additions

Tamarind Pop (Black Tea)

Golden Stars (Green Tea)

Nilgiri Frost Oolong

Zhen Qu (Black Tea)

Dragon Feelers (Green Tea)

Recent Arrivals & Recent Blends-Will be added to our website within a month or two.

Watermelon Xylophone

The Killer's Vanilla-Vanilla, Spearmint, Lavender

Premium Tie Guan Yin

Sparrows Tongue Oolong

Premium Keemun

Huang Shan Mao Feng

Drunk Bananas-Rum & Banana

Grapefruit

Maple Pecan

Just Almonds

Coconut Cream Pie-Upgraded version

Premium Bi Lo Chun

Root Beer Float-At the suggestion of some Steepsterites. This one will be a while.

*We are also working on a premium sampler. This will have one premium tea from white, black, oolong, green, and puerh tea categories.

Customer Feedback

We value all customer feedback. Right now we are really interested to find out if any of our customers have any recommendations for a special one day sale or promotion. We currently are unable to do a blanket percentages off (ex. 15% off all teas) due to the limitations of PayPal but there are plenty of other interesting promotion and sale ideas. What is the most appealing?

4 New Taiwanese Teas Added To Our Website!!!

Today we added 4 new outstanding Taiwanese teas to our website, 2 oolongs and 2 black teas.

 

 

2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong

Premium Taiwanese Assam

Gui Fei

Mi Xian Black

2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong 

Our aged oolong is sourced from the Dong Ding tea growing region of Nantou County in Taiwan and was harvested in the spring of 2003. The varietal is Si Ji Chuan also known as Four Season. Our aged oolong was crafted by blend master Chen Pei Wen and is re-roasted every 2-3 years to minimize moisture content. 2003 Reserve Four Season Oolong is a rich full-bodied silky tea. The charcoal-colored leaves of this smooth oolong produce notes of honey suckle, bark, and grass and has a natural sweetness with no astringency present. This tea is also low in caffeine.

Gui Fei Oolong

Our Gui Fei Oolong was sourced from Lugu Township in Nantou County, Taiwan and is a particularly unique tea. Green leafhoppers are allowed to bite the tea leaves which causes the leaves to begin the healing process which creates the honey notes in this tea and also begins the oxidation process. This tea utilized traditional Dong Ding processing techniques. Gui Fei Oolong has a natural sweetness to it and produces no astringency. Notes of honey, lightly burned toast, raw almonds and apples can be detected.

Mi Xian Black 

Our Mi Xian Black tea is sourced from Ali Shan region in Taiwan. This exquisite premium grade tea utilizes the Chin Xin varietal and is pesticide free. Mi Xian Black is a relatively new style of black tea and is very rare. Similar to our Gui Fei Oolong, leafhoppers are allowed to bite the leaves in order initiate the plant’s healing process which produces a honey-like aroma. Juicy peach and honey notes mingle and linger. Some lychee and mild citrus notes can also be detected. This smooth and mellow tea is sweet with a creamy mouth-feel.

Premium Taiwanese Assam

Our Premium Taiwanese Assam is sourced from Yuchih Township in Nantou County, Taiwan.  Assam bushes were brought to Taiwan in the early twentieth century but have since been refined by the Taiwan Research and Extension Station.  The long dark chocolate colored leaves produce a sweet fruity aroma.  This malty tea has rich chocolate notes with notes of cinnamon, clove, and raisins.

Check them out on our website: Butiki Teas

-Stacy Lim, Owner

Beer Bread Recipe

I realize this is completely unrelated to tea but I figured I would post it here since I've had quite a few requests for this recipe in the past. The great thing about beer bread is that it tastes completely different depending on what type of beer is used. I highly recommend experimenting with different types of beer. I personally love using a quadrupel Belgium beer. Yums! At some point I will have take some pictures of my oh so famous beer bread.

Ingredients:
2 1/2 cups self-rising flour
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
12 ounces of your favorite beer
1/4 cup melted margarine/vegan butter

1. Preheat oven to 375F. Lightly grease a 9X5 baking pan.
2. Mix all the dry ingredients.
3. Pour the beer in & mix until moistened. Transfer to baking pan.
4. Top with melted vegan butter
5. Bake 45-55 minutes until toothpick comes out clean.