I discovered Butterfly Herbs as I was passing through downtown Missoula. The store itself is lovely, an old-timey shop with big glass jars of candy, coffee, herbs, and tea. I opened some of the jars to sniff them, but the teas I was most interested in (black teas flavored with things like lime, wild cherry, currants, etc.) smelled incredibly chemical. Perhaps they’re using alcohol-based flavorings? I’ve never really run into this before with tea, so I decided to take the safe route with this orange pekoe, which smelled perfectly harmless.
Now that I’ve got it steeped up, I think I may have gone too safe. The flavor isn’t bad, just weak and flat. Hard to tell if this is from age or it’s just a weak strain. Maybe adding extra leaves next time will help.
