Tea Butter! Wait... what is Tea Butter? It's not butter tea and it's sold as a block of butter in the refrigerated section of supermarkets so...? You know what: let's just enjoy this. It's lovely.
Aaah, Tea Butter! Until I did this write up, I had no idea what Tea Butter was. Mercifully, the Viennese tourism authority is here to shed some light on the matter. The TL;DR version is that Tea Butter or, in German Teebutter got its name in the 1800s either from an aristocratic acronym amalgamation, an attempt to market butter to afternoon-tea-taking Brits or to market fancy Austrian butter to social-climbing Austrians looking to imitate the afternoon-tea-taking Brits. Either way, 1800s Britain has a lot to answer for in general but let's add this linguistic oddity to the heap, shall we?
It has nothing to do with Himalayan butter tea, so at least that's clear.
What it does have to do with is wonderful butter. Alpine countries have access to excellent pasture and there are many farmers, producers and companies doing their best to preserve artisanal and traditional practices that promote ecologically sensitive food production in the region. Tea butter is meant to be finer in quality than your average butter which, from this experience, I can vouch for.
Our experience with Alpine butter has been that they are delicate, soft, well balanced and rich without being too heavy.
Bio-Wiesenmilch Bio-Süßrahm Teebutter Appreciation
Butter Break Down
Appreciation Date: 29/05/2020
Country of Origin: Austria
Point of Procurement: #OrganicFoodsAndCafe, Dubai
Purchase State: Fresh
Milk: Cow, pasturised
Salt Content: Unsalted
Milk Fat Content: 82%
Ingredients: Pasterusied cream from organic meadow milk, from biological agriculture
Declared Possible Allergens: Cow's milk
Company Website: https://www.biowiesenmilch.at/
Butter Evaluation
In which we discuss Bio-Wiesenmilch's Bio-Süßrahm Teebutter.
Again, this butter was sampled slightly warmer than intended. I took it out of the fridge and gave it the usual amount of time to 'warm up' as the other standard butters need... but the pastured nature of the cow's cream makes this butter much softer in general. This happened with our other Alpine butter as well. It just goes to show that the nature of the milkfat changes significantly depending on the nature of the cow's feed.
This Teebutter is a beautiful translucent yellow, soft and glossy. It's ideal for cooler climates due to its spreadability in colder temperatures. This one, however, isn't as soft as our German counterpart. This could be due to the time of year of production or the pasture growth rates at the time of ingestion. Because these cows are eating pasture, the nutrient profile of their milk can be highly variable depending on rainfall, grass growth, temperature, stage of lactation and other factors. It's always a surprise!
It is not fermented at all and thus what is termed 'sweet cream' butter or Süßrahm in German. Its aroma reflects the fact and smells truly milky and sweet. On the palate, it is buttery and milky with hints of sweetness. Its softness coats the palate with clean dairy goodness that isn't overwhelming. It's a lovely, gentle butter that is excellent for enjoying with a simple hunk of bread and some excellent company.
Final Rundown
This beautifully delicate, soft and clean butter is lovely for enjoying simply to allow its full dairyness to be appreciated. It's light, clean, right and has comforting mouthfeel. Alpine butter is wonderful stuff!
Colour: Classic butter yellow, glossy and translucent
Aroma: Milky, sweet
Taste: Very clean and delicate, truly sweetcream butter